The Cajuns: Americanization of a People Book

This book completely mirrored my Paw-paw's stories of growing up in a once solely speaking Cajun French settlement in South Louisiana from the 1930s through the 1960s. Not only did the language disappear -Cajun French was heavily banned from being spoken in public schools during this time, but also his entire settlement was absorbed by a larger town by the turn of the twentieth century. Both the culture and actual home towns of my grandparents'childhoods have all but been swallowed up by the oil industry and American consumerism of today. The older I get, the better I understand the grave impact of this loss and how it will continue to affect my home state and my family's cultural heritage for years to come.

This book does a great job of plotting the historical events that have altered the Cajun community throughout the twentieth century. I particularly enjoyed the myriad of statistics, census data, and first hand accounts of Cajuns as they adjusted to or reacted strongly against changes taking place within their community.