Canal Yankee, a fishing community ! Such is the visitor's impression were he to arrive at thebeginning of May and see all the fishing boats berthed along bayou Lafourche. Forty years ago it wastrue, but oil and gas were discovered in the 1930's and, because of its immense energy resources,the parish of Lafourche has since experienced an unprecedented epoch of economie growth. Inevitablythis precipitated an influx of capital, workers, as well as americanisation in general that gave rise toconsiderable tensions within the community. This paper focuses on the forces of change and theconsequences of industrialisation, notably ethnie stigmatisation, the effect of this stigmatisation onCajun group identity, and the more recent ethnic revival. This last is explained in terms of the partialintegration of the population into American industrial society where certain skills, notably navigationaland linguistic, are used to overcome shame and the myth of inferiority.