You have probably heard a lot about Cajuns. A lot of what you have heard is NOT true. This page will help you understand us better… So, the best place to begin is by defining just exactly what a Cajun is…

It is the English language pronunciation of the French term, Cadien. Originally applied to the Acadians that came to Louisiana from Nova Scotia, the word Cajun is used for any descendent of southern Louisiana's French-speaking culture. It also includes German and other cultures that have made themselves part of French-speaking Louisiana.

A Cajun is not the same as a Creole, who may also be a French speaking Louisianian. At the time Acadians settled in Louisiana, the word Creole referred to people born in the French colony of Louisiana, not immigrants from another land. Today, Creole usually refers to the black French speaking culture of Louisiana. Creoles had a strong influence on the Cajuns that migrated here, especially when it comes to food, music and architecture.

The earliest Cajuns hunted, trapped, and fished for food as they lived off the land and learned many of their survival skills from the local Indians. The Cajuns lived a very simple, but rich life.

In spite of the fact that the early Cajuns had a difficult time adjusting to the warm and humid Louisiana climate in comparison to that of Acadia, they began to farm crops. Some of them were experienced pork and beef ranchers in their native Acadia.

According to the 1990 census, 35% - 45% of the inhabitants of Lafourche Parish are of Cajun ancestry. Mais yah! Dat’s true!

My first book, Cajun Woman: Pure and Simple gives you a peek into that Cajun way of life as I have lived it beginning in 1935. Here is an excerpt from that book:

I left the small town of Raceland, LA to attend Charity Hospital School of Nursing in New Orleans in September of 1953 at the age of seventeen.

My arrival in that big city made me aware of a lot of things. Students from the big cities laughed at my accent. I didn’t let them know this bothered me. I covered up by laughing with them. When I was asked, “And, how old were you when your mama bought you your first pair of shoes?” I replied while making my accent even flatter, “Mais, she bought me a pair right before I came to school in New Orleans!”

Today, anything Cajun is considered great. It was not so then. Cajuns were treated without R-E-S-P-E-C-T, as Aretha Franklin sang in the song, by city dwellers! My parents spoke French and so did my sister and I, though we understood it much better than we spoke it. My mother, sister and I spoke English well. My father never did like to speak English. He was always much more comfortable speaking French.

I had always been proud of my upbringing until then. While in nursing school though, I wondered about my own value since it seemed to me that those of us from the country were looked down upon. I wanted to be like everyone else at school. I called it acting citified.

The first thing they did there was mispronounce my last name. They insisted on saying Fo-Ret (rhymed with net). I would tell them it was pronounced like 4 -A. They finally got it right!

New Orleans introduced me to the word “coonass.” Now there are a lot of theories about how Cajuns got this moniker. Coonass is a controversial term in the Cajun culture. Some Cajuns regard it as the supreme ethnic slur, meaning stupid, ignorant or backwards and equal to Dago or Wop to Italians, Polock to the Polish immigrants, or Nigger to the African-Americans. Some see it as a badge of pride. In South Louisiana, it is not uncommon to see bumper stickers reading “Warning — Coonass on Board!” or “Registered Coonass.” The word’s origin is unclear. Barry Jean Ancelet, Cajun folklorist, suggests that the word originated in South Louisiana, and it derived from the belief that Cajuns frequently ate raccoons. He also proposes that the term contains a negative racial connotation: namely, that Cajuns were “beneath” or “under” blacks (or coons, as blacks were often called by racists). Others say the origin of the term is said to have come from the French word “conasse.” During the Second World War, many Cajun men served in the armed forces. When in France, many of the French heard the Cajuns speaking in a French that was both very old and in a French very different from that spoken in France. Supposedly, the Frenchmen called the Cajuns “conasse,” which translates to a very low-grade prostitute.

I have never liked being called a coonass! And, I don’t think anyone really knows where that term originated. My definition of a coonass is the “little hole right under the coon’s tail.”

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