A Publication of The Acadian Memorial Foundation First Quarter It s festival time!

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1 CALLING ALL CAJUNS! A Publication of The Acadian Memorial Foundation First Quarter 2017 It s festival time! Acadian Memorial Festival and Wooden Boat Congrès Schedule March 18, 2017 St. Martinville is celebrating its Bicentennial this year. The 2017 theme during the Acadian Memorial Festival and Wooden Boat Congrès will focus on the Bicentennial, Renaissance de la Ville - Rebirth of the Town. We invite you to wear a costume and join us in celebrating our Acadian culture and the history of St. Martinville. 9:00 am Wooden Boat Parade Cooking and Craft Demonstrations (all day) Food, water, soda and beer for purchase (all day) Craft booths and Acadian Boutique - Items for sale all day 10:00am Welcome, Introductions Table française (conversations in French) Wooden Boat Exhibit and Rides for public (just ask boat owner) Storytime for Children ("Fiddles and Spoons: Tales of An Acadian Mouse") Antique Car Display (all day) 10:30am Brazos Huval School of Music 11:00 am La Récolte Théâtre Cadien - historical vignettes en français Hèlène Boudreaux presentation on the traiteurs Longfellow-Evangeline State Historic Site - Traditional Life on the Bayou Decorating and Pâquer-ing Eggs and other hands-on crafts 12:00 pm Traditional Danses Rondes with Earlene Broussard 1:00 pm Re-enactment of Arrival of Acadian Families to the Attakapas Honoring the Bourgeois and Duhon Families 1:30 pm Crowning of Messieurs Bâteau de Bois :45 pm Native American Traditional Music & Dancing 2:00 pm Théâtre Cadien La Recolte continues 3:30pm Raffle drawing 4:00 pm Closing of Festival

2 Calling All Cajuns 2 From the President, Happy New Year! Letter from the President The Acadian Memorial Foundation is looking forward to a bright and fun 2017! Spread the News! Once again the Acadian Heritage Festival and Wooden Boat Congrès on March 18th provides us the opportunity to honor Acadian heritage with family activities, food, Cajun French music and loads of fun. As always volunteers are very welcome. Call the Acadian Memorial if you are interested. The Annual Acadian Memorial Fundraising raffle begins with the first drawing held during the Acadian Heritage Festival. Only 200 tickets will be sold at $25.00 a ticket, so hurry out and add your name to pot. Everyone has 27 chances to win with three drawings for $100.00, $50.00 and $25.00 held every month, March through December. Tickets are on sale at the Acadian Memorial or through the Acadian Memorial Foundation Board Members. It s a great way to support the Acadian Memorial Foundation and if you re lucky add a little Lagniappe to your year! Come celebrate Acadian Heritage on March 18, I hope to see all of you and your families there! Sincerely Patty GuteKunst Acadian Memorial & Cultural Heritage Center 2016 Flooding Update With regard to the August 2016 flooding of the downtown area of St. Martinville, Robert Dafford and his crew have been working the past couple of months on the Acadian Memorial issues. The mural is back on the wall, as well as side and base boards. All that remains to complete the mural is a few finishing touches on the base boards. We have made it through the final FEMA queue and are simply awaiting their final approval. Meanwhile, the architect is finishing up her work to get bids and select a contractor. The Acadian Memorial will not take long to complete. There is, however, a good bit of work to be done on the Cultural Heritage Center. See photos below showing the extensive flooding damage. All is well and moving forward to a complete restoration. We thank you all for your support. Cultural Heritage Center flooding damage of August 13, Photos courtesy of Elaine Clément.

3 C a l l i n g Al l C a j u n s 3 LDBT 2016 another grand event! Foreground, Roger Bourgeois, introduced as Grand Master VIII and receiving toast from Acadian Memorial Foundation Board members, new L'Ordre du Bon Temps members and past Grand Masters. Pictured: Marty Guidry, Patty GuteKunst, Doris & Irving Thibodeaux, Ray Trahan, Warren Perrin, Sylvia Bienvenu. In background: Janie Bulliard, Karren Hays and Mavis Frugé. James Akers aka Samuel Champlain and Sylvia Bienvenu, AMF Board Janie Bulliard; Sue Brignac; Paul Durand, GM VII; Sylvia Bienvenu Grand Master VIII, Roger Bourgeois, new L'Ordre du Bon Temps members, Karren Lejeune Hays, Doris Richard Thibodeaux and Irving Thibodeaux, Grand Master II, Ray Trahan and Grand Master V, Warren Perrin. LDBT 2016 photos courtesy of Renée T. Richard

4 Calling All Cajuns 4 Bicentennial Celebration St. Martinville, Louisiana: Two hundred years ago, on January 30, 1817, a spot of land on Bayou Teche in the Attakapas District of old Louisiana was incorporated under the constitution of the new (1812) State of Louisiana. This gave certain privileges as part of the powers and duties of government to the "town of St. Martinsville" such as real estate transactions, erection of public buildings, levying of taxes for policing and other improvements and with the administration of such set forth in the duties of "trustees." That "spot of land" first took shape in 1771 as a land grant to establish a cattle ranch from the Spanish government to Jean-Antoine Bernard Dauterive. The land granted was on both sides of Bayou Teche, 40 arpents deep on the east side (about 1-1/2 miles as 1 arpent = 192') and to Bayou Tortue on the west side; bounded on the north, approximately by present day Conde Road and on the south just above Mimosa Lane. A condition was that Dauterive donate land from the grant for a Catholic church. That donation, taken from about the middle of the original grant, was 6 arpents wide and 40 arpents deep on both sides of the Bayou - and today can be described as bounded by Bridge Street on the north, Church Street on the south, the road to Catahoula on the east and Capritto Road (the old 40 arpent road) on the west. In 1773, a Catholic church was built on the donated site reportedly facing Bayou Teche on what today would be the corner of Bridge Street and Catfish Alley. Dauterive died in 1779 on his plantation in Iberville Parish and by 1784 his widow had sold off all of the lands north and south of the church lands. Settlement of the area was such that in 1810, while Louisiana was still a territory, the police jury of Attakapas District bought land south of the church lands "in order to lay out a town and build a city hall". Louisiana became the eighteenth State in 1812 and in 1817, three areas: (1) the police jury property which was called St. Martinsville, (2) the church lands and (3) an area then called Arriègeville, north of the church lands, were combined to incorporate as St. Martinsville. Today's boundaries would be from Railroad Ave. on the north to Gary Street on the south. The original boundary description includes a portion on the east side of Bayou Teche which has come to be called Pinaudville. The full name, St. Martinsville, first appeared in civil records in 1811 and the 's' persisted until the end of the nineteenth century. The City of St. Martinville celebrated a reenactment of the signing of the Act of Incorporation on January 28, 2017, and planted the 'Bicentennial Oak" on January 30th. Events are planned by the City for July and December and civic clubs will honor the bicentennial all year long. Read the full story online at by Glenn R. Conrad, In the Beginning The Origins of St. Martinville - Attakapas Gazette (Yearbook 1994):1-23 and the Teche News, Vol. 131, No. 42, Wednesday, January 25, 2017, Sec. B "200 years ago The Beginning of St. Martinville." -Jane G. Bulliard

5 C a l l i n g Al l C a j u n s 5 CASH $$$ RAFFLE LIMITED TO 200 TICKETS: WIN $25, $50, OR $100 AT MONTHLY DRAWINGS MARCH THRU NOVEMBER CHANCES TO WIN TICKETS $25 WIN & YOUR NAME GOES BACK IN THE POT CALL 337/ FOR INFORMATION SPONSORED BY THE ACADIAN MEMORIAL FOUNDATION TO BENEFIT THE ACADIAN MEMORIAL LA Permit #E Bourgeois and Duhon Families to be honored at Festival

6 Calling All Cajuns 6 Merci Beaucoup! bâü tççâtä yâçwüt á Çz xäxçà? _ËbÜwÜx wâ UÉÇ gxåñá ãéâäw ÇÉà ux ÑÉáá uäx ã à{éâà ÉâÜ zxçxüéâá áñéçáéüá tçw tää Éy à{x ãéçwxüyâä äéäâçàxxüá ã{é áâññéüà ÉâÜ xyyéüàá à{üéâz{éâà à{x çxtüa cäxtáx }É Ç âá Ç tv~çéãäxwz Çz à{xå tçw àt~x à{x à Åx àé à{tç~ à{xå yéü tääéã Çz âá àé á{tüx ÉâÜ Tvtw tç vâäàâüx ã à{ tää ã{é zütvx ÉâÜ wééüá. St. Martin Bank and Trust, St. Martinville, LA Welcome Friends New and Renewed Friends Friend of the Foundation Sarah Boyes, Bradenton, FL Michel Claudet, Houma, LA Friend with Spouse Larry & Sarah Roy, St. Martinville, LA Family John Errol & Karen Gautreau, Baton Rouge, LA L Ordre du Bon Temps Michel Claudet, Houma, LA Thérèse Trahan McFall, Heber Springs, AR Tvtw tç `xåéü tä YÉâÇwtà ÉÇ á ÇvxÜxÄç tññüxv tàxá çéâü áâññéüàa Acadian Heritage Tour de France July 3-16, 2017 Discover where French explorers and founding Acadian families came from in La Chaussée, Martaizé, D Aulnay, La Rochelle. These cities were your Acadian ancesters homes prior to going to the New World in the 1600s. Walk in the footsteps of your ancesters in Chȃtellerault, Archigny, Belle-Île-en-Mer, Saint Malo, Nantes and learn about the lives of Acadian who were deported to France during the Grand Dérangement and who eventually settled in Louisiana. The tour travels through four regions of France: Île-de-France, Poitou, Brittany and Normandy. Enjoy a bilingual French/English tour traveling with Acadians of Canada and the US to learn about our common heritage and also meet and share meals with French citizens who are Acadian. Acadians and Cajuns in Nantes, France on the Rue du Acadienne where Robert Dafford s famous mural depicts the Acadians (earlier deported from Acadie to France), leaving for Louisiana to find a Nouvelle Acadie (New Acadie). This is an almost all inclusive trip spanning 14 days and 12 nights. Contact Brenda Comeaux Trahan to sign up today. She can provide additional trip details and package costs at LAISSER LES BONS TEMPS ROULER EN FRANCE!

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8 Calendar of events FEBRUARY Wednesday, 1st Genealogy Workshop - 10 a.m., St. Martin Parish Library, Marty Guidry Visit the Acadian Memorial South New Market St. St. Martinville, LA Telephone: Open 10:00 am to 4:30 pm daily, except for major holidays Current admission: $3 for ages 13 and up includes: Acadian Memorial & Cultural Heritage Center Guided tour packages are also available. Tour groups and field trips are welcome! Please call for rate and reservations. Tourism Director/Curator Acadian Memorial: Elaine Clément Docent:/Tourism & Curator s Assistant: Cynthia Champagne Docent/Historian/Tour Guide: James Akers Docents: Laura Alexander, Merlin Champagne, James Charles, Claudia Prade Wednesday, 15th Acadian Memorial Foundation Board meeting, 4 p.m. MARCH Wednesday, 1st Genealogy Workshop - 10 a.m. Wednesday, 15th Acadian Memorial Foundation Board meeting, 4 p.m. See Festival schedule on page 1 Saturday, 18th Acadian Memorial Festival and Wooden Boat Congrès APRIL Wednesday, 5th Genealogy Workshop - 10 a.m. Wednesday, 19th Acadian Memorial Foundation Board meeting, 4 p.m. Acadian Memorial Foundation, Inc. P. O. Box 379 St. Martinville, LA Calling All Cajuns! A Publication of the Acadian Memorial Foundation, Inc. Editor: Christine Duhon Brosky