People listen to the history of the Acadians and CODOFIL during Thursday night's celebration of the 50th anniversary of CODOFIL at the Sliman Theater in New Iberia. 

The 50th anniversary of the Council for the Development of French in Louisiana was celebrated Thursday evening at the Sliman Theater with a short presentation featuring a well-known Acadian advocate. 

Warren Perrin of Erath spoke to a crowd of more than 50 people at the Sliman to commemorate the work that CODOFIL has done over its 50-year history in promoting and preserving the French language in Louisiana. 

The event was presented through the Iberia Cultural Resources Association, a nonprofit organization that played host to a similar talk a few weeks ago with Sam Mihara speaking about Japanese-American internment camps. 

“This one will be just as good,” ICRA Director Cathy Indest said at the event. “We’re very lucky, very fortunate to have Mr. Warren Perrin.”

Perrin took those in attendance through a comprehensive timeline of the Acadians, from their deportation in Canada to their resettlement in Louisiana that was the origin of the Cajun identity as we know it today.

Nelwyn Hebert, another speaker at the event, said she had a personal history with COD

“I have a history that goes far back in that matter in that I took French in high school mainly because my mother wouldn’t speak French because to us it was known as bad French,” Hebert said. 

“When you find out why CODOFIL came to be you will understand why our parents and grandparents were told our french wasn’t good French.”

Hebert said CODOFIl was created In 1968 to ensure that Louisiana’s French cultural heritage would be maintained and promoted within the state. The promotion of French has extended locally to New Iberia, with students at North Lewis Elementary School taking part in one CODOFIL’s most successful French immersion programs. 

Perrin introduced those in attendance to a comprehensive history of the Acadians from their time in Nova Scotia to their eventual re-settlement in Louisiana and the years since. 

For Perrin, the existence of CODOFIL and the cultural heritage of Acadians are closely linked. 

“I think the takeaway is why the Acadians were so doggedly attached to their language and culture when so many Francophones who came to Louisiana were not, that’s the key to understanding why we have CODOFIL in existence today.”

Perrin’s speech was followed by a demonstration of French by North Lewis Elementary School students.