Down on the bayou, an hour’s drive outside the city of New Orleans, highway 90 winds into the heart of Cajun country — southern Louisiana, where the food, swamp music and folk art define a culture unlike any other in the United States.

Locals reminisce about bonfires, crawfish boils and days spent on shrimp boats listening to the chopped Louisiana French that has long been a trademark of the region and its culture. But younger generations are not speaking Cajun French and elder Cajuns fear the unique language of their ancestors is dying out.

“I remember when you didn’t have any trouble finding somebody to speak French to,” Jervis Eymard, of Galliano, La., said. “Everybody spoke before, but now you have to look. The kids aren’t speaking; my kids don’t speak.”

Southern Louisiana is home to the largest French-speaking population in the U.S., outside of Maine. But of the 200,000 French speakers in southern Louisiana, only 11 percent, or about 17,000, speak Cajun French and most are older adults. As a result, Cajun French meets the criteria for language endangerment set forth by the United Nation’s Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

Tulane University linguistics professor Nathalie Dajko said because most speakers of the Cajun dialect are rural residents over the age of 60, the language is in danger of dying and taking a major part of Cajun culture with it.

“I think people’s identity is tied up in their language and I know so many people whose identity is based in Cajun French,” Dajko, an expert in Louisiana French, said. “That’s why it’s so upsetting for people when their language is threatened. A part of you is lost.”

Cajun speakers have historically faced challenges concerning their language. The Louisiana Purchase in 1803 brought an influx of English-speaking Americans, mostly wealthy aristocrats, who looked down on the rural, French-speaking Cajuns. Within a generation, American politicians created and enforced English-only laws.

“When the language you speak is not the language of public life — schools, newspapers, politics, business — whatever it is, when it’s not in your language, it becomes stigmatized and you lose it,” Dajko said.

As a young man working on shrimp boats in the Gulf of Mexico, Eymard, now 73, said he faced intense ridicule and was ostracized for speaking French. As a result, he didn’t pass the language to his three children — a decision he now regrets.

“In a way it’s all our fault,” Eymard said. “Even though it was part of the culture, they didn’t think it would get us anywhere else in the world — English was the language, so that’s what they taught. And we went along with it.”

Some Cajun families see the death of the language as inevitable, but reject the idea that it spells doom for their rich culture.

“Our culture is about music and it’s about family and togetherness,” said Jervis Eymard’s son Brian Eymard, 42. “So even though some of us don’t speak no more, the culture will live on.”

Cajun society is itself a mixture of cultures. Many of today’s Cajuns are descendants of Acadians from Nova Scotia, who fled to pre-industrial Louisiana and intermingled with West African slaves, white Americans, Native Americans and German, French and Irish immigrants already in Louisiana. Those cultures influenced the language, too, creating a French with a Southern twist.

Many Cajun purists have mounted efforts to revive Cajun French among the youth, which they believe is an essential part of ensuring the language lives on.

Musician Rocky McKeon, 27, said he noticed traditional Cajun music, also called swamp pop and known for its Honky Tonk and Country music influences, was largely unpopular among younger Cajuns. So McKeon decided to create his own brand of Cajun rock and hip-hop and push it out to the masses via YouTube.

“I noticed there were no videos in French, so I made some,” McKeon said. “If that’s how they want to hear it, fine, that’s how I’ll give it to them.”

McKeon’s hip-hop rock band covers the same themes of traditional Cajun music, heartbreak, loss and succubae — female demonic spirits that seduce men in their sleep.

The rocker isn’t alone in his efforts to revive the language. The Council for the Development of French in Louisiana has also found innovative ways to reach young Cajuns.

“We bring in and train teachers,” David Cheramie, executive director of the council said. “We have French immersion programs, and we sponsor weekly and monthly gatherings where people can come together and speak French with each other.”

The council also hosts festivals all over southern Louisiana where emerging Cajun hip-hop and rock artists perform. Cheramie believes that as long as there are advocates like the council and the love of the language, Cajun French will never be in any real danger.

“Millions of people around the world speak French,” Cheramie said. “As long as there are Cajuns speaking French, there will always be Cajun French.”

As he cradled his infant great-granddaughter Lucy, Jervis Eymard remained optimistic about the future of Cajun French in his own family.

“My kids don’t speak and my grandkids don’t speak either, but they try and this one here will speak,” Eymard said as he bounced Lucy on his knee. “We were lax before with our children and grandchildren, but we are gonna do our best with our great-grandchildren. We’ll be fine.”

An earlier version of this article misspelled Eymard’s name in one instance.

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