John has written a book that gives basic information on Creole heritage in Louisiana. Sounds good to me because most people don't have time to read long, dry history books filled with $10 words that you need a dictionary to understand what is being said. Hopefully one day short children's books will also be written for future generations. Think about it. School field days take kids to the Acadian Cultural Center in Eunice. All the 'tite Fontenots, Vidrines, Guillorys, etc etc learning about only one group of people. And the tour guide or "teacher" tells all the little kids that's why you're Cajun. Except for the little "Black" or mixed kids. Them they say you're like the Cajuns but you're Creole. Maybe a young "White" kid would say his Dad and Mom told him they were Creole. And the "teacher" will say his/her parents are wrong. You're a Cajun. Maybe kid would get cocky and say there is no Acadian heritage or history in the area and so we can't really be Cajun. And the "teacher" might get frustrated with all the complications and simply tell the kid you're "White" and so Cajun. Your distant cousin sitting next to you is "Black" so he's a Creole. Oh, OK, now I get it. Yeah, right.
Thank you John and hopefully more people will learn more. The following information was written by John about his new book.
Introducing LOUISIANA'S CREOLE PEOPLE, LANGUAGE, FOOD & CULTURE: 500 Years of Culture! by John la Fleur II
Too often both our people and tourists are lost in trying to understand and explain who and what we are as Louisiana's Creole French people, what our culture really is, who created it and where and how it developed.
Louisiana tour guides also frequently complain of not having authoritative, but easy-to-read booklets or handbooks which address the concerns tourists and everyday people need to correctly understand how, why and where from the confusion began.
Tourists are confused by Lafayette''s 43-year long mass-marketed myth of an "Acadian-based culture" which created the "Cajun" myth-history which gives credit to Acadian Canada for the origins of both our historic Creole French language, food culture and social traditions! But, these myths can't explain the founding of not only New Orleans, but of Natchitoches and Opelousas, St. Martinville, New Iberia or the fabulous plantation homes of River Road and Pointe Coupee Parishes, to say nothing of St. Landry and Avoyelles Parishes Napoleonic-era cultural influences!
These places were all Creole cultural centers long established before the arrival of the poor Acadians!
his little handbook is a complete and needed update and wonderfully edited revision of a previous work, "Laissez Les Bontemps Rouler!..." featuring new chapters explaining how French Chefs also added to the confusion of what is Louisiana "Creole" cooking and culture and thus, enabling Lafayette's Cajun country cultural myth. It also provides a chapter sure to remove the historic blunder of confusing "Haitian Creole" culture and language with Louisiana's much older Creole culture. And, at last, the inclusion of the important contributions of the Choctaw in creating
Louisiana's first strata of Creole French/metis culture is brought forward, thus illustrating the racism and ignorance of the 'black & white' cultural Siamese twins of 'Cajun vs. Creole' has been as represented out of Lafayette!
An absolutely essential study of our Louisiana Creole French People, Language, Food And Culture, this little book will provide you and everyone who reads it with the bigger picture of true history with well-documented facts in very readable language along with scholarly references which cannot be ignored by intelligent and educated people.
I have written this little book for the benefit of all Louisiana's Creole French, metis & Acadian creole people, as well as, for the education and benefit of tourists, tour guides and teachers who are tired of the simplistic fables pumped out of Lafayette for now forty-three years!
This little book is first being offered as an e-book on BookRix.com and across Amazon.com for only $4.99 It will be available sometime, next week.
Later, will be published in softcover edition and available upon request from me directly through my FB page and email: creolebookstore@hotmail.com