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| Cajun Cultural Coalition History |
| Where the heck is Bayou Lafourche? |
| Cajun Recipes |
| Cajun Terminology |
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Cajun News Network (CNN) Our membership campaign has begun! That's right if you, your group or organization would like to participate in the planning of the future cultural center, the current coalition members would like to hear from you. Brick and mortar grants are needed to begin the construction, but the culture and people who make it are the biggest part. Any donations are welcome, and can be arranged by contacting us at the bottom of our webpage or mailing to our physical address. If you mail in a contribution, we will not only holler with glee, but we will send you a "I support the Cajun Cultural Center" button of your very own!! |
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Members List:
Links Section
Folklorist/Project Director:
Lynn Hadley
LAFrancais:
Alces Adams
Members:
Gail Adams
LAFrancais:
Melanie Boulet
LCC:
Henri Boulet
TLBB:
Tom Butler
CODOFIL:
David Cheramie
CFMA:
Roland Cheramie
HCC:
Windell Curole
CHF:
Hamilton Dantin
BCC:
Kirk Defelice
Bob Faulk
LAFrancais:
Bobby & Cida Gisclair
Lorraina Guidroz
BCC:
John Allen Guidry
Andre Guidry
CCM, Inc.:
Leroy Martin
CHF:
Robby Matherne
Members:
Sherry Robichaux
Rochelle St. Marie
Celeste Uzee
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Bienvenue au Centre Culturel Cadien...
Bonjour, mes amis! The traditional French music sounds were bougee-ing(Hey,is that where "boogie" comes from?)all the musicians and dancers who attended the big music day with Ray Abshire and Friends on Saturday, June 11, 2005. Workshops were conducted in rhythm guitar, accordion, fiddle, bass, and dance for beginning, intermediate, and advanced levels. The instructors included amazingly talented musicians like Ray Abshire on Accordion, Terry Huval from Jambalaya Cajun Band on Fiddle, and from the Lost Bayou Ramblers, Andre Michot on Guitar and Allen LaFleur on Upright Bass. Fine local dancers, Gloria and Nolan Fonseca and Joy and Vin Rodrique were on hand for dancing workshops, too. The afternoon jam session was a great time, putting all the new tunes and techniques into action!! After the learnin' and the jammin', the music had everyone out on the dance floor all evening!! If you didn't make it-Tu as manquee un vrai bon temps, cher!- y'all better plan on next year!! We're planning on it again with Ray Abshire and Al Berard!! Mark your calendars for April 22, 2006
The opportunities to teach classes in Cajun French or other areas like Cajun French cooking, any of the numerous instruments of Cajun French music, or from the abundance of folk art forms such as quilting or boat building, are tremendous ways to not only share an important skill found in the region, but to invest in the future of the bayou community by understanding its past foundation. As followers of the culture and descendants of the bayou generations, we create a more beautiful community when the value of its history becomes a part of the lives of its residents. Many classes like these could be offered in a cultural center of south Lafourche, which would provide space to develop public programs and exhibits in the future. In the meanwhile, learning about and promotion of the fascinating culture and folklife of the area should remain an active process that we share locally and with visitors to the bayou. As we struggle to literally gain ground in the fight against coastal erosion, we should not overlook the impact of cultural erosion in southeast Louisiana. Please participate in the culture of your community.
Our next meeting for the Cajun Cultural Coalition will be on June 9, 2005 at 7pm in the Larose Civic Center Building. This meeting will be a special opportunity to discuss fundraising, special projects, grants, and a membership campaign for the new year, plus arrangements for the anniversary events for Le Grand Derangement As usual please bring lots of good ideas for the future of the coalition. If you live in Lafourche Parish, you are welcome to come to our meetings to find out more about what we hope to accomplish as a coalition and a cultural center.
The French Food Festival was a great success!! The visitors came from all over the country , Canada, and Europe! It's always a great opportunity to share the fabulous foods, folklife, and magical music of the area!! The Folklife Tent hosted a traditional artist market and demonstrations throughout the weekend, including needlework, baking, carving, and cast net making. We even had an impromptu jam session with the local musicians of Cajun Toujours and members of the Parisian Cajun band, Belisaire-Lassiez Les Berets rouler, cher!
The coalition's folklorist, Lynn Hadley, has been interviewing folks and taking pictures up and down Bayou Lafourche. All of the information collected is meant to be housed in the future cultural center, as well as used to plan special programs and exhibits based on the cultural activites of south Lafourche Parish. Some of those interviewed were on hand for Larose's biggest festival event, French Food Festival(Oct. 29-31, 2004)!! Boat builders, duck carvers, needleworkers, quilters, paddle and pushpole makers, and basket makers, to name a few, will be demonstrated and discussed their arts and trades in a special folklife tent. Their beautiful handcrafted work was also be available for purchase in the Traditional Artists'Marketplace. We had so much fun we are going to do it again next year; so, look for the folklife demonstration stage and booths at the 32nd annual French Food Festival in Larose!!
The local chapter of the Cajun French Music Association meets the second Wednesday of every month at Jolly Inn, Houma, 7:30pm.
South Lafourche Quilter's Guild meets the fourth Wednesday at Lady of the Sea Hospitial 3rd Floor, 6pm.
Cajun Cultural Coalition and Les Amis du Francais are not currently holding meetings.
If you have yet to purchase your Cajun Cultural Coalition Button, send your donation to the Larose Civic Center,PO Box 1105, Larose, LA 70373, and be sure to include the Cajun Cultural Coalition on the envelope and your return address. Your support goes toward the funds for the cultural center construction, and shows your support for the community!
Cajun Cultural Coalition Center Members include: Cajun Country Music, Inc., Cajun Heritage Festival, Inc., Cajun French Music Association -Bayou Cajuns Chapter, Friends of Traditional Louisiana Boat Building, Hurricane Cheniere Caminada Historical Society, and Les Amis du Francais de Lafourche.
We had our Fais Do-Do in June and we are looking at a fall Swamp Pop dance. Apparently, the popularity of the more traditional Cajun music didn't really resonate in this area.
Oh sure, in southwest Louisiana(that side of the state dominates the worldview of Cajuns and the Cajun tourist market) you have fais do-do dances every weekend, and hundreds of folks show up, but over here folks tend to favor more what they call "swamp pop". It really became popular after WWII when all the Cajun soldiers came back and wanted to hear down home music right as rock was on the rise with a little a bit of blues and New Orleans jazz in the mix. So we'll try swamp pop for our next fundraiser, but we certainly had some very talented local Cajun musicians and some very good dancers.
Water, water everywhere, and no help in sight! We got it bad, from all sides- no more barrier islands for break, no more flooding from her majesty, The Misssissippi River, oil and gas pipeline ditches that continually erode, and the impact of water salinity noticed as far up the waterway as Napoleonville. A panel from the Army Corps of Engineers is asking us, the Louisiana citizenry, to come up with a prioritized list of what's really important; so, they don't have to spend too much money on this matter of life and death for the region. To find out more about what must be done, contact any of the following organizations(Find the links on this webpage): Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana; LACoast; or LA Department of Natural Resources, Office of Coastal Restoration & Management.
Gentlemen, Start Your Engines...
This is an exerpt from the column, Folk-Us on Lafourche, originally appearing on April 14, 2004.
Where I come from spring means nicer weather, budding leaves, and the Indy 500 is right around the corner. The high-pitched zooming of race cars is soon to fill the air, and people even camp out for parking spaces for the race weeks ahead of time. Here on Bayou Lafourche, the boats that have been sitting idle, camped along side the docks, are now starting to come to life in the sunlight with a gleam of new paint and activity. Good weather seems to bring with it the promise of a new look and, hopefully, a better shrimping season. I see many fishermen out on their boats tending to motors and patch jobs to perk up their old trawlers. The Terrebonnes at the Cut Off Net Shop and Chine's Cajun Net Shop in Golden Meadow are really getting busy with net repairs and rehangs . The bright reflections off the water of shining, white boats can mean only one thing, just weeks to go before shrimping season begins. With this activity, I plan to catch some fishermen out on their boats to collect information about the wooden boats that are still in use on the bayou.
I have not experienced the inland shrimping season in full swing. So far, I have only seen the occasional shrimper bobbing along in the gulf just beyond the surf off Fourchon Beach. The large shrimp trawlers used today come from the skiff of yesterday. Though now mostly made of steel, these boats have a semi-V hull design with great sheer in the bow section, and average forty to fifty five feet in length. Brought into this area in the late 1930s, the designs from the south Atlantic trawler of Florida, or Floridiane, provided the forward cabin and deep hull. Bayou Lafourche has produced many such boats of Cypress and Spanish Cedar by master boat builders, such as Melvin Kiff, Rodney Cheramie, Robertson Mobley, and Jack Fillinich.
Rodney Cheramie, 63, told me the majority of the boats he built were forty foot or longer trawling boats. In the days of his father, the round-bottomed, wooden luggers were commonly built in the boat shops of the bayou. By the time Rodney had really mastered the construction of the round-bottomed boat with the help of his uncles and boat builder, Morris Duet , the flat-bottomed boats were more in demand for the shallow water. Rodney did not lose time in figuring out the needs of the wooden boat market. He made a living building more than two hundred boats over his fifty years as a boat builder. Now, he is content to help his grandson, who is building his first boat at the same age Rodney started his boat building, thirteen.
