In this penetrating study, Carl Brasseaux looks beyond long-standing mythology to provide a critical account of early Acadian culture in Louisiana and the reasons for its survival. He convincingly dispels many received notions about the routes Acadians traveled from Nova Scotia to Louisiana, their original settlement sites, and the patterns of their subsequent migrations within the state, and closely examines the relations of Louisiana’s Acadians with their black, Spanish, Indian, and Creole neighbors. As Brasseaux reveals, Acadians’ cohesiveness and insularity preserved the core elements of their culture and helped them adjust to new physical and social demands. 

A native of Acadiana, CARL A. BRASSEAUX has authored more than thirty books on French North America. He retired from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in 2010.