Iberia Parish, Louisiana
Iberia Parish is a parish located in the U. S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2010 census, the population was 73,240; the parish seat is New Iberia. The parish was named for the Iberian Peninsula, it is part of the 22-parish Acadiana region of the state, with a large Francophone population. Some of its ethnic French residents had ancestors who settled here after being expelled in the 18th century by the British from Acadia in present-day Canada, it has been a center for sugar cane cultivation and produces the most sugar of any parish in the state. Iberia Parish is part of the Lafayette, Metropolitan Statistical Area; the Port of Iberia has a waterway with access to the Gulf Coast. This was one of the sugar parishes, where sugar cane plantations were developed along the waterways before and after the Civil War, dependent on labor of high numbers of enslaved African Americans before the war, it was a lucrative commodity crop for planters. Relations between whites and blacks were troubled after the Civil War, as whites sought to dominate freedmen, by violence and intimidation if necessary.
The period after the Reconstruction era was one of increasing violence through the early part of the 20th century. In this period, Iberia Parish had 26 lynchings of African Americans by whites, part of racial terrorism; this was the fifth highest total of any parish in Louisiana, tied with the total in Bossier Parish. There was intense political factionalism in Sugarland. Iberia Parish had factions split among conservative whites and those who were more moderate about the status of African Americans. Moderates sometimes allied with the Creoles of color in the parish, but in 1884 white Democrats murdered more than 20 African Americans, in a kind of political lynching, arrested white Republicans to regain power in Iberia Parish. In contrast to northern Louisiana, residents otherwise seemed to rely more on the formal legal system, with fewer mob lynchings, but African Americans suffered here, making up 88 percent of the persons executed in the late 19th century. In the late 19th century, there was a labor shortage on the sugar plantations.
Planters recruited thousands of Italian immigrants, many Sicilians from New Orleans, as temporary laborers during the fall harvest and processing season, which extended from October to January. They added to the volatility of social relations, struggling to make their way between planters and African-American workers, competing with workers for jobs; the parish economy changed markedly in the 20th century with the discovery of oil and building up of the Port of Iberia into an industrial center. New types of jobs became available but discriminatory segregation was used against African Americans. Sugar continues to be an important commodity crop and Iberia produces the most sugar of any parish in the state. According to the U. S. Census Bureau, the parish has a total area of 1,031 square miles, of which 574 square miles is land and 456 square miles is water; this includes Marsh Island. Future Interstate 49 U. S. Highway 90 Louisiana Highway 14 Louisiana Highway 31 St. Martin Parish Iberville Parish Assumption Parish St. Mary Parish Vermilion Parish Lafayette Parish The parish has both national and state protected areas within its borders.
Shell Keys National Wildlife Refuge Part of the Attakapas Wildlife Management Area is located within Iberia Parish, as well as in St. Mary and St. Martin parishes; as of the census of 2000, there were 73,266 people, 25,381 households, 19,162 families residing in the parish. The population density was 127 people per square mile. There were 27,844 housing units at an average density of 48 per square mile; the racial makeup of the parish was 65.08% White, 30.81% Black or African American, 0.31% Native American, 1.93% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.60% from other races, 1.25% from two or more races. 1.50% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 11.99 % reported speaking Cajun French at home, while 1.48 % speak Lao and 1.29 % Spanish. There were 25,381 households out of which 39.50% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.20% were married couples living together, 17.20% had a female householder with no husband present, 24.50% were non-families. 21.10% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.70% had someone living alone, 65 years of age or older.
The average household size was 2.82 and the average family size was 3.28. In the parish the population was spread out with 30.00% under the age of 18, 9.60% from 18 to 24, 28.40% from 25 to 44, 20.60% from 45 to 64, 11.40% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 92.80 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.80 males. The median income for a household in the parish was $31,204, the median income for a family was $36,017. Males had a median income of $32,399 versus $18,174 for females; the per capita income for the parish was $14,145. About 20.20% of families and 23.60% of the population were below the poverty line, including 31.50% of those under age 18 and 20.20% of those age 65 or over. Iberia Parish School System serves the parish. Iberia parish has several private schools among them Catholic High New Iberia, Assembly Christian Academy and Highland Baptist School. E Company 199th Forward Support Battalion resides in Jeanerette, B Company 2-156th resides in New Iberia, Louisiana.
Both units have deployed twice to Iraq, 2004-5 and 2010, as part of the 256TH IBCT. Jeane
Vermilion River (Louisiana)
The Vermilion River is a 70.0-mile-long bayou in southern Louisiana in the United States. It is formed on the common boundary of Lafayette and St. Martin parishes by a confluence of small bayous flowing from St. Landry Parish, flows southward through Lafayette and Vermilion parishes, past the cities of Lafayette and Abbeville. At the port of Intracoastal City, the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway crosses the river before the latter flows into Vermilion Bay, an inlet of the Gulf of Mexico; the river originates at Bayou Fusilier, fed by Bayou Teche. The river is a "consequent stream" or a "tidal river", which means that the Vermilion was formed from the bottom up; the river was created by Vermilion Bay: tides and other natural actions in the bay eroded the marshes and other features of the landscape as the river crept northward. This process brought the channel that would one day become the Vermilion River as far north as Lafayette, Louisiana. Much a distributary of Bayou Teche made its way south and linked up with the consequent stream, forming a true north-south flowing river.
During times of heavy-rain events, parts of the Vermilion will experience negative discharge, reversing direction and flowing north. At the Surrey Street stream gauge in Lafayette, maximum historic positive discharge was 6,280 ft³/s on July 17, 1989. Maximum negative discharge, -11,300 ft³/s, occurred on August 13, 2016 during the 2016 Louisiana floods; the reverse-flow phenomenon occurs because the watershed areas in the city of Lafayette are developed. Rainfall runoff from this urban area enters the Vermilion River with larger volumes and at a faster rate than runoff upstream; this raises the water level in the Vermilion River along the southern areas of Lafayette. This rise in water levels sometimes exceeds the water level in reaches upstream of Lafayette, thus causing the reverse-flow effect; when water levels in the Vermilion River exceed certain stages, water begins to enter the Bayou Tortue Swamp Area. This swamp has a great capacity to hold water, which contributes to the reverse flow effect.
The water from the Vermilion River enters Bayou Tortue Swamp through two coulees. Coulee Crow and Bayou Tortue are located upstream of the Surrey Street bridge on the Vermilion River. In its early stage of development, the only point in the city where water transportation could be secured was at the site of the Pinhook Bridge. Property owners and businesses located there. In years, steamboats ran on the bayou. However, low water levels and submerged logs hampered their ability to travel; the importance of the Vermilion as a means of transportation and commerce declined with the introduction of the railroad and the paving in 1936 of all highways leading into Lafayette. The Army Corps of Engineers had a significant impact on Bayou Vermilion, their dredging, completed in 1944, gave the bayou a bottom width of 100 feet. Water from the Vermilion River is used for rice irrigation and for the dilution of municipal and industrial effluents. A pumping station operated by the Teche-Vermilion Freshwater District was built on the Atchafalaya River West Protection Levee near Krotz Springs with the capacity to pump up to 1,040 cubic feet of fresh water per second into Bayou Courtableu and into the Vermilion River.
The Teche-Vermilion Freshwater Project began in 1976 and was completed in 1982. In the 1970s, the Vermilion gained a reputation as the most polluted river in the United States. Since that time, improved sewage treatment, low flow streamflow augmentation, regular in-stream trash collection have changed the public perception to that of a celebrated recreational resource. A Bayou Vermilion Paddle Trail map has been developed to facilitate and enhance the public’s enjoyment of Bayou Vermilion. Lafayette Parish Stekey, Louisiana Pont Des Mouton, Louisiana Anse La Butte, Louisiana Long Bridge, Louisiana Lafayette, Louisiana Milton, Louisiana Vermilion Parish Abbeville, Louisiana Perry, Louisiana Rose Hill, Louisiana Banker, Louisiana List of Louisiana rivers Columbia Gazetteer of North America entry DeLorme. Louisiana Atlas & Gazetteer. Yarmouth, Maine: DeLorme. ISBN 0-89933-286-2. U. S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Vermilion River, retrieved 6 February 2006
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of 209,331 km2, it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island, the ninth-largest island in the world. In 2011, Great Britain had a population of about 61 million people, making it the world's third-most populous island after Java in Indonesia and Honshu in Japan; the island of Ireland is situated to the west of Great Britain, together these islands, along with over 1,000 smaller surrounding islands, form the British Isles archipelago. The island is dominated by a maritime climate with quite narrow temperature differences between seasons. Politically, Great Britain is part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, constitutes most of its territory. Most of England and Wales are on the island; the term "Great Britain" is used to include the whole of England and Wales including their component adjoining islands. A single Kingdom of Great Britain resulted from the union of the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland by the 1707 Acts of Union.
In 1801, Great Britain united with the neighbouring Kingdom of Ireland, forming the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, renamed the "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland" after the Irish Free State seceded in 1922. The archipelago has been referred to by a single name for over 2000 years: the term'British Isles' derives from terms used by classical geographers to describe this island group. By 50 BC Greek geographers were using equivalents of Prettanikē as a collective name for the British Isles. However, with the Roman conquest of Britain the Latin term Britannia was used for the island of Great Britain, Roman-occupied Britain south of Caledonia; the earliest known name for Great Britain is Albion or insula Albionum, from either the Latin albus meaning "white" or the "island of the Albiones". The oldest mention of terms related to Great Britain was by Aristotle, or by Pseudo-Aristotle, in his text On the Universe, Vol. III. To quote his works, "There are two large islands in it, called the British Isles and Ierne".
Pliny the Elder in his Natural History records of Great Britain: "Its former name was Albion. Old French Bretaigne and Middle English Bretayne, Breteyne; the French form replaced the Old English Breoton, Bryten, Breten. Britannia was used by the Romans from the 1st century BC for the British Isles taken together, it is derived from the travel writings of the Pytheas around 320 BC, which described various islands in the North Atlantic as far north as Thule. Marcian of Heraclea, in his Periplus maris exteri, described the island group as αἱ Πρεττανικαὶ νῆσοι; the peoples of these islands of Prettanike were called the Priteni or Pretani. Priteni is the source of the Welsh language term Prydain, which has the same source as the Goidelic term Cruithne used to refer to the early Brythonic-speaking inhabitants of Ireland; the latter were called Picts or Caledonians by the Romans. Greek historians Diodorus of Sicily and Strabo preserved variants of Prettanike from the work of Greek explorer Pytheas of Massalia, who travelled from his home in Hellenistic southern Gaul to Britain in the 4th century BC.
The term used by Pytheas may derive from a Celtic word meaning "the painted ones" or "the tattooed folk" in reference to body decorations. The Greco-Egyptian scientist Ptolemy referred to the larger island as great Britain and to Ireland as little Britain in his work Almagest. In his work, Geography, he gave the islands the names Alwion and Mona, suggesting these may have been the names of the individual islands not known to him at the time of writing Almagest; the name Albion appears to have fallen out of use sometime after the Roman conquest of Britain, after which Britain became the more commonplace name for the island. After the Anglo-Saxon period, Britain was used as a historical term only. Geoffrey of Monmouth in his pseudohistorical Historia Regum Britanniae refers to the island as Britannia major, to distinguish it from Britannia minor, the continental region which approximates to modern Brittany, settled in the fifth and sixth centuries by migrants from Britain; the term Great Britain was first used in 1474, in the instrument drawing up the proposal for a marriage between Cecily the daughter of Edward IV of England, James the son of James III of Scotland, which described it as "this Nobill Isle, callit Gret Britanee".
It was used again in 1604, when King James VI and I styled himself "King of Great Brittaine and Ireland". Great Britain refers geographically to the island of Great Britain, it is often used to refer politically to the whole of England and Wales, including their smaller off shore islands. While it is sometimes used to refer to the whole of the United Kingdom, including Northern Ireland, this is not correct. Britain can refer to either all island
Lafayette, Louisiana
Lafayette is a city in and the parish seat of Lafayette Parish, located along the Vermilion River in the southwestern part of the state. The city of Lafayette is the fourth-largest in the state, with a population of 127,657 according to 2015 U. S. Census estimates, it is the principal city of the Lafayette, Louisiana Metropolitan Statistical Area, with a 2015 estimated population of 490,488. The larger trade area or Combined Statistical Area of Lafayette-Opelousas-Morgan City CSA was 627,146 in 2015, its nickname is The Hub City. The Attakapas Native Americans inhabited this area at the time of European encounter. French colonists founded the first European settlement, Petit Manchac, a trading post along the Vermilion River. In the late eighteenth century, numerous Acadian refugees settled in this area, after being expelled from Canada after Great Britain defeated France in the Seven Years' War, they intermarried with other settlers, forming what is known as Cajun culture, which continued as French language and Catholic religion.
Jean Mouton, of Acadian descent, donated land to the Catholic church for construction of a small Catholic chapel at this site. In 1824 this area was selected for the Lafayette Parish seat and known as Vermilionville, for its location on the river. In 1836 the Louisiana Legislature granted it incorporation; the area was developed for agriculture sugar plantations, which depended on the labor of numerous enslaved Africans and made up a large percentage of the Antebellum-era population. According to U. S. Census data, 41 percent of the population of Lafayette Parish was enslaved in 1830, that number increased to 49.6 percent by 1860. A percentage of free people of color lived in Lafayette Parish as well, they made up 3 percent to a low of 2.4 percent between 1830 and 1860. In 1884, Vermilionville was renamed for General Lafayette, a French aristocrat who had fought with and aided the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War; the city and parish economy continued to be based on agriculture into the early 20th century.
After the Civil War, most of this work was done by freedmen. In the 20th century, mechanization of agriculture reduced the need for farm workers. In the 1940s, after oil was discovered in the parish, the petroleum and natural gas industries became dominant. Lafayette is considered to be the center of Acadiana, the area of Cajun and Louisiana Creole culture in the state, it developed following the relocation of Acadians after their expulsion by the British from eastern Canada in the late 18th century following France's defeat in the Seven Years' War. There is a strong Louisiana Creole influence in the area, as this mixed-race population became landowners and businesspeople. Lafayette has an elevation of 36 feet. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 49.2 square miles, of which 49.1 square miles is land and 0.1 square miles is water. Lafayette is located on the West Gulf Coastal Plain; the site was part of the seabed during the earlier Quaternary Period. During this time, the Mississippi River cut a 325-foot-deep valley between what is now Lafayette and Baton Rouge.
This valley is now the Atchafalaya Basin. Lafayette is located on the western rim of this valley; this is part of the southwestern Louisiana Prairie Terrace. Lafayette does not suffer significant flooding problems, outside of local flash flooding. Lafayette has developed on both sides of the Vermilion River. Other significant waterways in the city are Isaac Verot Coulee, Coulee Mine, Coulee des Poches, Coulee Ile des Cannes, which are natural drainage canals that lead to the Vermilion River. Lafayette's climate is described as humid subtropical using Köppen climate classification. Lafayette has year-round precipitation during summertime. Lafayette's highest temperature was 107 °F. Lafayette has hot, moist summers and warm, damp winters; as of the census of 2010, there were 120,623 people, 43,506 households, 27,104 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,316.7 people per square mile. There were 46,865 housing units at an average density of 984.7 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 68.23% White, 28.51% African American, 0.25% Native American, 1.44% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.58% from other races, 0.97% from two or more races.
Hispanic or Latino of any race were 7.88% of the population. In 2010, 84.2% of the population over the age of five spoke English at home, 11.5% of the population spoke French or Cajun French, a dialect that developed in Louisiana. There were 43,506 households out of which 31.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.9% were married couples living together, 14.6% had a female householder with no husband present, 37.7% were non-families. Nearly 29.4% of all households were made up of individuals, 8.0% had someone living alone, 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.43 and the average family size was 3.07. In the city, the population was spread out with 25.1% under the age of 18, 13.3% from 18 to 24, 29.5% from 25 to 44, 20.9% from 45 to 64, 11.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.9 males. The median income for a household in the city was $35,996, the median income for a family was $47,783.
Males had a median income of $37,729 versus $23,606 for females. The per capita income for the city was $21,031. About 11.6%
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is a principal agency of the U. S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy; the Census Bureau is part of the U. S. Department of Commerce and its director is appointed by the President of the United States; the Census Bureau's primary mission is conducting the U. S. Census every ten years, which allocates the seats of the U. S. House of Representatives to the states based on their population; the Bureau's various censuses and surveys help allocate over $400 billion in federal funds every year and it helps states, local communities, businesses make informed decisions. The information provided by the census informs decisions on where to build and maintain schools, transportation infrastructure, police and fire departments. In addition to the decennial census, the Census Bureau continually conducts dozens of other censuses and surveys, including the American Community Survey, the U. S. Economic Census, the Current Population Survey.
Furthermore and foreign trade indicators released by the federal government contain data produced by the Census Bureau. Article One of the United States Constitution directs the population be enumerated at least once every ten years and the resulting counts used to set the number of members from each state in the House of Representatives and, by extension, in the Electoral College; the Census Bureau now conducts a full population count every 10 years in years ending with a zero and uses the term "decennial" to describe the operation. Between censuses, the Census Bureau makes population projections. In addition, Census data directly affects how more than $400 billion per year in federal and state funding is allocated to communities for neighborhood improvements, public health, education and more; the Census Bureau is mandated with fulfilling these obligations: the collecting of statistics about the nation, its people, economy. The Census Bureau's legal authority is codified in Title 13 of the United States Code.
The Census Bureau conducts surveys on behalf of various federal government and local government agencies on topics such as employment, health, consumer expenditures, housing. Within the bureau, these are known as "demographic surveys" and are conducted perpetually between and during decennial population counts; the Census Bureau conducts economic surveys of manufacturing, retail and other establishments and of domestic governments. Between 1790 and 1840, the census was taken by marshals of the judicial districts; the Census Act of 1840 established a central office. Several acts followed that revised and authorized new censuses at the 10-year intervals. In 1902, the temporary Census Office was moved under the Department of Interior, in 1903 it was renamed the Census Bureau under the new Department of Commerce and Labor; the department was intended to consolidate overlapping statistical agencies, but Census Bureau officials were hindered by their subordinate role in the department. An act in 1920 changed the date and authorized manufacturing censuses every two years and agriculture censuses every 10 years.
In 1929, a bill was passed mandating the House of Representatives be reapportioned based on the results of the 1930 Census. In 1954, various acts were codified into Title 13 of the US Code. By law, the Census Bureau must count everyone and submit state population totals to the U. S. President by December 31 of any year ending in a zero. States within the Union receive the results in the spring of the following year; the United States Census Bureau defines four statistical regions, with nine divisions. The Census Bureau regions are "widely used...for data collection and analysis". The Census Bureau definition is pervasive. Regional divisions used by the United States Census Bureau: Region 1: Northeast Division 1: New England Division 2: Mid-Atlantic Region 2: Midwest Division 3: East North Central Division 4: West North Central Region 3: South Division 5: South Atlantic Division 6: East South Central Division 7: West South Central Region 4: West Division 8: Mountain Division 9: Pacific Many federal, state and tribal governments use census data to: Decide the location of new housing and public facilities, Examine the demographic characteristics of communities and the US, Plan transportation systems and roadways, Determine quotas and creation of police and fire precincts, Create localized areas for elections, utilities, etc.
Gathers population information every 10 years The United States Census Bureau is committed to confidentiality, guarantees non-disclosure of any addresses or personal information related to individuals or establishments. Title 13 of the U. S. Code establishes penalties for the disclosure of this information. All Census employees must sign an affidavit of non-disclosure prior to employment; the Bureau cannot share responses, addresses or personal information with anyone including United States or foreign government
Indigenous peoples
Indigenous peoples known as first peoples, aboriginal peoples or native peoples, are ethnic groups who are the original settlers of a given region, in contrast to groups that have settled, occupied or colonized the area more recently. Groups are described as indigenous when they maintain traditions or other aspects of an early culture, associated with a given region. Not all indigenous peoples share this characteristic, as many have adopted substantial elements of a colonizing culture, such as dress, religion or language. Indigenous peoples may be settled in a given region or exhibit a nomadic lifestyle across a large territory, but they are historically associated with a specific territory on which they depend. Indigenous societies are found in every inhabited climate continent of the world. Since indigenous peoples are faced with threats to their sovereignty, economic well-being and their access to the resources on which their cultures depend, political rights have been set forth in international law by international organizations such as the United Nations, the International Labour Organization and the World Bank.
The United Nations has issued a Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples to guide member-state national policies to the collective rights of indigenous peoples, such as culture, identity and access to employment, health and natural resources. Estimates put the total population of indigenous peoples from 220 million to 350 million. International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples is celebrated on 9 August each year; the adjective indigenous was used to describe animals and plant origins. During the late twentieth century, the term Indigenous people began to be used to describe a legal category in indigenous law created in international and national legislations, it is derived from the Latin word indigena, based on the root gen-'to be born' with an archaic form of the prefix in'in'. Notably, the origins of the term indigenous is not related in any way to the origins of the term Indian which until was applied to indigenous peoples of the Americas. Any given people, ethnic group or community may be described as indigenous in reference to some particular region or location that they see as their traditional indigenous land claim.
Other terms used to refer to indigenous populations are aboriginal, original, or first. The use of the term peoples in association with the indigenous is derived from the 19th century anthropological and ethnographic disciplines that Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines as "a body of persons that are united by a common culture, tradition, or sense of kinship, which have common language and beliefs, constitute a politically organized group". James Anaya, former Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, has defined indigenous peoples as "living descendants of pre-invasion inhabitants of lands now dominated by others, they are culturally distinct groups that find themselves engulfed by other settler societies born of forces of empire and conquest". They form at present non-dominant sectors of society and are determined to preserve and transmit to future generations their ancestral territories, their ethnic identity, as the basis of their continued existence as peoples, in accordance with their own cultural patterns, social institutions and legal system.
The International Day of the World's Indigenous People falls on 9 August as this was the date of the first meeting in 1982 of the United Nations Working Group of Indigenous Populations of the Subcommission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities of the Commission on Human Rights. Throughout history, different states designate the groups within their boundaries that are recognized as indigenous peoples according to international or national legislation by different terms. Indigenous people include people indigenous based on their descent from populations that inhabited the country when non-indigenous religions and cultures arrived—or at the establishment of present state boundaries—who retain some or all of their own social, economic and political institutions, but who may have been displaced from their traditional domains or who may have resettled outside their ancestral domains; the status of the indigenous groups in the subjugated relationship can be characterized in most instances as an marginalized, isolated or minimally participative one, in comparison to majority groups or the nation-state as a whole.
Their ability to influence and participate in the external policies that may exercise jurisdiction over their traditional lands and practices is frequently limited. This situation can persist in the case where the indigenous population outnumbers that of the other inhabitants of the region or state. In a ground-breaking 1997 decision involving the Ainu people of Japan, the Japanese courts recognised their claim in law, stating that "If one minority group lived in an area prior to being ruled over by a majority group and preserved its distinct ethnic culture after being ruled over by the majority group, while another came to live in an area ruled over by a majority after consenting to the majority rule, it must be recognised that it is only natural that the distinct ethnic culture of the former group requires greater consideration."In Russia, definition of "indigenous peoples" is contested referring to a number of population (less
Cajuns
The Cajuns known as Acadians are an ethnic group living in the U. S. state of Louisiana, in the Canadian maritimes provinces as well as Québec consisting in part of the descendants of the original Acadian exiles—French-speakers from Acadia in what are now the Maritimes of Eastern Canada. In Louisiana and Cajun are used as broad cultural terms without reference to actual descent from the deported Acadians. Today, the Cajuns make up a significant portion of south Louisiana's population and have exerted an enormous impact on the state's culture. While Lower Louisiana had been settled by French colonists since the late 17th century, the Cajuns trace their roots to the influx of Acadian settlers after the Great Expulsion from their homeland during the French and British hostilities prior to the Seven Years' War; the Acadia region to which modern Cajuns trace their origin consisted of what are now Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island plus parts of eastern Quebec and northern Maine. Since their establishment in Louisiana, the Cajuns have developed their own dialect, Cajun French, developed a vibrant culture including folkways and cuisine.
The Acadiana region is associated with them. The origin of the designation Acadia is credited to the explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano, commissioned by the King Francis I of France, who on his 16th-century map applied the ancient Greek name "Arcadia" to the entire Atlantic coast north of Virginia. "Arcadia" derives from the Arcadia district in Greece which since classical antiquity had the extended meanings of "refuge" or "idyllic place". Samuel de Champlain fixed the orthography with the'r' omitted in the 17th century; the term came to apply only to the northern part of the coast in what is now Canada and New England. The Cajuns retain a unique dialect of the French language and numerous other cultural traits that distinguish them as an ethnic group. Cajuns were recognized by the U. S. government as a national ethnic group in 1980 per a discrimination lawsuit filed in federal district court. Presided over by Judge Edwin Hunter, the case, known as Roach v. Dresser Industries Valve and Instrument Division, hinged on the issue of the Cajuns' ethnicity: We conclude that plaintiff is protected by Title VII's ban on national origin discrimination.
The Louisiana Acadian is alive and well. He is "up front" and "main stream." He is not asking for any special treatment. By affording coverage under the "national origin" clause of Title VII he is afforded no special privilege, he is given only the same protection as those with English, French, Czechoslavakian, Polish, Italian, Irish, et al. ancestors. The British Conquest of French Acadia happened in 1710. Over the next 45 years, the Acadians refused to sign an unconditional oath of allegiance to Britain. During this period, Acadians participated in various militia operations against the British and maintained vital supply lines to the French fortress of Louisbourg and Fort Beausejour. During the French and Indian War, the British sought to neutralize the Acadian military threat and to interrupt their vital supply lines to Louisbourg by deporting Acadians from Acadia. During 1755–1763 Acadia consisted of parts of present-day Canada: Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, the Gaspe Peninsula in the province of Quebec.
The deportation of the Acadians from these areas has become known as the Great Upheaval or Le Grand Dérangement. The Acadians' migration from Canada was spurred by the Treaty of Paris; the treaty terms provided 18 months for unrestrained emigration. Many Acadians moved to the region of the Atakapa in present-day Louisiana travelling via the French colony of Saint-Domingue. Joseph Broussard led the first group of 200 Acadians to arrive in Louisiana on February 27, 1765, aboard the Santo Domingo. On April 8, 1765, he was appointed militia captain and commander of the "Acadians of the Atakapas" region in St. Martinville; some of the settlers wrote to their family scattered around the Atlantic to encourage them to join them at New Orleans. For example, Jean-Baptiste Semer, wrote to his father in France: My dear father... you can come here boldly with my dear mother and all the other Acadian families. They will always be better off than in France. There are neither duties nor taxes to pay and the more one works, the more one earns without doing harm to anyone.
The Acadians were scattered throughout the eastern seaboard. Families were put on ships with different destinations. Many ended up west of the Mississippi River in what was French-colonized Louisiana, including territory as far north as Dakota territory. France had ceded the colony to Spain in 1762, prior to their defeat by Britain and two years before the first Acadians began settling in Louisiana; the interim French officials provided land and supplies to the new settlers. The Spanish governor, Bernardo de Gálvez proved to be hospitable, permitting the Acadians to continue to speak their language, practice their native religion, otherwise pursue their livelihoods with minimal interference; some families and individuals did travel north through the Louisiana territory to set up homes as far north as Wisconsin. Cajuns fought in the American Revolution. Although they fought for Spanish General Galvez, their contribution to the winning of the war has been recognized."Galvez leaves New Orleans with an army of Spanish regulars and the Louisiana militi
Vermilion Parish, Louisiana
