18 December 2008
The Future of the Cajun Culture & Language
Yes, the future of the Cajun culture/language is in the hands of the Cajun people. But most who claim that cultural identity, cannot be bothered to participate in the culture except to go to a festival and get drunk. They (in the words of Marc Savoy) traded in their hot bowl of gumbo for a cold tasteless American hot dog. Then, for those who do care & put their children in French immersion schools - they find out that the state will not provide French textbooks. What kind of shit is that? We have past the point where we could have a bilingual society in Louisiana. We may have past the point where there is any authentic culture in Louisiana. But it doesn't mean that those few who care about their culture and their language have to go down with out a fight. We, like Beausoleil (the rebel Acadian - not the band)can fight and cause frustration and resist and and strike fear in those who get in out way. And we don't need anyone's permission. We don't need to be government sanctioned. We don't have to organize. We, fight under the understanding that 1,000 cuts brings down the animal. It is our fault. It is our fight.
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2 comments:
There's a line that Barry Ancelet uses when he's talking about Marc Savoy in his book on Cajun & Creole Musicians. He says that Savoy tends his own garden in the fashion of Voltaire.
Sometimes that's all you can do. You eat your food and you play your music and you speak your language and you do it all as though it's the most natural thing in the world. Then, one day, you overhear your kid humming the "Reno Waltz" while he's coloring a picture.
That's how you win. If you try to turn it into an obligation or a subject to study in school, the whole thing is doomed.
I agree 100%. I became friends with Marc kids at a very early age. I have seen how Marc lives. He just does what he does because that is who he is and not who he is trying to be. He never pressured any of his kids to be musicians but they all are. I like that...tend your own garden. Thanks.
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