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 11, 2012

• 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. • Here is Mary Perrin’s take on the pejorative “coonass”: I have read and heard arguments both for and against the use of the term “coonass”. Being the wife of Warren Perrin, one can probably guess which side of that fence I am on. But my feelings about this word have not so much to do with my admirably militant husband, although he is a certainly factor, but more to do with the beloved elders of our culture, those still with us as well as those who have passed on. And now that I myself am becoming an “elder”, I understand better what it meant to them to be called that derogatory term. Today, in 2012, the designation is perhaps far less demeaning than it used to be--now, when the term "ass" is bandied about daily in the media and in casual conversation. And young people now are far removed from the days when being called the C-word meant that you were uneducated, unintelligent, perhaps poor, and spoke broken English--although how many people who denigrated for their bad English in those days were themselves bi-lingual at all? Being bi-lingual is and always has been an asset the 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, both living and dead, too. I know how much shame they felt in being called a coonass. For me it is a mark of love and of REVERENCE for my elders not to use that ugly term. I VENERATE all of those who have gone before us, who have made us who we are today, I PAY HOMAGE to them for their sacrifices during WWII to keep us free. I APPRECIATE those who played a vital role in making our culture the vibrant, colorful, loving and hospitable culture that is today admired the world over. To use the term “coonass” dishonors these hard-working people. Our forebears deserve far, far better. The operative word here is RESPECT. • Visit the Acadian Museum’s Facebook page for museum updates: http://www.facebook.com/AcadianMuseum. If you feel so inclined, please feel free to become a “friend.” • Check out the Acadian Museum's Facebook page to view story of Russell Gary's Living Legends induction and other events of interest, www.Facebook.com/AcadianMuseum. •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 & Edith Granger, Dr. John A. Bertrand, August Broussard, Dotsie LeBlanc, Arthur Roland “Prof” Broussard, Clarence and Patsy Martin, A. J. LeBlanc, Janie Buillard, Ulysse “Joe” Gayneaux, Ruth Broussard, Redell “Mama Redell” Miller, Richard “Dickie” Breaux, Russell Gary, Betty Bernard, Chester Isaac “Pee Wee” Broussard, and Norma Muise (Keeper of the Sacred Pipe for Mi’Kmaq), March 20th, who said: “Everyone came to greet me and give me a hug. I appreciate everyone of you. You are all so Cajun in doing that and you made me so proud.” Norma performed the 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 monthly on the second Sunday in Lafayette’s Girard Park. Look for the Acadian flag. For more information, call Mike LeBlanc at (337) 261-1002. • For individuals who are interested in glimpse of Cajun culture, the Acadian Museum is sponsoring Cajun Culture and Eco-Tours of Vermilion Parish. For more information on the tours, visit www.acadianmuseum.com. • The new 560-page historical epic, ": Paradise Stolen", published by Caeruleum Publishing and with an important Foreword written by Warren A. Perrin, has won the 2012 Independent Publisher Bronze Award in the USA and Canada for Best Regional Fiction. The author 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 the publisher's website www.caeruleumpublishing.com or www.evangelinenovel.com, with free shipping on any book order and a complimentary book for every three 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 through its people, music, food, and vibrant stories. She is looking for people in the community who are willing to share stories of their culture/ethnicity. You can find out more on her project at www.cajunstories.wordpress.com or email her at [email protected]. • 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: http://youtu.be/uPmA8VdnpGA. • Sam Broussard, guitarist with Steve Riley and Mamou Playboys, wrote a song Au Revoir that was mentioned in USA Today in a column on the Grammy highlights by their music critic Brian Mansfield. Although the group was nominated for their third Grammy, they did not win it this year. • On March 15th, T-Galop: a Louisiana Horse Story by Conni Castille premiered at the Central School Arts and Humanities Center, in Lake Charles. DVDs are available and can be ordered by contacting Conni Castille at [email protected]. • On February 22, Michel-Antoine Goitia-Nicolas of New Orleans lectured and led a discussion on “From Akkadia to to Acadiana: the History of Louisiana Basques” at the Lafayette South Regional Library. According to Dr. Michael Martin, the presentation was sponsored by the 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 them for a tour of the museum. They donated to the museum three historic photos of Sen. Dudley Leblanc’s visit to Canada in 1950. • Many thanks to Governor Jindal who has reappointed me to serve another term–my 18th–on the board of the Council for the Development of French in Louisiana. • Yvon Cyr reported that a 250-year old document has been found in the Archives of Paris, purporting to be a list of Acadian prisoners at Fort Amherst, Port-Lajoie, in 1763. The list is currently being examined by archivists and it is hoped that 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 that convey the story of Louisiana’s statehood. For information, call (337) 482-1320. • Please note below that we have added to the list of films dealing with Cajuns, Creole, /native Americans/Metis/the French and Indian War. Please submit the titles of any other films so that we may add to our list:

ENGLISH: FRENCH: Réveil La Contesse de Bâton Rouge Full Blast Zarico The Man Who Came Back Huit Piastres et Demie Cigarettes & Nylons La Fièvre Jaune (Yellow Fever) The Scoundrel's Wife Le tapis de Grand-Pré (The Hooked Rug of Belizaire the Cajun Grand-Pre) Evangeline (1928) Le secrét de Jérôme (Jerome’s Secret) Evangeline - A True Love Story Gumbo Oh La La Louisiana Story Évangeline en quête The Last of the Mohicans Les années noires Dirty Rice Contre vents et contre marées Black Robe L'Acadie L'Acadie Against the Tide Déliverance (Pierre II Surette and Beausoleil Mon Cher Camarade Broussard -Acadian Resistance-Dan Tebeau) Dance for a Chicken Acadie Liberté Cajun Renaissance Man: Dudley J. LeBlanc Le Souvenir Necessaire Passion Fish L’Acadie Retrouvée The Patriot Terre D’Acadie T-Boys Wife La Sagouine Little Chenier Coeurs batailleurs (Acadia: North and South) Anything I Catch....The Handfishing Story Le Chien de Lune I Always Do My Collars First . La Piste Acadie en Amérique by Raised On Rice and Gravy André Gladu King Crawfish •La Table Française, The French Table meets in Lafayette and is opened to individuals who want to speak French. For information on the dates and times, contact Mike Leblanc at (337) 291-7179. • 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 youth audiences ages 4-14. • UL Lafayette Performing Arts Program production of ’s “The Rabble” opened the College of the Arts SPARK Festival of the Arts 2012 on March 22. The museum and The History Channel are sponsors for the event. The History Channel has been a long- time supporter of the Acadian Museum and other historical organizations in Louisiana that work to preserve the heritage and culture of the Acadian people. The network contributed to the 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) 482-1834 or at [email protected]. • At the Arts Exhibit of Nerée DeGrâce at Bai st-Pau (Québec) at Musée d’Arts Contemporain Baie Saint Paul Edith Butler will do a special show on April 22 at the museum. Visit www.macbsp.com. • Centenary College and the University of Rennes in France are seeking teachers who will teach their subject matter in French in Louisiana. The program is called Louisiana Escadrille. The soon-to-be teachers study in France during the summer, then spend one year studying at the university in France. For more information, contact CODOFIL at (337) 233- 5832. • I had a nice meeting at the Acadian Museum with Evangeline Richard. She is head of Festivals Acadien in Quebec with activities taking place from August 8 - 15 featuring many popular musicians. For more information, visit www.nouvelle-acadie.com. • Bayou Vermilion District announced the hiring of Museum Operations Coordinator Rachelle Dugas. Dugas is a transplant from , Canada where she promoted arts and Acadian culture by coordinating events and projects such as Congrès Mondial Acadien and the 250th anniversary of the Great Acadian Upheaval. Dugas spent two years in Louisiana helping the community build its bid to host the 2014 Congrès Mondial Acadien. In October, 2011 she was awarded the 2011 Camille Antoine-Richard Medal for youth leadership for her work motivating Acadians and Cajuns to embrace and grow their culture. David Cheramie, Chief Executive Officer of the Bayou Vermilion District said, “She brings with her not only her talent and experience, but is also actively involved in many of the 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) 261-1002 or email at [email protected]. • 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) 922-1200. • Monique Gagnon-Tremblay, Minister for International Relations, visited Louisiana from April 28 through May 1st during the Festival International and Bicentennial Celebrations in 2012, as a result of being invited by the Lt. Governor Darbonne. • John François has completed his sequel novel Pontiac, which continues the story of Carrier- of-Bones, aka Jean-Claude Pitre, and his friend Louis Comeau, two fifteen year old Acadian boys from Louisiana who embark to return the remains of his mother and brother to the family graveyard in Chipoudie, an Acadian village across the Bay of Fundy in what is today . For more information, visit www.johnfrancois.com. • Kristi Guillory has recorded English music to be performed and released at the New Orleans Jazz Fest. Visit: www.facebook.com/KristiGuilloryMidtownProject?sk=app_155326481208883 • For all Cajuns who have always dreamed of visiting the land of their forefathers before they came to Acadiana, and of celebrating joie de vivre with the cousins d’Acadie du Nord, here is a rare and wonderful invitation not to be missed: Join a group from south Louisiana to tour beautiful Grand Pré, Port Royal, Church Point, and Baie Ste-Marie in Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick’s Moncton, Bouctouche and the acclaimed Festival Acadien in Caraquet. This is an all-inclusive, all-Acadian tour organized and guided by Novacadie Tours in collaboration with Louisiana Travel Services. Contact Richard at [email protected] and register now for the Allons au Festival tour. Tour dates are August 12th to 21st, 2012. It will be a “tintamarre” of a trip! For a detailed tour description, go to www.novacadie.ca 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 the beginning of the “Great Removal,” set against the story of a family already at war with itself. • The exhibit “Louisiana Statehood Bicentennial - Revisiting Acadia: Acadian to Cajun” that the Acadian Museum had loaned to the Palmetto Island State Park will be remain on display for another year until January 1, 2013. • A film “30 beats,” for which C. C. Adcock did all the music, premiered in Paris on March 8.th • Allen Clements is working on a modern HD documentary on the Cajun culture and how it is being preserved. He will be in the area during the first week of May to begin filming. For more information, [email protected] or call (717) 824-3350. • On March 13, the International Center hosted Jean-Claude Brunet, Consul General of France in New Orleans. • On March 10th, Cité des Arts, Alliance Française de Lafayette presented Bernard Champion and Bernard Champey’s Art Show. • Readers of “Cajun By Any Other Name” live the experience of Marie Rundquit’s Acadian ancestors whose lives were shattered by a forced expulsion form Nova Scotia in 1755 - from their exile in Maryland and re-emergence in the Louisiana parishes - and join Rundquist’s search for an identity nearly destroyed by re-tooled surnames, assumed pedigrees, ambition, courthouse filings and the Civil war. In conclusion, Rundquist exposes how DNA testing, genealogy and history research restore vital connections for others of Native American and European ancestry, makes a case for self-identification that rises above cultural labels and strengthens the soul. • The Acadian Museum was selected to be in a book for the State Bicentennial! Some of the featured items, include: Queen’s Royal Proclamation that acknowledges the wrongs committed against the Acadian people in the name in the name of the Crown and establishes a “Day of Commemoration” on July 28th of each year; Allons à Lafayette record; alligator hook and chain; Acadian textiles - cross-and-diamond pattern developed by mother and daughter team Theresa Meyers Dronet and Anaise Landry Meyers; porcelain street lamp; Soldier’s belongings (Hiroshima, 1944); sugar cane scale from Erath Sugar Company; set costumes from Belizaire the Cajun movie (1986); photo of Nicholas Broussard (1930s) who drove to Washington, DC to present President FDR with 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 the St. Martinville High School band in 1955. It was part of the state’s 1955 Bicentennial Celebration of the Acadian Deportation which set the stage for the French Renaissance, culminating with the creation of CODOFIL in 1968. • Dr. Shane K. Bernard has written a blog “More on That Word ‘Coonass’: A Labor Dispute Trial Documents Its Use in 1940" http://bayoutechedispatches.blogspot.com/2012/03/more- on-that-word-coonass-labor-dispute.html • Good News! Our proposal for the book St. Landry Parish has been approved by Arcadia Publishing. My co-authors are Pat Morrow and Philip Andrepont. • Local cultural entrepreneurs Mandy Migues and Brandon Broussard appeared on an episode of the French morning TV show “C’est au programme,” which broadcasts on the channel France 2. Broussard and Migues, the 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 with singer Marie Frenette. See www.marie-frenette.com/Accueil.html. They will be networking for different groups, including mayors of Lanaudière (Quebec region they now call Nouvelle Acadie) that have shown interest in creating networks and exchanges with Louisiana. • A 19th century hand-drawn French map of early Erath, was donated by Anna Belle Pierce, daughter of L. C. Desormeaux, Sr. who was from Erath, but lived most of his life in Mermentau, Louisiana where he built famous “castle house” Le Petite Chateau delux. For many years, the map was kept in a box by his mother Alice Desormeaux. • On March 30, Festival International de Louisiane was voted the Best World Music Festival by 2012 World Music Readers' Choice Awards. • CODOFIL’s total operational budget for the upcoming Fiscal Year 2012-2013 is projected to be $100,000 less than FY11-12. Please take a moment to contact your legislators and tell them to c’est oui! To restore CODOFIL’s budget!! • Sadly, the former Counsel-General of France to Louisiana Nicole Lenoire recently died in Nantes. • The following was sent to me by Anthony J. Lomas, author of Operation Aspic : This novel combines the history of the Acadian people with attorney Warren Perrin as a main character who sued the Queen Of England for an apology for the Acadian deportation. All of the former Bond actors out to steal a secret recipe from a famous Louisiana chef . • On April 29th, the opening of the 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 the “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, the Associate Media Editor for the Louisiana Endowment for the 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 their 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.” • 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 the University Press of Mississippi and funded in part through a translation grant from the Quebec Ministère des Relations Internationales, the book, titled Les Cadiens et leurs ancêtresacadiens: l'histoire racontée aux jeunes, is aimed at middle-school and high-school readers (though it is useful as an adult primer), particularly students in French Immersion and other French education courses. If you wish to be notified of the book's release, please e-mail Dr. Bernard at [email protected]. • On April 30th, the Louisiana Association of Museums presented me with the “Outstanding Individual Support” award. • On March 16th, the Acadian Museum hosted a group of 17 NYU graduate students in culinary science at the 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 Health. For more information, please visit: http://www.saveur.com/article/Travels/Postcard-crawfish-harvest-in-erath-louisiana • l”Alliance Française de Lafayette announced French classes for Toddlers to be held at Vermilionville. For more information, (337) 261-1002; [email protected]. • Alliance Française de Lafayette is now offering Yoga classes in French. For more information, (337) 261-1002 or [email protected]. • Bayou Vermilion District’s Vermilionville, in collaboration with the Lafayette Parish Master Gardeners, invites the public to the grand opening of the historic village’s newest living exhibit, the Healer’s Garden. The grand opening will take place on Tuesday, May 8 at 5:30 p.m. at Vermilionville's Maison Acadienne with a ribbon cutting followed by refreshments and a guided tour of the garden ending with the Center for Cultural & Eco Tourism’s (CCET) May Backyard Series: Herbal Lore among the Rural Communities. • Ron Thibodeaux’s new book “Hell or High Water: How Cajun Fortitude Withstood Hurricanes Rita and Ike” will be released June 5. The University of Louisiana at Lafayette Press is now taking advance orders. Visit: http://www.ulpress.org/catalog.php?item=129.