Until when was French forbidden in Louisisana? Cause I think the end of that law also had something to do with the increase.

I don't believe it was ever illegal, but it was certainly looked down upon as low-class, and the word Cajun itself was derogatory. In 1968 the Council for the Development of French in Louisiana (CODOFIL) was established to try to preserve the French language in Louisiana, which may have something to do with the resurgence of popularity of being identified as Cajun. In some parishes in Acadiana (southern Louisiana), Cajun French is still spoken by up to 30% of the population. I have a feeling that will continue to decline, however. Currently some 9-10% of Louisianans identify themselves as Cajun, though that percentage is obviously higher in Acadiana.

From what I could understand (from 1970's cajun poetry, so maybe not the most reliable source of info), it was prohibited at least in the public school system. Maybe not by law, though.

Barry Jean Ancelet's poem (original +english translation) "Schizophrénie linguistique" is here:

http://www.brown.edu/Research/Equinoxes/journal/issue2/eqx2_bruce_tr.html

Definitely it used to be prohibited in the public schools. In conversations with friends here in New Orleans, many attest that their grandparents don't speak English well and yet never taught their children French because of the stigma attached to it. And thus, their grandchildren, people in their late twenties, speak no French at all. And yet, they identify that at least their grandparents were Cajun with a sense of pride - and regret that they can't speak French. Policy is powerful.

There's an awesome painting by George Rodrigue illustrating a student being punished by his teacher for speaking French (click on the painting to enlarge):
http://heatherleila3.blogspot.com/2008/07/terrebonne-should-be-renamed-goodland.html

Wow. From my spot on the other side of the world, I had no idea that Cajun people had Canadian origins. I had assumed, because of the locality, that they had Caribbean background.

Never knew that Cajuns were from Canada either. My husband's family calls themselves Cajun but to my knowledge they have no Canadian roots. It just feels like Cajun has become catch-all term for people with white Louisianan ancestry.

Can someone point to a single entry in Louisiana archives (colonial, territorial or statehood) where "Cajuns" were discussed BEFORE the late 1950s?

I ask because according to the generation born between 1880 and 1916, Louisiana Creoles and Anglos referred to all poor provincial francophones of Louisiana as Cajuns, regardless of phenotype. This is interesting because in South Louisiana we hear the expression "looking like a poor Cajun" quite often, but never hear "looking like a poor Creole." That signals a socioeconomic difference between Louisiana urbanites and provincials.

Also, everyone who was "white" in Louisiana with some francophone heritage was cajunized (often against people's will initially) in Louisiana, including families who up until the 1960s identified as proud Louisiana Creoles (Fontenot, Guillory, Ortego, Brignac, Darensbourg, Fuselier, De Blanc, de la Houssaye etc).

So if Cajuns are descendants of Nova Scotia exiles who were Acadian (not Cajun), then how does one explain all of these Louisiana Creoles who identify as Cajuns, but whose culture (Louisiana Creole) was adopted by virtually all Acadians within the first 3 generations in Louisiana?

All Cajuns eat gumbo, rice, beans, étouffées, okra, smothered meats, hot peppers, gratons, hot links, chorice (chorizo), etc all of which are Louisiana Creole dishes adapted in Louisiana but hailing from West Africa and the rest of Latin America.

Cajuns were originally from France and settled in Acadia (Nova Scotia, Canada). Prior to the Mayflower, they went to Canada to settle trading posts for France during religious turmoil in France. We are more of French descent than Canadian.

As for the food, I think of Cajun cuisine as trying to make the best use of the animals or food items found in the environment. The dishes I grew up eating included ALL parts of a cow, such as fried cow brain, liver, various cuts of meat, stuffed stomach (debris), tripe (sp.) and even cow tongue. The same with pork dishes that included boudin (stuffed intestines), various cuts of meat and fried pork skin. I think more of dishes like turtle soup, fried alligator, and crawfish. All of these things needed to be well seasoned and well prepared to make them edible. The dishes were always served with rice, as it was easy to grow and very plentiful in the area.

While Cajun food of the rural, prairie land did incorporate some items like okra from Africa, Creole food, to me, is better represented by the food found in New Orleans. It's a different sort of flavor and different items used in the dishes.

There are some households in Lafayette, let's say, where whites cook brown étouffées and brown courtbouillons and there are others in the same neighborhood, same race, who cook red étouffées and red courtbouillons.

To my knowledge all provincial Louisianians made "use of the animals or food items found in the environment." Which is why Rice Dressing in South Louisiana is always with virtually all parts of an animal, whereas Dirty Rice is the drier, less composed version eaten by Anglo-Americans mostly and now by lots of us because of Popeyes and Church's Fried Chicken.

Cajuns make okra gumbo just as well as any Creole and the taste is not distinct, at least not in a fundamental way. It's only distinct from household to household. Some add oysters, others do not. Some add crab claws. Others add fresh shrimp tails. From household, to household.

The Cajunization of everything "French" in Louisiana began in the 1970s. It was a hard sell, according to many family members who are proud Louisiana Creoles (de Blanc, de la Houssaye, Simon, Vavasseur). No one wanted to be associated with it - not even the poor francophones who were referred to pejoratively this way. Then it worked once tourists flocked in, and dollars were made, and recognition was organically achieved.

So my question remains: what are the fundamental differences between Cajun cuisine/culture and Louisiana Creole cuisine/culture? Keep in mind that many whites speak Louisiana Creole and have surnames that are common in Acadie, while many blacks speak Louisiana French with names like Romero, and even still many mixed race and Amerindians with names like Vulcan and Walker speak both Louisiana Creole and Louisiana French.

As illustrated above, recipes are adapted from home to home in Lafayette, but still the same basic recipe and same basic flavors - across socioeconomic status, across racial lines and across religious lines.

Again, Cajuns are from Louisiana. Acadians from Nova Scotia. And French from France. It's not quite right to muddle all of those into a single distinction, such as Cajun, which is a Louisiana phenomenon entirely.

Is the real distinction white versus black, which is superficial, or is there something cultural (not racial or ethnic) that I am missing here?

See this is the confusion. I asked purely about culture, initially. Ancestry may serve as a basis for culture, but culture does not rely on ancestry to operate. For instance, we speak English, eat a burger every once in a while, usually have on the air conditioning in the summer instead of the windows opened, and most often leave the television playing while asleep or not home. This can be considered a product of American culture. But I do not have one anglo ancestor.

So remove what we "look like" and what do we have remaining in Louisiana? Culture we share or do not share. This is what I'm interested in.

But Duon you did sum up a major difference: provincial versus urban. Urbanites have historically been more progressive, and provincials less. But a foreigner would think that the two groups represented the same nation, not two people, as we allow locals and foreigners to believe.

Louisiana's french heritage includes both cajuns and creoles. Louisiana creoles are the decendants old immigrants from the old world. We have french creoles but also german creoles, african creoles and so on. Leah Chase is a well know local african creole chef.

Louisiana food represents both groups plus the caribbean influence, especially for spices. Today they are intermingled. But New Orleans' best restaurants - Antoines, Commanders, Galatoires identify themselves as creole.

Think of cajun food as "jamablaya, crawfish pie, file gumbo..." Country food with a strong emphasis on fresh - right from the swamp - ingredients.

Think of creole food as sophisticated, beautiful china, European sauces

Qualifying Creole culture with old world nationalities continues the confusion, though. If Creole culture is homegrown with elements from all over, why refer to it as Afro-Creole or even German-Creole, etc? Louisiana Creole suggests conceived, born and bred in Louisiana, the most fitting.

Leah Chase may call herself Afro-Creole, but I guarantee she does not speak any African languages, and likely does not have citizenship in any African nation. African has thousands of cultures and thousands of sub-cultures of those major cultures.

Louisiana Creoles all across the state, perhaps less in New Orleans, though I suspect there as well, made use of "right from the swamp ingredients." All things now considered Cajun were made in Louisiana BEFORE the Cajun movement of the 60s and in all parts of the state.

Louisiana Creole food therefore encompasses all of what is created in Latin Louisiana (Cajun and otherwise).

This is not an assault on self-identification, but it is a requirement to understand the totality of Louisiana's history and development of its culture.

Culture has zero boundaries and doesn't "look" a certain way. In the U.S. we have this idea (based on our usually very nebulous understanding of culture, ethnicity and race) that cultures have these very strict and rigid boundaries, with adherents to cultures "looking" a certain way. That's a result of racialization (belief in human races and fundamental differences between the races that cannot or should not be distorted).

Chef Prud'homme was right on when he began referring to cuisine in Louisiana as Louisiana cuisine instead of Cajun and Creole, because the two are essentially the same, with minor variations between the two, based on personal tastes, not on fundamental historical or preparative differences. That should be called Louisiana Creole cuisine. Spicy, tangy, sweety, salty, we incorporate all tastes into one.

Il n'y a rien de meilleur au monde.