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1 LA PAROLE Newsletter of e Acadian Museum By: Chairman Warren A. Perrin Acadian Heritage and Culture Foundation, Inc. 203 S. Broadway, Era, Louisiana (337) ; May 11, 2012 You are on e museum s list to receive La Parole. If you know of anyone who would like to receive it, please forward eir name and address to my secretary Darylin at: darylinb@plddo.com. If you no longer want to receive future issues, please advise at e noted above. Here is Mary Perrin s take on e pejorative coonass : I have read and heard arguments bo for and against e use of e term coonass. Being e wife of Warren Perrin, one can probably guess which side of at fence I am on. But my feelings about is word have not so much to do wi my admirably militant husband, alough he is a certainly factor, but more to do wi e beloved elders of our culture, ose still wi us as well as ose who have passed on. And now at I myself am becoming an elder, I understand better what it meant to em to be called at derogatory term. Today, in 2012, e designation is perhaps far less demeaning an it used to be--now, when e term "ass" is bandied about daily in e media and in casual conversation. And young people now are far removed from e days when being called e C-word meant at you were uneducated, unintelligent, perhaps poor, and spoke broken English--alough how many people who denigrated Cajuns for eir bad English in ose days were emselves bi-lingual at all? Being bi-lingual is and always has been an asset e world over. But I loved my parents, my grandparents, my aunts and my uncles, and I loved my husbands parents as well, his grandparents and his aunts and uncles, bo living and dead, too. I know how much shame ey felt in being called a coonass. For me it is a mark of love and of REVERENCE for my elders not to use at ugly term. I VENERATE all of ose who have gone before us, who have made us who we are today, I PAY HOMAGE to em for eir sacrifices during WWII to keep us free. I APPRECIATE ose who played a vital role in making our culture e vibrant, colorful, loving and hospitable culture at is today admired e world over. To use e term coonass dishonors ese hard-working people. Our forebears deserve far, far better. The operative word here is RESPECT. Visit e Acadian Museum s Facebook page for museum updates: If you feel so inclined, please feel free to

2 become a friend. Check out e Acadian Museum's Facebook page to view story of Russell Gary's Living Legends induction and oer events of interest, Invitation to all to attend Living Legend induction ceremony: Recent inductions included Lt. General Russel L. Honoré (Ret.), Bernie David, Camey Doucet, Tim Creswell, Harold Schoeffler, Kermit Miller, Willis & Edi Granger, Dr. John A. Bertrand, August Broussard, Dotsie LeBlanc, Arur Roland Prof Broussard, Clarence and Patsy Martin, A. J. LeBlanc, Janie Buillard, Ulysse Joe Gayneaux, Ru Broussard, Redell Mama Redell Miller, Richard Dickie Breaux, Russell Gary, Betty Bernard, Chester Isaac Pee Wee Broussard, and Norma Muise (Keeper of e Sacred Pipe for Mi Kmaq), March 20, who said: Everyone came to greet me and give me a hug. I appreciate everyone of you. You are all so Cajun in doing at and you made me so proud. Norma performed e Mi Kmaq Spring Equinox Fire Ceremony. Anyone interested in learning to speak French in a social setting is invited to Le Pique-Nique which is held monly on e second Sunday in Lafayette s Girard Park. Look for e Acadian flag. For more information, call Mike LeBlanc at (337) For individuals who are interested in glimpse of Cajun culture, e Acadian Museum is sponsoring Cajun Culture and Eco-Tours of Vermilion Parish. For more information on e tours, visit The new 560-page historical epic, "EVANGELINE: Paradise Stolen", published by Caeruleum Publishing and wi an important Foreword written by Warren A. Perrin, has won e 2012 Independent Publisher Bronze Award in e USA and Canada for Best Regional Fiction. The auor is award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker M. M. Le Blanc, granddaughter of Louisiana Senator "Couzan" Dudley J. Le Blanc. The novel is now in its second pre-publication Commemorative Edition printing. Buy it on e publisher's website or wi free shipping on any book order and a complimentary book for every ree books purchased in a single order. This spring, storyteller and photographer Lisa Foster will be visiting Cajun country to document Cajun culture and how it lives on rough its people, music, food, and vibrant stories. She is looking for people in e community who are willing to share stories of eir

3 culture/enicity. You can find out more on her project at or her at According to Living Legend Dr. Jean Douglas Comeau, who recently came for a visit, to see a list of Université Sainte Anne s French Immersion schedule, visit: Sam Broussard, guitarist wi Steve Riley and Mamou Playboys, wrote a song Au Revoir at was mentioned in USA Today in a column on e Grammy highlights by eir music critic Brian Mansfield. Alough e group was nominated for eir ird Grammy, ey did not win it is year. On March 15, T-Galop: a Louisiana Horse Story by Conni Castille premiered at e Central School Arts and Humanities Center, in Lake Charles. DVDs are available and can be ordered by contacting Conni Castille at connicastille@gmail.com. On February 22, Michel-Antoine Goitia-Nicolas of New Orleans lectured and led a discussion on From Akkadia to Acadia to Acadiana: e History of Louisiana Basques at e Lafayette Sou Regional Library. According to Dr. Michael Martin, e presentation was sponsored by e Center for Louisiana Studies, UL Lafayette. Special guest was Evangeline Richard and Raymond Gaudet of Quebec who were in Lafayette for Mardi Gras. We hosted em for a tour of e museum. They donated to e museum ree historic photos of Sen. Dudley Leblanc s visit to Canada in Many anks to Governor Jindal who has reappointed me to serve anoer term my 18 on e board of e Council for e Development of French in Louisiana. Yvon Cyr reported at a 250-year old document has been found in e Archives of Paris, purporting to be a list of Acadian prisoners at Fort Amherst, Port-Lajoie, Prince Edward Island in The list is currently being examined by archivists and it is hoped at a complete list will be made available soon. The Louisiana Bicentennial Commission is preparing a publication to commemorate 200 years of statehood. Jennifer Ritter Guidry and Kelly Briggs are searching for 200 artifacts/objects at convey e story of Louisiana s statehood. For information, call (337)

4 Please note below at we have added to e list of films dealing wi Cajuns, Creole, Acadians/native Americans/Metis/e French and Indian War. Please submit e titles of any oer films so at we may add to our list: ENGLISH: Réveil Full Blast The Man Who Came Back Cigarettes & Nylons The Scoundrel's Wife Belizaire e Cajun Evangeline (1928) Evangeline - A True Love Story Louisiana Story The Last of e Mohicans Dirty Rice Black Robe Against e Tide Mon Cher Camarade Dance for a Chicken Cajun Renaissance Man: Dudley J. LeBlanc Passion Fish The Patriot T-Boys Wife Little Chenier Anying I Catch...The Handfishing Story I Always Do My Collars First Raised On Rice and Gravy King Crawfish FRENCH: La Contesse de Bâton Rouge Zarico Huit Piastres et Demie La Fièvre Jaune (Yellow Fever) Le tapis de Grand-Pré (The Hooked Rug of Grand-Pre) Le secrét de Jérôme (Jerome s Secret) Gumbo Oh La La Évangeline en quête Les années noires Contre vents et contre marées L'Acadie L'Acadie Déliverance (Pierre II Surette and Beausoleil Broussard -Acadian Resistance-Dan Tebeau) Acadie Liberté Le Souvenir Necessaire L Acadie Retrouvée Terre D Acadie La Sagouine Coeurs batailleurs (Acadia: Nor and Sou) Le Chien de Lune Tintamarre. La Piste Acadie en Amérique by André Gladu

5 La Table Française, The French Table meets in Lafayette and is opened to individuals who want to speak French. For information on e dates and times, contact Mike Leblanc at (337) I have been invited by Claude Boudreau to be a guest speaker at series Les Causeries Du Mardi (July and August) in Memramcook. TV5MONDE has launched America s first French-language channel devoted solely to children s programming. DISH subscribers will be offered programing which includes TVMONDE USA, America s 24/7 French language entertainment channel. The new channel is being programmed to appeal to children and you audiences ages UL Lafayette Performing Arts Program production of Antonine Maillet s The Rabble opened e College of e Arts SPARK Festival of e Arts 2012 on March 22. The museum and The History Channel are sponsors for e event. The History Channel has been a longtime supporter of e Acadian Museum and oer historical organizations in Louisiana at work to preserve e heritage and culture of e Acadian people. The network contributed to e Antonine Maillet symposium as part of its Emmy-Award winning Save Our History initiative which fosters historic preservation and history education efforts nationwide. For more information, contact Camille Bulliard at (337) or at cab1122@louisiana.edu. At e Arts Exhibit of Nerée DeGrâce at Bai st-pau (Québec) at Musée d Arts Contemporain Baie Saint Paul Edi Butler will do a special show on April 22 at e museum. Visit Centenary College and e University of Rennes in France are seeking teachers who will teach eir subject matter in French in Louisiana. The program is called Louisiana Escadrille. The soon-to-be teachers study in France during e summer, en spend one year studying at e university in France. For more information, contact CODOFIL at (337) I had a nice meeting at e Acadian Museum wi Evangeline Richard. She is head of Festivals Acadien in Quebec wi activities taking place from August 8-15 featuring many popular musicians. For more information, visit Bayou Vermilion District announced e hiring of Museum Operations Coordinator Rachelle Dugas. Dugas is a transplant from Nova Scotia, Canada where she promoted arts and

6 Acadian culture by coordinating events and projects such as Congrès Mondial Acadien and e 250 anniversary of e Great Acadian Upheaval. Dugas spent two years in Louisiana helping e community build its bid to host e 2014 Congrès Mondial Acadien. In October, 2011 she was awarded e 2011 Camille Antoine-Richard Medal for you leadership for her work motivating Acadians and Cajuns to embrace and grow eir culture. David Cheramie, Chief Executive Officer of e Bayou Vermilion District said, She brings wi her not only her talent and experience, but is also actively involved in many of e cultural and environmental issues we address at BVD. Alliance Française de Lafayette is offering French for immersion parents, specifically designed for parents of French Immersion students in kindergarten and first grade. For more information, call (337) or at info@aflafayette.org. Dr. David Cheramie and I have been invited to be interviewed by Dr. Dennis L. Bark, a Stanford University professor who is writing a book on French-American relations. The Louisiana State Archives has a Mardi Gras exhibit entitled The Mystick Krewe of Louisianians. For more information, call (225) Monique Gagnon-Tremblay, Minister for International Relations, visited Louisiana from st April 28 rough May 1 during e Festival International and Bicentennial Celebrations in 2012, as a result of being invited by e Lt. Governor Darbonne. John François has completed his sequel novel Pontiac, which continues e story of Carrierof-Bones, aka Jean-Claude Pitre, and his friend Louis Comeau, two fifteen year old Acadian boys from Louisiana who embark to return e remains of his moer and broer to e family graveyard in Chipoudie, an Acadian village across e Bay of Fundy in what is today New Brunswick. For more information, visit Kristi Guillory has recorded English music to be performed and released at e New Orleans Jazz Fest. Visit: For all Cajuns who have always dreamed of visiting e land of eir forefaers before ey came to Acadiana, and of celebrating joie de vivre wi e cousins d Acadie du Nord, here is a rare and wonderful invitation not to be missed: Join a group from sou Louisiana to tour beautiful Grand Pré, Port Royal, Church Point, and Baie Ste-Marie in Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick s Moncton, Bouctouche and e acclaimed Festival Acadien in Caraquet.

7 This is an all-inclusive, all-acadian tour organized and guided by Novacadie Tours in collaboration wi Louisiana Travel Services. Contact Richard at and st register now for e Allons au Festival tour. Tour dates are August 12 to 21, It will be a tintamarre of a trip! For a detailed tour description, go to and click on ''Up coming Tours'' at top left. UL Opera Theatre and The Compound collaborated on a production: a revival of GRAND PRÉ, a musical by local playwright Cody Daigle and local composer Roy Bertucci. GRAND PRÉ musicalizes e beginning of e Great Removal, set against e story of a family already at war wi itself. The exhibit Louisiana Statehood Bicentennial - Revisiting Acadia: Acadian to Cajun at e Acadian Museum had loaned to e Palmetto Island State Park will be remain on display for anoer year until January 1, A film 30 beats, for which C. C. Adcock did all e music, premiered in Paris on March 8. Allen Clements is working on a modern HD documentary on e Cajun culture and how it is being preserved. He will be in e area during e first week of May to begin filming. For more information, allen@postagevfx.com or call (717) On March 13, e International Center hosted Jean-Claude Brunet, Consul General of France in New Orleans. On March 10, Cité des Arts, Alliance Française de Lafayette presented Bernard Champion and Bernard Champey s Art Show. Readers of Cajun By Any Oer Name live e experience of Marie Rundquit s Acadian ancestors whose lives were shattered by a forced expulsion form Nova Scotia in from eir exile in Maryland and re-emergence in e Louisiana parishes - and join Rundquist s search for an identity nearly destroyed by re-tooled surnames, assumed pedigrees, ambition, courouse filings and e Civil war. In conclusion, Rundquist exposes how DNA testing, genealogy and history research restore vital connections for oers of Native American and European ancestry, makes a case for self-identification at rises above cultural labels and strengens e soul.

8 The Acadian Museum was selected to be in a book for e State Bicentennial! Some of e featured items, include: Queen s Royal Proclamation at acknowledges e wrongs committed against e Acadian people in e name in e name of e Crown and establishes a Day of Commemoration on July 28 of each year; Allons à Lafayette record; alligator hook and chain; Acadian textiles - cross-and-diamond pattern developed by moer and daughter team Theresa Meyers Dronet and Anaise Landry Meyers; porcelain street lamp; Soldier s belongings (Hiroshima, 1944); sugar cane scale from Era Sugar Company; set costumes from Belizaire e Cajun movie (1986); photo of Nicholas Broussard (1930s) who drove to Washington, DC to present President FDR wi a pair of roosters; and handmade harpoon from Lake Peigneur. The Acadian Museum recently acquired a very historic record: Acadian Bicentennial March by Robert Thibodeaux (who wrote many of T. K. Hulin s Swamp Pop songs) performed by e St. Martinville High School band in It was part of e state s 1955 Bicentennial Celebration of e Acadian Deportation which set e stage for e French Renaissance, culminating wi e creation of CODOFIL in Dr. Shane K. Bernard has written a blog More on That Word Coonass : A Labor Dispute Trial Documents Its Use in 1940" Good News! Our proposal for e book St. Landry Parish has been approved by Arcadia Publishing. My co-auors are Pat Morrow and Philip Andrepont. Local cultural entrepreneurs Mandy Migues and Brandon Broussard appeared on an episode of e French morning TV show C est au programme, which broadcasts on e channel France 2. Broussard and Migues, e owners of cultural heritage tour company Voyage Louisiane, hosted a cooking demonstration for a Cajun Country 12-minute segment. John Hernandez and I hosted Vera Petley of Quebec who was in Lafayette for Festival International along wi singer Marie Frenette. See They will be networking for different groups, including mayors of Lanaudière (Quebec region ey now call Nouvelle Acadie) at have shown interest in creating networks and exchanges wi Louisiana.

9 A 19 century hand-drawn French map of early Era, was donated by Anna Belle Pierce, daughter of L. C. Desormeaux, Sr. who was from Era, but lived most of his life in Mermentau, Louisiana where he built famous castle house Le Petite Chateau delux. For many years, e map was kept in a box by his moer Alice Desormeaux. On March 30, Festival International de Louisiane was voted e Best World Music Festival by 2012 World Music Readers' Choice Awards. CODOFIL s total operational budget for e upcoming Fiscal Year is projected to be $100,000 less an FY Please take a moment to contact your legislators and tell em to c est oui! To restore CODOFIL s budget!! Sadly, e former Counsel-General of France to Louisiana Nicole Lenoire recently died in Nantes. The following was sent to me by Anony J. Lomas, auor of Operation Aspic : This novel combines e history of e Acadian people wi attorney Warren Perrin as a main character who sued e Queen Of England for an apology for e Acadian deportation. All of e former Bond actors out to steal a secret recipe from a famous Louisiana chef. On April 29, e opening of e Global Cultural Center at Mason Duchamp in St. Martinville was held. Charles Larroque said: This will become a clearing house for our culture. The February/March 2012 issue of e Louisiana Bar Journal features Secretary of State Tom Schedler and State Archives celebrating Louisiana s Bicentennial. Sadly, Living Legends Dotsie Mae LeBlanc and Roland Prof Broussard died. Romy Mriano, e Associate Media Editor for e Louisiana Endowment for e Humanities, is working on an exciting project which is a Bicentennial Commemoration Book on Louisiana Art. The Acadian Museum has contributed several photographs by Mary Perrin of Gladys LeBlanc Clark, a master artist, Acadian weaver who is included in eir KnowLAOnline Encyclopedia. Congratulations to Ryan Poché, son of Mark and Schuyler Poché - longtime museum supporters - on being named National Beta Club President and being nominated as one of Louisiana s Super Achievers for 2012.

10 Shane K. Bernard's 2008 book, Cajuns and Their Acadian Ancestors: A Young Reader's History, will be available in 2012 in a French translation by Faustine Hillard. Published by e University Press of Mississippi and funded in part rough a translation grant from e Quebec Ministère des Relations Internationales, e book, titled Les Cadiens et leurs ancêtresacadiens: l'histoire racontée aux jeunes, is aimed at middle-school and high-school readers (ough it is useful as an adult primer), particularly students in French Immersion and oer French education courses. If you wish to be notified of e book's release, please Dr. Bernard at info@cajunculture.com. On April 30, e Louisiana Association of Museums presented me wi e Outstanding Individual Support award. On March 16, e Acadian Museum hosted a group of 17 NYU graduate students in culinary science at e Perrin farm in Henry. The students were taking part in an intensive graduate seminar on food, culture, and identity in New Orleans and Acadiana, led by adjunct professor Dr. Meryl Rosofsky from New York University's Department of Nutrition, Food Studies and Public Heal. For more information, please visit: l Alliance Française de Lafayette announced French classes for Toddlers to be held at Vermilionville. For more information, (337) ; info@aflafayette.org. Alliance Française de Lafayette is now offering Yoga classes in French. For more information, (337) or info@aflafayette.org. Bayou Vermilion District s Vermilionville, in collaboration wi e Lafayette Parish Master Gardeners, invites e public to e grand opening of e historic village s newest living exhibit, e Healer s Garden. The grand opening will take place on Tuesday, May 8 at 5:30 p.m. at Vermilionville's Maison Acadienne wi a ribbon cutting followed by refreshments and a guided tour of e garden ending wi e Center for Cultural & Eco Tourism s (CCET) May Backyard Series: Herbal Lore among e Rural Communities. Ron Thibodeaux s new book Hell or High Water: How Cajun Fortitude Wistood Hurricanes Rita and Ike will be released June 5. The University of Louisiana at Lafayette Press is now taking advance orders. Visit:

Grand Dérangement. study guide

Grand Dérangement. study guide Grand Dérangement study guide Grand Dérangement Grand Dérangement is a French Acadian music group from Saint Marie Bay, (Baie Sainte Marie), Nova Scotia, Canada. It is a mix of French traditional music,