Columnist Bradshaw talks about what else? History

Jim Bradshaw provided a humourous take on the rich and diverse history of the Acadiana region.
The C’est Vrai columnist, longtime former newspaper man and non-fiction author served as the guest speaker at the Evangeline Parish Genealogical and Historical Society’s annual meeting on Jan. 21 at the Evangeline Parish Library on Main Street.
“This is history you won’t find anywhere else,” Bradshaw, who has received the Prix de Louisiane award by the Council for Development of French in Louisiana, said.
After those in attendance ate King Cake and had some coffee, Bradshaw started things off on a humorous note by writing the letters CKU on the middle of the white board. Bradshaw then told those in attendance that it stands for Center of Known Universe, which he then added “folks in Lafayette believe that is located at the intersection of Ambassador and Kaliste Saloom.”
Bradshaw went on to talk about how French culture in Louisiana is not a monolithic and that it is so diverse. Bradshaw explained how there were several different groups, not all French, that settled in the area now widely identified as “Cajun Country”.
There is St. Martin Parish where the first Cajuns came to settle,which also later featured the French Revolution aristocrats and Napoleonic soldiers. All three groups spoke a different version of French.
Iberia Parish which was settled by the Spanish and where modern Cajun names such as Viator originated from; the Atchafalaya Basin region which first featured Native Americans and then later Protestant Europeans; and St. Mary Parish which was settled by second sons of plantation families from Georgia and Virginia, and then later Haitians who spoke yet another different style of French.
Brashaw then broke down St. Landry and Evangeline parishes, better known as the Cajun Prairies. Bradshaw said that many of the earliest French settlers came to the area from Mobile, as did free people of color, New Orleans tradesmen and slaves.
While discussing the Rice Belt, which was settled by Germans, Bradshaw drew another laugh from the crowd by stating, “I had an old Cajun once tell me that a Cajun could look at a field of rice and tell you how much gravy it will need.”
The Chéniers region, which was settled by Texans and later French-speaking Vietnamese who became shrimpers and fisherman, was described by Bradshaw as, “a place where people went to be left alone.”
Despite the regional differences, both geographic and linguistic, all had a similar background.
“Practically each one has the same story of exile,” Bradshaw said. “They all had that common theme.”
Before wrapping up his address, Bradshaw expressed hope for the preservation of Cajun French culture with the proposal of turning the long vacant St. Luke Hospital in Arnaudville into a French Immersion Campus.
“I am hopeful because Arnaudville is one of the few places where old French is still spoken on the street,” Bradshaw said.