Monday, November 21, 2011

Cajun: History, People and Culture


The Cajun people first came to Louisiana in the Great Upheaval or Expulsion, which was a mass deportation of thousands of people from Acadie by the British in the beginning of 1755. Hundreds were imprisoned; many were separated from their homes and families and thousands of people died in the expulsion. This is the soul-stirring story of the Cajuns, their battle against assimilation and their victory in reclaiming their heritage and culture.

A quaint French-speaking people, the Cajuns or Acadians initially settled down in that area of Canada, which is known to us today as Nova Scotia. This settlement of theirs was known as Acadie. Content and happy to be living in their forest home, the Acadians did not bother with their French and British colonial governments, nor did they ask for much. More than happy to be ignores or neglected, the Acadians were repeatedly subjected to a number of sieges in the wars of the empire.

Forcefully exiled and then shipped to a number of different destinations, these people found a home in the bayous and swamps of South Louisiana. Here, they managed to settle down once again into a life of contentment and isolation. As they adapted to the life in Louisiana, they as people along with their culture began to change and evolve. As young America fought in the war and won its much deserved freedom, the Acadians established for themselves permanent settlements that were left untouched and unspoiled till the dawning of the 20th century, and the end of the Civil War.

With the industrial revolution in full flow, the Acadians once again had to battle against assimilation. In the end of it all, they once again stood on the edge of cultural overthrow, but yet they fought their way out and managed to reclaim their proud heritage. And the result of this revolution was the Cajun culture, which is more or less a hybrid form of the original Acadian culture.

The end of the Civil War marked the beginning of the battle on the part of the Cajun's to resist as well as reclaim their cultural heritage. For many Southerners and Louisianans on the whole, the devastating impact of the war on the economy, property and pride continued for years and years. The Cajuns, who were grateful for the end of all the fighting, unknowingly entered into a very strange period of history wherein their own cultural identity suffered greatly because of the various assimilation efforts made by the Americans throughout the South. Only when they finally confronted and battled their Americanization in the 60's did a revitalization of their culture occur.

But this assimilation left a deep scar on the Cajun culture. During the reconstruction ear, the space between the Cajuns and the other Louisianans increased twofold. Many stereotypes that are till date associated with the Cajuns developed during this era: ignorant, lazy, simple-minded and illiterate.

But on their part, since they remained unassimilated, the Cajuns managed to act in precisely the same manners as they did before the war. Like most of the Southerners, they loved parties, games, playing cards, and communal get-togethers. But unlike the Americans, the Cajuns continued to work at their own slow paces, which is a work ethic that stands in complete contrast to the modern American idea of work and progress.

Cajuns were described as dreamers and idlers; someone who would rather dream away that actually get to working. The Cajun who overworked was considered to be a rare gemstone and most of them were considered to be mere squatters. Southerners on the whole, did not think much of the Cajun people and their culture because their values greatly negated the close-knit American values of wealth and progress. The Cajuns on the other hand did not respect the American values including the standards regarding education. They were one class of people who completely reveled in being illiterate and this attitude of theirs concerning education posed as another strong reason as to why the Americans looked down on them as 'poor stupid souls'.

Despite all these negative qualities, historians and observers of their communities have repeatedly remarked upon two of their distinct ethnic qualities in a very positive light, namely: family ties and hospitality. Travelers in the South have commented on the friendliness with which the Cajun people welcome guests and strangers into their homes, and also their willingness to share whatever they have, even if it may be just a little. Inspired, not by charity, but more by hospitality (which is an inherited trait), these people open the doors to their homes to all and sundry that cared to grace their doorsteps.

The Cajun culture however, was pulled on and continued to flourish solely because of the female population and the roles that were played by the mothers in preserving age-old traditions and customs. The Cajun woman would bring up her children to respect and appreciate their heritage and traditions.

Most of the younger men enrolled themselves in the armed services and began to get influenced by the Anglo-American values. Returning home from the war, these men started to believe in the inferiority of their clan and forced their opinions upon their children and wives so that the coming generation was more ashamed than the first of their cultural heritage. In this period, bilingual parents stopped speaking with their children in Cajun French and many of their descendants grew up completely ignorant of their language and customs. This failure on the part of Cajun parents, to communicate with their children in their cultural language cane as the biggest blow to Cajun heritage and ethnicity.

With the advent of multi-storied supermarkets and grocery stores, the need for traditional ingredients deteriorated and the variety of foods that were freely available in these markets undermined their traditional cuisine. Cajun music also came under attack when people started calling this type of music 'chanky-chanky' music, suggesting that the instrumentation and rhythm were essentially simple.

Yes, Americanization has definitely resulted in a sharp decline in the ethnic culture of the Cajun people. Faced with almost going extinct, the Cajun culture has displayed its most impressive ethnic trait by surviving the tests and by prospering in the face of adversity.

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