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Cajun country
Louisiana
Officially called ' Acadiana ' Cajun country is made up of 22 parishes in Louisiana and is home to the largest French speaking population in the US . Of the 700,000 Acadians in Louisiana about 45% speak French as a second Language .The area is named from L'Acadie ( now called Nova Scotia ) where French settlers were exiled from by the British in 1755 . The French gave the name Acadie to the maritime section of New France . The origin of the name is still debated. Some contend it is from the Micmac Indian word algatig, meaning a camp or the Micmac word akade, meaning a place where things abound. Others favor the Arcadia from classical Greece .
Top 15 Tourist Attractions in Cajun Country
1 Downtown St. Martinville
One of the most historically rich places in Louisiana and called Petit Paris because its French heritage . Home of Evangeline Oak Park, St. Martin Square, museums and more ,
2 The Atchafalaya Basin is one of America's largest remaining swampland areas
3 A historic bayou attraction hosting a 23 acre living history and folklife village and the Acadian Cultural Center
Open air museum, Vermilionville, Lafayette, LA
4 A replica of a 19th century Cajun bayou community, has been the location for several movies . You can also see the Native American Museum
5 Once the second largest port in La during the steamboat era
6 The Praire Cajun Capital famous for its horseback Mardi Gras, food , festivals and museums .
7 Once the rice capital of America, the historic district has over 200 historic structures
8 Famous for its Cajun music, Mamou bills itself as "The Cajun Music Capital of the World."
9 Built in 1831 and the model for Tara, rich in history .
10 Shadows-on-the-Teche Plantation New Iberia
Built in 1831-1834 for David and Mary Weeks, Shadows-on-the-Teche is a historic house and garden on the Bayou Teche. Most homes of this era faced the bayou since water was the primary method of transportation. In this case, the rear of Shadows-on-the-Teche faced the Bayou. Complete family history and plantation records exist today due to the fact that only one family has resided here since 1834. 11 Home of the world famous Tabasco sauce and the 200 acre Jungle Gardens .
12 Famous for its Oak Arcade with Antebellum homes such as Oaklawn Manor and the Grevemberg House Museum
13 Rig Museum Morgan City Oil exploration museum in Morgan City, the birthplace of offshore oil exploration The general public can walk aboard an authentic offshore drilling rig.
14 The largest surviving 19th century sugar plantation and company town left in America, at one time housed 350 workers
15 Thibodaux
The ' capital ' of French Louisiana is the city of Lafayette. Cajun country consists of three main districts, south of Lafayette are bayous and swamps of the Atchafalaya Basin where the first Cajuns settled . Northwest of Lafayette is the Cajun prairie made up of rice fields and ranches . Southwest of Lafayette is the ' Cajun Coast ' along the Gulf of Mexico .
The Cajuns: A People's Story of Exile and Triumph The deportation was a deliberate attempt to destroy a people and wipe out a distinct culture. It failed. The Acadians were too tough and too resilient. Today, there are an estimated 3 million Acadian descendants worldwide..
Cajun country in the 1930s
The Fading Cajun Culture This documentary covers over 300 years of history concerning the migration and development of modern day Cajuns.
From Canadians To Acadians -- St. Martinville, La
Comparing Bayou country 1941 and today
Louisiana Story (1948) Nominated for an Oscar® and the winner of the Pulitzer Prize for its musical score, Robert J. Flaherty’s last masterpiece is a visually stunning, lyrical tribute to a land and its people. Flaherty’s poetic vision of nature and the human spirit fills every frame of this amazing film. Through the eyes of a young Cajun boy living on the Bayou, Flaherty tells a story of disruption and change when an oil rig brings industry into his pristine world. Listed on the National Film Registry as a national treasure, Louisiana Story has finally been restored to its original glory.
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