The survivor is an ubiquitous character in the narratives of victims of the 2005 Gulf Coast hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Though claimed by all, it has been appropriated by Cajuns as a series of stigmatizing contrasts between urban and rural dwellers and held distinct from the character of the victim ascribed to poor New Orleans Blacks. This article explores the political uses of disaster and the way people cope with it through an analysis of the stakes associated with the survivor character. Cajuns incorporate it in the continuity of their historical memory, thus affirming their resistance to adversity. For their part, New Orleans Blacks use it to counter rampant stigmatization and affirm their battered citizenship.