My Dad told me about a quote from Dennis McGee about being
called Créole. Nope, it was a quote
from Raymond E. Francois in his book, Ye Yaille, Chere! Traditional Cajun Dance
Music. Francois basically said his Mom
preferred to be called Creole and she got mad when she was called Cajun. But things changed and now “whites” call
themselves Cajun but French “blacks” still call themselves Creole. The quote is on page 43 where Francois talks
about Dennis McGee’s version of Bébé Créole.
It’s a good book. He talks about
the use of anse and pointe and how some place names were changed into
English. He has a lot of quotes from
people talking about the old days and he has, of course, lyrics to a bunch of
songs. He does talk about ancestry and
how his came from France but the French and Acadians and all other groups intermarried
a lot and we all became Cajun.
Louisiana French is real.
Louisiana French music is real.
History and genealogy are also very real.
Did the French Marines and settlers at Fort Toulouse sing
songs? Did the Illinois French settlers
and Marines sing? Did the French in
Saint Domingue sing? Did they know about
Mardi Gras? Did they know about pocking
eggs for Easter? Did the non-Acadian
French groups speak French? Did those
non-Acadian French people know how to dance?
Did they know how to cook? Did
they know card games? Etc, etc. Or did they learn all that from the Acadians?
What did these people do before the Acadians came? Watched TV and ate at Burger King? And how did the Acadians teach the Missouri
French people the French language and music?