Comments for Are you really Cajun? at http://www.theind.com , comment 1 to 2 out of 2 comments http://www.theind.com Wed, 22 May 2013 02:35:41 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 http://www.theind.com/cover-story/11534-are-you-really-cajun#comment-27266 Nice article; my DeBaillon ancestors are not Acadian either as he came directly from France, however, due to all the marriages to Acadians over the years, are we not "Cajuns?" - Paul DeBaillon Tue, 02 Oct 2012 06:45:07 +0100 http://www.theind.com/cover-story/11534-are-you-really-cajun#comment-27264 I think some people are using "Cajun" and "Acadian" synonymously, and while the word "Cajun" comes from "Acadian" I myself don't consider them synonymous. To me, an Acadian is someone from Acadia or their immediate offspring (more or less); whereas a Cajun is someone who descends from the Acadians and all the other ethnic groups with whom they intermarried after arriving in Louisiana, including the Spanish, Germans, French Creoles, even Anglos, among other ethnic groups. Also, one's last name does not necessarily matter: Nathan Abshire, Dennis McGee, and Lawrence Walker all had non-Acadian surnames, but they were as Cajun as could be and among the most revered Cajun musicians. Likewise, persons with Spanish names like Romero, Miguez, Segura, and Castille; German names like Huval, Stelly, Schexnider, Hymel, and Toups; and French Creole names like Fontenot, Soileau, DeRouen, and delaHoussaye, can also be Cajuns. They need not have Acadian surnames like Thibodeaux, Theriot, Boudreaux, Guidry, and Guilbeau. Indeed, historian Carl A. Brasseaux has shown that shortly after the end of the Civil War persons with Acadian surnames were marrying persons with non-Acadian surnames more than half the time. It was this very process that helped to create the Cajuns, a new ethnic group made from many ethnic groups. It's no wonder that some Cajuns ended up with non-Acadian surnames. At least, this is my perspective. However, I would never presume to tell someone their ethnicity and ultimately self identification is the best measure. (If it's good enough for the US Census Bureau, it's good enough for me.) In any event, ethnicity, like race, is an elusive subject, and I would distrust anyone (including me) who thinks they've got it all figured out. - Shane K. Bernard Mon, 01 Oct 2012 07:38:01 +0100