Mais Jamais — The Acadian Journey (Part I)

A Flag Pin, A Coffee Confab, and a Story That Refuses to Die

Acadiana flag, Cajun flag

Before there was a Coffee Confab… there was a conversation.

And before the conversation… there was a moment.

A couple weeks before we ever sat down for that first cup of coffee, I noticed John Day wearing an Acadian flag lapel pin.

I made an offhand comment — just mentioned how much that heritage meant to me.

Didn’t think much of it after that.

But he did.

A few days later, John showed up with a pin for me… and a sticker to go with it.

Didn’t make a big deal out of it.

Just handed it to me like it was nothing.

But it wasn’t nothing.

Because the pin mattered.

But what mattered more… was that he heard me.

And he acted on it.

That kind of thoughtfulness carries weight.

Long Before the Pin

That moment took me back to something I hadn’t thought about in a while.

Long before that pin… there was a picture.

“The Arrival of the Acadians in Louisiana.” The first real gift I ever gave my mom. It hung in her home until 2013. Now it hangs in mine. Same frame. Same story.

The one hanging in my office today.

“The Arrival of the Acadians in Louisiana.”

A signed original print — released with the opening of the Acadian Memorial.

The Acadian Memorial Mural https://acadianmemorial.org/

I bought that piece for my mom back in the mid-to-late 90s.

It cost me over $500 with the frame.

Now… for some folks, that’s just a purchase.

For me, at that time?

That was a big deal.

I didn’t grow up with money.

So when I say that was the first real gift I ever gave my mom… I mean it.

The kind of gift you don’t second guess.

The kind that makes you proud just to hand it over.

And she received it exactly the way I hoped she would.

She hung it in her home with pride.

It stayed there until she passed in December of 2013.

Now it hangs in my office.

Same frame.

Same image.

Same story.

Just a different wall.

More Than a Picture

More Than a Picture

Most people would look at that and see a historical scene.

Part of a large mural of the arrival of first Acadian settlers near St. Martinville

A group of people arriving somewhere new.

For me… it’s different.

Because somewhere in that story is a truly unlikely hero —

One of mine.

A man who didn’t just go along with what was happening around him.

He fought.

He led.

And when everything fell apart… he kept going..

From a Moment to a Table

That’s why the pin hit the way it did.

And not long after that, the Coffee Confab came together.

No big plan.

Just a group of guys sitting down, talking through real issues, and trying to move the ball forward for Louisiana.

Around that table:

• John Day
• Tanner Magee
• Robert Swift
• Manny Acosta

Different paths. Different starting points.

In fact, Rob was born in Great Britain, and Manny was born outside the United States as well.

But both are proud Americans. And just as importantly… proud Louisianans.

That’s not a small detail.

Because if you think about it…

That’s the story all over again.

Before There Were Cajuns

Before Louisiana had its culture…

Before the food, the music, the language…

There were Acadians.

French settlers who made their way to Acadia — modern-day Nova Scotia — in the 1600s.

Not because it was easy.

Because they were willing to take a chance on something uncertain.

They built a life from scratch.

Hard ground. Tough conditions. No guarantees.

Sound familiar?

When Everything Gets Taken

Then came 1755.

The Expulsion of the Acadians (1755–1764) was a mass deportation of French-speaking settlers from Nova Scotia and other Maritime regions of British North America. Ordered by British authorities during the French and Indian War, it uprooted about 11,500 Acadians, scattering them across the Atlantic world.

Families split apart.

Homes burned.

People forced onto ships and scattered across the world.

History says that’s usually the end of the story.

That’s when cultures fade.

That’s when people give up.

An iron memorial cross stands on the bank of Bayou Teche in St. Martinville. The original Deportation Cross in Grand Pre’ Nova Scotia marks the spot where Acadians were forced onto ships. 200 of those Acadians arrived near this site in Louisiana ten years after their deportation.

But Not This One

Enter

Joseph Broussard dit Beausoleil

He didn’t just accept it.

He fought.

Led resistance.

Protected families.

And when the fight was over… he didn’t quit.

He regrouped.

Kept moving.

Eventually, that journey led south.

To Louisiana.

Building Something Out of Nothing

When they got here in the 1760s…

There was no easy landing.

The Embarkation of the Acadians, 1881. Wood engraving by Émile Antoine Bayard and Henri Théophile Hildibrand. Courtesy of Art and Picture Collection, New York Public Library Digital Collections.

No comfort waiting.

Just heat. Swamp. Uncertainty.

And opportunity — if you were willing to work for it.

So they did what they had always done.

They adapted.

They built.

They became something new.

That’s where Acadian became Cajun.

Why This Still Matters

Sitting at that Coffee Confab table…

Looking at the guys in that room…

It’s hard not to see the connection.

Different time.

Same traits:

• Independence
• Resilience
• Problem-solving under pressure
• Refusal to quit

Whether it’s managing resources, dealing with legacy issues, or trying to do the right thing in a system that doesn’t always make it easy…

That same DNA shows up.

Every day.

Mais Jamais

There’s a phrase in Cajun French — Mais Jamais.

“Yeah, we’ve been through it…

But never again will we go quietly.”

For My Mom… and the Crew

That painting in my office…

It’s more than decoration.

It’s a reminder of where we came from.

And what it took to get here.

To my mom — who hung it with pride all those years… I get it now.

To John — thank you for the pin. You probably didn’t realize what it would stir up.

To Tanner Magee, Robert Swift, and Manny Acosta —

Proud to be at that table with you.

We’re working on different pieces…

But it’s the same story.

This is Part I.

Next up… we go back to the beginning.

France.

Because every story like this starts with a decision.

And most of the time…

It’s a hard one.

The bayou-side museum contains family names and personal stories of Acadians exiled by the British from Canada in 1755.