Editing Cajuns (section)

==Etymology and historical usage of the term==
The term "Cajun" comes from a rural pronunciation of ''Acadien'' (Acadian).

===Civil War usage===
The first usage of the term "Cajun" came about during the [[American Civil War]], during the [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]]'s invasion of [[French Louisiana]].<ref name="davidcedomonds">{{cite book |title=Yankee Autumn in Acadiana: A Narrative of the GREAT TEXAS OVERLAND EXPEDITION through Southwestern Louisiana October-December 1863|author=David C. Edmonds|publisher=The Acadiana Press|year=1979|location=Lafayette, Louisiana|pages=73,114,233}}</ref>

After conquering [[Vermilionville Historic Village|Vermilionville]], the capital of ''[[Lafayette, Louisiana|Nouvelle Acadie]]'' (New Acadia) in 1863, Lieutenant George C. Harding of the [[1st Indiana Heavy Artillery Regiment|21st Indiana Infantry]] used the term "Cajun" to describe the region's inhabitants:

<blockquote>I will try and tell what a '''''Cajun''''' is. He is a half-savage creature, of mixed French and Indian blood, lives in swamps and subsists by cultivating small patches of corn and sweet potatoes. The wants of the Cajun are few, and his habits are simple... I can not say that we were abused by the Cajuns.<ref name="davidcedomonds"/></blockquote>

A correspondent for the [[New York Herald]] reported: "Our forces captured some prisoners. Many deserters and refugees came within our lines. The [[Confederate States of America|rebel]] deserters are principally [[Louisiana Creoles|French Creoles]], or [[Cajun-Creole|Arcadians]]..."<ref name="davidcedomonds"/>

War correspondent Theophilus Noel reported for his newspaper: "You must not use the word '''''Cagin''''', implying thereby that there is any nigger blood in the party to whom you are talking."<ref name="davidcedomonds"/>

===Cajun Country/Creole City usage===
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After the Civil War, urban Creoles began referring to the [[peasant]] class (''[[Habitants|petits habitants]]'') as "Cajuns". Cajuns inhabited the "Cajun Countries" of [[Cajan Country|Alabama]], [[Mississippi]], and [[Cajun Country|Louisiana]].<ref name="nationalurbanleague">{{cite book |title=Opportunity, Volumes 11 to 12|publisher=National Urban League|year=1933|location=United States of America|pages=312}}</ref><ref name="edwardthomasprice">{{cite book |title=Mixed-blood Populations of Eastern United States as to Origins, Localizations, and Persistence|author=Edward Thomas Price|publisher=University of California|year=1950|location=Berkley, United States of America|pages=73}}</ref><ref name="timemagazine1934">{{cite book |title=Time, Volume 24|author=Briton Hadden|author2=Henry Robinson Luce|publisher=Time Incorporated|year=1934|location=United States of America|pages=51}}</ref><ref name="balboanlewis">{{cite book |title=What God Loves|author=Balboa N. Lewis|publisher=Balboa Press|year=2020|location=United States of America|pages=210}}</ref>

At the same time, "Creole" increasingly referred to Creoles of the middle class (''[[bourgeoisie]]'') or aristocratic class (''[[Seigneur|grands habitants]]''), and served as a designation for inhabitants of the "Creole Cities": [[Mobile, Alabama]] and [[New Orleans, Louisiana]].<ref name="ricejournal">Rice Journal, Volume 21. Page 21. 1918.</ref><ref name="internalrevenuerecordandcustoms">{{cite book |title=The Internal Revenue Record and Customs Journal, Volume 36|publisher=P. V. Van Wyck and Company|year=1890|location=United States of America|pages=65}}</ref><ref name="thomascooperdeleon">{{cite book |title=Creole Carnivals: (Madri Gras) : Their Ancient Origin, American Growth and Business Outcome, with Sketches of Outside Carnivals|author=Thomas Cooper De Leon|publisher=De Leon|year=1978|location=United States of America|pages=13}}</ref>

Carl Brasseaux notes in ''Acadian to Cajun, Transformation of a People'', that:

<blockquote>''Cajun'' was used by Anglos to refer to all persons of French descent and low economic standing, regardless of their ethnic affiliation. Hence poor Creoles of the bayou and prairie regions came to be permanently identified as ''Cajun''. The term ''Cajun'' thus became a socioeconomic classification for the multicultural amalgam of several culturally and linguistically distinct groups.<ref name="Brasseaux" /></blockquote>

====Alabama Cajans====
Cajans inhabited a region of Alabama called the '''Cajan Country''', which was all of the bayou country surrounding Mobile. To the north, the Cajan Country reached the hills of [[Mount Vernon, Alabama|Mount Vernon]] and [[Citronelle]], and to the east, it reached through the bayous and forests around [[Daphne, Alabama|Daphne]] to the [[Perdido River]].<ref name="nationalurbanleague" /><ref name="edwardthomasprice" /><ref name="timemagazine1934" />

Cajans were of varying racial mixtures; during the [[Racial segregation in the United States|segregation era]], some Cajans under Alabama's new racial laws were considered black, others were considered white, and others yet designated as Indians. Cajans were discriminated against due to their racial ambiguity, and many did not have access to public schools. Cajans tended to stay among their own communities.<ref name="federalwritersproject">{{cite book |title=The WPA Guide to Alabama: The Camellia State|author=Federal Writers' Project|year=2013|publisher=Trinity University Press|location=United States of America|pages=Tour 9:2, 3, 4}}</ref>

===Americanized usage===
[[File:Acadiana parishes map.png|thumb|upright=0.7|Acadiana]]

After the Americanization of Acadiana between the 1950s and 1970s, the term "Cajun" became synonymous with "white French Louisianian", due in part to [[Council for the Development of French in Louisiana|CODOFIL's]] decision to promote Louisiana's link to Acadia in the "Cajun Renaissance".<ref name="nicholeestandford">{{cite book |title=Good God but You Smart!: Language Prejudice and Upwardly Mobile Cajuns|author=Nichole E. Stanford|year=2016|publisher=University Press of Colorado|location=United States of America|pages=64, 65, 66}}</ref>

It is common to see various demographic differences assigned to the Cajun/Creole binary. A typical example is cuisine: Many claim that "Cajun" gumbo does not include tomatoes whereas "Creole" gumbo does, but this distinction is better viewed as geographic rather than ethnic. Residents of [[Acadiana]]—a historically isolated and rural region—do not typically make gumbo with tomatoes, regardless of ancestry or self-proclaimed identity, whereas urban New Orleanians do. Technically, "Cajun" cuisine should properly fit under the umbrella of "Creole" cuisine, much like "Cajuns" themselves traditionally fit under the "Creole" umbrella.

In contrast to the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, today's Cajuns and Creoles are often presented as distinct groups, and some Cajuns disavow a Creole identity whereas others embrace it. Surnames and geographic location are not necessarily markers of either identity.