Moving the Nation’s Oil
September 12, 2018
A VISIT FROM TOP DOCS
September 13, 2018
Every Cajun community had, a “Dan” … net a movie Godfather “an offer you can’t refuse Don” but a respected and trusted elder from whom the family could seek financial advice, property transactions and arbitrating disputes.
Our community’s “Dan” was Mix Terrebonne, my Grandfather Paul Callais’ brother-in-law. His advice was usually followed
Within communities, every family had their own ‘Don” which in my family was my Grand Mother Irma Guidry Callais and we were related to everybody in South Lafourche. I can’t think of a better bunch of people to be related to Our family tree includes Collins, Guidry. Terrebonne. Adams. Vizier; Autin. Rousse. Plaisance, Pitre, Ledet Sandras and Hebert just for starters.
That helped me later politically but it put a damper on my bachelor days. Example:
“But grandma.” I augured, after she had vetoed a girl I wanted to date, “she’s only a fifth cousin, twice removed.”
It didn’t matter. An Irma veto could not be overruled. To her. a relative, no matter how distant was a relative, period!
My column denotes me as a historian since every word I write becomes history the moment I write it including the period at the end
My definition of a Cajun means a direct decedent of the citizens of Acadia. Nova Scotia who were exiled from Canada in 1955. The name “Cajun meant nothing to them since it only applies to those who settied in Louisiana
Who is a Cajun?
My great, great grandfather, Paul Callais was born in 1776 on the Isle of Malta and died in Lafourche in 1870. He had disembarked in New Orleans on a ship from Malta, and was known for the rest of his life as “Paul de Malt”.
He fought in the Battle of New Orleans under General Andrew Jackson and his a on Mathurin (l831-l922) eventually moved to South Lafourche with his wife Helen Cocke (1839-1883) They bought the property where Our Lady of Prompt Succor Catholic Church now stands.
On my fathers aide ray great, great grandfather Thomas Martin was born in England in 1818. YEPES! Part of me is a bloody limey.
His wife Josephine Sandras was a Cajun boon in Thibodaux in 1625 and that makes me three quarter pure Cajun.
There are other way s to claim you are a Cajun. Number one is that one or more of your grandmothers, (since Grand Fathers have been eliminated) are direct decedents of “Le Grande Disargement from Acadia. I can lay a claim on both sides. The “Grande derangement’1 in my Cajun language means “big diarrhea” hut let’s not go there.
Other ways are culturally. One. You were born within the South Louisians triangle denoted in the picture in this column. Guilty Two. You could not speak a word of English when you started school. Oh my God. yes! An example!
My maiden Aunt Sarah GalIais helped raise and tutor me. and she did a good job because by the time my mother entered me in first grade (no kindergarten or pre-k then) I was pretty bright. My mother told my teacher knew my prayers, (we were all Catholic) my alphabet and my numbers up to 100 and beyond
The teacher said That’s wonderful, and before my mother could explain she had me in front of the class saying “listen class, here a pupil who knows his numbers’ Tell them Leroy”. Mother said I stared into space until a student smarter than me Mid “lea numero Leroy” and I started “UN deux, tris quatre”, The befuddled teacher said “wait do the alphabet” and I started “a,, bay. say. day” and she stopped him again
There was only one problem–IT WAS ALL IN FRENCH! I DID NOT KNOW ONE WORD OF ENGLISH!
In desperation she raid. “recite something else and I began, Allons enfants de la patric. le jour de gloire est arrivay” It was a national anthem tut it was the French Anthem “Le Marseilles”. The teacher being fluid in French finished it with me.. I’II continue next week if my writing stops humiliating me. BYE NOW!
