The Last of the Ya-Yas

Like Siddalee Walker in Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, I come from a long line of ya-yas—the elusive and nearly-extinct breed of native, Cajun-French speakers. When Sandra Bullock played Siddalee Walker 20 years ago, I was 15, going into ninth grade in Lafayette, Louisiana. It was the first time I’d seen any semblance of my people on screen. Not the city-dwellers of New Orleans or the Southern Belles from Steel Magnolias, but the spicy Bloody Marys hailing from the “bottom of the boot.” Those are the women who molded me. There’s a distinct difference between Cajun Country and the… Read Full Article