View source for Cajuns

{{Short description|Louisiana French ethnicity}}
{{Redirect|Cajun||Cajun (disambiguation)}}
{{redirect|Cadjin|Alabamans|Cajans}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2017}}
{{Infobox ethnic group
| group            = Cajuns
| native_name      = {{native name|fr|Cadjins}}
| flag             = Flag of Acadiana.svg
| flag_caption     = The [[flag of Acadiana]], the [[Cajun Country]]<ref name="Menestrel2014">{{cite book|author=Sara Le Menestrel|title=Negotiating Difference in French Louisiana Music: Categories, Stereotypes, and Identifications|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BQcbBwAAQBAJ&pg=PT23|year=2014|publisher=Univ. Press of Mississippi|isbn=978-1-62674-372-4|page=23}}</ref>
| image            =
| pop              = 94,395 (2023 estimate)<ref>{{cite web | title=Cajun Population by State 2023 | url=https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/cajun-population-by-state }}</ref> 598,000 (1990 estimate)<ref>https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial/tables/cph/cph-l/cph-l-149/acadian-cajun.txt {{Bare URL inline|date=August 2024}}</ref>
| regions          = {{flag|Acadiana}}, [[Louisiana]], [[Texas]], [[Alabama]], [[Mississippi]], and [[California]]
| pop1             =
| region2          =
| pop2             =
| langs            = French ([[Louisiana French]]) <br /> English ([[Cajun English]]) <br />[[Louisiana Creole]]
| rels             = [[Christianity]]: Predominantly [[Roman Catholic Church|Roman Catholicism]]
| related          = [[Acadians]], [[French Louisianians]], [[White Southerners]], [[Black Southerners]], [[French-Canadian Americans]], [[Louisiana Creole people|Louisiana Creoles]], [[Isleños (Louisiana)|Isleños]], [[Haitians]] ([[Saint-Domingue Creoles]]), [[Creoles of color]]}}
{{French people}}

The '''Cajuns''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|eɪ|dʒ|ən|z}}; [[Louisiana French language|French]]: ''les Cadjins'' {{IPA|fr|le kadʒɛ̃|}} or ''les Cadiens'' {{IPA|fr|le kadjɛ̃|}}), also known as Louisiana ''[[Acadians]]'' (French: ''les Acadiens''),<ref name="ValdmanRottet2009">{{cite book|editor1=Valdman, Albert|editor2=Kevin J. Rottet|title=Dictionary of Louisiana French: As Spoken in Cajun, Creole, and American Indian Communities|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vw5TIVBcNsIC&pg=PA98|year=2009|publisher=[[University Press of Mississippi]]|isbn=978-1-60473-404-1|page=98}}</ref> are an American ethnic group mainly found in the [[U.S. state|US state]] of [[Louisiana]] and the surrounding [[Gulf Coast of the United States|Gulf Coast]] states.

While Cajuns are usually described as the descendants of the [[Acadia]]n exiles who went to Louisiana over the course of ''[[Expulsion of the Acadians|Le Grand Dérangement]]'', Louisianians frequently use ''Cajun'' as a broad cultural term (particularly when referencing [[Acadiana]]) without necessitating race or descent from the deported Acadians. Although the terms ''Cajun'' and ''Creole'' today are often portrayed as separate identities, Louisianians of Acadian descent have historically been known as, and are, a subset of [[Louisiana Creole people|Creoles]] (synonymous for "Louisianais", which is a demonym for [[French Louisianians]]).<ref>{{cite thesis|last=Landry|first=Christophe|title=A Creole Melting Pot: the Politics of Language, Race, and Identity in southwest Louisiana, 1918-45|date=January 2016|url=https://www.academia.edu/26040724|language=en|type=Doctorate of Philosophy in History}}</ref> Cajuns make up a significant portion of south Louisiana's population and have had an enormous impact on the state's culture.<ref name="Brasseaux">{{cite book|last=Brasseaux|first=Carl A.|title=Acadian to Cajun: Transformation of a People|location=Jackson, Miss.|publisher=University Press of Mississippi|year=1992|isbn=0-87805-583-5}}</ref>

While [[Lower Louisiana]] had been settled by French colonists since the late 17th century, many Cajuns trace their roots to the influx of Acadian settlers after the Great Expulsion from their homeland during the French and British hostilities prior to the [[French and Indian War]] (1756 to 1763). Most Acadians can trace their ancestry back to approximately [[List of early Acadian families of Port Royal|50 families]] who were living in [[Port-Royal (Acadia)|Port Royal]], [[Acadia]], now [[Annapolis Royal]], [[Nova Scotia]], in 1671.{{cn|date=October 2025}} The Acadia region to which many modern Cajuns trace their origin consisted largely of what are now [[Nova Scotia]], [[New Brunswick]], [[Prince Edward Island]] plus parts of eastern [[Quebec]] and northern [[Maine]].

Since their establishment in Louisiana, the Cajuns have become famous for their French dialect, [[Cajun French|Louisiana French]], and have developed a rich culture including [[folkways (sociology)|folkways]], [[Cajun music|music]], and [[Cajun cuisine|cuisine]]. [[Acadiana]] is heavily associated with them.<ref>Cecyle Trepanier,  "The Cajunization of French Louisiana: forging a regional identity". ''Geographical Journal'' (1991): 161-171.</ref>

==Etymology and historical usage of the term==
The term "Cajun" comes from a rural pronunciation of ''Acadien'' (Acadian).

===Civil War usage===
The first usage of the term "Cajun" came about during the [[American Civil War]], during the [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]]'s invasion of [[French Louisiana]].<ref name="davidcedomonds">{{cite book |title=Yankee Autumn in Acadiana: A Narrative of the GREAT TEXAS OVERLAND EXPEDITION through Southwestern Louisiana October-December 1863|author=David C. Edmonds|publisher=The Acadiana Press|year=1979|location=Lafayette, Louisiana|pages=73,114,233}}</ref>

After conquering [[Vermilionville Historic Village|Vermilionville]] — the modern city of [[Lafayette, Louisiana|Lafayette]], the hub of Cajun country — in 1863, Lieutenant George C. Harding of the [[1st Indiana Heavy Artillery Regiment|21st Indiana Infantry]] used the term "Cajun" to describe the region's inhabitants:

<blockquote>I will try and tell what a Cajun is. He is a half-savage creature, of mixed French and Indian blood, lives in swamps and subsists by cultivating small patches of corn and sweet potatoes. The wants of the Cajun are few, and his habits are simple... I can not say that we were abused by the Cajuns.<ref name="davidcedomonds"/></blockquote>

A correspondent for the ''[[New York Herald]]'' reported: "Our forces captured some prisoners. Many deserters and refugees came within our lines. The [[Confederate States of America|rebel]] deserters are principally [[Louisiana Creoles|French Creoles]], or [[Cajun-Creole|Arcadians]]..."<ref name="davidcedomonds"/>

In 1863, war correspondent Theophilus Noel reported for his newspaper: "You must not use the word Cagin, implying thereby that there is any nigger blood in the party to whom you are talking."<ref name="davidcedomonds"/>

===Cajun Country/Creole City usage===
{{multiple image
| align = right
| caption_align = center
| direction = horizontal
| width = 100
| image1 = Mississippi Cajun Country.png
| image2 = MobMetShade.gif
| caption1 = Mississippi Cajun Country
| caption2 = Alabama Cajun Country
}}

After the Civil War, urban Creoles began referring to the [[peasant]] class (''[[Habitants|petits habitants]]'') as "Cajuns". Cajuns inhabited the "Cajun Countries" of [[Cajan Country|Alabama]], [[Mississippi]], and [[Cajun Country|Louisiana]].<ref name="nationalurbanleague">{{cite book |title=Opportunity, Volumes 11 to 12|publisher=National Urban League|year=1933|location=United States of America|pages=312}}</ref><ref name="edwardthomasprice">{{cite book |title=Mixed-blood Populations of Eastern United States as to Origins, Localizations, and Persistence|author=Edward Thomas Price|publisher=University of California|year=1950|location=Berkley, United States of America|pages=73}}</ref><ref name="timemagazine1934">{{cite book |title=Time, Volume 24|author=Briton Hadden|author2=Henry Robinson Luce|publisher=Time Incorporated|year=1934|location=United States of America|pages=51}}</ref><ref name="balboanlewis">{{cite book |title=What God Loves|author=Balboa N. Lewis|publisher=Balboa Press|year=2020|location=United States of America|pages=210}}</ref>

At the same time, "Creole" increasingly referred to Creoles of the middle class (''[[bourgeoisie]]'') or aristocratic class (''[[Seigneur|grands habitants]]''), and served as a designation for inhabitants of the "Creole Cities": [[Mobile, Alabama]] and [[New Orleans, Louisiana]].<ref name="ricejournal">Rice Journal, Volume 21. Page 21. 1918.</ref><ref name="internalrevenuerecordandcustoms">{{cite book |title=The Internal Revenue Record and Customs Journal, Volume 36|publisher=P. V. Van Wyck and Company|year=1890|location=United States of America|pages=65}}</ref><ref name="thomascooperdeleon">{{cite book |title=Creole Carnivals: (Madri Gras) : Their Ancient Origin, American Growth and Business Outcome, with Sketches of Outside Carnivals|author=Thomas Cooper De Leon|publisher=De Leon|year=1978|location=United States of America|pages=13}}</ref>

Carl Brasseaux notes in ''Acadian to Cajun, Transformation of a People'', that:

<blockquote>''Cajun'' was used by Anglos to refer to all persons of French descent and low economic standing, regardless of their ethnic affiliation. Hence poor Creoles of the bayou and prairie regions came to be permanently identified as ''Cajun''. The term ''Cajun'' thus became a socioeconomic classification for the multicultural amalgam of several culturally and linguistically distinct groups.<ref name="Brasseaux" /></blockquote>

====Alabama Cajans====
Cajans inhabited a region of Alabama called the '''Cajan Country''', which was all of the bayou country surrounding Mobile. To the north, the Cajan Country reached the hills of [[Mount Vernon, Alabama|Mount Vernon]] and [[Citronelle, Alabama|Citronelle]], and to the east, it reached through the bayous and forests around [[Daphne, Alabama|Daphne]] to the [[Perdido River]].<ref name="nationalurbanleague" /><ref name="edwardthomasprice" /><ref name="timemagazine1934" />

Cajans were of varying racial mixtures; during the [[Racial segregation in the United States|segregation era]], some Cajans under Alabama's new racial laws were considered black, others were considered white, and others yet designated as Indians. Cajans were discriminated against due to their racial ambiguity, and many did not have access to public schools. Cajans tended to stay among their own communities.<ref name="federalwritersproject">{{cite book |title=The WPA Guide to Alabama: The Camellia State|author=Federal Writers' Project|year=2013|publisher=Trinity University Press|location=United States of America|pages=Tour 9:2, 3, 4}}</ref>

===Americanized usage===
[[File:Acadiana parishes map.png|thumb|upright=0.7|Acadiana]]

After the Americanization of Acadiana between the 1950s and 1970s, the term "Cajun" became synonymous with "white French Louisianian", due in part to [[Council for the Development of French in Louisiana|CODOFIL's]] decision to promote Louisiana's link to Acadia in the "Cajun Renaissance".<ref name="nicholeestandford">{{cite book |title=Good God but You Smart!: Language Prejudice and Upwardly Mobile Cajuns|author=Nichole E. Stanford|year=2016|publisher=University Press of Colorado|location=United States of America|pages=64, 65, 66}}</ref>

It is common to see various demographic differences assigned to the Cajun/Creole binary. A typical example is cuisine: Many claim that "Cajun" gumbo does not include tomatoes whereas "Creole" gumbo does, but this distinction is better viewed as geographic rather than ethnic. Residents of [[Acadiana]]—a historically isolated and rural region—do not typically make gumbo with tomatoes, regardless of ancestry or self-proclaimed identity, whereas urban New Orleanians do. Technically, "Cajun" cuisine should properly fit under the umbrella of "Creole" cuisine, much like "Cajuns" themselves traditionally fit under the "Creole" umbrella.

In contrast to the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, today's Cajuns and Creoles are often presented as distinct groups, and some Cajuns disavow a Creole identity whereas others embrace it. Surnames and geographic location are not necessarily markers of either identity.

==Cajun nationality==

===Ethnic group of national origin===
{{multiple image
| align             = right
| caption_align     = center
| direction         = vertical
| width             = 150
| image1            = Signalisation routière bilingue à l'entrée de la Louisiane.jpg
| image2            = RiceFestivalDancers1940Colorized.jpg
| caption1          = [[Cajun French]] is spoken in [[Louisiana]].
| caption2          = Cajun dancers in traditional clothing, 1940; colorized in 2022.
}}

The Cajuns retain a unique dialect of the [[French language]] called [[Louisiana French]] (or more commonly known as Cajun French), and hold numerous other cultural traits that distinguish them as an ethnic group. Cajuns were officially recognized by the US government as a national ethnic group in 1980 per a discrimination lawsuit filed in federal district court. Presided over by Judge Edwin Hunter, the case, known as ''Roach v. Dresser Industries Valve and Instrument Division'' (494 F.Supp. 215, D.C. La., 1980), hinged on the issue of the Cajuns' ethnicity:

{{Blockquote|We conclude that plaintiff is protected by Title VII's ban on national origin discrimination. The Louisiana Acadian is alive and well. He is "up front" and "main stream." He is not asking for any special treatment. By affording coverage under the "national origin" clause of Title VII he is afforded no special privilege. He is given only the same protection as those with English, Spanish, French, Iranian, Czechoslovakian, Portuguese, Polish, Mexican, Italian, Irish, et al., ancestors.|Judge Edwin Hunter, 1980<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.leagle.com/decision/1980709494fsupp2151669|title=ROACH v. DRESSER IND. VAL &#124; 494 F.Supp... &#124; supp2151669 &#124; Leagle.com|website=Leagle}}</ref>}}

===History of Acadian ancestors===
{{Main|History of the Acadians}}
{{See also|Acadians|New France|Expulsion of the Acadians}}
[[File:Joseph_Broussard_en_Acadia_HRoe_2009.jpg|thumb|150px|2009 artist's rendition of [[Acadian people|Acadian]] militia captain [[Joseph Broussard|Joseph "Beausoleil" Broussard]] (1702–1765).]]

The British [[Siege of Port Royal (1710)|conquest of Acadia]] happened in 1710. Over the next 45 years, the Acadians refused to sign an unconditional oath of allegiance to [[the Crown]]. During this period, Acadians participated in various military operations against the British and maintained vital supply lines to the French fortress of [[Louisbourg]] and [[Fort Beausejour]].<ref>{{cite book |first=John |last=Grenier |title=Far Reaches of Empire: War in Nova Scotia 1710–1760 |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-8061-3876-3 }}</ref> During the [[French and Indian War]] (part of the Seven Years' War and known by that name in Canada and Europe), the British sought to neutralize the Acadian military threat and to interrupt their vital supply lines to Louisbourg by [[Expulsion of the Acadians|deporting Acadians]] from Acadia.<ref>{{cite book|last=Patterson|first=Stephen E.|chapter=Indian-White Relations in Nova Scotia, 1749-61: A Study in Political Interaction|editor1=P.A. Buckner|editor2=Gail G. Campbell|editor3=David Frank|title=The Acadiensis Reader: Atlantic Canada Before Confederation|edition=3rd|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jnxIPgAACAAJ&pg=PA105|year=1998|publisher=Acadiensis Press|isbn=978-0-919107-44-1|pages=[https://archive.org/details/atlanticcanadabe0000unse/page/105 105-106]|url=https://archive.org/details/atlanticcanadabe0000unse/page/105}}<br />•&nbsp;{{cite book|last=Patterson|first=Stephen E.|chapter=1744–1763: Colonial Wars and Aboriginal Peoples|editor1=Phillip Buckner|editor2=John G. Reid|title=The Atlantic Region to Confederation: A History|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P2spDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA144|year=1994|publisher=University of Toronto Press|isbn=978-1-4875-1676-5|page=144|jstor=10.3138/j.ctt15jjfrm}}</ref> The territory of [[Acadia]] was afterward divided and apportioned to various British colonies, now Canadian provinces: [[Nova Scotia]], New Brunswick, [[Prince Edward Island]], the [[Gaspe Peninsula]] in the province of [[Quebec]]. The deportation of the Acadians from these areas beginning in 1755 has become known as the [[Great Upheaval]] or ''Le Grand Dérangement''.

[[File:Deportation of Acadians order, painting by Jefferys.jpg|thumb|150px|1923 illustration of the  1755 [[Expulsion of the Acadians|deportation]] of the [[Acadians]].]]

The Acadians' migration from Canada was spurred by the [[Treaty of Paris (1763)|1763 Treaty of Paris]] which ended the war. The treaty terms provided 18 months for unrestrained emigration. Many Acadians moved to the [[Attakapas County, Orleans Territory|Attakapas]] region of present-day Louisiana, often travelling via the French colony of [[Saint-Domingue]] (now [[Haiti]]).<ref>{{cite book |first=Gabriel |last=Debien |chapter=The Acadians in Santo-Domingo, 1764–1789 |editor-first=Glenn R. |editor-last=Conrad |title=The Cajuns: Essays on their History and Culture |location=Lafayette, La. |year=1978 |pages=21–96 |oclc=4685896 }}</ref> 

The first group of Acadians to arrive in Louisiana was the Cormier-Landry-Poirier-Richard party, 21 people who sailed on the ''Savannah Packet'' from [[Savannah, Georgia|Savannah]] to [[Mobile, Alabama|Mobile]] to New Orleans, arriving in February 1764.<ref>{{cite news |title=SAVANNAH |url=https://archive.org/details/per_south-carolina-state-gazette-and-timothys-dail_the-south-carolina-_january-07-14-1764_1539/page/3/mode/1up?q=acadians |access-date=14 December 2025 |work=The South Carolina Gazette |publisher=Benjamin Franklin Timothy |date=7 January 1764 |language=English}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Cormier |first1=Steven A. |title=A New Acadia |url=http://www.acadiansingray.com/Acadians%20of%20LA%20-Intro-4a.html |website=Acadians in Gray |access-date=14 December 2025}}</ref> A year later, [[Joseph Broussard]] led the first large group, 200 Acadians, which arrived in New Orleans on February 27, 1765 aboard the ''Santo Domingo''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.carencrohighschool.org/LA_Studies/ParishSeries/LafayetteParish/Broussard.htm|title=Carencro High School- Preparing Students for Life|access-date=May 3, 2016|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090521212233/http://www.carencrohighschool.org/LA_Studies/ParishSeries/LafayetteParish/Broussard.htm|archive-date=May 21, 2009 }}</ref>{{failed verification|date=November 2023}} On April 8, 1765, he was appointed militia captain and commander of the "Acadians of the Atakapas" region in [[St. Martinville, Louisiana|St. Martinville]].<ref>{{cite web| url =http://www2.umoncton.ca/cfdocs/etudacad/1755/index.cfm?id=010505000&lang=en&style=G&admin=false&linking=| title =History:1755-Joseph Broussard dit Beausoleil (c. 1702–1765)| access-date =March 14, 2009| url-status =dead| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20090520171929/http://www2.umoncton.ca/cfdocs/etudacad/1755/index.cfm?id=010505000&lang=en&style=G&admin=false&linking=| archive-date =May 20, 2009 }}</ref> Some of the settlers wrote to their family scattered around the Atlantic to encourage them to join them at New Orleans. For example, Jean-Baptiste Semer wrote to his father in France:

{{Blockquote|My dear father ... you can come here boldly with my dear mother and all the other Acadian families. They will always be better off than in France. There are neither duties nor taxes to pay and the more one works, the more one earns without doing harm to anyone.|Jean-Baptiste Semer, 1766<ref>"Letter by Jean-Baptiste Semer, an Acadian in New Orleans, to His Father in Le Havre, April 20, 1766".  Transl. Bey Grieve. ''Louisiana History'' 48 (spring 2007): 219–26 [http://jfmouhot.free.fr/prive/documents/Mouhot--Semer_Letter.fdf Link to full transcription of the Letter by Jean-Baptist Semer] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720222557/http://jfmouhot.free.fr/prive/documents/Mouhot--Semer_Letter.fdf |date=July 20, 2011 }}</ref>}}

The Acadians were scattered throughout the eastern seaboard. Families were split and boarded ships with different destinations.<ref>John Mack Faragher (2005). ''A Great and Noble Scheme: The Tragic Story of the Expulsion of the French Acadians from their American Homeland'', New York: W. W. Norton, 562 pages {{ISBN|0-393-05135-8}} [https://archive.org/details/greatnoblescheme00fara Online excerpt]</ref> Many ended up west of the [[Mississippi River]] in what was then [[French colonization of the Americas|French-colonized]] Louisiana, including territory as far north as [[The Dakotas|Dakota territory]]. France had ceded the colony to [[Spanish colonization of the Americas|Spain in 1762]], prior to their defeat by Britain and two years before the first Acadians began settling in Louisiana.  The interim French officials provided land and supplies to the new settlers. The Spanish [[List of colonial governors of Louisiana|governor]], [[Bernardo de Gálvez]], later proved to be hospitable, permitting the Acadians to continue to speak their language, practice their native religion ([[Catholic Church|Roman Catholicism]] – which was also the official religion of Spain), and otherwise pursue their livelihoods with minimal interference. Some families and individuals did travel north through the Louisiana territory to set up homes as far north as [[Wisconsin]].  Acadians fought in the [[American Revolution]]. Although they fought for Spanish General Galvez, their contribution to the winning of the war has been recognized.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.acadian-home.org/american-revolution.html|title=Acadia:Acadians:American Revolution:Acadian & French Canadian Ancestral Home|access-date=May 3, 2016}}</ref>

Galvez left New Orleans with an army of Spanish regulars and the Louisiana militia made up of 600 Acadian volunteers and captured the British strongholds of [[Fort Bute]] at [[Bayou Manchac]], across from the Acadian settlement at St. Gabriel. On September 7, 1779, Galvez [[Capture of Fort Bute|attacked Fort Bute]] and then on September 21, 1779, attacked and [[Battle of Baton Rouge (1779)|captured Baton Rouge]].<ref>{{cite journal|title=The Spanish Conquest of British West Florida, 1779–1781|last=Haarmann|first=Albert|journal=The Florida Historical Quarterly|volume=39|number=2|page=112|date=October 1960|jstor=30150253}}</ref>

A review of participating soldiers shows many common Acadian names among those who fought in the battles of Baton Rouge and West Florida. The Galvez Chapter of the [[Daughters of the American Revolution]] was formed in memory of those soldiers.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://geocities.com/patriot2325/galvez.html|access-date=March 17, 2011|archive-date=October 26, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091026041623/http://geocities.com/patriot2325/galvez.html|last=Broussard|first=Karen|date=March 11, 2004|publisher=National Society of the American Revolution, Galvez Chapter|location=Lafayette, LA|title=History of the Galvez Chapter}}</ref>

The Spanish colonial government settled the earliest group of Acadian exiles west of New Orleans, in what is now south-central Louisiana—an area known at the time as Attakapas, and later the center of the [[Acadiana]] region.  As Brasseaux wrote, "The oldest of the pioneer communities ... Fausse Point, was established near present-day [[Loreauville]] by late June 1765."<ref>{{cite book|last=Brasseaux|first=Carl A.|year=1987| title=The Founding of New Acadia: The Beginnings of Acadian Life in Louisiana, 1765–1803|location=Baton Rouge|publisher=Louisiana State University Press|pages=91–92|isbn=0-8071-1296-8}}</ref> The Acadians shared the swamps, bayous, and prairies with the [[Attakapa]] and [[Chitimacha]] Native American tribes.

After the [[Treaty of Paris (1783)|end]] of the [[American Revolutionary War]], about 1,500 more Acadians arrived in New Orleans. About 3,000 Acadians had been deported to France during the Great Upheaval.  In 1785, about 1,500 were authorized to emigrate to Louisiana, often to be reunited with their families, or because they could not settle in France.<ref>Jean-Francois Mouhot (2009), ''Les Réfugiés Acadiens en France (1758–1785): L'Impossible Réintégration?'' Quebec: Septentrion, 456p.</ref> Living in a relatively isolated region until the early 20th century, Cajuns today are largely assimilated into the mainstream society and culture.  Some Cajuns live in communities outside Louisiana.  Also, some people identify themselves as Cajun culturally despite lacking Acadian ancestry.

===Cajuns as Creoles===
[[File:Alexandre Mouton jeune.jpg|thumb|200px|The [[Acadian people|Acadian Creole]] governor of Louisiana, [[Alexandre Mouton]]]]

In the modern era it is common to see Cajuns and [[Louisiana Creole people|Creoles]] discussed as separate and distinct groups; historically speaking, this was not necessarily the case. Many historical accounts exist wherein persons with Acadian surnames (and of various races) either self-identify or are described by others as Creoles.

In Louisiana, the French word ''Créole'' (itself borrowed from Spanish and Portuguese) meant "born in the New World" (compare with Spanish ''[[Criollo people|Criollo]]''). This label was meant to distinguish the native-born population from newly arrived European immigrants and from slaves imported from Africa. Likewise, after the [[Louisiana Purchase|Sale of Louisiana]], the term "Creole" distinguished people of Catholic, Latin backgrounds from newly arrived Americans and other Protestant anglophones.

In general, ''Créolité'' in Louisiana was largely defined by whether that person was born in Louisiana, spoke a Latin-based language (often French, Spanish or [[Louisiana Creole|Creole]]) and practiced Catholicism. Having been born on Louisianian soil and maintaining a Catholic francophone identity, the Acadian descendants were indeed and often considered to be Creoles.

Documents from the late eighteenth century, such as militia rolls, make a distinction between "Acadians" (those born before or during ''[[Expulsion of the Acadians|Le Grand Dérangement]]'') and "Creoles" (those born after ''Le Grand Dérangement''), often the children of the former group, with identical surnames and belonging to the same families.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.mylhcv.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/1792-Militia.pdf|title=1792 Spanish Militia, Attakapas Post|last=Landry|first=Christophe}}</ref> Today, members of these families—including, among many others, those with surnames such as Broussard, Hébert, and Thibodeaux—usually consider these names Cajun rather than Creole.{{citation needed|reason=This claim needs a reliable source|date=September 2021}}

Sources from the 19th century sometimes make specific references to "Acadian Creoles" in particular—a term entirely absent from contemporary Louisiana. One article in vol. 56 of ''The Youth's Companion'' notes that, "The Acadian Creoles of Louisiana are a humane and charitable race—simple-minded and full of queer, superstitious notions, but an orphan thrown upon their care never suffers."<ref>{{cite journal |date=Summer 2019 |title=The Youth's Companion |journal=The Youth's Companion |volume=56 |orig-year=1883}}</ref> The Mouton family, an influential Acadian family of the period, provides an excellent case study in this regard, with secessionist [[Alexandre Mouton]] retaining the famous nickname of "the Creole Hotspur."<ref>{{Cite book|title=Acadian General Alfred Mouton and the Civil War |last=Arceneaux |first=William |year=1981 }}</ref> His son, the Confederate General [[Alfred Mouton]], is also noted in contemporary sources as "a brave and intrepid Creole".<ref>{{cite book|title=The Story of Louisiana |last=Thompson |first=Maurice |year=1888 }}</ref> Today, by contrast, members of the Mouton family are referred to as "Acadians" or "Cajuns" more often than as "Creoles".

In 1885, the ''New Iberia Enterprise'' (taken from a section of advice for American editors) wrote: "Although all men born here, of whatever color and using whatever language, are Americans, it is the custom to designate the descendants of the old French, Spanish, and Acadian settlers of the country and using as a rule the French language, Creoles, and all using the English tongue, Americans."

In his ''Refutation des érreurs de M. George W. Cable sur le sujet des Créoles'', published in L'[[Athénée Louisianais]], the francophone Creole John L. Peytavin accused the writer [[George Washington Cable]] of fundamentally misrepresenting Creoles to the American public. (Cable, who was not a Creole and did not speak French, had written that Cajuns of Acadian descent were not themselves Creoles.) Peytavin declared: "The Acadian Creoles have the same right to be called Creoles as others of foreign descent."

===Ethnic mixing and non-Acadian origins===
[[File:Bits of Saint Malo Scenery Colorized.jpg|thumb|300px|Filipino Cajuns of [[Saint Malo, Louisiana]].]]

Cajuns do not descend solely from Acadian exiles who settled in south Louisiana in the 18th century. Cajuns include people with Irish and Spanish ancestry, and to a lesser extent of Germans and Italians; Many also have [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]], [[Demographics of Africa|African]] and [[Creoles of color|Afro-Latin Creole]] admixture. Historian Carl A. Brasseaux asserted that this process of mixing created the Cajuns in the first place.<ref name=Brasseaux/>

Non-Acadian [[French Creoles]] in rural areas were absorbed into Cajun communities. Some Cajun parishes, such as [[Evangeline Parish|Evangeline]] and [[Avoyelles Parish|Avoyelles]], possess relatively few inhabitants of actual Acadian origin. Their populations descend in many cases from settlers who migrated to the region from [[Quebec]], [[Mobile, Alabama|Mobile]], or directly from France ([[French emigration (1789–1815)|French emigration]]). Regardless, Acadian influences are generally acknowledged to have prevailed in most sections of south Louisiana.

Many Cajuns have ancestors who were not French. Some of the original settlers in Louisiana were [[Basque people|Spanish Basques]] and Spanish [[Isleños|Canary Islanders]]. A later migration included Irish and German immigrants who began to settle in Louisiana before and after the [[Louisiana Purchase]], particularly on the [[German Coast]] along the [[Mississippi River]] north of [[New Orleans]].  People of [[Latin American]] origin; a number of early [[Filipino people|Filipino]] settlers (notably in [[Saint Malo (Louisiana)|Saint Malo, Louisiana]]) who were known as "[[Manilamen]]" from the annual cross-[[Pacific Ocean|Pacific]] [[Galleon]] or [[Manila Galleon]] trade with neighboring [[Acapulco, Mexico]]; descendants of African slaves; and some [[Cuban American]]s have also settled along the [[Gulf of Mexico|Gulf Coast]], and in some cases, intermarried into Cajun families.

One obvious result of this cultural mixture is the variety of surnames common among the Cajun population. Surnames of the original Acadian settlers (which are documented) have been augmented by French and non-French family names that have become part of Cajun communities. The spelling of many family names has changed over time. (See, for example, ''[[Eaux]])''.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l29RDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA156 |title=Language Variety in the New South: Contemporary Perspectives on Change and Variation|last1=Reaser|first1=Jeffrey|last2=Wilbanks|first2=Eric|last3=Wojcik|first3=Karissa|last4=Wolfram|first4=Walt|date=2018-03-15|publisher=UNC Press Books|isbn=9781469638812|language=en}}</ref>

===Indian and Afro-Cajuns===
[[File:Amédé Ardoin Colorized.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.7|[[Amédé Ardoin]], the first Black Cajun recording artist; he only spoke [[Cajun French]].]]
[[File:CrowleyCrowdListening1938.jpg|thumb|upright=1|The Cajun-Creole population of [[Crowley, Louisiana|Crowley]] enjoying a Cajun Music Concert in 1938.]]

Cajuns as an ethnic group historically included Indians and Blacks.<ref name="cajunmusicjazz">{{cite book|title=The New Grove Gospel, Blues, and Jazz, with Spirituals and Ragtime|author1=Paul Oliver|author2=Max Harrison|author3=William Bolcom|year=1986|publisher=W. W. Norton & Company|location=United States of America|pages=139}}</ref> Black Louisiana Frenchmen have historically self-identified as Cajun, using the term in regards to the ethnicity of Acadiana and the language they speak: [[Amédé Ardoin]] for example spoke only [[Cajun French]] and at his height was known as the first Black Cajun recording artist;<ref name="cajunmusicreader">{{cite book|title=Accordions, Fiddles, Two Step & Swing: A Cajun Music Reader|author1=Ryan A. Brasseaux|author2=Kevin S. Fontenot|year=2006|publisher=Center for Louisiana Studies|location=United States of America|pages=102}}</ref> [[Clifton Chenier]] the King of [[Zydeco]], routinely self-identified as a Black Cajun:

{{Blockquote|"Bonjour, comment ça va monsieur?" Clifton Chenier greeted his cheering crowd at the 1975 Montreux Jazz Festival. "They call me the Black Cajun Frenchman."<ref name="kingdomofzydeco">{{cite book|title=The Kingdom of Zydeco|author=Michael Tisserand|year=2016|publisher=Skyhorse|location=United States of America|pages=416}}</ref>}}

People of Acadiana have historically described what the Cajun nationality means to them; Brandon Moreau, a Cajun of [[Basile, Louisiana]], described Cajun as an "inclusive term designating region, descent, or heritage – not race."<ref name="brandonmoreau">{{cite book|title=Signifying Serpents and Mardi Gras Runners: Representing Identity in Selected Souths|last1=Ray|first1=R. Celeste|last2=Lassiter|first2=Luke E.|year=2003|publisher=University of Georgia Press|location=United States of America|pages=45}}</ref> Moreau also described an incident of where he used the term [[coonass]] with a good friend of his: "We were all talking in the hall, and I said I was a coonass. She said she was Cajun, but that she would never be a coonass. She's black and it offended her."<ref name="brandonmoreau" />

Cajun culture due to its mixed Latin-Creole nature had fostered more laissez-faire attitudes between blacks and whites in Acadiana more than anywhere else in the South.<ref name="shanekbernard">{{cite book|title=The Cajuns: Americanization of a People|last=Bernard|first=Shane K.|year=2016|publisher=Univ. Press of Mississippi|location=United States of America|pages=35, 36, 37, 38}}</ref> [[Roman Catholicism]] actively preached tolerance and condemned racism and all hate crimes; the [[Catholic Church|Roman Church]] threatened to [[excommunication|excommunicate]] any of its members who would dare to break its laws.<ref name="shanekbernard" />

[[Anglo-Americans]] openly discriminated against Cajuns because they were Catholics, had a Latin Culture, and spoke [[Cajun French]].<ref name="shanekbernard" /> White Cajuns and White Creoles accepted advances in racial equality, and they had compassion for Black Cajuns, Black Creoles, and [[African Americans]].<ref name="shanekbernard" /> In the 1950s, twice as many blacks in Louisiana's French-Catholic parishes registered to vote compared to blacks in the Anglo-Protestant parishes.<ref name="shanekbernard" />

===Americanization of Acadiana (1950–1970)===
[[File:Census Bureau 2000, Cajuns in the United States.png|thumb|center|upright=2|Map depicting Cajuns in the United States, according to the [[2000 United States census|2000 census]].]]

When the United States of America began assimilating and Americanizing the parishes of Acadiana between the 1950s and 1970s, they imposed segregation and reorganized the inhabitants of the Cajun Country to identify racially as either "white" Cajuns or "black" Creoles.<ref name="nicholeestandford"/> As the younger generations were made to abandon speaking French and French customs, the White or Indian Cajuns assimilated into the [[Anglo-America]]n host culture, and the Black Cajuns assimilated into the [[African American]] culture.<ref name="georgeepozzetta">{{cite book|title=Immigrants on the Land: Agriculture, Rural Life, and Small Towns|author=George E. Pozzetta|year=1991|publisher=Taylor & Francis|location=United States of America|pages=408}}</ref>

Cajuns looked to the [[civil rights movement]] and other Black liberation and empowerment movements as a guide to fostering Louisiana's French cultural renaissance. A Cajun student protester in 1968 declared "We're slaves to a system. Throw away the shackles... and be free with your brother."<ref name="shanekbernard" />

==Establishment of CODOFIL and preservation efforts==
During the early part of the 20th century, attempts were made to suppress Cajun culture by measures such as forbidding the use of the Cajun French language in schools. After the Compulsory Education Act forced Cajun children to attend formal schools, English-speaking teachers threatened, punished, and sometimes beat their Cajun students in an attempt to force them to use English (a language to which many of them had not been exposed before). During [[World War II]], Cajuns often served as French interpreters for American forces in France; this helped to overcome prejudice.<ref>Tidwell, Michael. ''Bayou Farewell: The Rich Life and Tragic Death of Louisiana's Cajun Coast''. Vintage Departures: New York, 2004.</ref>

In 1968, the organization of [[Council for the Development of French in Louisiana]] <!-- (CODOFIL) --> was founded to preserve the French language in Louisiana -- not merely among Cajuns but all French-speaking Louisianians. Besides advocating for their legal rights, Cajuns also recovered ethnic pride and appreciation for their ancestry. Since the mid-1950s, relations between the Cajuns of the US [[Gulf Coast]] and Acadians in the [[Maritimes]] and [[New England]] have been renewed, forming an Acadian identity common to Louisiana, New England, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia.

State Senator [[Dudley LeBlanc]] ("Coozan Dud", a Cajun slang nickname for "Cousin Dudley") took a group of Cajuns to Nova Scotia in 1955 for the commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the expulsion. The [[Acadian World Congress|''Congrès Mondial Acadien'']], a large gathering of Acadians and Cajuns held every five years since 1994, is another example of continued unity.

Sociologists Jacques Henry and Carl L. Bankston III have maintained that the preservation of Cajun ethnic identity is a result of the social class of Cajuns. During the 18th and 19th centuries, "Cajuns" came to be identified as the French-speaking rural people of Southwestern Louisiana. Over the course of the 20th century, the descendants of these rural people became the working class of their region. This change in the social and economic circumstances of families in Southwestern Louisiana created nostalgia for an idealized version of the past. Henry and Bankston point out that "Cajun", which was formerly considered an insulting term, became a term of pride among Louisianans by the beginning of the 21st century.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.greenwood.com/catalog/C7817.aspx|title=Blue Collar Bayou: Louisiana Cajuns in the New Economy of Ethnicity|publisher=greenwood.com|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061114000743/http://www.greenwood.com/catalog/C7817.aspx|archive-date=November 14, 2006 }}</ref>  It is common for persons living in the historically Cajun area of Louisiana to self-identify as Cajuns even when they have limited or no Cajun ancestry.

==Edwin W. Edwards, Constitution of 1974==
[[File:Edwin Edwards (1986).png|thumb|200px|Louisiana's Cajun governor, [[Edwin Edwards]].]]

Perhaps the greatest proponent and catalyst for reclaiming Cajun and French history of Louisiana is four-term former Louisiana Governor [[Edwin Edwards]]. Selected to serve as honorary chair of the Eighteenth Century Louisiana panel of the 2014 academic Enlightenment Conference in Montréal,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://scedhs2014.uqam.ca/fr/programme.html|title=UQAM – Société canadienne d'étude du dix-huitième siècle – Programme|author=Desrosiers, Nicolas|access-date=May 3, 2016|archive-date=March 5, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305195432/http://scedhs2014.uqam.ca/fr/programme.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> the former Governor in a video address<ref>{{cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUY5c9IrAHE| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211030/GUY5c9IrAHE| archive-date=2021-10-30|title=Edwin W. Edwards Honorary Chair, Enlightenment Conference, Montreal, 18 Oct. 2014|date=October 21, 2014|access-date=May 3, 2016|via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref> said,<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.academia.edu/8919778 |title = Introductory remarks by former four-term Louisiana Governor Edwin W. Edwards, Honorary Chair, Montreal Enlightenment Conference, October 18, 2014|last1 = Eaton|first1 = Fernin | date=October 22, 2014 }}</ref> "One of the legacies of which I am most proud is Louisiana's 1974 Constitution and its provision that the 'right of the people to preserve, foster, and promote their respective historic linguistic and cultural origins is recognized'."<ref>{{Cite web |title=State Constitution of 1974 > Article XII: General Provisions |url=http://senate.legis.state.la.us/documents/constitution/Article12.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230923134626/https://senate.legis.state.la.us/documents/constitution/Article12.htm |archive-date=September 23, 2023 |access-date=2025-05-03 |website=senate.legis.state.la.us |url-status=dead }}</ref>

As the late LSU Law Center professor Lee Hargrave wrote, in reference to the protection of cultural heritage, "Proponents of the section were primarily Francophones concerned with the protection of the French Acadian culture. Representatives of the Council for the Development of French in Louisiana appeared before the committee several times to urge some recognition of cultural rights, and delegates from Lafayette and Lake Charles worked strongly for the proposal."<ref>{{cite journal |last=Hargrave |first=Lee |title='Statutory' and 'Hortatory' Provisions of the Louisiana Constitution of 1974 |journal=[[Louisiana Law Review]] |volume=43 |issue=3 |year=1982 |pages=647–689 |url=http://digitalcommons.law.lsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4729&context=lalrev }}</ref>

Montréal panelist and New Orleans Créole historian Jari Honora explained that Edwards "is a perfect commentator for this panel given his advocacy for Louisiana's Francophone cultural communities during his four terms as governor. After several decades of 'Americanization' and suppression of French language and culture in Louisiana, Governor Edwards' conscious self-identification as an Acadian descendant marked a high-point for the Cajun/Creole cultural renaissance in this state."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.academia.edu/8786621|title=Edwin W. Edwards, four-term former Governor of Louisiana, to chair Enlightenment panel in Montreal|author=Fernin Eaton|date=October 14, 2014 |access-date=May 3, 2016}}</ref>

{{anchor|Culture}}

==Culture==
[[File:Acadiana Louisiana region map.svg|thumb|The 22 parishes of Acadiana: The Cajun heartland of Louisiana is highlighted in darker red.]]

{{anchor|Geography}}

===Geography===
{{Main|Acadiana}}

Geography had a strong correlation to Cajun lifestyles. Most Cajuns resided in Acadiana, where their descendants are still predominant. Cajun populations today are found also in the area southwest of New Orleans and scattered in areas adjacent to the [[French Louisiana]] region, such as to the north in [[Alexandria, Louisiana]]. Strong Cajun roots, influence, and culture can also be found in parts of Southern Mississippi. These areas include [[Bay St. Louis]], [[Pass Christian]], Gulfport, Gautier, Natchez, D'Iberville, and Biloxi, Mississippi. Over the years, many Cajuns and Creoles also migrated to the [[Houston]], [[Beaumont–Port Arthur metropolitan area|Beaumont and Port Arthur areas]] of [[Southeast Texas]], in especially large numbers as they followed oil-related jobs in the 1970s and 1980s, when oil companies moved jobs from Louisiana to Texas.

Many Cajuns and [[Creoles of color]] also moved to [[Southern California]]. However, the city of [[Lafayette, Louisiana|Lafayette]] is referred to as "The Heart of Acadiana" because of its location, and it is a major center of Cajun culture.  Despite the migration and influence in other states, cities outside of Louisiana, including these Texas cities, are not considered a part of Acadiana and are not considered a part of "Cajun Country."

{{anchor|Music}}

===Music===
{{Main|Cajun music}}

Cajun music is evolved from its roots in the music of the French-speaking Catholics of Canada. In earlier years, the [[Musical styles (violin)#Fiddle|fiddle]] was the predominant instrument, but gradually the [[accordion]] has come to share the limelight. Cajun music gained national attention in 2007, when the [[Grammy Award for Best Zydeco or Cajun Music Album]] category was created.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.grammy.com/GRAMMY_Awards/News/Default.aspx?newsID=2696&newsCategoryID=1|title=GRAMMY.com|website=GRAMMY.com}}</ref>

{{anchor|Cuisine}}

===Cuisine===
{{Main|Cajun cuisine}}
[[File:Boudin Sausage Balls.jpg|thumb|Cajun ''[[boudin]]'' rolled into a ball and deep fried]]

Due to ''Le Grand Dérangement'', many Acadians were invited to settle in Louisiana by the Spanish Governor Galvez.<ref>{{Cite thesis |last=Bailey Kolb |first=Frances |date=April 2007 |title=ACADIAN SETTLEMENT IN LOUISIANA: COLONIAL POPULATIONS AND IMPERIAL POLICY |url=https://oaktrust.library.tamu.edu/bitstream/handle/1969.1/5700/Kolb_Frances_Fellows.pdf |access-date=29 June 2022 |website=Texas A&M University Library |type=Senior Honors Thesis}}</ref> Unfamiliar with the terrain, they assimilated Creole and Native American influences into their Acadian traditions.{{Citation needed|date=May 2015}} Cajun cuisine focused on local ingredients and wild game (e.g., duck, rabbit), vegetables (e.g., [[okra]], [[Chayote|mirlitons]]), and grains. Coastal communities relied heavily on fish and shellfish. Seafood, especially shellfish, is still very popular in the region and remains a dominant feature of many classic Cajun dishes like seafood [[gumbo]] and [[court-bouillon]].

Since many Cajuns were farmers and not especially wealthy, they were known for not wasting any part of a butchered animal. Many rural communities held a weekly ''[[boucherie]]'', which is a communal butchering of an animal, often a pig. Each family received a share of the meat. <!-- It had been written that every part of the pig except the squeal was used. -->
Some high-profile foods like ''[[Pork rinds|grattons]]'' and ''[[boudin]]'' are examples of Cajun cuisine that are widely popular.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uha0mHZ-N8oC&pg=PA141 |title=500 Things to Eat Before It's Too Late: And the Very Best Places to Eat Them|author=Michael Stern|date=June 4, 2009|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2009|isbn=978-0-547-05907-5|access-date=November 24, 2009}}</ref>

{{anchor|Language}}

===Language===
{{Main|Cajun French}}

Louisiana French is a [[Variety (linguistics)|variety]] or [[dialect]] of the French language spoken primarily in Louisiana. At one time as many as seven dialects were spread across the Cajun heartland.

While Cajuns are often said to speak "Cajun French," this term is increasingly seen as a misnomer because the dialect did not originate with the Acadians, and Acadian-descended people are not the only ones to speak it. Recent linguistic scholarship has also cast doubt on how much Acadian influence is present in Louisianian dialects today, and the influences that do exist are sometimes regional rather than widespread.<ref>{{cite book |last=Klingler |first=Thomas |title="How much Acadian is there in Cajun?" |date=2009 |publisher=Innsbruck University Press |location=Acadians and Cajuns}}</ref> For these reasons, the term "Louisiana French" is increasingly preferred.

Recent documentation has been made of [[Cajun English]], an often [[non-rhotic]] French-influenced dialect of English spoken by Cajuns, either as a second language, in the case of the older members of the community, or as a first language by younger Cajuns.

===Religious traditions===
"[[Assumption of Mary|Our Lady of the Assumption]]" is Patroness of the Acadians (Cajuns).  In 1638, the colonies of France, to include Acadie, and France were consecrated by the Pope and the King to Mary under the aforementioned title; the date of consecration was August 15 which is the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and is a Holy Day of Obligation for Roman Catholics (Source 4).

Traditional Catholic religious observances such as [[Mardi Gras]], [[Lent]], and [[Holy Week]] are integral to many Cajun communities. Likewise, these traditional Catholic religious observances may further be understood from ''Cultural Catholicism in Cajun-Creole Louisiana'' by Marcia Gaudet<ref>article from Louisiana Division of the Arts | Department of Culture, Recreation & Tourism – Louisiana Folklife Festival program books, the Louisiana Folklore Miscellany, the Smithsonian Folklife Festival program book</ref> which tells that such traditional religious observances, although they may not be "strictly theological and liturgical forms", are still integral and necessary to many and remain religiously valid as "unofficial religious customs and traditions are certainly a part of Roman Catholicism as it is practiced".<ref>{{cite web|url =http://www.louisianafolklife.org/LT/Articles_Essays/CulturalCatholicism.html| title=Cultural Catholicism in Cajun-Creole Louisiana| first=  Marcia |last=Gaudet| publisher=Louisiana Folk Life}}</ref>

====Mardi Gras====
{{Main|Courir de Mardi Gras}}
[[File:Courir de Mardi Gras Savoy La Musicians HROE.jpg|thumb|Musicians playing at a traditional ''Courir de Mardi Gras'']]

''[[Mardi Gras]]'' (French for "Fat Tuesday", also known as [[Shrove Tuesday]]) is the day before [[Ash Wednesday]], which marks the beginning of [[Lent]], a 40-day period of fasting and reflection in preparation for [[Easter Sunday]]. Mardi Gras was historically a time to use up the foods that were not to be used during Lent, including fat, eggs, and meat.

Mardi Gras celebrations in rural Acadiana are distinct from the more widely known celebrations in [[New Orleans Mardi Gras|New Orleans]] and other metropolitan areas. A distinct feature of the Cajun celebration centers on the ''[[Courir de Mardi Gras]]'' (translated: fat Tuesday run).<ref name=COURIR>{{cite book|title=Mardi Gras: a Cajun country celebration|url=https://archive.org/details/mardigrascajunco00hoyt|url-access=registration|quote=fête de la quémande.|first1=Diane|last1=Hoyt-Goldsmith|first2=Lawrence|last2=Migdale|publisher=Holiday House|date=September 1995|page=[https://archive.org/details/mardigrascajunco00hoyt/page/11 11]|isbn=978-0-8234-1184-9}}</ref> A group of men, usually on horseback and wearing [[capuchon]]s (a cone-shaped ceremonial hat) and traditional costumes, approach a farmhouse and ask for something for the community gumbo pot. Often, the farmer or his wife allows the riders to have a chicken, if they can catch it. The group then puts on a show, comically attempting to catch the chicken set out in a large open area. Songs are sung, jokes are told, and skits are acted out. When the chicken is caught, it is added to the pot at the end of the day.<ref name=COURIR/> The ''courir'' held in the small town of [[Mamou, Louisiana|Mamou]] and [[Church Point, Louisiana|Church Point]] has become well known. This tradition has much in common with the observance of ''La Chandeleur'', or [[Candlemas]] (February 2), by Acadians in [[Nova Scotia]].

====Easter====
On ''Pâques'' (French for Easter), a game called ''pâquer'', or ''pâque-pâque'' was played. Contestants selected hard-boiled eggs, paired off, and tapped the eggs together – the player whose egg did not crack was declared the winner. This is an old European tradition that has survived in Acadia until today. Today, Easter is still celebrated by Cajuns with the traditional game of ''paque'', but is now also celebrated in the same fashion as Christians throughout the United States with candy-filled baskets, "[[Easter bunny]]" stories, [[Easter egg|dyed eggs]], and Easter egg hunts.

===Folk beliefs===
One folk custom is belief in a ''[[Traiteur (faith healer)|traiteur]]'', or healer, whose primary method of treatment involves the laying on of hands and of prayers. An important part of this folk religion, the ''traiteur''  combines Catholic prayer and medicinal remedies to treat a variety of ailments, including earaches, toothaches, warts, tumors, angina, and bleeding. Another is in the ''[[rougarou]]'', a version of a ''loup garou'' (French for [[werewolf]]), that will hunt down and kill Catholics who do not follow the rules of Lent. In some communities, the ''loup garou'' of legend has taken on an almost protective role. Children are warned that ''loups garous'' can read souls, and that they only hunt and kill evil men and women and misbehaved horses. The folkloric creature ''[[letiche]]'' is said to be the soul of an unbaptized infant<ref>{{cite book|title=Louisiana: A Guide to the State|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lOSvzYLs3tMC&pg=PA94|year=1941|publisher=US History Publishers|isbn=978-1-60354-017-9|pages=94–}}</ref> or child raised by alligators<ref name="Thompson2010">{{cite book|author=Dave Thompson|title=Bayou Underground: Tracing the Mythical Roots of American Popular Music|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4HFYKKVMvxcC&pg=PT292|date=1 September 2010|publisher=ECW Press|isbn=978-1-55490-682-6|pages=292–}}</ref> that haunts the bayous.

===Celebrations and gatherings===
Cajuns, along with other [[Cajun Country]] residents, have a reputation for a ''[[joie de vivre]]'' (French for "joy of living"), in which hard work is appreciated as much as "let the good times roll / [[laissez les bon temps rouler]]".

====Community gatherings====
In the culture, a ''coup de main'' (French for "to give a hand") is an occasion when the community gathers to assist one of their members with time-consuming or arduous tasks. Examples might include a [[barn raising]], [[harvest]]s, or assistance for the elderly or sick.

====Festivals====
[[File:CrowleyCajunFiddler1938.jpg|thumb|upright|Cajun fiddler at 1938 [[International Rice Festival|National Rice Festival]], photographed by [[Russell Lee (photographer)|Russell Lee]]]]

The majority of Cajun festivals include a ''fais do-do'' ("go to sleep" in French, originating from encouraging children to fall asleep in the rafters of the dance hall as the parents danced late into the night) or street dance, usually to a live local band. Crowds at these festivals can range from a few hundred to more than 100,000.

====Other festivals outside Louisiana====
* In Texas, the Winnie Rice Festival and other celebrations often highlight the Cajun influence in [[Southeast Texas]].
* The {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20170430013154/http://www.cajunheritagefest.com/ Cajun Heritage Fest]}} in [[Port Arthur, Texas]] celebrates Cajun music and cuisine and features events such as a crawfish eating contest and crawfish racing.
* Major Cajun/Zydeco festivals are held annually in Rhode Island, which does not have a sizable Cajun population, but is home to many Franco-Americans of Québécois and Acadian descent. It features Cajun culture and food, as well as authentic Louisiana musical acts both famous and unknown, drawing attendance not only from the strong Cajun/Zydeco music scene in Rhode Island, [[Connecticut]], New York City, and California, but also from all over the world. In recent years, the festival became so popular, now several such large summer festivals are held near the Connecticut–Rhode Island border: The Great Connecticut Cajun and Zydeco Music & Arts Festival, The Blast From The Bayou Cajun and Zydeco Festival, also in California the Cajun/Zydeco Festival; Bay Area Ardenwood Historic Farm, Fremont, Calif. and The Simi Valley Cajun and Blues Music Festival.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.simicajun.org|title=Happy Face Music Festival 2025 – Simi Valley, CA}}</ref>

==In media==
[[File:Evangeline - Saint Martinville.jpg|thumb|upright|A statue of Evangeline—fictional heroine of the poem ''[[Evangeline]]'' by Longfellow—at [[St. Martinville, Louisiana]]. The statue was donated by actress [[Dolores del Río]], who also posed for it. In a 1929 silent film by director [[Edwin Carewe]], del Rio portrayed Evangeline.]]
<!-- Please do not add fictional character references to this page. They belong in the article List_of_Cajuns#Fictional_characters -->

===Documentary films===
* ''Zachary Richard, Cajun Heart'' (2016, color) director: [[Phil Comeau]] with [[Zachary Richard]]
* ''Spend It All'' (1971, color) director: [[Les Blank]] with Skip Gerson
* ''The Good Times Are Killing Me'' (1975, color)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://mediaburn.org/videos/the-good-times-are-killing-me-3/|title=The Good Times Are Killing Me}}</ref>
* ''Hot Pepper'' (1975, color) director: Les Blank
* ''J'ai été au bal'' (English: ''I Went to the Dance''), by Les Blank, Chris Strachwitz & [[Maureen Gosling]]; narrated by [[Barry Jean Ancelet]] and [[Michael Doucet]] (Brazos Films). Louisiana French and Zydeco music documentary.
* ''[[Louisiana Story]]'' (1948, black and white) director: [[Robert Flaherty]]. Further addressed in 2006 documentary Revisiting Flaherty's Louisiana Story, by a group at [[Louisiana State University]].

===Film===
* ''[[Southern Comfort (1981 film)|Southern Comfort]]'' (1981), directed by [[Walter Hill (filmmaker)|Walter Hill]], starring [[Powers Boothe]]
* ''[[The Big Easy (film)|The Big Easy]]'' (1986), directed by Jim McBride, starring [[Dennis Quaid]]
* ''[[Belizaire the Cajun]]'' (1986), directed by [[Glen Pitre]], starring [[Armand Assante]]
* ''[[Passion Fish]]'' (1992), directed by [[John Sayles]], starring [[Mary McDonnell]]
* ''[[Little Chenier]]'' (2006), directed by [[Bethany Ashton]], starring [[Johnathon Schaech]]
* ''[[The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (film)|The Curious Case of Benjamin Button]]'' (2008), directed by [[David Fincher]], starring [[Brad Pitt]]
* ''[[In the Electric Mist]]'' (2009), directed by [[Bertrand Tavernier]], starring [[Tommy Lee Jones]]
* ''[[The Princess and the Frog]]'' (2009), the Disney version
* ''[[Avenging force]]'' (1986), directed by [[Sam Firstenberg]], starring [[Michael Dudikoff]]

===Literature===
* ''[[Evangeline]]'' (1847), an epic poem by [[Henry Wadsworth Longfellow]], is loosely based on the events surrounding the 1755 deportation. It became an American classic and contributed to a rebirth of Acadian identity in both Maritime Canada and in Louisiana.
* ''Bayou Folk'' (1894) by [[Kate Chopin]], who wrote about the Creoles and Cajuns (Acadiens)
* Several volumes on Cajun culture and history by children's book author [[Mary Alice Fontenot]]
* ''Acadian Waltz'' (2013) by [[Alexandrea Weis]], who wrote about the Cajun culture
* ''Acadie, Then and Now'' (2014) by Warren Perrin, Mary Perrin, Phil Comeau, a collection of 65 articles on Cajun/Acadian culture and history
* The fictional [[Marvel Comics|Marvel]] character [[Gambit (Marvel Comics)|Gambit]] is a mutant of Cajun descent

===Songs===
* "[[Jambalaya (On the Bayou)]]" (1952) is credited to [[Hank Williams]], about life, parties, and stereotypical Cajun cuisine. The music is taken from the Cajun song "Grand Texas".
* "[[Acadian Driftwood]]" (1975), a popular song based on the Acadian Expulsion by [[Robbie Robertson]], appeared on [[The Band]]'s album ''[[Northern Lights – Southern Cross]]''.
* "[[Louisiana Man]]" (1961), an autobiographical song written and performed by [[Doug Kershaw]], became the first song broadcast back to Earth from the Moon by the astronauts of [[Apollo 12]]. Over the years, the song has been recorded by hundreds of artists, sold millions of copies and become a standard of modern Cajun music.
* "Jolie Blonde" (or "Jolie Blon", "Jole Blon", or "Joli Blon"), with lyrics and song history of the traditional Cajun waltz, is often referred to as "the Cajun national anthem".
* "[[Mississippi Queen]]" is a 1970 song by [[Mountain (band)|Mountain]] about a Cajun woman visiting from Mississippi.
* "Elvis Presley Was a Cajun" is a song from the 1991 Irish film ''[[The Commitments (film)|The Commitments]]'', in which a two-piece band plays along to the lyric "Elvis was a Cajun, he had a Cajun heart."
* "[[Amos Moses]]" (1970), a song by [[Jerry Reed]], is about a fictional one-armed alligator-hunting Cajun man.
* "Perfect Day", a song by [[Lady Antebellum]], starts off with the singer seeing "a Cajun man with a red guitar singing on the side of the street" and throwing "a handful of change in his beat-up case and [saying] play me a country beat".
* "Cajun Hell", a song by American thrash metal band [[Exodus (band)|Exodus]], from 1989 album ''[[Fabulous Disaster]]''.
* "Queen Of New Orleans", a song by [[Jon Bon Jovi]] from the 1997 album [[Destination Anywhere (Jon Bon Jovi album)|Destination Anywhere]]
* "[[Adalida]]" by [[George Strait]] is a song about a "pretty little Cajun queen".
* "[[Pogue Mahone#Standard edition|Amadie]]", a song by [[The Pogues]] written by the band's early member [[The Pogues#Members|Andrew Ranken]] from their 1996 album ''[[Pogue Mahone]]'' which is a tribute to American musician Amadie Adouin aka [[Amédé Ardoin]] who popularized both [[Creole music]] and [[Cajun music]] in the early 20th century.

==Notable people==
{{Main list|List of Cajuns}}

==See also==
{{Portal|Louisiana}}
* [[Boudreaux and Thibodeaux]], traditional Cajun jokes
* [[Cajun cuisine]]
* [[Cajun music]]
* [[Cajun Navy]], ad-hoc volunteer flood rescue organization
* [[Expulsion of the Acadians]]
* [[Acadians]]
* [[French Americans]]
* [[French Canadians]]
* [[French language in the United States]]
* [[Louisiana Creole people]]
* [[University of Louisiana at Lafayette]], athletic program [[Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns|Ragin' Cajuns]]
* [[Acadian architecture]]

==References==

===Citations===
{{Reflist}}

===General sources===
* Hebert-Leiter, Maria, ''Becoming Cajun, Becoming American: The Acadian in American Literature from Longfellow to James Lee Burke''. Baton Rouge, LA: [[Louisiana State University Press]], 2009. {{ISBN|978-0-8071-3435-1}}.
* [[Dean Jobb|Jobb, Dean]], ''The Cajuns: A People's Story of Exile and Triumph'', John Wiley & Sons, 2005 (published in Canada as ''The Acadians: A People's Story of Exile and Triumph'')
* Chamberlain, Charles D., ''New Orleans: A Concise History of an Exceptional City'', Baton Rouge, Louisiana State University Press, 2025. ISBN 978-0807184875
* Fete De L'Assomption De La Vierge Marie, 15 aout 2015, 250 ans, L'Eglise Saint Martin du Tours et la foi Catholique, His Excellency Glen John Provost, D.D.
* Homily of the Priest, St. Martin de Tours Roman Catholic Church, Friday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time, Year 2017 of the Gregorian Calendar (See Mt. 13:18–23—the Reading is in the Roman Missal for this day)
* United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Catechism of the Catholic Church, Statement number 1831
* United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, New American Bible, copyright 1987, Book of James, Cpt. 1, Vs. 5

==External links==
{{Commons category|Cajuns}}
* [http://acadianmemorial.org Acadian Memorial]
* [http://www.acadianmuseum.com/ Acadian Museum]
* [http://vermilionville.org/ Vermilionville Living History Museum]

{{Ethnicity in Louisiana}}
{{French Americans by location}}
{{French diaspora}}
{{European Americans}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Cajun]]
[[Category:Acadian history]]
[[Category:Acadiana]]
[[Category:American folklore]]
[[Category:Culture of the Southern United States]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Louisiana]]
[[Category:French diaspora in North America]]