Gueydan High School - Bruin Yearbook (Gueydan, LA)

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NOUS SOMMES ACADIENS WE ARE ACADIANS We are Acadian — probably better known as Cajuns.” Being Acadian makes us unique . . . unique because our roots have been planted on two continents and three countries. First, as Vikings, we settled in western France. Then we fled across the Atlantic to Acadie, Canada known today as Nova Scotia. Forced by British occupation in I7 55 t0 a sentenced exile, our most adventurous ancestors migrated to the already flourishing French city of New Orleans. A few stayed there but most moved on to settle north and west of the big city ... along the rivers and bayous so familiar to our area. For more than two hundred years now, farmers have reaped bountiful crops from the rich soil. . . fishermen have extracted brimming catches form our waters . . . and in keeping with our heritage, the largest portion of these foods find its way to our crowded tables after masterful enhancement true to the Cajun cuisine: etouffee, fricassee, bisque, gumbo, sauce piquante, jambalaya, boudin, gratons, fromaee de tete, bain berdu and patates douces. jo r r Our faces, like our music, songs and literature, are moving. Like Longfellow's Evangeline” they tell of long separation of loved ones, heartbreak and hardship. But they tell, too, of true love, friendship, neighborliness, coming home and success. '1 he faces of our generation, much as our Acadian ancestors, confirm an undying optimism born of a deep, abiding faith in our way of life. The language we speak comes from the French spoken in our motherland during the seventeenth century. Sometime we borrow our words from our English speaking neighbors, and they laugh at our patchwork dialogue — but we don't mind, after all it’s our nature to laugh at ourselves. Though in years to come, many of us may leave the farm and village for the city ...we will not leave our Acadian ways behind, for we are proud and loyal to the memory of our Acadian forefathers who left us such a priceless heritage to pattern our lives after. es, it is a joyous thing to be an Acadian, celebrating life in our numerous traditional ways — keeping in mind when times are hard our motto, ,Laissez les bon temps roulers.” 2