Creole or Cajun??? (New Orleans, Lafayette, New Iberia: middle-class, sales, school)

[Bel et Intelligent]

If you have knowledge about this subject please respond....I am of Creole decent but, I notice here in Lafayette and I'm sure other places in S Louisiana Cajuns dominate as far as name sake. Yea I understand there are more Cajuns in the area but, I wish Creole people got more recognition for our part in molding the culture. We share alot of the same things, ideas, traditions and even our French last names . But not everything down here came as a result of the Cajun culture. Alot of food, spices, and recipes come from Creole people. I'm not trying to start a fight between our people, I just wish we had a little bit more recognition

[Louisiana'sLegend2]

I dont know much about it being a "N. Louisiana native", but I visited Opelousas alot and the people say creole people have the biggest influence customs and culture wise. Maybe its just that Cajuns outnumber the creoles and weren't cajuns here first? The creole are the ones with the indian/african culture as well as the french? I dont know......... speak on it everybody.

[ral31]

There is a large Creole population in Natchitoches Parish in the Cane River area. Many of them have last names like Metoyer, Baudoin, and Bayonne.

[green_mariner]

I am part Creole myself(on my mother's side of the family). I would say the difference between Cajun food and Creole food is that Cajun food is very spicy. Creole food tends to use more butter fat and cream. Creoles are people who descended from French settlers, many of who are also mixed with African ancestry. many Cajuns are the descendants of French-Canadians who migrated from Nova Scotia/New Brunswick. The name "Cajun" came from Acadian, because the land they came from was referred to as Acadia. Not all persons who are of French descent are Creole or Cajun though.

[bustaduke]

Originally Posted by Bel et Intelligent

If you have knowledge about this subject please respond....I am of Creole decent but, I notice here in Lafayette and I'm sure other places in S Louisiana Cajuns dominate as far as name sake. Yea I understand there are more Cajuns in the area but, I wish Creole people got more recognition for our part in molding the culture. We share alot of the same things, ideas, traditions and even our French last names . But not everything down here came as a result of the Cajun culture. Alot of food, spices, and recipes come from Creole people. I'm not trying to start a fight between our people, I just wish we had a little bit more recognition

Don't think the Cajuns were respected or received recognition at first. In fact most were even taught to stop speaking French and to start speaking English in school and be more American.

It took years for Cajuns to receive recognition and it was achieved through hard work and to never give up hope. Even to this day some people still look down on Cajuns as a second class of people, but all in all I think they are respected and receive recognition for their part in Louisiana history.

May be because of where I live, (New Orleans) that I see both Creoles and Cajuns receiving recognition for who they are and what they have brought to Louisiana history.

I for one, am proud to have both Creole and Cajun brothers and sisters as friends and family and to learn as much as I can about their culture and history.

busta

[Huckleberry3911948]

cajun is arcadians that came down from canada.
different group.

[bamba_boy]

I had a creole (at least she SAID she was) friend here in Houston, coincidently with the name Metoyer that was mentioned earlier. The way she described it Creoles and Cajuns both have a French connection. However, the difference is that Cajuns were more "country French" and Creoles were more the "city-French" who settled New Orleans in the 17th and 18th century. Some people also include Spanish colonial settlers who ruled New Orleans for a short period. The Cajuns, far from aristocratic colonialists, were basically religiously-persecuted protestants who were thrown out of France and settled in Arcadia (up in the maritime provinces of what is now Canada) by the aristocratic Roman Catholic French. Well, when the Brits took over Canada, they , dang-it, had to pack up and move again. They wisely chose one of the toughest places in America to survive, the swamps of central and southwestern La. and have been pretty much left alone for two or three hundred years, except by the oil companies doing seismic surveys and exploration & production drilling.

My friend also, as is common with Creoles, was a olive-skinned beauty with slightly exotic features - the result of an Octoroon-ball hook up with a young rich French Boy, no doubt. I think it's generally more common for the Cajuns to stick with fellow white Cajuns while the Creoles cover all points on the color spectrum.

My cousin married a "Cajun" who, while everybody in Lafayette and New Iberia probably consider them Cajuns, really is yet a third category. He's the grandson of a middle-class French guy who moved to America in the 30's or 40s, well past the colonial and Arcadian-exodus period, and moved into a cajun town to be an auto mechanic, speaking fluent French and having a French name. He's actually a "French-American" rather than either Cajun or Creole. There are probably a lot of "Frenchies" in La that are in such a nebulous category as well. Everybody understand now??

[bustaduke]

Originally Posted by pirate_lafitte

Creole food tends to use more butter fat and cream.

Finely I have someone to blame my fat rear end on lol. I try and tell that to my wife and she just gives me the look, you know that look don't ya.


busta

[green_mariner]

Originally Posted by bustaduke

Finely I have someone to blame my fat rear end on lol. I try and tell that to my wife and she just gives me the look, you know that look don't ya.


busta

My mother sometimes made Cajun food.

[Bel et Intelligent]

I have a tradional cajun last name (Prejean) but I have creole blood going through my vains, sometimes I feel like a big pot of gumbo lol.. Creole music plays a big part in the lafayette area, and even though its not main stream in America, the music is making alot of noise in the world of music. From the Cajun Dome to Cajun food the name really sales itself, I think Creole will always take a back seat to Cajun culture. I dont mind that as long as the creole culture doesnt get lost.. Here is the national flag for the French Creole of Louisiana