Activity 1: Cajun and Metis Music and Culture Hundreds of years ago, Native Americans inhabited the regions of North America. After many years, European explorers discovered the lands and began to colonize there. There were many interactions between the Natives and the Europeans. The Metis are a mixed-race group of people that resulted from the mating between European settlers and Native Americans. The Metis were often looked down upon since they did not belong in any specific category, and were also discriminated against. Additionally, the Cajun people are an ethnic group in Louisiana that has originated from a group known as the Acadians. They have French origins. Both the Metis and Cajuns have their own style of music that is representative of their culture and origins. Their music contains fiddles and harmonicas that play quick and diverse beats. The music often adds more notes and beats, while maintaining the European feel, showing the intersection of cultures. The music sounds like a variation or a blend rather that just a single category. Also, there are many similarities between the Metis and Cajun music. In my opinion, I thought the instrumentation was very similar. In both forms of music, I heard a lot of fiddle playing also accordion. I also thought the styles were very similar. They both had a sort of folk feel to them. After listening to the Metis music, I heard the same sort of upbeat fiddle playing in the Cajun waltzes, with lots of complex rhythms and many notes in every phrase.
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