The Cajuns and Huguenots

One part of chapter 4 that grabbed my attention and that I found interesting pertains to the contrast in cultural retention of the (Arcadian) Cajun culture and that of their French Huguenot counterparts. The two groups juxtaposed are incredible in their differences. The first, the Cajuns, were largely farmers and most did not seem to acquire much wealth or power in Louisiana/America. Yet they developed a very distinct culture, something I find completely fascinating. They did not uphold education, they remained true to their Catholic faith, they developed their own dialect/language and they had very large families—many children.  The book doesn’t delve deep into other aspects of their culture, but the Cajuns had/have their own music traditions, folklore, and of course, cuisine. Also interesting is how their culture persevered; it was not lost due to acculturation. I think there were a variety of reasons why their culture endured. For one, their culture was distinct and couldn’t be confused or easily fused with another. Secondly, they seem to have worked hard to retain their culture; it seems it was probably rather important to them. And in a way they inadvertently were likened to sort of “outcasts”, especially when considering that education wasn’t a focus of theirs and many were not literate. In the 20^th century, the dominant culture in America aimed to wipe out the Cajun culture (e.g. Cajun French was forbidden in Louisiana schools).  On the other hand, I find it pretty interesting how they fought the American dominant culture, too. I think that’s helped contribute to the retention of their unique culture.

Many of the elements demonstrated within the Cajun culture/group differed from that of the Huguenots. it appears that after their assimilation (and they did assimilate), they were practically indistinguishable from “American” society. And there didn’t seem to be a definitive motivation for them to remain intact as a group. Perhaps this was due in part to their being largely successful in North America.  Many of them had skills to begin with, became eventually wealthy after their entry, and were seemingly well-liked. They were perceived with much more positivity than the Cajuns were. Hence, being as successful and prosperous as they were, there didn’t seem to perhaps be as much of a motivation for them to try to retain their group of origin (just a guess). Yet it’s also true that they really didn’t seem to have as much cultural “glue” as the Cajuns either. Based on the reading, their main source of solidarity seemed to be based on their religion—being Protestant. Because there were so many other similar Protestant groups, their particular churches didn’t survive. So, they “melted” into the stew…