prettysadiereed
I'm doing this top a disservice by not wearing it as intende..
Published: May 19th 2025, 1:00:10 pm
I'm doing this top a disservice by not wearing it as intended but I'm sure the Cajun who used to own this doesn't mind.
Cajun history is fascinating. While it's true that the French founded the territory of Louisiana, and developed New Orleans and its surrounding areas, there were already DIFFERENT French people inhabiting the area.
The term "Cajun" is a bastardization and mispronunciation of the term Acadian - a term used to specifically refer to people of French Acadian heritage - those from the French colonies that settled in the maritime regions of Canada.
Around 1755, Great Britain was still on its conquest bender and told the French to get the fuck out of their established colonies in Canada (Acadian colonies) so they could redistribute the land to colonists of New England who were loyal to the British Crown. Wild.
A lot of the French Acadians went into the "new" American colonies, some to Europe, and some migrated down to the Louisiana territory, settling outside the city into what became known as Acadiana. This whole event is known by the French as (no joke): La Grand Derangement. A fitting name.
Anyway, generations later the French Acadians still retain a lot of the culture of their ancestors - both in language and customs.
As time went on, the term "Cajun" became synonymous with anyone from New Orleans with some French heritage because during the Civil War, General Harding of the Union described those living out in the bayou areas as "Cajuns."