Interesting quotes from 80s

Mamou Acadian Press (Mamou, LA)
March 25, 1982
Revon Reed

“The original Franco-Americans that settled this neck of the prairie did not consider themselves Cajuns or Acadians at all, but rather they referred to themselves and their ancestors as Creole-French. As late as 1946, I recall my father saying ‘What’s this with Cajuns? We’re not Cajuns. We’re Creoles. As far back as I know we referred to ourselves as Creoles from France, not Canada.’” But almost overnight everyone started referring to themselves as Cadiens which they pronounced Cadjins (Cajun apparently became the English spelling.) These people were right. Most of the early St. Landry homesteaders were French descendants. Not Acadians. Old Opelousas journals of the time bear this out. Fontenots, Fuseliers, Guillorys, and Soileaus all came from France…”

The Gazette (Ville Platte, LA) Jules Ashlock (80s - can't find exact date)

“Before describing the adventures of the maid Evangeline, as I promised last week, it might be best to consider the people who first inhabited what is now Evangeline Parish. When I was a boy my grandmother, who was a Lafleur and could speak no English, and all of my relatives never referred to us as Cajuns. We were always called Creoles, pronounced Cray-all in French…”

Thanks to Dad who collected these old articles. It sheds light on the words Cajun and Creole and how their meanings have changed. I find it interesting that these quotes are from the 80s – that’s fairly recent. But it seems to go in one ear and out the other because many people I talk with will say they are Cajun – aka - Acadian. CODOFIL and the state did a good job at promoting the French culture of Louisiana, but they messed up with their Acadie = Cajun = Louisiana propaganda.

They should have taught all “Cajuns” their true histories and why the word Cajun is used to describe the culture. And think about it. Evangeline Parish is one of the Cajun Heartland parishes, and the culture was primarily created by the French Creoles. So there. Call it Cajun but don’t say Cajun means Acadian - because it doesn’t. Our few Acadian ancestors that came up here to Evangeline learned from the French Creoles here and married into the Creole families.

That’s not anti-Acadian, please understand. It’s knowledge I’m sharing - knowledge about our history and culture.