I think I missed all this in the Gazette. It's a response filled with a lot of information. I have permission to share it from John LaFleur. You can contact him on FaceBook. Denise and I are going to Ville Platte tomorrow see. Hope it doesn't rain but that might be better than the humidity.
Dear Editor, On behalf of all educated Creoles and 'Cajuns'
I would like to address Mr. Barney Ortego's recent comments and concerns
appearing a week ago in the Ville Platte Gazette's "Letter To the
Editor".
First, of all, it is a big, but common mistake for people to
assume that the term 'Cajun' exists as a general term for all French people of
Louisiana; a very deliberate and rude presumption first started in the
Anglo-American 19th century press in Louisiana. In other words, after we became
Americans in 1803, American writers indiscriminately, and ignorantly lumped
together all French-speaking people of Louisiana as "cadjins." See
Dr. Carl A. Brasseaux's "Acadian To Cajun: Transformation of A People:
1803-1887," University Press of Mississippi 1992. This original spelling
of the contraction of 'Cadiens' was equal to the 'n' word for African
Americans. According to Dr. Carl A. Brasseaux, a true Acadian/Cajun scholar,
this word was derogatory and equal to 'white trash'. Clearly, no
self-respecting 'Frenchman' -Acadian, Canadien, French, Creole or Euro-franco
found this word to be flattering, and needless to say, none of them-including
the children of the first Acadians-embraced it as their cultural identity or
label.
In fact, when black Creoles were insulted by the 'n' word,
their Creole children 'returned the compliment' to white Creole children by
calling them 'cadjins'! The older members of both our diverse French Creole and
Acadian/Cajun communities continue to REJECT this term once coined by people
who hated our religion, interracial and intercultural people and languages,
even in its 'revised' form of "Cajun."
An example of a
living Acadian/Cajun is Mr. "Pem" Broussard of St. Martinville,
Louisiana who is a direct descendant of Joseph "Beausoleil"
Broussard, our Acadian folk hero. "N'oncle Pem" and I had the happy
coincidence of meeting on "Indian Day" at historic Vermilionville in
Lafayette, La., a year ago. I was amazed to hear him speaking in Louisiana
Creole, and not in Louisiana French which is incorrectly, but traditionally
referred to as "Cajun French," so you can understand my, uhh,
wonderment. N'oncle Pem, also flatly rejected any suggestion that he was a
"Cajun" insisting that he is "Creole!" And, of course,
knowing that he, like my Acadian ancestor, Francois Pitre (Joseph's 'bel-ami'
or best friend), was born and acculturated in la louisiane of Spanish-French
Louisiana, I certainly could not disagree! Clearly, N'oncle Pem did not imagine
"Creole" to have anything to do with 'race' or one's color! And, lest
there be any doubt among ye racially-sensitive; yes, "N'oncle Pem" is
white; oh, so white! And, of course, he's so RIGHT, too!
The earliest descendants of the original Acadians did, in
fact, refer to themselves as Creole, along with all other 'native-born'
colonial French, metis, African Spanish, some Italian and even Irish families.
See Dr. James H. Dormon's, "The People Called Cajuns: Introduction To An
Ethno-history." In Louisiana's colonial history-far beyond her American
status since 1803, and long before the Acadian arrival in 1765 with Francois
Pitre and Joseph Broussard's first Acadian families from Saint-Domingue (now
Haiti), where they spent nearly a decade awaiting their future destination to
Spanish Louisiana in 1765-ten years after the Grand Derangement began, in
1755-they were introduced to the very rich and prosperous French Creole culture
of France's once wealthiest sugar and coffee plantation colonies.
Many of these French Creoles are described by Napoleon I's
wife Empress Josephine's cousin/lawyer/historian, Elie Moreau de St. Mery in
his three-volume French work "Les Creoles de Saint-Domingue...."
What's interesting about his work is his use of "Creole" for all of
the three categories of people he describes in Saint-Domingue' historic
society: whites, their mixed-race children, and native-born black slaves. All
of these groups are referred to specifically; as first, "white
creoles" (creoles blancs), second, "creoles de couleur" (creoles
of color/mulatto or some version, thereof), and third, "creoles negres"
(blacks). According to scholar Bernt Ostendorf (whose research has superseded
Virginia Dominguez's research), who studied the documents in French, Spanish
and Portuguese across France and Spain's colonial empires, from the 1600s to
modern times, which includes Louisiana, the word 'creole' was never limited to
any single 'race' but, simply referred to anyone who was native-born in these
colonies, being the children of foreign-born parents, regardless of whether
they were black or white; European or African. But, in Louisiana, these
'native-born' people and their high quality products and lifestyle were to
change that view of themselves, as they gained wealth and France had to look to
"les Creoles" for financial support. Dogs, tomatoes, yams and yes,
people were all 'creole,' if native-born. (See images below) See by Bernt
Ostendorf, found in Dr. John Lowe's excellent compendia of scholarly essays
entitled "Louisiana Culture From The Colonial Era To Katrina," LSU
Press 2008.
This is the
pre-American historical, correct and original meaning or "definition"
if you will, for what "creole" has always been. And, it's also the
consistent use and meaning found in the Galvez Expedition muster rolls where
meticulous cultural identities such as 'Creole' or 'Acadian' or
"American" were used to distinguish Louisiana's participating
soldier/defenders. And, consistently, throughout French and Spanish Louisiana's
courthouse records, 'Creole' is used as a generic term for anyone who is born
in the colony, regardless of their ethnicity, in contrast to their foreign-born
parents, whether European or African, or even American! And, yes, Mr. Ortego
'creoles' were viewed as 'lesser quality citizens' of not only France and
Spain, but also in Africa; and in Europe this meant that they were not likely
to ever attain prestigious seats in governmental posts! Of course, New Orleans
born heiress, Michaela Pontalba, daughter of famed Spaniard, Juan Almonester y
Rozas of St. Louis cathedral and Jackson Square fame, was to definitely give the
Parisians something to talk about, and still their prejudice toward Louisiana
and other colonial-bred Creoles wouldn't ever really change. See Christina
Vella's, "Intimate Enemies: The Two Worlds of The Baronessa de
Pontalba," 2004 for more details. It remains a case of "them and
us," much as white Creoles were to view their/our "Creoles de
couleur" relatives at a later time. And, that later time came after we
became American in 1803. In the 1880s "Creole" with the capital
letter, came to represent a new, but 'racial-social' definition for high class
WHITES ONLY; compliments of legislator, lawyer and founder of the Louisiana
State Library, Charles Gayarre' who feared the Anglos would confuse 'creole' as
mulatto! Louisiana license plates also sported, due to his influence, the
special motto: "Louisiana The Creole State." After the Civil War
(1860s), 'Creoles de couleur' (Creoles of color), rightfully reacted including
themselves as 'Creoles' since they had come from the same WHITE ancestors and
did not wish to be confused with former freed and black slaves. See Dr.
Lawrence N. Powell's (retired Tulane University) "The New Orleans of
George Washington Cable: The 1887 Census Office Report" for more details.
This only heightened
white Creole fears of racial confusion, resulting in all kinds of Jim Crow and
Reconstruction-era laws designed to deprive Creoles de couleur (Creoles of
color), of long-held rights and social status nearly equal to that of their
white Creole cousins. The infamous 'one drop rule' for example, came into
existence in 1910, as did a variety of anti-miscegenation laws designed to keep
whites and blacks apart; all worsening relationships which had been remarkably
harmonious between these two groups in French and Spanish Louisiana. Eventually,
on the heels of the Civil Rights era which kept old fears and racial hatreds
hot, a new cultural identity opened up when Lafayette's tourist bureau and a
handful of then, young Acadian activists who would later become UL professors,
were to force a misspelled version of the old "Cadjin" (a corruption
of Acadien, and a label long abhorred by all French people since it meant,
"white trash"), as a safe, but guaranteed WHITE alternative to then,
socially unsafe "Creole."
The 1970s saw a
young, Governor Edwards under the tutelage of the infamous Senator Dudley
"Hadacol" LeBlanc and proud French Creole Jimmy Domengeaux (CODOFIL's
first president), who insisted upon modern French to be taught in Louisiana
schools, together introduced a bill creating a fictional, but
economically-promising region of imaginary Acadian settlement know as
"Acadiana," and the rest is truly a big and forty-six year long
myth-history which was to re-label our Louisiana French as "Cajun
French" along with our food and music traditions, as well. But, it's been
a prosperous "Acadian-based" cultural fairytale, complete with its'
mythical princess, "Evangeline" from which fable, Paulin Fontenot
derived the namesake for our parish in 1910, foreseeing a potentially prosperous
American tourism emerging; as did many poor Creoles, who desperately needed an
economic boost. Our beloved Jimmy C. Newman, of recent and fond memory, passed
as a 'Cajun' as did Chef K-Paul Prudhomme of Opelousas, and most of the whites
of our historic French colonial and Creole parishes and made fortunes from this
cultural Mardi Gras! Of course, there were other men of greater scruple who
provide us with historic exceptions to the rule of profit-at-the
expense-of-historical reality. The late Tony Chachere of Tony Chachere's Famous
Creole Seasonings was and remains one of the most successful entrepreneurs who
chose not to sell his Creole cultural 'shirt' for the new 'Cajun' identity. He
was proud of his family's ethnic and historic cultural heritage and chose to
continue to identify as 'Creole,' in spite of the silly racial fears played
upon by politicians of that sad time.
Old "N'oncle Dud" certainly made a fortune from
selling his "Hadacol" juice, and his Acadian Miracle
(fairytale-history books giving the Acadians credit for our 500 year old
multi-ethnic and international culture which has never and still doesn't exist
in Acadie, Canada) and others continue to do so, today.
Such is the power of the dollar, cher! With honest commerce,
I have no quarrel, nor with a person's choice of how to identify culturally.
So, if anyone chooses to identify as "Cajun' (whatever that means, since
its meaning has changed several times according to the economic and
sociological objectives out of Lafayette), he or she, is certainly free to do
so. But, for those of us who, like Tony Chachere, remain proud of who we are
and of our shared historic French Creole and/or metis cultural identities, we
stand on the better side of history, and so deserve respect for our integrity
to truth. And, I am glad to see from the front-page feature of the recent
edition of the "Bonnes Nouvelles" magazine, those of us who stood up
for our historic and shared culture-for our history-that respect has come for
ALL of us; black Creoles, Creoles of color, white and metis Creoles, who were
all in attendance. Among such outstanding representatives were Evangeline
Parish's coroner, Dr. Charles Fontenot, Evangeline Bank's president, Mr. Jake
Ardoin, Pharmacist Blake Vidrine, a wide variety of lawyers such as Tony Dupre'
and Cathy Mayers, the Semien Law Firm of Lake Charles and many other
professional people including our president, Gene Buller and Editor in Chief of
"Bonnes Nouvelles" magazine, Bobby Dardeau. Our effervescent Mayor
Jennifer Vidrine, who kept things lively, along with many other honorees,
scholars and guests including KLFY TV 10, and home radio KVPI's Martel Ardoin
and coverage in the "Ville Platte Gazette" as well as, in other
regional newspapers.! We also had true Acadian/Cajun descendants such as the
honorable Boisy Pitre, my cousin attend, in full recognition of his own
Louisiana-grown 'Creole' cultural heritage on Creole Families Bastille Day
Heritage Festival, on July 12. And, two very special ladies, my beloved and
self-proclaimed cousin Mary LaFleur, daughter of the great hotel entrepreneur
Hosea LaFleur of New Orleans by way of Ville Platte, and her daughter Youlanda
Stevens also surprised us with a visit. Scholars Brian Costello of New Roads,
Dr. Ina Fandrich of New Orleans, Alexandra Giancarlo of Canada, Editor of
Cultural Vistas magazine, David Johnson of New Orleans were all in attendance,
as was author, entrepreneur Mary Gehman of Donaldsonville. We also deliberately
celebrated our historic faith as represented in the Roman Catholic Church's
presence with two of our openly-Creole priests, Father Jason Vidrine, Pastor
Sacred Heart of Jesus, and Father Brad David Guillory, Assoc. Pastor Our Lady
Queen Of All Saints, who officiated, along with our Indian Creole, Chief John
"Sitting Bear" Mayeux, all illustrating the triumph of good over the
evils wrought by the French Revolution, while we celebrated our beloved
democratic and Christian values of freedom, equality and yes, brotherhood of
all our good people! It was historic, memorable and remarkable.
With only the best regards, Mr. Barney Ortego, I hope your
concerns have been answered. I am always available to answer anyone's genuine
concerns or inquiry.
John laFleur II, Louisiana Creole Author, Independent
Scholar & Educator
LOUISIANA CREOLE Pride & LOUSIANA HISTORY, REUNTED, AT
LAST! By John LAFleur II, All rights reserved, copyright 2015