Harriet J. Bauman and John C. Warner
Topic: HISTORY
Areas of interest in Louisiana
-
Students are to locate on a map those areas of Louisiana having an important Cajun population.
-
Students will then plot the industry (de: products manufactured) and the agricultural areas of the region.
-
Students can also write a diary of historical events which took place during a particular period of Acadian history. They can write their diaries as if they were people living at the particular time in question.
-
Have students imagine that they are reporters of either a newspaper, television station or radio station and have them report on an important event of the period.
-
Design a poster with your class for a specific city in Louisiana which might be used as publicity for a tourist information bureau.
-
A time line of important events and dates reproduced from the included “fact sheet” can be used to decorate your classroom, and as a study guide for students.
-
Produce a filmstrip of studentdrawn illustrations or from color negatives.
French/Acadian Relations
-
Have students transform the French flag into the Acadian flag by placing a gold star on the blue background of the French flag.
-
Have students write a letter as Acadians to friends or family in France talking about their new lifestyle.
-
Students can play the part of French Acadians migrating to Canada. Have them make a list of the things that they feel they would need for the journey.
Topic: FAMOUS PEOPLE
Take a list of famous Acadians such as the one found below and assign student research reports on any given person. Students can also either draw a picture to represent the person, or an event in which he or she participated. Write a short blurb about what each picture represents and compile them into a booklet to be displayed in the classroom. (See the included time line for additional historical figures who may be used as report subjects. A brief biographical note on some of the historical figures is included.)
-
Pierre Gustave Toutant de Beauregard—(18181893) Confederate General who directed the bombardment of Fort Sumter S.C. that started the Civil war
-
Evangéline—illfated lover of Longfellow’s epic poem of the same name
-
Jean Baptiste le Moyne, Sieur de Bunireer
-
Pierre Le Moyne, Sieur d’Iberville—founded a colony at the mouth of the Mississippi River
-
Le Marquis de LaFayette—(17571834) A French soldier and statesman who fought for American independence, and for the French Revolution
-
La Salle
-
Jean Fréderik Oberlin
-
Louis, Comte de Pontchartrain
-
Saint Landry
-
Jacques Marquette—(16371675) An explorer of the Mississippi River, he was also one of the first white men to enter Illinois
-
Edith Butler—singer
-
Angel Arsenault—singer
-
Antoine Maillet—writer
-
Nathan Abshire—accordionist
-
Ambroise Thibodeaux—accordionist
-
Alphonse “Boissec” Ardouin—Black Cajun musician
-
FrancoisXavier Martin—(17621846) Served as Chief Justice on Louisiana’s State Supreme Court. Simplified French, Spanish, and English element of Louisiana law. Born in Marseille, France
-
Desh™tels twins (Edward and Elby) Old French music
-
Ron Guidry—baseball personality
Topic: HOLIDAYS AND FESTIVALS
The uniqueness of Cajun holidays and festivals set this cultural group apart from any other in the United States. Holidays and festivals are central to the social lives of the Acadians, and are yet another distinct way of preserving their cultural heritage.
-
Make up a large class calendar filling in important historical dates, birthdays of people being studied, holidays and festivals. (Much of this information can be obtained from our included list of important dates.)
MARDI GRAS
-
Plan a festival with your students to simulate the Acadian festival “Le Courir” a race on horseback around the countryside looking for ingredients to make a GUMBO. They are followed by musicians and singers and dancers.
LE FESTIVAL DES CRIVICES (LE FESTIVAL DES CREVETTESin French)
-
This is a festival to celebrate shrimp. Since a large number of the Louisiana Cajuns are fishermen, this festival honors one of the staples of the Cajun diet.
Discussion about specific festivals such as the two noted above might be followed by a class discussion of similar religious or secular festivals which members of the class either celebrate or have heard of in other ways.
Topic: FOLK LITERATURE
The following is an example of an Acadian folktale taken from “L‰che pas la patateportrait des Acadians de la Louisianne” by Revon Reed. We have included the folktale in French, Cajun and English.
LE GENS PERDU
En francais:
Un homme de ville rencontre une vieille paysanne sur
une route. “Ditesmoi, suisje bien sur le chemin de
Mamou?”
“Je ne sais pas, Monsieur.”
“Mais ˆ combien de kilomEtres suis—je de Mamou?”
“Je ne sais pas, Monsieur.”
“Alores, en quelle direction est Mamou?”
“Je ne sais pas, Monsieur.”
Le voyageur est un peu f‰che. I1 dit ˆ la paysanne
“Vous Ftes un peu stupide, ma bonne femme!”
“Oui, sans doute, mais je ne suis pas perdu.” [sic]
En Cajun:
Un gros chien de village arrFte un petit bonaré [bon ˆ rien, vaurien] ˆ une croisson de chemin dans le milieu de la campagne d’Anse Meg:
“Hey lˆbas, toi rabette, viens voir ici, dit mon quel de ces quatres cheminslˆ m’amEnerait a Mamou?”
“Mais mon je ne connais pas, Monsieur.”
“Hey garson, allons dire je prends le chemin ˆ la gauche oG lui, il va m’améner, hien?
“Ca m’en fait beaucoup, Monsieur mais je ne connais pas ca non plus.”
“Hey ‘tit bougre, allons dire que je prendrais le chemin qui va ˆ la droite, oG lui l’irai, tu crois?”
“Monsieur, ca me casse le coeur mais je ne connais pas ce encore.”
“Et si j’irai droite oG tu crois ce cheminlˆ m’amEnerait, imbécile?”
“Monsieur, quadmFme ma vie dépendrait sur la réponse correcte, je connaisserai encore pas, mon.”
“Tu connais quelque chose, non garcon je crois que t’es bien bFte.”
“PeutFtre ca c’est bien, Monsieur, mais mon j’eus pas perdu, non!”
In English: The following is a summary of the tale.
A man from the city is walking along a country road one day when he happens upon an intersection. At the intersection, he sees an old woman from the region and asks her for directions to Mamou. She tells him that she does not know the way. After several attempts at finding out the directions or the distance to Mamou with no results the frustrated man says to the old woman: “You know, you are quite stupid.” She replies: “That may very well be, but at least I am not lost.”
-
Read a folktale with the students either in French or in English, such as the one included above, and have them come up with a moral or purpose for the tale. After reading some traditional Cajun folk literature, have students compare what they have read to stories they might have heard in their own experience.
-
As a class project, you might try having the students compose an original folktale.
-
Put on a puppet show depicting events or scenes from the poem EVANGELINE by Longfellow.
-
Draw a mural with students to illustrate scenes from the poem.
Topic: CUSTOMS AND LIFESTYLES
DEATH AND FUNERAL CUSTOMS
Cajuns are buried above ground; graves are made of cement covered with marble. Often a picture of the deceased is found on the tomb. After the very somber funeral, which usually takes place one or two days after death, there is a large celebration with music and dancing to celebrate the deceased’s ascent into heaven and therefore to a better life. November 2, Le Jour des Morts (The day of the dead) is when all the Cajun cemeteries are decorated with brightly colored flowers to ward off any evil spirits.
-
Discuss the difference between those Acadian funeral traditions and the funeral traditions of the students in your classes.
MUSIC
-
As a class project, you might want to study some of the traditional or typical funeral marches (ie: When The Saints Go Marchin’ In) and perhaps have students compare this music to some of the old “negro spirituals” with which they might be familiar.
BIRTH
There is a very solid connection between birth and death in the Cajun culture. The Cajuns believe that a child born in a family is a way to compensate for a death in the family. Conversely, any time that a child dies, the event is a blessing on the family because the child has been called to be an angel of God and as such will protect the family.
Topic: FAMILY LIFE
The preservation of cultural uniqueness—areas of interest
1.
|
language
|
2.
|
religion
|
3.
|
music
|
4.
|
folkways
|
Home and family life is central to the Acadians. Father usually works outside the home in agriculture or fishing while mother works in the home as the center of the family. She is the person who instills values and traditions in her children. Families participate in religious as well as secular festivals surrounding some of the folk traditions of the culture.
Study family life in conjunction with folk literature because the best way to preserve a culture is to preserve its language and its folk traditions. The Cajuns of Louisiana have a unique language whose roots are in old French. It is strictly an oral tradition within the family or within a relatively small social group since the use of the Cajun dialect was forbidden in public places and outlawed in schools because it is not English. Recently, a great deal of English has crept into the language thus showing the influence of outside American culture on the preserved Cajun culture.
It would be worthwhile as a class activity centered around the uniqueness of Cajun family life to have a discussion with students comparing some of these Acadian family traditions to some of their personal family traditions.
-
Begin by taking a survey of the class to see how many students can come up with French words that are now a part of the English language.
-
Students could make a Cajun dictionary similar to the list of Cajun terms included in the unit showing French or English roots of many of the Cajun words they have learned.
-
They could discuss and give examples of typically Cajun recipes which have become very popular in the black community, such as dishes with shrimp and rice. (See the bibliography for the name of a widely available Cajun cookbook.)
Topic: CAREERS
The typical careers of the Cajun male are divided into three categories:
1.
|
Oil and gas roughnecks, roustabouts, pushers, and drillers on rigs in the Gulf of Mexico wearing coveralls, boots and hardhats
|
2.
|
Fishing: shrimp, fish, and oysters
|
3.
|
Agriculture/farmers: rice, Chinese peas, sweet potatoes, cotton, corn and other vegetables; others raise cattle, pigs, and sheep
|
Workers in oil and fishing work out a time schedule by which they are away from the home for a period of time, but then at or near the home for the rest of the time during the year.
Students find out information on types of jobs which are available to people living in Louisiana. They could then present an oral report to the class about these jobs explaining why some of them are particular to the region.
Topic: MUSIC
Music is considered to be part of the Cajun soul. Different sounds come from France (Bretagne, Normandie, Poitou, Picardie) others come from Québec and New Brunswick. The Créoles influenced Cajun music through jazz. The Cajuns were not allowed to bring any musical instruments with them from Acadia except the harmonica. The British destroyed many of their instruments also. So the Cajuns used their voices and mouths for making music. Other instruments the Cajuns use today are: the triangle, steer’s horn, washboard, guitar, violin, and accordion.
“Faisdodo” (probably from dosˆdos, which also became the American square dance call “dozedoh”) is a public dance arranged by the owners of public dance halls where beer and strong drinks are served. Everyone is invited to these dances.
Bal de maisonprivate dance in a home to which only members of the family or neighbors are invited.
-
Teach students a Cajun folk song and have them sing it as part of their festival.
-
Give a lecture about Cajun music using samples for the class to hear. (A student can also do this.) The class could then comment on what they have heard.
-
Have students research a folk song to find its ancestry: (France, Africa, etc.) Present this to the class.
Topic: COSTUMES
Feminine traditional:
White bonnet, white apron, blue skirt, red or white blouse with a 3/4 length sleeve, a small pointed black vest laced and without sleeves, and a small gold cross (the poor wear medals).
Masculine traditional:
Blue pants, white shirt with houffant sleeves, a red scarf tied around the neck, boots.
-
Students can draw pictures of Acadian costumes and design models of them for dolls.
-
Students can dress in typical costumes and put on an Acadian fashion show with French commentary for the school.