Acadiana by Parish. History of Lafayette. Trip Planner Newsletter. Request Inspiration Guide. About Us. Contact Us. Privacy Policy. Discover the arcane Cajun art of whole hog communal butchering Read the Story. Rice has long been an essential ingredient for Cajuns, so much so some have called it a love affair. Read the Story. Sounds of a Culture. The craft behind building the specialized instruments responsible for the music of Cajun Country is rarely, if ever, Lafayette is a hot spot for up-and-coming chefs and seasoned culinary professionals alike.
With such a rich landscape for food lovers to thrive, the Read More. Immerse yourself in the untouched purity of a cypress and tupelo swamp. Sway your hips to the upbeat tempo of accordions and washboards, or let the Some time in s, businessmen with the Japanese electronics company Hitachi flew to southwest Louisiana, specifically, we are told, to Ville Platte The Cajuns' Love of Rice Some time in the s, businessmen with the Japanese electronics company Hitachi flew to southwest Louisiana, Stay in Touch with Lafayette, LA.
Enter your email address to sign up for our monthly newsletter! Sign Up. Events Festivals. Concert Series. Submit an Event. Things To Do Trip Ideas. Food Tours. Outdoor Adventure. Restaurants New Restaurants. Check out our Creole Tomato Festival. Thanks to Joseph Dunn for contributing information for the above. He is an outspoken advocate for the creation of a more inclusive narrative that represents the diverse mosaic of peoples, both free and enslaved, who built this unique space.
Creoles of Color - wikipedia Louisiana Creole People - wikipedia. Sign up for our mailing list to receive information on the latest New Orleans news, events, and attractions! Home Contact Us. Book Your Stay! Peyroux worked with French and Spanish officials to develop the resettlement project, and despite several setbacks and difficulties, about 1, Acadian exiles departed for Louisiana during the summer of The Acadians settled along rural areas alongside the Mississippi River, in the Atchafalaya Basin, and in the Prairie to the west.
This area eventually became known Acadiana, and it was at this point that marked the beginning of Cajun culture as we know it. The newly arrived Acadians more or less absorbed many rural communities in Louisiana that were comprised of non-Acadian French, Spanish, Irish, and German settlers, as well as Native Americans.
Through a combination of intermarriage and pure proximity, the Acadians culture eventually spread throughout the region all while taking on aspects of the initial inhabitants' varied cultures.
Because of this, the ethnic group is extremely eclectic and Cajun country is more of a collection of culture than anything. Despite the inclusion of a variety of ethnic groups and nationalities, the Cajun people continued to speak French almost exclusively. That being said, the Cajun French language did not escape the influences of the many ethnic groups of the area like other facets of Cajun culture.
Cajun French is actually a mix of the French spoken by the Acadians with the Colonial French spoken by French settlers and soldiers prior to the arrival of the Acadians. The language also took on many words from African, Spanish, Native American, and English origins as it grew and developed into its own dialect in Louisiana.
In the early 20th century, the widespread use of Cajun French began to decline as the Louisiana state government required both public and private schools to force Cajun children to learn English, even going as far as to punish children for speaking French on school grounds and hiring teachers who could only speak English. This policy led to Cajun French becoming an endangered language, and it became common for grandparents to speak only French, parents to be fluent in both French and English, and children to only know English.
The history of the Cajun people had an impact on many of the more visible aspects of their culture, and one of the clearest instances of this impact is in Cajun cuisine. When the Acadians arrived in Louisiana, almost everything they knew about agriculture and growing food was no longer relevant due to the vast difference in climates between Louisiana and eastern Canada. Very few of the ingredients necessary for their traditional dishes were available, so the Cajuns took inspiration from Creole and Native American cooking to develop their cuisine.
Crops like wheat, barley and oats that were a fixture of Acadia were abandoned in favor of corn, cotton, sugar cane and rice, which became fixtures in Cajun cuisine. While some regions of Acadiana were well suited for livestock, many Acadians who settled in the wetlands of the Bayou had little dry land to farm.
In response to this, they incorporating local vegetables like okra, mirlitons, onions, and pecans. Another aspect of Cajun life that helped inspire their cuisine was their economic situation. Due to their long, hard ordeal, many Acadians were on the poorer end of the spectrum. This lack of resources led to Cajuns adopting a number of distinctive cooking techniques in order to maximize the amount of food available.
Cajun cuisine often utilizes locally available ingredients, which is then prepared in fairly basic ways. This same economic drive also encouraged Cajuns to develop a strong tradition of hunting and fishing, which continues to this day.
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