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Introduction Life Today Acadiana -Cajun Country A typical Cajun recipe

Acadiana is the traditional homeland of both the Cajuns and Creoles. Stretching from LaFourche Parish in the east to the Texas border in the west, from the Gulf of Mexico in the south to Evangeline, Avoyelles and Point Coupee parishes in the north, Acadiana consists of twenty-two Louisiana parishes (counties). Contrary to popular myth, New Orleans - with a large urban Creole population - lies outside the traditional Cajun homeland and, in fact, Cajuns comprise only one percent of its population. In 1993 a newspaper reported, 'Even today, Louisiana's Cajuns get sneers from French-descendant cousins in New Orleans ...' Few people in the New Orleans area report Cajun ancestry, despite the tourism industry's heavy use of bayou-country images. A large Cajun and Creole population does exist in the 'Golden Triangle' region of Southeast Texas and the cultures even affect the Texas cultural landscape as far as Houston.