I’m gonna throw this out and play with this idea. What if the Acadians never came to Louisiana
but everything else was exactly the same. Forget about labels too. The word Creole was never adopted by the
French and the word Cajun was never invented, being of course, there were never
Acadians here. Any historic Acadian
players would be either French or Canadian.
2013 in Evangeline Parish
Would the older people speak French?
Yes.
Would people my age talk like dat and dis and get down at da
store to buy a panse?
Yes.
Would the KVPI crew in Ville Platte have La Tasse de Café?
Yes.
Would Ville Platte have the Tournoi and Smoked Meat
Festival?
Yes.
Would Madame Grand Doigts come to visit?
Not sure but I think so.
Would we pock eggs for Easter?
Yes.
Would we celebrate Mardi Gras and in the same way?
Yes … but I wonder how similar.
Would we have “French” music?
Yes … but most probably not exactly the same but very
similar, I’m sure. Like I said,
everything would be the same minus Acadians; even though a lot of Cajun and
Creole (aka: White and Black/Mixed Louisiana French) music comes from this
area.
See this article:Vermilion Today.com Why does so much Louisiana French music come from the prairies of Evangeline Parish and western St Landry? by Jim Bradshaw
Would we eat boudin, tasso, gumbo, jambalaya, okra, crepes,
gratins, panse, have cochon de laits, etc, and in the past held boucheries?
Yes.
Would we have cabanes to put the garden stuff in?
Yes.
Would bourree be played?
Yes.
I think I’m right in all those and the list could go
on. I'm for sure not an expert but I would appreciate anyone telling me that, without a doubt, none of the things I mentioned would be possible had the Acadians never arrived in Louisiana and these are the 1+1=2 reasons why. Please don't give the usual 1+1=3 because the number 3 is cooler than the number 2 kind of reasons.