ROTARY CLUB HEARS DISCUSSION ON CAJUN AND CREOLE

JULY 5, 2016

      Members of the Rotary Club of Ville Platte today (Tuesday) received information on the difference between a Cajun and Creole. Guest Speaker Sheila Richmond, history professor and director of the Creole Center at Northwestern State University in Natchitoches. She was the guest of Rotarian Maggie Ortego.

     She gave a history of the Cajun people.  They were from France and settled in 1630 in what is now Nova Scotia. She went into detail on how the British harassed the Acadians and ordered them to sign an oath  of allegiance. They were eventually deported to other lands including Louisiana. When the Acadians landed in Louisiana, the Spanish welcomed them. Some of those Acadians have surnames like Boudreau, Broussard and LeBlanc.

    The term “Creole” have had different definitions including “Native to Louisiana”, and “ancestors who came from Europe”. 

    She said the Creoles who came directly from France and other countries intermarried with Cajuns and others.

    Those who came directly from France have surnames like “Fontenot and Fuselier”; those from Germany: “Frey”, Huval and Stelly”, Spanish names like “Manuel and Dartez” and English/Irish names: “Smith and Mcgee”.

    She said both Cajun and Creoles enjoy similar cultures such as music, food, they speak French and are primarily Catholic.