LA PAROLE
Newsletter of the Acadian Museum
By: Chairman Warren A. Perrin
Acadian Heritage and Culture Foundation, Inc.
203 S. Broadway, Erath, Louisiana 70533
(337) 233-5832; 937-5468
www.acadianmuseum.com
May 30, 2017
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You are on the museum's email list to receive La Parole. If you know of anyone who
would like to receive it, please forward their name and email address to my secretary
Darylin at: [email protected]. If you no longer want to receive future issues, please
advise at the email noted above.
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After talking about it for years, we—Warren and Mary Perrin—are finally going to do it:
spend the summer of 2018 in France! We are so excited and chose the Luberon, a massif
in central Provence in the south of France, as our destination. The area came highly
recommended by Patricia Tran Rosochowitz, one of their "French daughters." We will be
looking for a vacation home there, one with a pool for the grandkids, so if anyone has any
ideas, please let us know. We will consider all options—including house exchanges. Send
ideas to [email protected].
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The Living Legends program is usually held at 4:00 PM at the Museum Café located at
102 E. Edwards St. in Erath. If you wish to nominate an individual into the Order of Living
Legends, please send your request either by U.S. Mail to Acadian Museum, P.O. Box
53597 or by email to [email protected] along with the contact information for the
nominee (email, mailing address and phone number).

On May 10, the First International Conference—Legal and Environmental
Law Implications of Toxic Waste Dumping in the South China Sea, was held
in the Russell Senate Building, Kennedy Caucus Room. The day-long
symposium focused on the 2016 Formosa Company's illegal dumping of toxic
wastes into the South China Sea which devastated the fishing industry off of the coast of
Vietnam. It is believed that the world's oceans have been adversely impacted. US Senator
Tim Kane was the honorary chairman. The keynote speaker was Ambassador Stephen
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Rapp. Special guest was the Honorable Canadian Senator Thanh Hai Ngo of Ottawa,
Ontario. Sown below (left to right) are three of the six presenters: Professor Luke Wilson,
George Washington School of Law, Warren A. Perrin, member of the Executive
Committee of the Francophone Section of the Louisiana State Bar Association, and Roger
Bilodeau, QC, Registrar of the Canadian Supreme Court.

Louisiana was well-represented at the San Diego Gator Festival held from May 11- 13.
Shown below are members of the band Steve Riley and the
Mamou Playboys and the lieutenant governor of Louisiana, left
to right, Kevin Dugas, Brazos Huval, Sam Broussard, Lt. Gov.
Billy Nungesser, Dana Showcaroff (festival's representative),
Steve Riley, Kevin Wimmer and Dana Dupree (Riley's
relative).
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Acadie Then and Now was named the 2015 winner of the
prestigious Prix France-Acadie. In Canada, the books in French
or English editions may be ordered from Jacques Ouellet of La
Grande Marée at email: [email protected], or on the web at
www.amazon.ca. In the U. S., call (337) 233-5832, or email
[email protected]

Let Acadian Museum Editing Services polish up
your written word. We provide proofreading and
editing services for all forms of written
documents, from brochures to school papers to
full-length book manuscripts. We work for
international students and faculty, business and
government officials, high school and college students, or anyone who needs a perfect
written document. All profits go to the Acadian Museum. Call 337-501-3053 and ask for
Mary for more information.

Correction of an error in the last newsletter: The province of Nova. Scotia–not Prince
Edward Island–announced $400,000 to create a new cultural hub in the Acadian village of
Chéticamp. Le Quartier Culturel de Chéticamp, located along the Cabot Trail, will include
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a range of facilities including an outdoor classroom and theatre, a promenade, a
multifunctional space and a café.

A permanent bilingual display dedicated to Nova Scotia’s Acadian and francophone roots
was unveiled at the Halifax Central Library. ‘L’acadie et la francophonie: Notre
histoire/Our Story’ is described by the library as a digital presentation of images and
information intended to tell the story of one of the province’s founding cultures. “The
content was community-driven. Yes we wanted to emphasize some of the key points in
history, but also to make the point that this is a vibrant living culture today,” said Heather
MacKenzie, manager for diversity services for Halifax Public Libraries.

We received this email from our friend Brice Martin with the Paris Bar School in France
and urge all Louisiana lawyers to consider hosting an intern in their law offices. I have
done this for ten students and can assure you that they were all wonderful experiences:
“The Paris Bar School would be highly honored if some attorneys at law of the Louisiana
State Bar were interested in welcoming some French trainee lawyers for internships. Their
18-month training comprises seminars and internships that can be achieved abroad on both
half of the year, from January to June or from July to December.” For more information
contact Brice Martin at [email protected].

Acadiana is the name given to the traditional 22-parish Cajun homeland, which in 1971 the
Louisiana state legislature officially recognized for its unique Cajun and Acadian heritage
(per House Concurrent Resolution No. 496). Despite the frequent association of Cajuns
with swamplands, Acadiana actually consists of prairies, marshes, and wooded river (or
bayou) lands. Acadiana often is applied only to Lafayette Parish and several neighboring
parishes, usually Acadia, Iberia, St. Landry, St. Martin, and Vermilion parishes, and
sometimes also Evangeline and St. Mary; this eight-parish area, however, is actually the
"Cajun Heartland, USA" district, which makes up only about a third of the entire Acadiana
region.

The Acadian cultural centers in Thibodaux, Lafayette, and Eunice hosted free screenings
of Zachary Richard, Cajun Heart in May. The award-winning, feature-length documentary
is in French with English subtitles and stars world-renowned Cajun singer, songwriter, and
cultural activist Zachary Richard. The film follows Richard on a quest to explore his roots
and examines the nature of Acadian/Cajun identity in the 21st century. Cajun Heart’s
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director Phil Comeau is a Canadian film and television director and scriptwriter, based in
Moncton (New Brunswick) and Montreal (Quebec). Comeau’s documentary and drama
fiction films have won over 50 awards in North America and Europe. The screenings are
sponsored by CODOFIL, the Council for the Development of French in Louisiana
http://www.crt.state.la.us/cultural-development/codofil/index. CODOFIL’s mission as
Louisiana’s French agency is to support and grow Louisiana’s Francophone communities
through scholarships, French immersion, and various other programs designed to build
community and language skills.

The Times-Picayune is marking the tricentennial of New
Orleans with its ongoing “300 for 300” project, running through
2018 and highlighting the moments and people that connect and
inspire us. Today, the series continues with the expulsion of the
French-speaking Acadians from present-day Nova Scotia. THEN: In what has come to be
called le grand derangement, as many as 18,000 French-speaking people were banished by
the British from what was then known as Acadia, now Nova Scotia, between 1755 and
1764 amid the French and Indian War. About 3,000 of the expelled Acadians made their
way to south Louisiana, where Spanish rulers had sought Catholic settlers for the untamed
bayou country. The word "Acadian" would soon become "Cajun" in local parlance -- and
Louisiana would never be quite the same. NOW: After initial friction with Creole settlers
who resented the newcomers, Cajuns and their culture took root in southwest Louisiana.
Cajun music and cuisine have become popular cultural exports, and they draw hordes of
tourists to southwest Louisiana.

Set in the village of Grand-Pré, where Evangeline, the poem’s
protagonist, lived, Longfellow has liberally sprinkled the ode with poetic
licenses, including the description of Acadian villages. The poem’s
genesis can be traced back to an after-dinner conversation between the
famous poet, his friend Nathaniel Hawthrone and a reverend by the name of Horace
Conolly. Conolly narrated to the men a story he had heard about a French-Canadian woman
(Evangeline) who became separated from her beloved a man named Gabriel as the result
of British expulsion of the French-speaking inhabitants of Nova Scotia. The story goes,
Evangeline wandered for years in search of Gabriel, and though the lovers are briefly united
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years later, Gabriel dies in her arms. Conolly hoped Hawthrone would write a novel on
the tragic love story, he wasn’t interested, but Longfellow’s interest was piqued. Seven
years later in 1847, he published Evangeline.

The Cajun Music & Food Festival, held each July, usually the third weekend, includes
authentic Cajun music & food, as well as a French mass on Sunday. Check the Festival
Calendar of Events on www.visitlakecharles.org for event information or call 800-4567952. The Cajun Music & Food Festival is organized by the Cajun French Music
Association and has been chosen as a Top 20 Event by the Southeast Tourism Society for
many years.

Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser unveiled a new tourism initiative designed to
promote in-state travel by Louisianans. The program is called Destination Louisiana. Each
month, one destination in the state is chosen to receive multi-platform coverage from the
Louisiana Office of Tourism (LOT). The destination will rotate between north, southwest
and southeast regions of the state. The first destination featured as part of the initiative will
be Iberia Parish, home to places such as Tabasco, Rip Van Winkle Gardens, and the
Shadows on the Teche.

The community is invited to join the Bayou Vermilion District’s Vermilionville as they
celebrate their annual Creole Culture Day on Sunday, June 4 from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. at their
historic park. Every year Vermilionville hosts this free event for the public to explore the
history and evolution of the Creole community. This year’s Creole Culture Day will focus
on the origins of Louisiana’s Creole peoples and the activities planned for the day will
include: cooking demonstrations such as crawfish and tasso pasta, sausage creole and sweet
dough pies; kids’ crafts and activities; demonstrations such as palmetto weaving; Zydeco
dance lessons; exhibits and discussions on Creole cowboys, healing traditions, genealogy
and language, plus more. For more information about this year’s Creole Culture Day visit
the calendar of events at Vermilionville.org or call (337) 233-4077.

Ten years in the making, a Robert Redford film on the birth of America’s recording
industry is making its broadcast debut. American Epic, a three-part documentary on PBS.
“The American Epic Sessions,” an historic recording session that includes the Cajun band
Lost Bayou Ramblers, Willie Nelson, Elton John, Alabama Shakes, Los Lobos and other
stars, will air at 7 p.m. June 6 on PBS. Louis Michot, the Ramblers’ fiddler and singer,
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narrates a documentary segment on Cajun musicians. The film goes back to 1926 when
record scouts traveled the country recording everyday people performing blues, gospel,
country, Cajun and more.

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), Louisiana Chapter, honored The Lafayette
Parish Bayou Vermilion District (BVD) with the 2017 Community Championship Team
award at its annual FORWARD symposium on sustainability on Friday, May 12. BVD
Chief Executive Officer Dr. David Cheramie accepted the award on the agency’s behalf.

The Department of Modern and Classical Languages hosted historian AndréCarl Vachon for a pair of lectures on the WWU campus May 23 and 24
dealing with the ethnic cleansing of Acadians - those of French descent who
settled in what are now Eastern Canada's Maritime provinces (Nova Scotia,
New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island), as well as part of Quebec - by the British in
the 1700s.

A Cajun in France: Journeys to Assimilations, by Sidney P. Bellard, a native of Port Barre
who attended the first Congrès mondial acadien 1994, is a new book which comes highly
recommended by both Warren and Mary Perrin. If you grew up Cajun in the 1940s, 50s,
60s, or even 70s, a lot of what Sidney Pierre experienced growing up may sound strikingly
familiar to you. Travel with Sidney Pierre on his poignant and most unlikely journey
through three assimilations into three different cultures where he encountered challenges
such as the language barrier, the lack of family educational values, relative poverty,
discrimination and the resulting chains of insecurity. Eventually, he develops two major
drives that are antithetical to each other, two drives he did not become fully aware of until
the writing of this book. Since his first language was Cajun French, the first was to master
the English language and the second was to then achieve literacy in standard French. The
book is now available at Amazon.com in digital and print versions.

Join us for a true Renaissance de la Ville on July 1, 2017 from 4 to 10pm as we continue
the celebration of our Bicentennial and revive a true St. Martinville tradition with an
Independence Day Extravaganza on the bayou in Magnolia Park. The flag raising at 4pm
kicks off the evening’s activities as we honor our country and veterans. It’s a fun-filled
outdoor evening for the entire family, children and adults alike.
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
A delegation from Brittany, France came to the Houmas House (Darrow, LA) on May 16th,
led by the President of the Culture Council of Brittany, Bernez Rouz, and Breizh Amerika.
They are looking to strengthen the historic and cultural links between the two regions of
Louisiana and Brittany. “Our relationship and history with the nation of France has
enriched our culture,” said Lt. Governor Billy Nungesser. “I look forward to continuing to
support our French language immersion programs and a robust relationship with the
Brittany delegation.” For more information about Breizh Amerika visit: http://www.breizhamerika.com.

On Friday, May 12 at the Governor’s Mansion, Louisiana Department of Wildlife and
Fisheries Secretary Jack Montoucet received the French Republic’s highest honor and was
named Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur. The Légion d’honneur was established by
Napoléon in 1802, and only the President of the French Republic can approve nominees.
The award may be given to only 400 foreign (non-French) citizens per year, in recognition
of actions benefitting the country of France or achievements which uphold its ideals. It
celebrates the civic spirit of France and remains a strong, understandable, and unifying
symbol deeply anchored in French society. Governor John Bel Edwards and First Lady
Donna Edwards were present, as was CODOFIL President Bill Arceneaux, members of the
legislature, and many of Mr. Montoucet’s family and friends. Consul General of France
Grégor Trumel presided over the ceremony and presented the award in the name of the
French Republic.

Musicians Steve Riley and Justin Manuel are playing with a piece of Cajun music history.
Justin''s family purchased the accordion of the late Cajun music pioneer Nathan Abshire
years ago. It was made in Lake Charles and is seen in several pictures of Abshire.
"I
grabbed this accordion and played that song," said Justin Manuel. "It sounds exactly like
what I've been learning. No accordion sounds exactly the same. When you play this one,
it sounds like I was him playing the accordion almost." “It was played by a giant in Cajun
music," said Steve Riley. "A man who left his mark on the music and it'll be there forever."

On May 10, I met with Greg Wood (center) in Washington DC, an
Acadian historian and author, who continues to research the
Acadian's experience in Maryland. Shown at right is his wife Lynn.
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
Dr. Willian Arceneaux, Gov. John Bel Edwards, Supt. of Education John White, and
members of the legislature to ceremonies announced the initiation of two French
Immersion programs in Evangeline Parish, at Mamou Elementary and Ville Platte
Elementary. The ceremony took place on May 24, at Ville Platte High School in Ville
Platte, Louisiana. Began in the late 1980s, the French Immersion programs are now in 34
schools in 11 parishes serving over 4,500 students.

On May 6, Mary and I hosted their annual crawfish boil in support of Fr. Glenn Meaux's
Catholic mission in Haiti (his website is http://solthaitimission.org/). The crawfish boil
was auctioned off at a recent gala and a family from Lafayette—William and Lauren
Poché—had bid upon it and won the auction. The Pochés invited family and friends to join
them for the event which included a tour of the Acadian Museum of Erath. Local crawfish
farmer Ross Hebert of Henry provided the choice crawfish—10 sacks—and supplies were
provided by Champagne's Market of Erath. Master-boiler and Justice-of-the-Peace Eric
Toups was in charge of the food preparation, with the assistance of Chris Norman and Chris
Broussard. The event took place at the Perrin's rice and crawfish farm in Henry, Louisiana.
Fr. Glenn Meaux attended—and said grace before the meal in Haitian Créole French. As
usual, Dale Broussard of Erath recanted his "really true stories—really" and Living Legend
Helen Boudreaux of Catahoula and Pat Campbell of Maurice provided their fabulous Cajun
music, with accompaniment by the Perrins' grandson, ten year old Henry Perrin. Also
attending was the Grammy-nominated duo of Sam Broussard and Dr. Barry Ancelet, who
donated to the Poches a copy of their CD Broken Promised Land. Neighbors and friends
of the Perrins prepared eight home-made desserts for everyone to enjoy. Shown are some
photos taken at the event. All are identified left to right.
Jenn and Adam Clause
Craig, Brittany and
Jennifer East, Louise
Smith (seated).
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Joshua Miller, William
and Lauren Poché
Pat Campbell
Fr. Glen Meaux
Warren, Andy,
Henry and
Nicoline Perrin

Bruce Perrin and
Sam Broussard
Carolyn and Barry
Ancelet
Mary Beyt and
Mary Perrin
Helen Boudreaux
Eric Toups
According to Yvon Gaudin, the largest hetero-friendly sports, cultural, festival event in the
world will take place August 4-12 in Paris—Gay Games de Paris. It will
involve 36 sporting disciplines and 14 cultural events. They expect 15,000 participants
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from 70 countries and over 40,000 visitors. The games are welcome to everyone, no matter
their sexual orientation, gender, religion, nationality, ethnic origins, political views, their
physical, athletic or artistic capabilities, age or health status. There are no performance
standards required. The primary goal of these games is to promote the message of nondiscrimination, equality and respect. Our Acadian delegation will be under the name of
Acadie as it was represented in San Francisco in 1986. You can view on YouTube—Acadie
aux Gay Games de San Francisco 1986. If anyone wants to join the delegation, please
contact the organizers: [email protected].

The 41st annual Cajun Heritage Festival, to be held June 2-4 at the Larose Civic Center,
will feature traditional Cajun food, vendors, artists and dozens of categories of competition
for wood carvers. Since 1976, the Cajun Heritage Festival has celebrated south Louisiana’s
Cajun heritage and culture through art, which is primarily duck decoy carving, according
to Robby Matherne, the show president. “Duck carving is one of the original American art
forms,” Matherne said. “It began in America and its roots began more in south Louisiana
than anywhere else because of the traditions and heritage of hunting. So people going way
back when to the 1800s used duck decoys.”

Shown on May 21 at Imahara’s Garden in St.
Francisville are former members of the UL
championship weightlifting team that won nine
national collegiate titles in 13 years between 1958 and
1971.
Left to right, are Weldon Major, George
Weatherford, Alvin Chustz, Bill LeBlanc, Paul
Muffoletto, Wayne Vizzini, Warren A. Perrin, John
Arceneaux, Mike Thompson, and Walter Imahara. Photo by Mary B. Perrin.

On May 26, Dr. Mark Rees and I were guests on the Pearson Cross KRVS
radio show Bayou to Beltway discussing the New Acadia Project. The
program will air on Wednesday May 31 at 12:30 and again Saturday, June
3 at 5:30. Thereafter, it can be downloaded at any time from the website.
Shown below are, left to right, Warren Perrin, Pearson Cross and Dr. Mark
Reese.
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
Please mark your calendar for Monday, June 12, 2017, for another exciting session of
Acadiana Memories. It is an interactive history program where we reminisce about people,
places, and events of long ago. The program is held on the second Monday of each month.
This month we will talk about Belle Isle known for its salt dome protruding 80-feet above
sea-level. In an area slightly more than one-half mile in diameter, Belle Isle is situated on
marshland overlooking the Gulf of Mexico. It is 14 miles south of Calumet in St. Mary
Parish accessed only by air or water. Legend has it that Jean Lafitte used Belle Isle as a
base for his smuggling operations. It was once the home of Dr. Walter Brashear for whom
Brashear (Morgan City) was named. According to tradition, sometime in the 1800s an
unsuccessful attempt to mine salt on Belle Isle resulted in the death of dozens of miners
and their pack mules. They were buried alive in the mine by an avalanche of salt and their
bodies were never recovered. Since that time there were several baffling mining accidents
that led to some saying the mine was jinxed. One accident that stands out is the March 5,
1968 Belle Isle fire, which proved to be Louisiana’s worse salt mine disaster. Twenty-one
victims were trapped nearly one and one-half miles below surface and subsequently died
there. The program is from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon in the conference room at Hospice
of Acadiana located at 2600 Johnston Street, Lafayette.
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