Lots of old time Cajuns in the area of Johnson Bayou as well. Same families as in Port Arthur, for the most part.
atldog--You do not need a reason to go to Gueydan! It's the place to be. LOL

(05-14-2022 08:30 AM)MUther Wrote:  I always assumed that the Cajunality was spread in and around that area more than Louisiana specific. Maybe just a product of people seeking work in adjacent areas as suggested. I guess there is more of a line than I imagined at the borders of Cajun country.

The line has become less distinct in recent decades as more Cajuns got degrees and moved to areas with better job opportunities. The Port Arthur exodus was driven by a lot of jobs in defense industries in that area during WW II. Lots of Cajuns and Creoles stayed after fhe war because of jobs.

FWIW, the traditional area of Cajun country is a triangle with its apex at Simmesport on the Mississippi River in Avoyelles Parish, bounded on the East by Bayou LaFourche and on the West by the Mermentau River, whitch runs through Lake Arthur to the Gulf. New Orleans is definitely not Cajun, though many Cajuns do live there, and the pocket of French speakers in far western St. Landry Parish and all of Evangeline Parish are not Cajuns either, though they think they are and they are culturally very similar after 260 years of rubbing elbows with Cajuns.