Attakapas Parish, a former parish (county) in southern Louisiana, was one of the twelve parishes in the Territory of Orleans, newly defined by the United States federal government following its Louisiana Purchase in 1803. At its core was the Poste des Attakapas trading post, which developed as the current city of St. Martinville. [1] [2]
Attakapas Parish was formally created from the Attakapas and Opelousas districts in 1805 by Governor William C. C. Claiborne. [3] It occupied the triangle between the Mermentau River on the west, the Atchafalaya River on the east, and the Gulf of Mexico to the south. [4]
In 1811, the parish was divided into St. Martin and St. Mary parishes. As population increased, the region was further subdivided in 1823, 1844, and 1868 to create Lafayette, Vermillion, and Iberia parishes, respectively. [5]
Prior to European colonization, the area was primarily home to the Atakapa tribe.
The first Europeans arrived in the 1730s, and they were predominantly French or of French descent. [6]
In the 1760s and 1780s, following British victory over France in the Seven Years War, it took over French territory in North America east of the Mississippi River. They expelled most Acadians from their homes in Nova Scotia; some were resettled among various French and (other) British domains: the thirteen British Atlantic coast colonies, England, France, Saint-Domingue, Cayenne (French Guiana), and the Falkland Islands.
In 1765 Joseph Broussard, also known as Beausoleil, led approximately 193 Acadians who had been involved in guerilla warfare against the British in Canada to settle in the Attakapas District. [7] These early settlers were located between modern Breaux Bridge and Loreauville. [8] This was two years after France had transferred most of its Louisiana colony to Spain (after losing the Seven Years' War), although the French colonial governor Charles Philippe Aubry was still in charge of this territory.
These settlers became the nexus for future waves of Acadian immigration, when their dispersed relatives could gather sufficient funds and permissions from the various national entities under whose control they found themselves. [9]
By the time that the former Attakapas Territory/District became Attakapas Parish, the Acadians living there had developed a prosperous agricultural economy based on cattle, enhanced by small-scale vegetable and corn farming. They relied on the labor of enslaved African Americans. The Attakapas District census of 1803 listed "2,270 whites, 210 free people of color, 1,266 slaves; in all 3,746 souls." [10]
The region became a major center of both Cajun culture and Creole culture in Louisiana. European Americans and African Americans both adhered to Catholicism, and French-influenced culture and language, as well as absorbing and sharing aspects of African American and Native American cultures, including food. [11]
Cajun cuisine is a style of cooking developed by the Cajun–Acadians who were deported from Acadia to Louisiana during the 18th century and who incorporated West African, French and Spanish cooking techniques into their original cuisine.
The Cajuns, also known as Louisiana Acadians, are a Louisiana French ethnicity mainly found in the U.S. state of Louisiana and surrounding Gulf Coast states.
St. Martin Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana, founded in 1811. Its parish seat is St. Martinville, and the largest city is Breaux Bridge. At the 2020 census, the population was 51,767. St. Martin Parish is part of the Lafayette metropolitan area in the region of Acadiana, along the Gulf Coast.
St. Landry Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 82,540. The parish seat is Opelousas. The parish was established in 1807.
Evangeline Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 32,350. The parish seat is Ville Platte.
Carencro is a city in Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is a suburb of the nearby city of Lafayette. The population was 7,526 at the 2010 census, up from 6,120 in 2000; at the 2020 census, its population was 9,272. The name of the city is derived from the Cajun French word for buzzard; the spot where the community was settled was one where large flocks of American black vultures roosted in the bald cypress trees. The name means "carrion crow." Carencro is part of the Lafayette metropolitan area.
Opelousas is a small city and the parish seat of St. Landry Parish, Louisiana, United States. Interstate 49 and U.S. Route 190 were constructed with a junction here. According to the 2020 census, Opelousas has a population of 15,786, a 6.53 percent decline since the 2010 census, which had recorded a population of 16,634. Opelousas is the principal city for the Opelousas-Eunice Micropolitan Statistical Area, which had an estimated population of 80,808 in 2020. Opelousas is also the fourth largest city in the Lafayette-Acadiana Combined Statistical Area, which has a population of 537,947.
Breaux Bridge is a small city in St. Martin Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 8,139 as of the 2010 census, up from 7,281 in 2000. By 2020, its population was 7,513. It is part of the Lafayette metropolitan statistical area.
St. Martinville is a city in and the parish seat of St. Martin Parish, Louisiana, United States. It lies on Bayou Teche, 13 miles (21 km) south of Breaux Bridge, 16 miles (26 km) southeast of Lafayette, and 9 miles (14 km) north of New Iberia. The population was 6,114 at the 2010 U.S. census, and 5,379 at the 2020 United States census. It is part of the Lafayette metropolitan statistical area.
Acadiana, also known as the Cajun Country, is the official name given to the French Louisiana region that has historically contained much of the state's Francophone population.
Brigadier-General Charles Lawrence was a British military officer who, as lieutenant governor and subsequently governor of Nova Scotia, is perhaps best known for overseeing the Expulsion of the Acadians and settling the New England Planters in Nova Scotia. He was born in Plymouth, England, and died in Halifax, Nova Scotia. According to historian Elizabeth Griffiths, Lawrence was seen as a "competent", "efficient" officer with a "service record that had earned him fairly rapid promotion, a person of considerable administrative talent who was trusted by both Cornwallis and Hopson." He is buried in the crypt of St. Paul's Church (Halifax).
Louisiana Creoles are a Louisiana French ethnic group descended from the inhabitants of colonial Louisiana before it became a part of the United States during the period of both French and Spanish rule. They share cultural ties such as the traditional use of the French, Spanish, and Creole languages and predominant practice of Catholicism.
Joseph Broussard (1702–1765), also known as Beausoleil, was a leader of the Acadian people in Acadia; later Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and New Brunswick. Broussard organized Mi'kmaq and Acadian militias against the British through King George's War, Father Le Loutre's War and during the Seven Years' War. After Acadia was captured by the British, he eventually led the first group of Acadians to southern Louisiana in the present-day United States. His name is sometimes presented as Joseph Gaurhept Broussard; this is likely the result of a transcription error. Broussard is widely regarded as a hero and an important historical figure by both Acadians and Cajuns.
The German Coast was a region of early Louisiana settlement located above New Orleans, and on the west bank of the Mississippi River. Specifically, from east to west, in St. Charles, St. John the Baptist, and St. James parishes of present-day Acadiana. It was largely settled by German immigrants and their African slaves. The four settlements of Augsburg, Hoffen, Karlstein, and Marienthal were located along this "coast".
Carl Anthony Brasseaux is an American historian and educator. He specialized in French Colonial North America, particularly of Louisiana and the Cajun people. He helped to pioneer the field of Cajun history, and his published works on this topic represent the first serious, in-depth examination of the history of the ethnic group.
Glenn Russell Conrad was an American historian, professor, and author. He is known for his research of south Louisiana culture, as well as an expert on archival studies, nineteenth-century European history, and the history of colonial Louisiana. He taught at Southern Colorado State and the University of Southwestern Louisiana from 1958 until 1991, and serving as the director of the Center of Louisiana Studies at University of Southern Louisiana from 1973 until 1993.
Lafayette, Louisiana, and the surrounding area is a mix of American Indian, African American, English, French and Spanish culture. The area is situated in the region known as South Central Louisiana. The Vermilion River runs through the city. Today, the city and parish are at the heart of Acadiana.
Charles-Philippe Aubry or Aubri was a French soldier and colonial administrator, who served as governor of Louisiana twice in the 18th century.
Vermilionville Historic Village, located in Lafayette, Louisiana, is a Cajun and Creole living history museum with a combination of restored and replica historic structures.
