Editing Cajuns (section)

==Culture==
[[File:Acadiana Louisiana region map.svg|thumb|The 22 parishes of Acadiana: The Cajun heartland of Louisiana is highlighted in darker red.]]

{{anchor|Geography}}

===Geography===
{{Main|Acadiana}}

Geography had a strong correlation to Cajun lifestyles. Most Cajuns resided in Acadiana, where their descendants are still predominant. Cajun populations today are found also in the area southwest of New Orleans and scattered in areas adjacent to the [[French Louisiana]] region, such as to the north in [[Alexandria, Louisiana]]. Strong Cajun roots, influence, and culture can also be found in parts of Southern Mississippi. These areas include [[Bay St. Louis]], [[Pass Christian]], Gulfport, Gautier, Natchez, D'Iberville, and Biloxi, Mississippi. Over the years, many Cajuns and Creoles also migrated to the [[Houston]], [[Beaumont–Port Arthur metropolitan area|Beaumont and Port Arthur areas]] of [[Southeast Texas]], in especially large numbers as they followed oil-related jobs in the 1970s and 1980s, when oil companies moved jobs from Louisiana to Texas.

Many Cajuns and [[Creoles of color]] also moved to [[Southern California]]. However, the city of [[Lafayette, Louisiana|Lafayette]] is referred to as "The Heart of Acadiana" because of its location, and it is a major center of Cajun culture.  Despite the migration and influence in other states, cities outside of Louisiana, including these Texas cities, are not considered a part of Acadiana and are not considered a part of "Cajun Country."

{{anchor|Music}}

===Music===
{{Main|Cajun music}}

Cajun music is evolved from its roots in the music of the French-speaking Catholics of Canada. In earlier years, the [[Musical styles (violin)#Fiddle|fiddle]] was the predominant instrument, but gradually the [[accordion]] has come to share the limelight. Cajun music gained national attention in 2007, when the [[Grammy Award for Best Zydeco or Cajun Music Album]] category was created.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.grammy.com/GRAMMY_Awards/News/Default.aspx?newsID=2696&newsCategoryID=1|title=GRAMMY.com|website=GRAMMY.com}}</ref>

{{anchor|Cuisine}}

===Cuisine===
{{Main|Cajun cuisine}}
[[File:Boudin Sausage Balls.jpg|thumb|Cajun ''[[boudin]]'' rolled into a ball and deep fried]]

Due to ''Le Grand Dérangement'', many Acadians were invited to settle in Louisiana by the Spanish Governor Galvez.<ref>{{Cite thesis |last=Bailey Kolb |first=Frances |date=April 2007 |title=ACADIAN SETTLEMENT IN LOUISIANA: COLONIAL POPULATIONS AND IMPERIAL POLICY |url=https://oaktrust.library.tamu.edu/bitstream/handle/1969.1/5700/Kolb_Frances_Fellows.pdf |access-date=29 June 2022 |website=Texas A&M University Library |type=Senior Honors Thesis}}</ref> Unfamiliar with the terrain, they assimilated Creole and Native American influences into their Acadian traditions.{{Citation needed|date=May 2015}} Cajun cuisine focused on local ingredients and wild game (e.g., duck, rabbit), vegetables (e.g., [[okra]], [[Chayote|mirlitons]]), and grains. Coastal communities relied heavily on fish and shellfish. Seafood, especially shellfish, is still very popular in the region and remains a dominant feature of many classic Cajun dishes like seafood [[gumbo]] and [[court-bouillon]].

Since many Cajuns were farmers and not especially wealthy, they were known for not wasting any part of a butchered animal. Many rural communities held a weekly ''[[boucherie]]'', which is a communal butchering of an animal, often a pig. Each family received a share of the meat. <!-- It had been written that every part of the pig except the squeal was used. -->
Some high-profile foods like ''[[Pork rinds|grattons]]'' and ''[[boudin]]'' are examples of Cajun cuisine that are widely popular.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uha0mHZ-N8oC&pg=PA141 |title=500 Things to Eat Before It's Too Late: And the Very Best Places to Eat Them|author=Michael Stern|date=June 4, 2009|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2009|isbn=978-0-547-05907-5|access-date=November 24, 2009}}</ref>

{{anchor|Language}}

===Language===
{{Main|Cajun French}}

Louisiana French is a [[Variety (linguistics)|variety]] or [[dialect]] of the French language spoken primarily in Louisiana. At one time as many as seven dialects were spread across the Cajun heartland.

While Cajuns are often said to speak "Cajun French," this term is increasingly seen as a misnomer because the dialect did not originate with the Acadians, and Acadian-descended people are not the only ones to speak it. Recent linguistic scholarship has also cast doubt on how much Acadian influence is present in Louisianian dialects today, and the influences that do exist are sometimes regional rather than widespread.<ref>{{cite book |last=Klingler |first=Thomas |title="How much Acadian is there in Cajun?" |date=2009 |publisher=Innsbruck University Press |location=Acadians and Cajuns}}</ref> For these reasons, the term "Louisiana French" is increasingly preferred.

Recent documentation has been made of [[Cajun English]], an often [[non-rhotic]] French-influenced dialect of English spoken by Cajuns, either as a second language, in the case of the older members of the community, or as a first language by younger Cajuns.

===Religious traditions===
"[[Assumption of Mary|Our Lady of the Assumption]]" is Patroness of the Acadians (Cajuns).  In 1638, the colonies of France, to include Acadie, and France were consecrated by the Pope and the King to Mary under the aforementioned title; the date of consecration was August 15 which is the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and is a Holy Day of Obligation for Roman Catholics (Source 4).

Traditional Catholic religious observances such as [[Mardi Gras]], [[Lent]], and [[Holy Week]] are integral to many Cajun communities. Likewise, these traditional Catholic religious observances may further be understood from ''Cultural Catholicism in Cajun-Creole Louisiana'' by Marcia Gaudet<ref>article from Louisiana Division of the Arts | Department of Culture, Recreation & Tourism – Louisiana Folklife Festival program books, the Louisiana Folklore Miscellany, the Smithsonian Folklife Festival program book</ref> which tells that such traditional religious observances, although they may not be "strictly theological and liturgical forms", are still integral and necessary to many and remain religiously valid as "unofficial religious customs and traditions are certainly a part of Roman Catholicism as it is practiced".<ref>{{cite web|url =http://www.louisianafolklife.org/LT/Articles_Essays/CulturalCatholicism.html| title=Cultural Catholicism in Cajun-Creole Louisiana| first=  Marcia |last=Gaudet| publisher=Louisiana Folk Life}}</ref>

====Mardi Gras====
{{Main|Courir de Mardi Gras}}
[[File:Courir de Mardi Gras Savoy La Musicians HROE.jpg|thumb|Musicians playing at a traditional ''Courir de Mardi Gras'']]

''[[Mardi Gras]]'' (French for "Fat Tuesday", also known as [[Shrove Tuesday]]) is the day before [[Ash Wednesday]], which marks the beginning of [[Lent]], a 40-day period of fasting and reflection in preparation for [[Easter Sunday]]. Mardi Gras was historically a time to use up the foods that were not to be used during Lent, including fat, eggs, and meat.

Mardi Gras celebrations in rural Acadiana are distinct from the more widely known celebrations in [[New Orleans Mardi Gras|New Orleans]] and other metropolitan areas. A distinct feature of the Cajun celebration centers on the ''[[Courir de Mardi Gras]]'' (translated: fat Tuesday run).<ref name=COURIR>{{cite book|title=Mardi Gras: a Cajun country celebration|url=https://archive.org/details/mardigrascajunco00hoyt|url-access=registration|quote=fête de la quémande.|first1=Diane|last1=Hoyt-Goldsmith|first2=Lawrence|last2=Migdale|publisher=Holiday House|date=September 1995|page=[https://archive.org/details/mardigrascajunco00hoyt/page/11 11]|isbn=978-0-8234-1184-9}}</ref> A group of men, usually on horseback and wearing [[capuchon]]s (a cone-shaped ceremonial hat) and traditional costumes, approach a farmhouse and ask for something for the community gumbo pot. Often, the farmer or his wife allows the riders to have a chicken, if they can catch it. The group then puts on a show, comically attempting to catch the chicken set out in a large open area. Songs are sung, jokes are told, and skits are acted out. When the chicken is caught, it is added to the pot at the end of the day.<ref name=COURIR/> The ''courir'' held in the small town of [[Mamou, Louisiana|Mamou]] and [[Church Point, Louisiana|Church Point]] has become well known. This tradition has much in common with the observance of ''La Chandeleur'', or [[Candlemas]] (February 2), by Acadians in [[Nova Scotia]].

====Easter====
On ''Pâques'' (French for Easter), a game called ''pâquer'', or ''pâque-pâque'' was played. Contestants selected hard-boiled eggs, paired off, and tapped the eggs together – the player whose egg did not crack was declared the winner. This is an old European tradition that has survived in Acadia until today. Today, Easter is still celebrated by Cajuns with the traditional game of ''paque'', but is now also celebrated in the same fashion as Christians throughout the United States with candy-filled baskets, "[[Easter bunny]]" stories, [[Easter egg|dyed eggs]], and Easter egg hunts.

===Folk beliefs===
One folk custom is belief in a ''[[Traiteur (faith healer)|traiteur]]'', or healer, whose primary method of treatment involves the laying on of hands and of prayers. An important part of this folk religion, the ''traiteur''  combines Catholic prayer and medicinal remedies to treat a variety of ailments, including earaches, toothaches, warts, tumors, angina, and bleeding. Another is in the ''[[rougarou]]'', a version of a ''loup garou'' (French for [[werewolf]]), that will hunt down and kill Catholics who do not follow the rules of Lent. In some communities, the ''loup garou'' of legend has taken on an almost protective role. Children are warned that ''loups garous'' can read souls, and that they only hunt and kill evil men and women and misbehaved horses. The folkloric creature ''[[letiche]]'' is said to be the soul of an unbaptized infant<ref>{{cite book|title=Louisiana: A Guide to the State|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lOSvzYLs3tMC&pg=PA94|year=1941|publisher=US History Publishers|isbn=978-1-60354-017-9|pages=94–}}</ref> or child raised by alligators<ref name="Thompson2010">{{cite book|author=Dave Thompson|title=Bayou Underground: Tracing the Mythical Roots of American Popular Music|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4HFYKKVMvxcC&pg=PT292|date=1 September 2010|publisher=ECW Press|isbn=978-1-55490-682-6|pages=292–}}</ref> that haunts the bayous.

===Celebrations and gatherings===
Cajuns, along with other [[Cajun Country]] residents, have a reputation for a ''[[joie de vivre]]'' (French for "joy of living"), in which hard work is appreciated as much as "let the good times roll / [[laissez les bon temps rouler]]".

====Community gatherings====
In the culture, a ''coup de main'' (French for "to give a hand") is an occasion when the community gathers to assist one of their members with time-consuming or arduous tasks. Examples might include a [[barn raising]], [[harvest]]s, or assistance for the elderly or sick.

====Festivals====
[[File:CrowleyCajunFiddler1938.jpg|thumb|upright|Cajun fiddler at 1938 [[International Rice Festival|National Rice Festival]], photographed by [[Russell Lee (photographer)|Russell Lee]]]]

The majority of Cajun festivals include a ''fais do-do'' ("go to sleep" in French, originating from encouraging children to fall asleep in the rafters of the dance hall as the parents danced late into the night) or street dance, usually to a live local band. Crowds at these festivals can range from a few hundred to more than 100,000.

====Other festivals outside Louisiana====
* In Texas, the Winnie Rice Festival and other celebrations often highlight the Cajun influence in [[Southeast Texas]].
* The {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20170430013154/http://www.cajunheritagefest.com/ Cajun Heritage Fest]}} in [[Port Arthur, Texas]] celebrates Cajun music and cuisine and features events such as a crawfish eating contest and crawfish racing.
* Major Cajun/Zydeco festivals are held annually in Rhode Island, which does not have a sizable Cajun population, but is home to many Franco-Americans of Québécois and Acadian descent. It features Cajun culture and food, as well as authentic Louisiana musical acts both famous and unknown, drawing attendance not only from the strong Cajun/Zydeco music scene in Rhode Island, [[Connecticut]], New York City, and California, but also from all over the world. In recent years, the festival became so popular, now several such large summer festivals are held near the Connecticut–Rhode Island border: The Great Connecticut Cajun and Zydeco Music & Arts Festival, The Blast From The Bayou Cajun and Zydeco Festival, also in California the Cajun/Zydeco Festival; Bay Area Ardenwood Historic Farm, Fremont, Calif. and The Simi Valley Cajun and Blues Music Festival.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.simicajun.org|title=Happy Face Music Festival 2024 – Simi Valley, CA}}</ref>