Cajun Culture Essay

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Southern culture is based upon three main things. The south is known for its hospitality, language, and food. Here is a bit of an overview on the history and background of the Cajun culture and language. Cajun culture began with the arrival of French Acadians who migrated to and settled in what is now Louisiana mainly between 1765 and 1785 (Cajuns, 1996). Cajun French is a variety of the French language spoken primarily in Louisiana, specifically in the southern parishes (Cajun French, 2016). The Cajuns spoke French almost exclusively until the 20th century. Many would learn English get along in an increasingly Anglo society as the 19th century progressed, but their main language was Cajun French. The basics of the language is their Acadian …show more content…

In the book the Cajuns: Americanization of a people by Shane k. Bernard talks about how they were not allowed to speak to the teachers in French. If French words were spoken, “they were turned over to the principal’s office, where the principal had a set of rubber tubes tied together and we were whipped. The girls caught were punished different, as they were forced to walk around the flagpole with bricks in their hands”(Bernard, p.19). In my last interview Mrs.Winola comments that “school was fun at first but the teachers didn’t want us speaking French while on the school grounds so if we were caught speaking the language we would be punished.” She also says how her and her brother were caught speaking French and were forced to write lines “we will not speak Cajun French while on the school grounds.” Because of the very fact of the children being disciplined for speaking the only language they really knew this had caused them to not pass down the language to the different generations and teaching making the language die out little by little. In another one of my resent interviews Mrs. Debbie Johnson says one of her grandfathers barely spoke any English because of this and her not being taught Cajun French she rarely communicated with her grandfather making her not have a close relationship with him. Mrs. Debbie Johnson also stated in the interview “I

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