in the 1750s the british governor of canada made the political decision to remove the french settlers living in nova scotia from the territory. he gathered them together and placed them on ships and dropped them off along the east coast of the area of north america. the governor did not care if he was splitting up families in fact he did not want them together. during the trip over half the people died on the ships or soon after reaching land.

They were not accepted at first, by the British people who had settled there. they were told about a new unsettled land in louisiana in an area that would later be known as acadiana. This unsettled land drew a large number of acadians, who wished to be accepted by the current settlers that had settled near there. when they arrived in south louisiana, the settlers that were living in the areas around where the acadians arrived, hoped that they would run out the native americans that were living in the area.

By 1762, spain took over control of louisiana and the lands to the North of the United States. This event once again threatens the acadians with being forced out of their land. however, the spanish were tolerant of the acadians and wanted to finish settling the vast land. The spanish offered to bring the acadians to any area that they wanted to go. Some of the acadians went to new orleans and the rest settled in the areas all the way up to the area known today as acadiana or cajun country. pg. 81 the cajuns language roots began with french and the longer they lived in the area the language was adapted to a deep southern accent.

the founding families of the acadians who first settled in acadiana referred to themselves as acadians but the english-speaking people could not say the word so they began to call them cajuns. the acadians who settled near new orleans were assimilated with african american slave refugees from the caribbean. the african americans who settled there spoke french but were called, “creoles” to by the cajuns. in 1803, the united states bought the louisiana purchase from France, when the americans began to settled the area, they spoke predominantly English and mandated that english would be the language spoken. the acadians were again under the oppressive rule of english-speaking rulers. this caused most of the cajuns and creoles to begin to deny their cultural identities. pg. 82 the cajuns and creoles kept their history alive through ballads or songs.

most songs tell a story while cajun songs tell an emotion about an event or history. superstition was also another factor in their songs and folklores. the creoles songs were folklore about the loup garon the werewolf. the song talks about how the werewolf was a little boy who was bitten by a werewolf and killed ten people. one of the townspeople devised a way to kill it by dipping his bullets into a mixture of gumbo rue and kissed by a virgin. he townsman went into the woods and he and the werewolf were never seen again. pg.

85-86 leonard deutsch dave peyton. cajun culture an interview. oxford journals 1979: 81-82 85-86. cajun french has withstood an unpopular and disenchanted history. from the beginning of their history in nova scotia, the english-speaking people forced the acadians to convert to their practices and language. their language and music were considered by the english-speaking people as backwoods and simple. their culture was denounced and off-limits to the acadians. even though some viewed the acadians as intruders in south louisiana, they were still able to settle in the less hospitable grasslands and bayous.

despite the contempt from their english-speaking neighbors, they were able to preserve their history and cultural sense in their music. their music was sung in cajun french. pg.283 acadians history has been filled with repeated displacement loss and longing to belong. these experiences have manifested themselves in musical and poetic ways. because of the historical sense of loss and unacceptance from the english-speaking people acadians began looking for other areas to settle. this caused some resentment towards them by the remaining acadians.

the acadians began to sing songs about the ones who left acadiana to go to places such as texas in search of better opportunities. the remaining acadians sung about how the ones who left were trying to detach themselves from the stigma of being cajuns. the most well-known phrase that is in many songs is tu mas quitte pour ten aller. pg. 286-287