What does it mean to be Cajun? The story behind the identity.

What does it mean to be Cajun? For The Historic New Orleans Collection's “Cajun Document” exhibition, our Visitor Services staff took a deep dive on the history of this Louisiana identity and the complex conversations around it. Learn more about the exhibition here: www.hnoc.org/cajundocument

THNOC would like to acknowledge the following sources for background on the topic: "Finding Cajun," directed by Nathan Rabalais; "The Cajuns: Americanization of a People" by Shane Bernard; “Memory and Acadian Identity” by W. Fitzhugh Brundage in Where these Memories Grow: History, Memory, and Southern Identity; “‘Don’t call me a Cajun’: Race and Representation in Louisiana’s Acadiana Region” by Alexandra Giancarlo in Journal of Cultural Geography; “Cajunization of French Louisiana: Forging a Regional Identity” by Cécyle Trépanier in The Geographical Journal; “Creole Is, Creole Ain’t: Diachronic and Synchronic Attitudes toward Creole Identity in Southern Louisiana” by Sylvie Dubois and Megan Melançon in Language in Society