The best things in life can’t be bought, measured, won, or even earned. They can only be faithfully sought out, and received with great expectation. That simple truth is nowhere more evident than every Saturday morning at the Ascension Parish library in Galvez, where a close-knit group of parishioners gathers to speak and study Cajun French.
There’s something joyous in these people who are so passionate about Cajun heritage. Their secret? Apparently, just showing up and being together.
Started by Bart Lessard and his mother Angie Babin Lessard eight years ago, Allons Parler Cadien (Let’s Speak Cajun) is a relaxed and friendly group of people who enjoy each other’s company even more than the language they’re practicing. And they’re ever eager to welcome new members.
They meet in a nondescript room and look like ordinary students, diligently writing in notebooks or following along in the class textbook, Cajun Self-Taught by the Rev. Jules Daigle. But truth is, it’s not all about book learnin.’ Jokes are passed around, as well as homegrown vegetables from the garden. Halfway through the class, the members break for coffee and dessert, compliments of Lessard. “Since we’re Cajun, we have to stop and eat something,” he jokes.
“It’s very relaxed, no pressure, like one big family” says member Eve Poche. “I told Bart that if he ever gave a test, I would stop coming.”
Sitting next to Poche, Brenda O’Connell chimes in. “That’s indicative of the French culture, that we’ve bonded the way we have,” she says. “I like this class because it brings me back to my childhood, hearing the beautiful Cajun French language spoken again.”
Member Joyce Babin shares that nostalgia for growing up in a French-speaking family. She’s currently writing her memoirs about growing up in Gonzales. Back then, she would ride the mail route with her grandpa Felix and speak French with people along the way. “French was my first language,” she explains. As an aside, she adds: “Many of us in this group are cousins, you know.”
Lessard got the idea to start Allons Parler Cadien after he took a leisure course in Cajun French at the University of Louisiana in Lafayette. He wanted the group to focus on speaking the language, but also learn grammar, reading, and writing.
“There’s really no other group like this one in the state,” says Elaine Clement, Community Outreach Director of CODOFIL (Council of Development of French in Louisiana). Clement notes that since Hurricane Katrina, there’s been a resurgence of interest in preserving the French language and culture in Louisiana, both Cajun and Creole. Across south Louisiana, people have formed “French tables” – small groups that meet once a month at a restaurant to share a meal and French conversation. But Lessard’s group meets every week, and goes beyond simply conversing to study all aspects of Cajun French.
Most of the group members are older people from a generation that grew up speaking or hearing French spoken in the home. Poche, for example, spoke French with her mother until her mother died at 93; now she speaks it with her 96-year-old aunt. Like many French-speaking adults, she did not teach her children the language.
“One of my mother’s biggest regrets was that she didn’t teach French to us, simply because she didn’t think anyone would be interested in speaking it anymore,” Lessard says. For him, hearing the stories of the group’s older members is a most rewarding part of being in the group. “They talk about what it was like using a Sears catalogue in the outhouse, or processing moss at the local moss factory. That old Cajun spirit of coup de main (“helping hand”) comes out when they talk about how the community would come together to slaughter hogs for the fall boucherie, or for a community quilting. If someone was building a barn, everyone would come out to help,” he says.
Only a few young people have joined and stuck with Lessard’s group over the years, but Clement is optimistic about the younger generations carrying the torch. “Something very tangible is going on here in Louisiana, that’s starting to spread. I know dozens of bilingual young adults who are engaged in preserving Cajun French. The dilemma is, how do we transition without losing respect for the elder native French – speaking people. The young people have to figure out what living in French means for them. If it’s going to continue, to live, breathe, and grow, it’s going to look different.”
Clement mentions a group of young adults in Lafayette who have formed Jeune Cadien, a club that is helping CODOFIL in its bid to host the 2014 Acadian Congres Mondial. She credits the 1999 Congres Mondial in Louisiana for spurring more interest in preserving Acadian French culture here. Lessard and his mother attended the Congres Mondial held in Nova Scotia, where the Babin family reunion was held. There, he made the personal discovery that the language spoken in French Nova Scotia is exactly the same as Cajun French in Louisiana.
The Galvez members of Allons Parler Cadien make their own personal and unique discoveries every Saturday. Babin has cultivated a love for composing French poetry. Lessard relishes the stories of the elder generation. O’Connell satisfies her sweet nostalgia for a French-speaking childhood, and Poche, already fluent in speaking since youth, learns to read in French.
As a Maryland native, Susan Duhon is one of the few “outsiders” who has been charmed by the language and culture of Cajuns. Having married a Cajun, she has grown to better understand her husband and in-laws since she joined the group seven years ago. A descendant of Scottish immigrants, she is impressed with the longevity of Cajun language and culture. “There’s no place like this in the world. They’ve held onto their culture so much longer than others have.”
“The best thing is the people and their stories, how poor they were, and what they overcame going to school not speaking English,” she says. “To me, it’s a spiritual experience. If God stood by them, He’ll stand by me.”
Lessard’s group has been officially acknowledged by CODOFIL for its efforts to preserve the language. But their real treasure lies in Cajun camaraderie.
“This is something we all look forward to during the week, for the support and laughter,” Babin says. “We don’t advocate to be that serious!”
So, while they are challenged to read French out of a book, compose stories on index cards using French words, and translate French songs into English, there’s another agenda on the mind of every Cajun here: to passer le temps du jour (“pass the time of day”) with some very dear friends.
There’ll be time to roder (“run around, run the roads”) or lend a coup de main during the rest of the week.
Allons Parler Cadien meets every Saturday from 10 a.m.-noon at the Ascension Parish Library in Galvez.
For more information, contact Bart Lessard at 225-324-8363.
