CajunNet

THE CAJUNNET

The CajunNet is the information source by which South Louisianians communicate and share all information. It is a familial, wireless, omnipresent, omnipotent and sometimes telepathic communication network used for the transfer of a wide range of information concerning South Louisiana gossip, politics and scandal. It is made up of interconnected networks, like spiderwebs in the Basin, the signal of which is most strong in South Louisiana, but the CajunNet boasts thousands of satellite servers worldwide. The CajunNet is the only entity yet found that exceeds 186,000 miles per second. Not only is it fast, unlike its younger cousin the Internet, information gleaned from the CajunNet is checked and cross-checked by many within the web, so it's usually correct. Also unlike the Internet, the CajunNet is run by grandmas.  Similarly to the Internet, sometimes on the CajunNet, you don't know who you are really talking to, everyone is so connected, you could really get in trouble out there.

I am part of the CajunNet, so are you if you have ever gotten gossip from your Nannie, Ti-Tante, classmate, ya friend's mama or your second cousin once removed about a local event before the Main Stream Media covered it, and it turned out true. CajunNet is hotter than the MSM.

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"Dans la Ville Platte, tu peux pas jongler à quelquechose autrement quelq'un d'autre connait." 

(In Ville Platte, you can't even think something before someone else knows.)  

 

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You sneeze in Evangeline Parish, the people in Saint Landry Parish are already saying "God Bless You."

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Some origins of the CajunNet

The CajunNet is the network by which we are all connected, and it seems that we South Louisianians have kept our connections quite a long time. Our ancestors have lived and intermarried for centuries upon centuries, and in many cases were, in fact, the same people. Our interconnection is the base for the strength, reliability and utility of the CajunNet. In a word, cousins.

After the Grand Derangement of 1755, the Acadians found their way back to each other, and to la Louisiane, by an earlier form of the CajunNet phenomena- letters. After the chaotic deportation that split families and sent them across the globe, the network of letters and family connections were unable to be broken, even by genocide, and indeed were used to pull the scattered Acadians back together in Louisiana. 

Before electricity arrived to the far-flung prairies and swamps of Louisiana, people would go to their neighbor's houses to pass the veille, visit and play music. Here is what Jenee Naquin's grandmother said about the origins of the CajunNet:

Jenee: I once asked her (g-maw) if it was true that they had no electricity. She said yes. I said so how did you get the news, no tv, no radio. Did you get the paper? She said,

Oh no, Cher, we would go visit. That is how we got the news. Passe the veille.

I thought it was so funny that that was their method for news - the original gossip circle!

And a precursor to the modern CajunNet!

The prevalence of small towns where people's orbits are in close proximity contributes to the CajunNet. There isn't much going on, and Cajuns like to talk. No matter if its your uncle telling long lies about hunting or fishing trips, the small town Topix Forums, Facebook confessions pages, or that nosy friend that will follow police cars to the scenes of accidents just to report to the servers of the CajunNet...people like to talk, and be in the know.

And so, next time your mama gives you some hometown gossip about people she identifies by their nickname (You know Hog Jaw?), their lineage (You know, Bee à Tante Lou?) or how they are related to you (You know T-Nonc's Daddy, Mister Earl's, brother? Well, his lil sister! She was married to you friend Monette's brother.) When you hear these things and the juicy tidbits that follow, know that you are not just listening to small town talk, but you are taking part in a communion of the vernacular, you are receiving information about your people, you are part of something bigger than all of us: the CajunNet!

Stay Tuned to the PDF for Stories from the CajunNet...

MORE stories from the Cajun Net:

Click here for the story in which Nananne and the Sheriff's wife's CajunNet secret weapon is a quilt.

Click here for a story about MJ's death and the CN. 

Click here to see how the CajunNet helped catch a killa. 

The CajunNet and the Beatle 

CajunNet in Amsterdam