Christopher J Fontenot

The Acadian Prairie Christopher J Fontenot

Growing up in the prairie is not much different from growing up anywhere else. Only the distances are greater. Neighbors in a town or a village are only yards away; neighbors in the prairie are miles away. Growing up in Prairie Faquetaique during the worst of Jim Crow could prove deadly. The Acadian Prairie was no different from any places in either the North or the South where some sought advantages at the expense of others. And some fought against the violence and discrimination any way that they could. The Acadian Prairie: Amelie continues the saga of the Dupré, Prejean, White, Nightflower, Bennet, and Fontenot families as they enter the new century facing the dangers found in the changing landscape of the disappearing open range. Whether it is a young girl trying to avoid being attacked again by her mother's lover, competition for business in a small village turning violent, or a school for black children threatened with arson, life in the prairie continued to present challenges to the next generation. TAP: Amelie follows Amelie Dupré, Yvette White, Peter Fontenot, and their families as they grow and seek their rightful place in the prairie. Not all goes well, and their struggles define the best and worst of life in the prairie during the worst of the Jim Crow era and the Gilded Age.