Louisiana Creole and Cajuns: What's the Difference? Race, Ethnicity, History and Genetics 

Louisiana has one of the most unique cultures in the US

The fact that the creole language has been lost. Both of my parents are creole born and raised in Louisiana. My grandparents spoke creole fluently but my parents never learned. I find it sad that I lost this part of my culture.

I'm from Louisiana and I am fluent in French and Spanish. Louisiana schools taught us to speak the heritage of our ancestry. I am an Italian mixed Cajun Creole Indian. I love being from Louisiana❤

My dad was a Cajun, he never lost his thick accent. I loved hearing him speak Cajun French to his family. ❤️

I love being a Louisiana girl. Our culture is rich in history, traditions, cuisine, festivals and so much more 💜💛💚

In 1990 I joined the navy and met my future first wife who was from Arkansas. When she went home and told her family she was engaged to a Cajun her family tried to kick her out the house and family because they believed Cajun meant half white and half black. When my dad joined the Navy in 64 they made him take off his shoes and socks so they could see his webbed feet because they believed cajuns live in the swamps so long we all have webbed feet. In my boot camp in 1990 they honestly thought this was my first time on dry land and wearing shoes. My accent was so thick they believed me to be a very ignorant hick with little to no education. Imagine their surprise when they found out I passed the test to enter into the Navy’s Nuclear Power program. While stationed in Europe what little Cajun French I knew came in handy as some words were similar to words used in Italy and Spain. What you didn’t mention was the efforts to wipe out the French language from existence in Louisiana. My grandparents and parents told us of the physical abuse they endured in school if they spoke French at school. By my parents’ time it was taboo to speak French in school anywhere near a teacher or principal. The language they tried to wipe out was suddenly needed in WW2 in France. Many local men, including my grandfather, went to France to act as translators for the American troops. Those returning veterans were the ones who began the push to save the language. My parents and grandparents only spoke French when they had something to say that they didn’t want the children to know about. This caused us to not know most French other than select words and phrases.

I’m Cajun and Creole. Crazy to see people actually recognizing Los Isleños - some of my ancestors were from the Canary Islands.

I LOVE being a Louisiana Lady! It wasn't until I was older than 25 that I would appreciate how rich our heritage is here!

Creoles come in all colors, not only lightskin!

I am Cajun and my wife is Creole. My children are beautiful.

My gramma came from Quebec and spoke French. They settled in Alger, Michigan and were called "Cheesers" and Dairy Maids. French here in Michigan had their own language too. It was mixed with the Indians words from when they lived in Quebec. I loved when she would get upset and start speaking French, Indian and English! Hilarious when it came out.

Thank for making that distinction between Cajun & Creole. You are right that they are very different. My family is Creole and we have a multitude of racial mixtures Consequentially we all look very different from each other. Even in siblings one can have more European features and color while another can look Hispanic or Black. And yes, we still have African or Haitian blood. I can’t wait for everyone to just check “mixed race” on the census. I am proud to be a little bit of everyone…. We are all just Human!

My Father's family is Creole and I was always amazed at the diversity within it. My Father and I are brown skinned and have slightly more prominent Native American features such as cheeks and nose. His father was very dark with more African features, but his mother could pass for white all day long and they were French Creole speakers. All this within 3 generations. Go figure. :)

I'm a Louisiana creole of color, and we have been in the state since the early 1700's. We had already been there some 40 or 50 years by the time the Cajuns arrived in the mid-1700's. We not only have French, African and Native ancestry, but many of us have Spanish and Italian, and even some German and British/Irish ancestry. Some slaves were brought from Jamaica, Cuba, Haiti and Mexico, too, so we have more of a Caribbean or Latino culture and ancestry.

l have for decades known about the differences between the Cajuns and Creoles of Louisiana; and this clip pretty much sums it up. Louisiana is one of my favorite States, and it never ceases to fascinate. And l find both the Cajuns and the Creoles intriguing peoples. Everybody should go to the Pelican State at least once!

I’m from Shreveport so kinda from from the main culture areas however my great grandmother was full blown Cajun and my grandma is quite fluent in French as a second language. Most Louisianans (like myself) take a lot of pride in the culture of the state and it’s always nice being able to share it with others. My grandmother has taught me how to cook jambalaya, 10:24 , gumbo and all that

IM SO PUMPED THAT MY CULTURE IS INTERESTING TO OTHER PEOPLE!! Even here in Louisiana it's not recognized by other people and alot of our culture has been appropriated and invalidated! Thank you for being aware and respectful ❤

I was initially looking for Cajun recipes to cook some shrimp but I stayed for the history lesson, it was interesting and informative.

It's about time someone was smart enough to put this out there in a very comprehensive and sensible fashion. I've been telling people for years that skin pigmentation is not how one distinguishes one culture from another. People are way too focused on skin pigmentation and morphological traits rather than cultural or linguistic patterns and of coarse evolution to comprehend the various differences between one type of person and another. With that said I've always maintained that people, fundamentally, are the same everywhere. It doesn't matter what shade of skin, eye color, or hair color one imbues, we are the same. Having worked in New Orleans and befriending many individuals of Creole or Cajun ancestry, I learned much about their culture and historical progression. I find it fascinating and enlightening. thanks again for the info.

THANK YOU for getting this right! My great grandmother and grandmother spoke French creole. They did it when they did not want the kids (us) knowing what they were talking about lol! I love this video. ❤

My dad is from Lake Charles Louisiana and I love how my aunts and uncles talk.They come in all colors light to dark brown.They have brown eyes or gray eyes.Much love to my creole roots .

Good work young man. I'm a Cajun raised in the heart of Acadiana. I thought your piece was well researched and presented. Thank you.

This was great! Just in case no one's mentioned it, Creoles were initially (before LA was part of the USA) defined as anyone of French origin vs people like "Kaintucks", for example. I highly recommend the Free Man of Color series as well as Lyle Saxon's (born 1891) Fabulous New Orleans & Old Louisiana if you really want to understand Louisiana history from a juicy perspective 💜⚜💚

Thank you so much! This is fascinating. I am French and American (now living in France) and I lived for a short time in Lafayette, LA. I am currently teaching English and American culture and I always have a chapter on Louisiana. The French kids love it. I will happily use your video in my class! By the way, I found other viewers’ comments great too!

Louisiana should take some hints from Quebec. They should implement some language protecting laws similar to Quebec.

It's a shame the Louisiana French were denied their languages, and culture. I sincerely hope you bring it all back, Louisiana is by far the most culturally rich area of the US.

I’m Louisiana Creole. My grandma spoke a mix of French & Spanish creole. If she had to translate anything and even older creole than her she would call them a Frenchman. But I love how my family spoke very serious joking all at the same time bc we were Irish French creole Spanish creole Indian(black) mix. Zydeco is our thing!!

I'm of Louisiana creole descent, and also born and raised in southeast Louisiana (New Orleans). Creoles have been in Louisiana 150 years before the Cajuns, and constitutes for more than 80% of Louisiana's current population. Other states are trying to minimize the Louisiana creole culture into non-existence. Majority of our foods are creole with very few cajun ingredients. Creoles come in all colors ( Spanish creole, French creole, Italian Creoles, black Creoles of African descent, mix race creoles, etc.). We are a GUMBO OF PEOPLE....

As a Nigerian, I'm fascinated by New Orleans and the culture there. The food, music, festivals, architecture and the various religions practised there. ♥️

As someone who has both cajun and creole family all i can say is jamabalaya amazing

Aye boy you tied all this together you really did yo research 💪🏿💪🏿💪🏿💪🏿

Thank you very much for this. I am a Canadian of Irish/English/Scottish background who has long been in love with the music, culture and food of Southern Louisiana and this video puts the history of those beautiful people in great perspective. Kinda teary for some reason....god, I'm getting old.

My mom is Louisiana Creole, raised in Natchez, MS. She used to teach me a lot of Creole words, but I kind of have forgotten the language over time. However I still remember the foods! Lol. This was a pretty good take on understanding the diversity of Cajun and Louisiana Creole peoples respectively. Not too bad.

As a Canadian who also speaks Canadian French (which is different from the French spoken in France) I find this topic fascinating. Funny enough they still speak Acadian French in New Brunswick and those who understand Canadian French have trouble understanding the Acadian French in that province. In Montreal, Quebec there is a huge population of people from Haiti who all speak Haitian Creole and you hear it there all the time.

We had a huge influx of Cajuns and Creoles in OKC, Tulsa, and throughout Oklahoma as well after Katrina. OKC even hosted the New Orleans hornets for a couple seasons during rebuild. A lot of the New Orleans folk who moved to OKC were happy to get to see their hornets play in OKC. It definitely helped them adjust having their team in their new city for a bit. That’s what lead to OKC getting the Thunder.

Very well done! I appreciate how well you explained the myth that everyone from Africa are a singular ethnicity, when they are in fact a diverse people of many cultures/ethnicities. However, Louisiana will always be somewhat mysterious as a result of the remarkable diversity of its people and the beautiful culture that has resulted. So difficult to explain in mere words, you have to experience it for yourself.

I reeeaaally wanted to include the song "The House of the Rising Sun" but the YT copyright crew got me pinned down! We'll get 'em next time!

Imagine my surprise when I saw the photo of my Dad and I in this video! It made me feel a a since of pride that finally; in honor of My father maybe one day soon my children and their children can finally be able to say they are Creole and people will know exactly what it is! Thank you so much🙏👍🏽

Very well done, sir. Thank you for the research and objective assessment. It gives me a much better perspective on the Cajun and Creole backgrounds. When I was growing up in the '70s, part of my history instruction pertained to how races mixed and the names assigned to the "results" (for lack of a better, less divisive word). I'll not go in to the details, but Creole was one of them. We also learned where the Cajuns originated. So far, my almost 50-year-old textbooks were right lol Thanks again for your efforts. Keep up the good work.

Well put together and a super informative video, excellent work! Cheers!

If you’re reading this, I hope you find your inner peace.

All I know is that every time I go to Louisiana they are all marching to their own drum. It's like being in another country. People are just different there. And I'm from Florida, so I know different when I see it! 😂

I’m from New York and visiting Louisiana is on my bucket list. The culture is one of the most unique in the US and it’s one of my favorite accents. The way people say “baby” just melts my heart. Can’t wait to visit one day

You did such great research! Thank you for sharing, this was nice insight on my cultures history.

i actally really like how you include the Filipinos that were brought over with the Spanish

CREOLE IS A CULTURE (similar to Caribbean culture) THAT STILL LIVES ON. ITS A BEAUTIFUL THING.

Great video! Super informative and put together well. Thanks for your time and thoughts!

Good to finally see people bring awareness to my culture ⚜️

Creole girl here. Born and bred in central LA. I am very fair skinned with green eyes so a LOT of people find it hard to believe me when I say I have Spanish, French, African, Native American and Irish heritage(malado). It was a struggle when I was a child being the only creole family in town. We were often told we were "too dark to be white" and "too light to be black" even though I am much lighter than my family members.I still to this day am told I look like I "could pass(for white)" which frustrates me as a proud woman of color. It took a long time for me to be comfortable in my skin and love my beautiful, exotic features.

Cest Bon! I am Blackfoot Amer Indian,And french creole i love my state and culture.Impressed that you included the differences in the cultures.Also the fact that you acknowledged the Indians of the creole culture ,showed that you have done some research..There is alot more of the Indigenous Indian aspect in louisiana ,That is rarely talked about ..The cooper colored people of the americas..

Mason, you've done an amazing job here. 👏🏾 I'm decended from Gullah Geechee ppl and I'm going to show your video to my friends and family.

Best description of Creoles vs Cajuns. I’ve been asked that question so many times. This is basically my explanation.

Glad to see such interest in my Cajun & Creole culture!

Louisiana's culture is so rich and vibrant. Makes the rest of us seem boring. Lol

You should take into consideration the preparation of food by Creole and Cajun; it can help people understand the origins of each group.

Great video. Thanks for sharing this. I've always been intrigued by this culture in LA. Can you do another one and include info about the Sicilian influence there?

Born and raised in Texas, but my dad's family was Cajun as well as my grandmother's family on my mother's side. So I consider myself Texan-Cajun. I love learning about this culture. Apparently my grandparents spoke French, but I've never been able to pick it up.

I appreciate your distinction between race and ethnicity and mention how people identity themselves on the census, and how this self identification is ultimately subjective.

You did a great 😊 job describing our culture! As a creole girl horn and raised in New Orleans you did is well! Thank you 😊

Awesome video on Creole (Louisianan) culture! Thanks for shedding so much light on our culture!

I'm Creole and I must admit you did a good job on this video. Well done. Alot of people think Creole is Haitian because of the language but that is about all they have in common.

An EXCELLENT presentation with maps, pie charts and data equally discussing both groups. Nicely done! Thank you for sharing.

This has been a very good and informative video. I've learned a lot. Thanks for making.

My family are mostly of Cajun origins. The family spoke both French and English. My maternal grandfather’s paternal side came directly from France but when his ancestor first came to Louisiana, he married a German woman. Grandfather would tell me differences in words of Cajun and Parisian French. He wrote fluent French. I lived in New Orleans for awhile and the Creole dishes are somewhat different than Cajun. Creoles cook with more tomatoes in their recipe. Shrimp Creole is my favorite Creole dish and Stews and brown Jambalaya with fresh vegetables are my favorite Cajun dishes. The Creole Cane River are known for the best meat pies. Louisiana has some of the best food in the world.

My great grandma is of Louisiana creole descent with African, French, Spanish and Native American Ancestry.

Louisiana just seems so beautiful and unique!

Your video is very well done in so many ways ✔️

I absolutely commend you for this video! Such a well researched documentation of my people!❤‍🔥

I will be moving to USA in two months from the U.K. I've gotta say, what a culture you guys have! I can't believe some Europeans accuse America for having ZERO history/culture!

Long story short: creole is usually a fancy word for mixed race people who have deep roots in louisiana. Cajun are french descendants who retain the cajun french dialect to this day.

So, I am a (non-native, but with ancestral heritage) Louisiana(Cajun) French speaking Louisianian, and you nailed this on the head! So, I would like to post an update on the situation of the culture and its peoples here in 2022, and what I would highlight as some things that may have been missed as this is a pretty difficult subject to research especially from out of the state, although speaking with native speakers was exactly the right thing to do there. So, the state of the Louisiana French language in 2022. A correction to make on why the language was stopped in the 20th century, would be that on top of programs to get the louisiana francophones to learn English, which by itself would not have been enough to cause the language to die off as we are a very proud people of our heritage and would have very likely kept it up as a cultural language, rather, what killed the language was an active attack on Louisiana French and Kouri-Vini(Louisiana Creole) in the early to mid 20th centuries through the outlawing of French in the schools and cajuns and creoles alike being told they spoke "bad French" or "backwater French", which are both considered extremely offensive to say today fortunately. In my family's case, my paternal grandfather just outright denied his French heritage even though he could speak the language, and only a sparse few words such as Elan(Moose, my dad's nickname), sac-au-lait(local term for the White Crappie), and pirogue(local term for canoe) have prevailed in my family and the English speaking general population. This rough history has resulted in many parts of the state, particularly the Bâton Rouge area where I live, to be almost entirely devoid of Louisiana French which once thrived here. Today, there has been a recent resurgence in interest of the language through immersion programs in K-12 and higher education(I learned Louisiana French at LSU, for example), and there are filmmakers, podcasters, and other content creators who speak the language creating Louisiana French and Kouri-Vini media to help spread interest in learning these dialects and languages, which is having some small effect. I am actually currently working on some Louisiana French content about astronomy to help create a more dynamic and rich media environment here in the state. Suffice it to say, there is a lot of hope for the languages in the future, but progress will be slow and uphill. Hope I added something interesting to the conversation.

My grandmother's mother was French and her family were among the first 7 ships of French Acadians to arrive in Louisiana in the 1700's. My grandmother loved in New orleans and met my grandfather who lived in North Hollywood at the time. They got married and they moved to the west coast to start our family. My grandmother's aunt was the one who showed my grandfather a picture of my grandmother when he was qorking at a diner in los angeles and he knew she was for him. wrote letters to each other and the rest is history. She was actually engaged to someone else, allegedly an oil millionaire. I appreciate the information in your video very much and appreciate the Louisiana history.

I love that you took the time to really research this information. Thank you for sharing!

My mom is Louisiana creole. My mother did not speak English until she went to school. My grandmother could not speak English. She only spoke Creole until the day she died.

One of the best explanations I've seen on RU-vid. Good job

I really enjoy watching this ethnical history. My mom and dad are Créole's born & raise in Louisiana. They move to Chicago when I was born, and we always travel to see my grandparents' every summer for vacation activities and it was always the highlight of my life growing up.

It breaks my heart that my grandpa forbid my grandma from teaching her girls Cajun and forbid her from speaking it herself. I wish I could speak it.

The culture of Louisiana is unique and unlike anywhere else in the world. I love Cajun music and zydeco and Cajun/Creole cookin'

This was SO informative, thank you!!!💜

Feels good to be acknowledged!!!! I'm a southwest Louisiana Acadien et creole! Bon Creole Sha! C'est tout!!!

I'm of creole of color decent and there were French speacking people in Louisiana long before cajuns arrived my family has been here since the early 18 the century

phenomenal job my man. as a proud mixture of both Cajun and Creole I'd say you hit it right on the head!

Very informative and scholarly presentation, my good man. Love it🎉

How have I never heard about Creole people their history is so fascinating, great video by the way

Very informed and well researched. I learned most of this in American History in school. Glad you were interested in this and presented it to the public.

This is a very accurate video. I am Louisiana French Creole ("je suis un creole d'origine francaise de Louisiane" [in Parisian French] and "mo kreyole d'origine francaise de l'wyzyane" [in Louisiana French Creole]. I am 50% Native American (evenly split between the Choctaw and Cherokee Nations), 37% French and 13% African ancestries. Born and raised in New Orleans and now living in Dallas (post-Katrina)...like I said, very accurate video. Good job Bro, (Bon travail, Ami)

Thank you for this fascinating study. Very enlightening!

I’m born and raised in Oregon, but grew up and met people in life from Louisiana! I love the culture and the people, some of the best people and funniest I’ve ever met. I speak a bit of French too as I’m Italian and French, but Cajun/creole is different than what I know lol, I love y’all’s beautiful culture 💕 I’d love to go to Louisiana one day!

We are very scattered now ... it’s sad thing . My mother is creole ... my family’s skin color goes from white to dark . Thanks for this video it’s hard to explain to people .

I'm from LA and what you reported sounds about right. I had to move to DFW after hurricane Katrina along with many of my friends. A lot of Creole people are in the Los Angeles area because of Katrina as well.

Always confused about this, thanks! Like all your vids, fascinating!

My dad is Creole. I’ve been learning more about my history lately. great video. thanks for making this

i am creole and speak the native tounge. from Breaux Bridge la. my mom is light skinned her fater is mullatoo my father was a darskined man there are very dark skinned creoles where i from. thank you for this video.

The term Creole can actually mean two different things, at least in the context of people from New Orleans. It can mean people of mixed race with French/Spanish ancestry as you mention in your video. However, it can also be used in this sense as well: "many whites in antebellum Louisiana also referred to themselves as Creoles. Among whites, the term generally referred to persons of upper-class French or Spanish ancestry, and even German ancestry (though all eventually spoke French as their primarily language)." " "Creole" can mean anything from individuals born in New Orleans with French and Spanish ancestry to those who descended from African/Caribbean/French/Spanish heritage."

Thanks for sharing this informative video. I remember my father's family's story of coming from Quebec and how Acadian was shortened to Cajuns. Their last name as I know it as Eschete was originally spelled Shte' (memory on that is a little blurry). Anyway, I learned a long time ago the difference between Cajun and creole and just because there may be many differences between us, I love being a part of this area and people.

Wow, what a create video! What an amazing history and beautiful people. I also love their accent.

Wao! Another job well done. Thanks for educating the public on these race, culture and language differences of peoples.

I'm from, and live in, Cajun country. This is really refreshing to watch this. Thank u!!. People do not realize that Louisiana has (3) totally different cultures. Cajuns, Creoles, and North Louisiana lol.

Very well done. Thank you for such clear info ! I am subbing. One People , One , Planet , One Cosmos.

Thanks for the video. Very insightful. You did some research on this and I can appreciate it