Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - (Page 19)

But stories were a huge part of our community. Storytelling was a very common thing in the evenings. I had grandparents and a huge number of cousins all living within a neighborhood. People would gather every night. There was no air conditioning in our houses, and we’d sit outside and tell stories. THE ACADIAN DIASPORA The Historic New Orleans Collection presents the Fourteenth Annual Williams Research Center Symposium From 1764 through 1788, when Louisiana was primarily under Spanish governance, some 3,000 French-speaking Acadians settled in the prairies, bayous, and marshes of Louisiana. A popular conception of l e g r a n d d é r a n g e m e n t is that of a “straight line” migration from Nova Scotia. The diaspora, in fact, lasted a period of 25 years and the Acadians’ journeys often made detours through France, the British Colonies of the Eastern Seaboard, or the islands of the Caribbean. Once situated in Louisiana, the Acadians established a lifestyle, foodways, and culture that continue to enrich and define the region. The 14th Annual Williams Research Center Symposium, The Acadian Diaspora, will be held January 31, 2009, at the Omni Royal Orleans Hotel in New Orleans’ French Quarter. For registration information, visit www.hnoc.org or call (504) 523-4662. Yes, I went to Harvard wanting to make movies but didn’t even know anything about producing movies when I went into it. As far as how I wound up there, frankly, they offered me the best scholarship. I must have seemed like a bit of an oddity coming from where I did. It was such a wonderful experience. I got to work on a lot of one-on-one stuff with my film professors. You went to Harvard for college. Did you go specifically to study film? There’s no one reality of Cajuns, just like there’s no one reality of any other group of people. You’ve got Cajun priests, and you’ve got Cajuns in Angola [State Penitentiary]. You probably have Cajun priests in Angola. There’s an incredible amount of complexity. I see the view of Cajuns in film as something to be embraced and celebrated instead of tidied up into one image. I don’t take it as a personal slight or a personal insult when things poke fun at aspects of Cajun culture. Our culture is strong; it can weather the occasional stereotype. How do you feel about the way Cajuns have been depicted in film? PRELIMINARY SYMPOSIUM PROGRAM (schedule subject to change) FRIDAY, JANUARY 30, 2009 THE HISTORIC NEW ORLEANS COLLECTION, 533 ROYAL STREET 6:00 p.m. Reception SATURDAY, JANUARY 31, 2009 One of your most recent films is T h e M a n W h o C a m e B a c k , which you directed and wrote. Can you tell me a little bit about that project? It’s a historical drama, set in 1876 Louisiana. It’s loosely based on the Thibodaux Massacre, when a group of former slaves was killed by the state militia during a strike against plantation owners. These former slaves were still working on plantations where they used to work before they were free, but now sometimes were treated even worse, because they were not considered as “property.” The film is a Western, has shoot-outs, and is mainstream in that sense. It has a great cast. We have an Oscar winner, an Emmy winner, we have Armand OMNI ROYAL ORLEANS HOTEL, 621 ST. LOUIS STREET 8:00 a.m. Registration 8:50 a.m. Welcome Priscilla Lawrence, Executive Director The Historic New Orleans Collection 9:00 a.m. Introduction Glen Pitre, Symposium Moderator Writer/Filmmaker, Côte Blanche Productions 9:15 a.m. An Overview of the Acadian Diaspora Carl Brasseaux, Director, Center for Cultural and Eco-tourism University of Louisiana at Lafayette 10:00 a.m. Break 10:20 a.m. The Acadians, A Founding People of Canada Maurice Basque, Director, Institut d’études acadiennes Université de Moncton 11:00 a.m. 18th-Century Acadians in Belle Île en Mer Claire Bettag, CG, CGL, Genealogist 11:30 a.m. Acadian Settlement in the Atlantic Colonies John Mack Faragher, Director, Lamar Center for the Study of Frontiers and Borders Yale University 12:00 p.m. Lunch 1:30 p.m. Invitation to Symposium 2009 1:40 p.m. The Material Culture of the Louisiana Cajuns Malcolm L. Comeaux, Professor emeritus Arizona State University 2:25 p.m. Avec espoir pour l’avenir: With Hope for the Future Barry Jean Ancelet, Granger and Debaillon Endowed Professor of Francophone Studies University of Louisiana at Lafayette 3:10 p.m. Moderator’s Comments and Closing Remarks 3:30 - 5:00 p.m. WILLIAMS RESEARCH CENTER, 410 CHARTRES STREET Questions and Answers Meet the speakers and view the exhibitions Cajun Document, 1974 and Evangeline: From Tragic Heroine to Cultural Icon Winter 2008-09/LOUISIANA CULTURAL VISTAS 19 © CHARLES H. TRAUB AND DOUGLAS BAZ, 1974 http://www.hnoc.org

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008

Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 Contents Friends Editor's Column Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities Prospect.1 New Orleans The Historic New Orleans Collection The Enduring Performance of Michael P. Smith Jazz Notes Louisiana Foodways Birds of a Feather: Windfowl Carvings in Southeast Louisiana Louisiana Association of Museums Louisiana Architecture O. Winston Link in Louisiana The Ogden Museum of Southern Art The Colfax Massacre Louisiana State Museum Unlocking the History of Greek Key Architecture Bookstand Sound Advice Forum

Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008

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