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Tribal Fires Journal |
A Gumbo of Nations Essay by JP Wade Towards the end of the Mississippi River is a vast region of swamps called the Atchafalaya Basin. Waters from the North West to the North East of this continent mix and merge toward the rivers end to create this basin, which is full of swamps. The mixing and joining of waters is very similar to way cultures and people have mixed and joined to create what today is called the Cajun Culture. A common misconception of the Cajun culture is that we are French people and that our cultures’ origin starts with a group of people called the Acadians who were exiled from Nova Scotia by the British in the mid 1700’s. In reality the culture began prior to the arrival of the Acadians. For hundreds of years people of the swamps had their homelands torn apart by foreign influence. This ripping apart of aboriginal nations and their homelands in many instances resulted in people being forced into slavery no different than the African people of later years. Years back in France there were people of mixed nationality, French, Spanish, Basque etc. who were classified as Creole people, mixed bloods. These people after years of religious persecution and racial discrimination elected to leave their homelands in France and ended up in the area of Algatig which is located in Nova Scotia, Canada. Algatig is a Mi`kmaq word meaning camp area which could also be translated to community area. These people eventually became known as the Acadians, people of the area Algatig. After around 150 yrs of residency in this region the English took control of the lands and exiled the Acadians. The exile journey brought them to the Atchafalya Basin where they intermarried and mixed again with an existing diversified culture. As people and nations mixed in the Atchafalaya Basin, the foundation of the Cajun language changed. The foundation of language in the basin started with the Mound Builders, then changed to language of the individual aboriginal nations, then to Spanish and eventually to a French foundation. Today even though the Cajun language is predominately French, it also incorporates many other nations’ words and phrases. To mention a few, there are words of Scottish, Irish, Aboriginal, African, Spanish, German, English and Basque people. The most recent addition being language phrases from Asian and Arab people who have recently influenced the cultural of the Cajuns. When it comes to food much is the same as with the language and the ancestral heritage of the people that make up the culture. A common category of food in the swamps is gumbo. Gumbo is basically a soup with a thick consistency. A gumbo includes many forms of meats or seafood. To name a few there is chicken and okra gumbo; seafood gumbo and duck gumbo. An example of the African influence within the Cajun cooking would be Okra gumbo. Okra is not native to this continent. Its origin is of the African continent and some people believe that it arrived with a medicinal person who carried its seed during the slave trade. Another example specific cultural influence is seasoning such as bay leaf and file`, which is native to the swamps. As the waters of the swamps leave the Atchafalaya Basin they enter the Gulf of Mexico, circle along the coast of Mexico and the Yucatan peninsula and make their way back up north with the Gulf Stream. After these waters reach the north east they enter the St. Lawrence and eventually rejoin the waters of the Mississippi River to begin another cycle of mixing and joining which will eventually add new aspects to the Cajun Culture upon their return. There is a common Cajun phrase “Teddi en tu nuff” when translated means something of nothing and a little bit of everything. An example of when this phrase might be used is if a small child were to place a small bit of earth into your hand. This child’s act might seem to some people as nothing where in reality it is something of everything. An offering, a gift, sharing, for without one another and a bit of earth we would not exist. |
Work left behind It was Harvey Oh! Who gave to me A kit of needlepoint. Complete with canvas, Needle and selected yarns. A pattern, too. Enfolded carefully Within the gay green Christmas package. I began the solemn duty With some dismay And continued doggedly Under Harvey’s goad, “Aren’t you finished yet?”” “No, not yet!” But it’s coming along, Bit by bit by bit.” An how he laughed Until he died. As last I laid The work aside The canvas soiled. The yarns in many Places gone astray. The weary needle Thrust into a rose. One day my children Will find the work Undone and cluck Above the wooly blooms. Perhaps one will Take the needle and, Piercing its startled eye With a long yarn, Complete the work That I have left behind. Written by Anne M. Dunn Subscription rate is $12.00 for one year. Four issues of Tribal Fires Journal. click here for subscription form |
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