What are you if you are from Louisiana? (New Orleans, Shreveport: home, university)

[stephonee3]

Originally Posted by sonjarrn

People in South Louisiana are usually Cajuns, Creoles or Coonasses. I have cousins in Lake Charles and Hackberry and we call them Coonasses.. Don't know where that word originated but thats what they are called. People of the Northern region of Louisiana are a little different in lifestyles and accent when speaking,, like two different states. The North are more country and some call themselves rednecks. We are all Louisianians and our hospitality to our fellow Americans is well, just plain Southern hospitality.

correction people in south eastern louisiana are cajuns
there can be no assumption made about all of southern louisianaians!
Where I live about 20mins from New Orleans we are not cajuns nor creoles and we are a part of southern louisiana! If you are to classify different areas of louisiana you would have to catagorize all different areas [you may not lump everyone into one category]. south easteren louisianians may be cajuns or creoles, but south western louisianians are (from what i know from living here) NOT! sorry for being a little hostile or mean ( that was not my intention) but i didn't like being lumped into that catagory (no offense to the cajuns...it's just the simple fact that i am not one)!

[stephonee3]

Originally Posted by snowsbunny

What I have said about Lafayette, Louisiana should be considered if you are thinking about moving to New Orleans.

When I attended conferences at Tulane before Katrina, I could not find the address for the Bed and Breakfast which was nearby. Knocking on doors, I found myself ignored. People of New Orleans are afraid of strangers, afraid of answering their doors at night, triple or quadruple lock their doors during the day and night, and for outsiders trying to find their way, this is also terrifying.

Then there is the pollution from before and after Katrina. Landfills, incinerators, oil refineries and chemical plants poison the soil and poisons run off site with the potential to enter the properties of neighbors. This increases the risks of cancers, neurological, immunological, and other diseases to pets, children, and adults living downwind or downstream from such facilities.

Independent studies have found that communities high in pollution, also have high crime rates. Perhaps, that's why Lafayette is a safer place in which to live. Our pollution is considerably lower than the Greater New Orleans area.

Consider this when deciding where to move if you are coming to Louisiana.

Ofcourse people dont want to open their doors, in any large city why would any resident want to open their doors to people they dont know! We were taught not to open the door when we dont know who is at the door! would you rather us open the door to everyone and get robbed or worse?? Go to any large city in the U.S. and you will get the same treatment or worse! im sorry that you were treated that way, but we are taught to be weary of strangers (especially because we live in a city with a high crime rate).

I would say if you want to live in a smaller, less populated, more rural area city then Lafayette is deff. a better choice!

I would never consider moving there, but i also will not live in New Orleans once a graduate college!

[stephonee3]

Originally Posted by MDMcLaney

A Louisiananians, thats what we are. Cajuns are only from the swamp areas. Same as Coon asses. But most of the time when people ask where we are from, we tell them New Orleans due to pride. If indeed you are. Then you are a New Orleanean.

YESS deff. i always consider myself a New Orleanean [because of pride]!

[stephonee3]

Sorry if my arguments come on a little strong, i am very oppinionated and it's always hard for me to hold my tounge!

I really dont want to come off as rude or mean (or whatever)
I just say that i am very stubborn and oppinionated (which is not always a good thing)

[hdwell]

Originally Posted by Mississippienne

"Creole" is a term that's changed meanings with the years. Originally, it meant someone of French descent born in the Americas. Josephine de Beauharnais, the empress of Napoleon, was called a Creole because she was born in Martinique to French parents. Later, the word Creole came to mean anyone in the French-speaking communities of Louisiana, and a lot of those people happened to be mixed race, French and Spanish with African. Cajun is a bit more specific, because that term refers to the descendants of Acadian settlers from Canada.

Louisianans can be from Cajun stock, or African, or Creole, or Scots-Irish, or English, or Native American, or any imaginable combination of all of the above.

My friend, there are certainly more ethnic groups in La than what you have listed here. I would never assume that anyone is a certain lineage just because of his/her last name. In this state are small communities of Hungarians Czechs Yugoslavs and larger Italian and Greek communities coupled with a healthy German population. We are all not either French or Scotch-Irish or African. Please, lets keep our story straight here. Thanks

[hdwell]

Originally Posted by mdmagana

Since I am looking to move that way, Louisiana has been the topic of conversation at dinner the last few nights. An interesting question came up... What are you if you are from Louisiana?

For example, someone from California is a Californian, someone from New Mexico is a New Mexican, etc... What is the correct term for someone from Louisiana?

Louisianian? Louisian? Neither of those sounded right to me. My mom says say Cajun, but I thought Cajuns were their own group within Louisiana's population. Sorry if this seems like a really dumb question, but it has been on my mind for a couple of days.

Md, thanks for the inquiry about the Louisiana folk. Please do tell your Mom that we are not all Cajun. Were I, I would be proud of it for sure. Met many nice Cajun people in my life. Fact remains, I'm not one. Some people from other states mistakenly think Cajun is a nickname for Louisianian. And some people who live here will pretend to be Cajun even if they aren't. So you see that myth will always be around. Correctly, Louisianians are not all Cajun.

[lovesMountains]

Originally Posted by hdwell

Md, thanks for the inquiry about the Louisiana folk. Please do tell your Mom that we are not all Cajun. Were I, I would be proud of it for sure. Met many nice Cajun people in my life. Fact remains, I'm not one. Some people from other states mistakenly think Cajun is a nickname for Louisianian. And some people who live here will pretend to be Cajun even if they aren't. So you see that myth will always be around. Correctly, Louisianians are not all Cajun.

Exactly. As I stated before, we aren't all lucky enough to be cajuns

[Drouzin]

Stephonee3, "south easteren louisianians may be cajuns or creoles, but south western louisianians are (from what i know from living here) NOT!"

Stephonee3, I'm going to apologize in advance because I'm sure that this post is going to come across as me being argumentative; I assure you I don't mean to be. I just have to disagree with you.

Actually anything southwest of NOLA is generally referred to as Cajun country. Lafayette claims the motto, "The Heart of Cajun Country." And small towns, like Eunice which hosts the "Laissez les bons temps rouler au rendezvous des Cajuns", a live Cajun music show every Saturday night at the Liberty Theatre, and St. Martinville (considered the birthplace of Cajun culture and traditions) is the spot for the famous Evangeline Oak from Longfellow's poem, are bastions of Cajun culture and traditions.

There are several groups who claim to be Cajun for example, the German Coast families of Lafourche and Terrebonne Parishes. Who actually arrived (1721), before the Acadians exile beginning in 1755. Because the two groups intermarried for generations they both call themselves Cajuns. Specifically Cajuns are descended from a group of approximately 3,000 people exiled from Canada there is a memorial in St. Martinville which lists the names of the original Acadians.

If anyone is interested in researching their Cajun roots I would highly recommend the Father Hebert volumes, titled Southwest Louisiana Records, as an excellent starting point. You can also wiki "Cajun" and the site will produce a map of "Cajun County" and of course information.

Also if you are able to pick up 100.3 FM in the NOLA area the Rajun Cajun plays Cajun music in the AM along with hosts who will occasionally speak Cajun French. There is even a segment where they will give you a Cajun word of the day.

Again, Stephee3 I don't mean any ill will, as a dabbling genealogist who has researched into her own Cajun/German Coast roots, I just had to say something. I hope you don't take offence.

[lovesMountains]

Originally Posted by Drouzin

Stephonee3, "south easteren louisianians may be cajuns or creoles, but south western louisianians are (from what i know from living here) NOT!"

Stephonee3, I'm going to apologize in advance because I'm sure that this post is going to come across as me being argumentative; I assure you I don't mean to be. I just have to disagree with you.

Actually anything southwest of NOLA is generally referred to as Cajun country. Lafayette claims the motto, "The Heart of Cajun Country." And small towns, like Eunice which hosts the "Laissez les bons temps rouler au rendezvous des Cajuns", a live Cajun music show every Saturday night at the Liberty Theatre, and St. Martinville (considered the birthplace of Cajun culture and traditions) is the spot for the famous Evangeline Oak from Longfellow's poem, are bastions of Cajun culture and traditions.

There are several groups who claim to be Cajun for example, the German Coast families of Lafourche and Terrebonne Parishes. Who actually arrived (1721), before the Acadians exile beginning in 1755. Because the two groups intermarried for generations they both call themselves Cajuns. Specifically Cajuns are descended from a group of approximately 3,000 people exiled from Canada there is a memorial in St. Martinville which lists the names of the original Acadians.

If anyone is interested in researching their Cajun roots I would highly recommend the Father Hebert volumes, titled Southwest Louisiana Records, as an excellent starting point. You can also wiki "Cajun" and the site will produce a map of "Cajun County" and of course information.

Also if you are able to pick up 100.3 FM in the NOLA area the Rajun Cajun plays Cajun music in the AM along with hosts who will occasionally speak Cajun French. There is even a segment where they will give you a Cajun word of the day.

Again, Stephee3 I don't mean any ill will, as a dabbling genealogist who has researched into her own Cajun/German Coast roots, I just had to say something. I hope you don't take offence.

Frankly, I'm glad you said it - I didn't have time to earlier today when I wanted to, thanks for saving me the trouble

[Erpo]

One of the most serious option of the origin of the word "Coonass" would comes from the WW2 when American soldiers from Louisiana conversed with French soldiers, these couldn't clearly understand this old fashion French, remembered them the way were talking a "connasse" which in slang French is a kind of low grade stupid woman. This word is still in use in France to describe a very silly woman.