What is the difference between a creole and cajun person? (New Orleans: live, food)

[Jolseen]

im very interested about Louisiana culture/history, but what is the difference between the people is cajun people just french and creole is black, a french someone tell me and the zydeco music is interesting.

[Innotech]

Cajuns mainly came from Acadia in nova Scotia and migrated down to the Lafayette/Acadiana region. The music is French based, and more folkish. the food is thought of as more spicy, but is really just seasoned heavily and is made of cheap ingredients. The Cajuns don't do the whole voodoo thing.

Creoles are a mix of peoples. Whites, blacks mainly. Some of them came from the caribbean and up North. Because New Orleans is a port town, the culture is a huge mix of other cultures. Jazz and Zydeco reign here. The food is more caribbean and African influenced.

Because of close proximity and modern travel, the two cultures have mixed together to make one really kick ass identity for Louisiana. They are so closely intertwined that both regions have characteristics of the other.

[aab7855]

The real difference you should absolutely draw is linguistic. Cajun French and Creole French are not the same thing...both are interesting dialects of French but I repeat, they are not the same. Cajun is 17th Century French with many of the words trapped in time and many others added by the folks in Southwest Louisiana rather than in Paris. Also a lot of words have been borrowed from Native Americans, Africans and the Spanish, among others. Creole is much more directly influenced by Africans, and in fact Louisiana and Haiti share a great deal of cultural bonds due to the Creole influence.

[ORLwizyan]

I agree fully with the two comments above, they pretty much sum it all up.

Though the two groups are different, it's mostly histroy that sperates them. The cultures like Innotech said have merged greatly over time but they are both still recognized as seperate groups here in South Louisiana.

Another indicator is Last Names. It comes pretty clear knowing which a person is, cajun or Creole by their last names, most Cajun names end with eaux, oux, aux e.g. ( Armoneaux, Guilbeau, Dubois, or Theriot ) all end in an " o " sound just with a different spelling, but dont get confused with what im saying, all Cajun names do not do this but a great deal do.

Some common Cajun names that end with other endings are; Aucoin ( pronouced o-quin ), Eymard, Billiot, Broussrad and Bellefontaine.

For Creoles the names are greatly normal/ common French derivatives such as; Martin, Bernard, Bourque, and Camhout. Which shows the groups direct French past.

[SLIMMACKEY]

Most of the Cajun descedants are around Lafayette, Acadiana, ect...mostly South Central to Southwest Louisiana. They are mainly descendants of the people whom Bonaparte brought down from Acadia to populate the territory when France acquired it. Creole is a mix of Black, white(a lot of French citizens and Slave owners mixed with Blacks), Indian and some Spanish. You find a lotta Creole people from where im From, New Orleans. Bad thing is that most people dont speak the language like one would like because if it wasnt spoken in the families, then you most likely lose it if you dont use it. Hope that helps.

[SLIMMACKEY]

Originally Posted by ORLwizyan

I agree fully with the two comments above, they pretty much sum it all up.

Though the two groups are different, it's mostly histroy that sperates them. The cultures like Innotech said have merged greatly over time but they are both still recognized as seperate groups here in South Louisiana.

Another indicator is Last Names. It comes pretty clear knowing which a person is, cajun or Creole by their last names, most Cajun names end with eaux, oux, aux e.g. ( Armoneaux, Guilbeau, Dubois, or Theriot ) all end in an " o " sound just with a different spelling, but dont get confused with what im saying, all Cajun names do not do this but a great deal do.

Some common Cajun names that end with other endings are; Aucoin ( pronouced o-quin ), Eymard, Billiot, Broussrad and Bellefontaine.

For Creoles the names are greatly normal/ common French derivatives such as; Martin, Bernard, Bourque, and Camhout. Which shows the groups direct French past.

You know thats not always the case...if a mother married someone who was not of Creole decent and took that last name it would be deceiving...once one does their Geneology it shows...but you are correct in that you do see those spellings.
And to the OP, what can also be deceiving is pronunciation. A name can be spelled a certain way but we say it with a certain dialect. Again, hope it helps.

[Neworleansisprettygood]

Just an interesting tidbit I thought I'd throw in here:

I'm 1/8 Cajun by way of being a LeBlanc. My mom and dad recently attended a lecture on the Basque culture and found out that LeBlanc is one of several Cajun names that draws it ancestry to the Basque region (the French part).

[Neworleansisprettygood]

The simplest distinction is that Cajuns were country French by way of Canada, while Creole is mostly city and by way of France directly.

[mhounit]

So many misconseptions Creoles of Color in 19th Century New Orleans and their Culture and history

[601halfdozen0theother]

Hi - My grandfather was half Cajun (his mother) and half Creole (his father), and I've done very thorough genealogical research on both of his lines. Thank goodness they were Catholics - the Catholic church has always been very bureaucratic and kept thorough records about its members! The research has been really interesting. Here's what I've learned:

Cajuns are actually Acadians (Cajun is just the way that word is commonly pronounced.) Acadians were originally French peasants who in the 17th century settled in the region of North America now known as Nova Scotia & New Brunswick Canada, and the surrounding region - even down into what is now the state of Maine. That area was named Acadia after the Greek word Arcadia, which meant something along the lines of "idyllic place. I'm descended from a variety of Cajun families - my earliest immigrant ancestors came from France to Acadia in 1684.

The British and French battled over control of the Acadian region, and the British eventually won. Between the 1740s and 1760s the British then proceeded to kick all people with allegiance to France off their land. If the Acadians weren't killed outright they were shipped off to any port which would take them - primarily French or Catholic communities. Some were sent to the Port of New Orleans, others were shipped to Baltimore, some were sent back to France. I'm descended from families who were first shipped back to France, then banded together to come to Louisiana in a floatilla of 3 ships ca. 1780 (without going through my records I can't remember the exact year.)

These Acadians then spread out in family settlements throughout South Louisiana. They mostly lead very isolated rural lives. Because of this isolation they retained much of their 17th century French culture. Because they remained rural and didn't assimilate into the greater Louisiana community there was a lot of prejudice against Cajuns pre WW 2. My Aunts say that they were treated very badly when they were children - I don't think City Data will allow me to write the words Cajuns were called by other Louisianans pre 1950s.

Over time people from other backgrounds moved into these settlements and adopted Acadian culture, but they are not true Cajuns.

The word "Creole" is a term which was originally used to mean a person born in any place whose parents had come there as colonizers. So, in New Orleans in 1740, for example, people you might meet walking down the street could be French or Spanish or African or French Creoles (people born in Louisiana whose parents had come from France) or Spanish Creoles (people born in Louisiana whose parents had come from Spain.) In other countries which were colonized by Europeans there were Dutch Creoles, German Creoles, and etc. My earliest Louisiana immigrant ancestors arrived from France in 1721. Their children, then, were Creole.

Creoles are NOT necessarily people of mixed heritage, although over time the word Creole has evolved to refer to all people of very old Louisiana heritage of whatever background, including mixed backgrounds. My grandfather's Creole lines can all be traced directly back to France - there aren't even any Spanish in that branch of the family tree. So, to be competely accurate I should call my grandfather's line French Creole. (For the record, I wouldn't care if I had found out about a mixing in of other heritages, but it's just not there.)

I really don't know the differences in cuisine, but since Cajuns remained more isolated than Creoles I'll bet their food is the one more closely related to French food of the 17th and 18th centuries. As for language, my family all speaks English!