Hello APUGers et bonjour from Montreal!

Sparky

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bloody effing ignorant americans!!! (joking around) Yes, yes... and France is an american invention, too! unbelievable. Actually - the people who originally settled in louisiana came from france VIA canada. Same culture. Exactly. In fact - the school boards of louisiana hire Québecois to come down and teach the current generation of kids the very same dialect of French that their dying grandparents couldn't pass on for whatever reason - in an attempt to save the culture. Granted, it's been 360-something years since the settlement of Québec and Mtl - and since then the settlement of Louisiana - and, of course, cultures and languages change over time... but let's not forget our roots!!

Another uncomfortable fact: Wanna hazard a guess as to why the WHITE HOUSE is white???

 

copake_ham

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Sparky,

The original European settlers to Louisiana were NOT the Acadiennes. But the Acadiennes were exiled there after the defeat of France in 1763. They were exiled to Louisiana under horrible conditions such that many (most?) perished. And Acadia, which then became known as Nova Scotia, was surrendered to the British.

The simple fact is - the original French settlement of Acadia (Acadienne) was a separate colonial migration from that of Quebec. There was never any direct social/political or economic interaction b/w Quebec and Acadia.

So for Roger to equate someone in Montreal as being Cajun/Acadienne etc. is simply wrong. No surprise there. And, this is beside the fact that our new member is actually an Anglophone from Winnepeg now living in Montreal!
 

Sparky

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I just found something in the very link that I'd posted...

"In 1762 New Orleans citizens suddenly found themselves subjects of Charles III of Spain; France's Louis XV had paid a debt to his Spanish cousin by giving away Louisiana. The thoroughly French colony drove out the Spanish commissioner sent to govern them. In the summer of 1763, 22 Spanish warships and 3,000 troops arrived to restore order and install another governor, this time without provoking open opposition. Descendants of these early French-Spanish colonial times are known as Creoles. French-speaking families also began emigrating from Canada's maritime region, Acadia—now Nova Scotia and New Brunswick—to flee British occupation. Referred to as Acadians, and eventually Cajuns, they found sanctuary in New Orleans and in the bayous of the wide Mississippi Delta not far from the city."

Apologies, then. I suppose this jives with what you were saying...! Strange about the quebecois program in LA then... I guess it's just a result of superficial similarity...

happy to admit to being wrong...
 
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Roger Hicks

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Dear George,

I made the mistake of looking at your other post, as well as the one that was quoted, and was immediately reminded yet again why you are on my ignore list. You took a lighthearted remark and turned it into a personal attack. Why do you do this?

As this region (pays Loudunais) is where the Acadiennes came from, that looks like a fairly direct link to Francophone Canada to me: a mildly interesting or amusing aside, no more, given that the OP said 'bonjour'.

Nor had I heard of any suggestion that Canada did derive from Acadienne, but this is one of your standard tricks: to present a straw man as if the other person had brought the subject up. This technique reached its nadir when you used quotation marks "for emphasis" when you were arguing with someone else. These were your own words, if I recall correctly, so at least I am using quotation marks correctly.

Has it ever occurred to you that your constant attempts to look clever are rarely successful, and are usually rude and unpleasant as well?

R.
 
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copake_ham

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Sparky,

I appreciate your posting this.

I have spent a lot of time studying Canadian history (both academically and informally) and it is important to recognize that the Francophonie societies in Canada have distinct roots and separate identities.

What is interesting about the quote you cite is that it seems to suggest that the Acadienne's "emigrated" from NS and NB. Actually they were forcefully evicted by the British. My comment about "ethnic cleansing" employed a 21st C. term to describe what the British did - but that was the case. If it happened today it would be another Darfur and be just as ugly.

What is also interesting is how the Acadiennes were to some degree able to survive and ultimately return.
 

Sparky

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Live and learn. Thanks for the info. Did they actually 'return' (I'm sure some did) or were there hidden pockets. That makes a lot of sense though. I'm always amazed, being from canada myself, the derivative naming that goes on in the new world... (new brunswick, nova scotia, new hamburg, new berlin, paris, london - the last three near to where I'm from - we even have a thames river for god's sake!). What's great though - about this little exchange - and, indeed most exchanges here, is that it's forced me to do some boning up on my history... just so that I can at least SEEM to know what I'm talking about (LOL). But that's never a bad thing.
 

copake_ham

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The place naming conventions in the US and Canadian east, particularly, have various origins. Some were derived as "new" versions of where the original settlers had come from. Others were honorifics.

For example, after the British kicked the Dutch out of Nieuw Amsterdam they renamed it New York. Not because a bunch of British settlers from York in England suddenly arrived - but because the siezed territory was awarded to the Duke of York. BTW, life in the 17th C. was maybe more civilized - when Nieuw Amsterdam "fell" in 1664 the Dutch settlers were not evicted like the Acadiennes were 100 years later and they remained even as they became an ever shrinking minority that intermarried etc. [Part of this is due to the fact that Nieuw Amsterdam was a commercial colony of the Dutch West India Company so the British simply did a "hostile corporate takeover"! ]

And some eastern place names are based on Native American names (e.g. Massachusetts). In fact "Canada" is an Algonquin place name. There is now a suburb of the Canadian capital Ottawa (also a Native place name) known as Kanata (which more closely "captures" the pronouciation).

Interestingly, in what is called "upstate New York" along the Mohawk (Native American name) River many towns were named after classical references such as Utica, Syracuse and Rome. Add to that the fact that there are towns name both Cuba and Mexico in upstate NY and you can only begin to fathom that folks tended to do what they wanted when naming settlements.

Of course, all of this is way OT - so I'll stop now - except to mention that in the State of Maine - there is Acadia National Park.
 

papagene

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Good observation Drew!
Hello again Kathy, sorry for the direction this thread spiraled down to. There really are quite a few really nice people here who are very helpful and informative.
Bonjour (again)!

gene
 
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KWhitmore

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craigclu said:
Glad to have you aboard! I spent the first 16 years of my life in the Red River Valley south of you in Grand Forks, ND and still have lots of family out there and reasons to visit. There's lots of sky in the pictures out there!
Click to expand...

Thanks Craig. I've been to Grand Forks as a kid...we took some big family trips (8 people!) in the stationwagon as I recall. A good long drive. You're right about the big sky...living in the city makes me hungry for the open spaces.

Kathy
 
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KWhitmore

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papagene said:
Good observation Drew!
Hello again Kathy, sorry for the direction this thread spiraled down to. There really are quite a few really nice people here who are very helpful and informative.
Bonjour (again)!

gene
Click to expand...

Hi Gene, hi Drew. I truly understand that history is a hot topic and people take it seriously. Unfortunately, I can't contribute anything to the discussion simply because I haven't studied it. I don't recall much from my grade 6 history class but thank you Sparky for the wikipedia link, it was helpful.

Kathy
 

copake_ham

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Kathy,

Nonetheless, Drew and Gene were correct to point out how badly we'd hijacked your thread!

Sorry.
 

Michel Hardy-Vallée

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BTW, it's "Acadians" not "Acadiennes." That would be the French, plural term for a female Acadian.

Coming from a non-Acadian Francophone...

Kathy, I think I didn't see you Friday, did you have a chance to drop by?
 

copake_ham

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Roger Hicks

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mhv said:
BTW, it's "Acadians" not "Acadiennes." That would be the French, plural term for a female Acadian.

Coming from a non-Acadian Francophone...

Kathy, I think I didn't see you Friday, did you have a chance to drop by?
Click to expand...

It's 'Acadien' around here -- the Maison Acadienne is of course feminine, hence my sloppy typing of 'Acadiennes' for 'Acadiens' (I don't recall whether I was tired or drunk or merely sloppy or any combination thereof). I think 'Acadian' is the (holds nose as if in Gallic fashion) English...

But of course I could be wrong.

Cheers,

R.
 

John Simmons

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A warm welcome from Michigan. Look forward to seeing some of your work posted.

Regards,
John
 

Michel Hardy-Vallée

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Well, if you use the English word it's Acadian and the French word is Acadien(ne). All Acadians I've met are fluent in both languages, and none are monophone. Actually, they speak both languages at the same time, which is sometimes hard to follow.

But after all we all know that England is just another French colony that ended up badly...
 

papagene

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KWhitmore said:
Thanks John, now if I just get that scanner working...maybe it will help if I take my foot out of it.

Kathy
Click to expand...

Kathy... you're gonna fit in nicely around here!!

gene
 
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