Center for Louisiana Studies Archival Catalog
This searchable database provides information on images, documents, and audio and video recordings, made between 1934 and the present.
Plan of New Orleans the Capital of Louisiana, 1761 map
Plan of New Orleans the Capital of Louisiana, engraved by Robert Benning for the April 1761 issue of London Magazine, hand color, gilt wooden frame, overall dimensions 13 x 14-1/2 inches.
Map of the States of Mississippi, Louisiana and the Arkansas Territory, 1832
Map of the States of Mississippi, Louisiana and the Arkansas Territory (1832), by John Hinton presented in black wooden frame, overall dimensions 10-1/4 x 14 inches.
Detail of Map of the States of Mississippi, Louisiana and the Arkansas Territory
Southern Provinces of the United States, 1817 map
Southern Provinces of the United States (Edinburgh: John Thompson & Co., 1817) by John Thompson, with color, heart pine frame, overall dimensions 30 x 34 inches.
County Map of the States of Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana, map 1870
County Map of the States of Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana (Philadelphia: S. Augustus Mitchell, Jr., 1870), steel engraving with color, framed, overall dimensions 28-3/4 x 21-1/2 inches
Detail of County Map of the States of Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana.
Carte Réduite D'une Partie de l'Ocean Atlantique ou Occidental, 1775 map
"Carte Réduite D'une Partie de l'Ocean Atlantique ou Occidental", 1775 map
"Carte Réduite D'une Partie de l'Ocean Atlantique ou Occidental" detail, 1775 map
Louisiana map, 1858
Louisiana map, 1858
Louisiana map detail, 1858
Louisiana map from Harper's Weekly, February 3. 1866
Louisiana map from Harper's Weekly, February 3, 1866
Detail from Louisiana map from Harper's Weekly, February 3, 1866
Acadian Memorial interpretive brochure
Information from the Acadian Memorial, Saint Martinville, St. Martin Parish, Louisiana
Arrival of the Acadians in Louisiana by Robert Dafford
The Arrival of the Acadians in Louisiana, by Robert Dafford, print
Commissioned by the City of St.. Martinville, Louisisna and installed in the Acadian Memorial on October 28, 1995
Acadian Heritage Week brochure 2005
Acadian Heritage Week brochure 2005
Brouchure commemorating the 250th Anniversary of the Grand Derangement, 1755-2005
Louisiana map, 1855
Louisiana map, J.H. Colton & Co., New York, 1855
Louisiana map detail,1855
An Exact Replica of Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Gulf and River St. Laurence, and Coast of Labradore, 1777 map
An Exact Replica of Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Gulf and River St. Laurence, and Coast of Labradore, 1777 map
An Exact Replica of Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Gulf and River St. Laurence, and Coast of Labradore, 1777 map detail
Official Drawing of the Louisiana State Lottery results, September 8, 1885
Official Drawing of the Louisiana State Lottery results, September 8, 1885
Official Drawing of the Louisiana State Lottery results, September 8, 1885 detail
Louisiana State Lottery ticket from September 8, 1885
Louisiana State Lottery ticket from September 8, 1885 (front)
Louisiana State Lottery ticket from September 8, 1885 (back)
Louisiana State Lottery ticket from December 15, 1885
Louisiana State Lottery ticket from December 15, 1885 (front)
Louisiana State Lottery ticket from December 15, 1885 (back)
Louisiana State Lottery ticket order form, M.A. Dauphin Company, New Orleans, 1885
State Lottery ticket order form, M.A. Dauphin Company, New Orleans, 1885 (front)
tate Lottery ticket order form, M.A. Dauphin Company, New Orleans, 1885 (back)
State Lottery ticket order form, M.A. Dauphin Company, New Orleans, August 21, 1885
State Lottery ticket order form, M.A. Dauphin Company, New Orleans, August 21, 1885 (front)
State Lottery ticket order form, M.A. Dauphin Company, New Orleans, August 21, 1885 (back)
Louisiana State Lottery advertisement, M.A. Dauphin Company, New Orleans, October 1885
Louisiana State Lottery advertisement, M.A. Dauphin Company, New Orleans National Bank, New Orleans, October 1885
State of Louisiana bond sheet, 1879
State of Louisiana $5 Bond sheet, 1879, front and back
State of Louisiana $5 Bond sheet, 1879, front and back detail
General Mouton statue, Lafayette, Louisiana postcard
General Mouton statue, Lafayette, Louisiana postcard
"Who are the Creoles?" page by George Washington Cable
"Who are the Creoles?" page by George Washington Cable with Louisiana map
Confederate General Paul Herbert photograph
Confederate General Paul Herbert photograph
Map of Louisiana, 1855
Louisiana map, drawn by Surveyor General's Office, Donaldsonville, Louisiana, William J. McCulloh, October 1, 1855
Louisiana map detail, 1855
George Rodrigue Retrospect Exhibition advertisement, 1974
George Rodrigue Retrospect Exhibition advertisement, 1974
George Rodrigue advertisement, "The Class", Art in America page
George Rodrigue advertisement, "The Class" painting, Art in America page
Le Fleuve Saint-Laurent map, 1755
"Le fleuve Saint-Laurent: represente plus en detail que dans l'etendue de la carte", plate from the Atlas of America; 1755.
Detail of "Le fleuve Saint-Laurent" map, 1755
Plan of the River of Annapolis, Royal in Nova Scotia, 1757
Plan of the River of Annapolis, Royal in Nova Scotia, map reprint, 1757
Detail of Plan of the River of Annapolis, 1757
Detail 2 of Plan of the River of Annapolis, 1757
Amerique Septentrionale, 1777 map
Amerique Septentrionale by John Mitchell (Paris: Chez Le Rouge, 1777), Third edition, fourth impression, with outline color and in four vertical sections, each being 54 x 18-3/4 inches.
Description: "Atlas Ameriquain Septentional" map published by Georges–Louis Le Rouge
This set of maps can likely be traced to antebellum Georgia attorney Mitchell King, whose papers are archived at The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
The German-born George-Louis Le Rouge published these maps in Paris at a time when France renewed its active participation in American affairs. The maps meticulously show a rugged North American landscape between Canada and the Gulf of Mexico with details that would aid travelers – and armies - of that era. Accordingly, the Le Rouge maps became highly prized by strategists on both sides of the American Revolution. All plates in the Atlas are copperplate engravings of the period.
Contact us for information about accessing a higher resolution copy
Detail of Amerique Septentrionale
The German-born George-Louis Le Rouge published these maps in Paris at a time when France renewed its active participation in American affairs. The maps meticulously show a rugged North American landscape between Canada and the Gulf of Mexico with details that would aid travelers – and armies - of that era. Accordingly, the Le Rouge maps became highly prized by strategists on both sides of the American Revolution. All plates in the Atlas are copperplate engravings of the period.
A Map of the Most Inhabited Part of New England, 1777
A Map of the Most Inhabited Part of New England (Paris: Chez Le Rouge, 1777), John Green and Braddock Mead, two sheets with outline color, presented together in wooden frame, overall dimensions 49 x 46 inches.
This set of maps can likely be traced to antebellum Georgia attorney Mitchell King, whose papers are archived at The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
The German-born George-Louis Le Rouge published these maps in Paris at a time when France renewed its active participation in American affairs. The maps meticulously show a rugged North American landscape between Canada and the Gulf of Mexico with details that would aid travelers – and armies - of that era. Accordingly, the Le Rouge maps became highly prized by strategists on both sides of the American Revolution. All plates in the Atlas are copperplate engravings of the period.
Contact us for information about accessing a higher resolution copy
Detail of A Map of the Most Inhabited Part of New England, 1777.
Virginie, Maryland map, 1777
Virginie, Maryland map by Joshua Fry and Peter Jefferson (Paris: Chez Le Rouge, 1777), outline color, presented in gilt wooden frame, overall dimensions 40 x 54 inches.
This set of maps can likely be traced to antebellum Georgia attorney Mitchell King, whose papers are archived at The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
The German-born George-Louis Le Rouge published these maps in Paris at a time when France renewed its active participation in American affairs. The maps meticulously show a rugged North American landscape between Canada and the Gulf of Mexico with details that would aid travelers – and armies - of that era. Accordingly, the Le Rouge maps became highly prized by strategists on both sides of the American Revolution. All plates in the Atlas are copperplate engravings of the period.
Contact us for information about accessing a higher resolution copy
Detail of Virgnie, Maryland map, 1777
Le Guadeloupe map, 1753
Le Guadeloupe map (Paris, Chez Le Rouge, 1753), both maps with outline color and presented together in a wooden frame, overall dimensions 45-1/2 x 35 inches
This set of maps can likely be traced to antebellum Georgia attorney Mitchell King, whose papers are archived at The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
The German-born George-Louis Le Rouge published these maps in Paris at a time when France renewed its active participation in American affairs. The maps meticulously show a rugged North American landscape between Canada and the Gulf of Mexico with details that would aid travelers – and armies - of that era. Accordingly, the Le Rouge maps became highly prized by strategists on both sides of the American Revolution. All plates in the Atlas are copperplate engravings of the period.
Contact us for information about accessing a higher resolution copy
Detail of Le Guadeloupe map, 1753
Province de New York, map, 1777
Province de New York (Paris: Chez Le Rouge, 1777), two sheets with outline color, wooden frame, overall dimensions 67 x 43-3/4 inches.
This set of maps can likely be traced to antebellum Georgia attorney Mitchell King, whose papers are archived at The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
The German-born George-Louis Le Rouge published these maps in Paris at a time when France renewed its active participation in American affairs. The maps meticulously show a rugged North American landscape between Canada and the Gulf of Mexico with details that would aid travelers – and armies - of that era. Accordingly, the Le Rouge maps became highly prized by strategists on both sides of the American Revolution. All plates in the Atlas are copperplate engravings of the period.
Contact us for information about accessing a higher resolution copy
Detail of Province de New York map, 1777
Caroline Meridionale et Partie de la Georgie map, 1777
Caroline Meridionale et Partie de la Georgie by William Gerard de Brahm (Paris: Chez Le Rouge 1777), on four sheets, the lower half with an inset map by Sauthier showing the course of the Hudson River, hand color, presented in wooden frame, overall dimensions 48-1/4 x 56 inches.
This set of maps can likely be traced to antebellum Georgia attorney Mitchell King, whose papers are archived at The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
The German-born George-Louis Le Rouge published these maps in Paris at a time when France renewed its active participation in American affairs. The maps meticulously show a rugged North American landscape between Canada and the Gulf of Mexico with details that would aid travelers – and armies - of that era. Accordingly, the Le Rouge maps became highly prized by strategists on both sides of the American Revolution. All plates in the Atlas are copperplate engravings of the period.
Contact us for information about accessing a higher resolution copy
Detail of Caroline Meridionale et Partie de la Georgie map, 1777.
Detail of Caroline Meridionale et Partie de la Georgie map, 1777.
An Accurate Map of North and South Carolina, 1777
An Accurate Map of North and South Carolina by Henry Mouzon & Others (Paris: Chez Le Rouge, 1777), four sheets, outline color, presented in wooden frame, overall dimensions 49 x 62 inches.
This set of maps can likely be traced to antebellum Georgia attorney Mitchell King, whose papers are archived at The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
The German-born George-Louis Le Rouge published these maps in Paris at a time when France renewed its active participation in American affairs. The maps meticulously show a rugged North American landscape between Canada and the Gulf of Mexico with details that would aid travelers – and armies - of that era. Accordingly, the Le Rouge maps became highly prized by strategists on both sides of the American Revolution. All plates in the Atlas are copperplate engravings of the period.
Contact us for information about accessing a higher resolution copy
Detail of An Accurate Map of North and South Carolina by Henry Mouzon & Others, 1777
A Map of Pennsylvania or La Pensilvanie, 1778
A Map of Pennsylvania or La Pensilvanie by William Scull (Paris: Chez Le Rouge, 1778), outline color, presented in walnut frame, in three parts, overall dimensions 43 x 68 inches.
Originally included in Atlas Ameriquain Septentional published by Georges–Louis Le Rouge. The German-born George-Louis Le Rouge published these maps in Paris at a time when France renewed its active participation in American affairs. The maps meticulously show a rugged North American landscape between Canada and the Gulf of Mexico with details that would aid travelers – and armies - of that era. Accordingly, the Le Rouge maps became highly prized by strategists on both sides of the American Revolution. All plates in the Atlas are copperplate engravings of the period.
Detail of A Map of Pennsylvania or La Pensilvanie by William Scull, 1778
La Martinique map, 1753
La Martinique map (Paris, Chez Le Rouge, 1753), map with outline color in a wooden frame, overall dimensions 45-1/2 x 35 in.
This set of maps can likely be traced to antebellum Georgia attorney Mitchell King, whose papers are archived at The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
The German-born George-Louis Le Rouge published these maps in Paris at a time when France renewed its active participation in American affairs. The maps meticulously show a rugged North American landscape between Canada and the Gulf of Mexico with details that would aid travelers – and armies - of that era. Accordingly, the Le Rouge maps became highly prized by strategists on both sides of the American Revolution. All plates in the Atlas are copperplate engravings of the period.
Contact us for information about accessing a higher resolution copy
Detail of La Martinique map, 1753.
Baye de la Delaware map, 1777
Baye de la Delaware by Joshua Fisher (Paris: Chez Le Rouge, 1777), presented in walnut frame, overall dimensions 34-1/2 x 41-1/2 inches.
This set of maps from the Atlas Ameriquain Septentional was purchased by the present owner from William Nash Rare Books in Atlanta, Georgia in the 1980s. It was previously acquired from the King family of the Atlanta-based King & Spalding law firm and can likely be traced to antebellum Georgiaattorney Mitchell King, whose papers are archived at The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
The German-born George-Louis Le Rouge published these maps in Paris at a time when France renewed its active participation in American affairs. The maps meticulously show a rugged North American landscape between Canada and the Gulf of Mexico with details that would aid travelers – and armies - of that era. Accordingly, the Le Rouge maps became highly prized by strategists on both sides
of the American Revolution.
All plates in the Atlas are copperplate engravings of the period.
Details of Baye de la Delaware map, 1777.
Archaeology of Acadiana
In Your Own Backyard #6
Archeology of Acadiana
Dr. Mark Reese, Archeologist
People have been living in Louisiana for 12,000 years.
Time periods archeologist have put together:
Paleo-Indian first peoples of North America, dating to about 10,00BC
Archaic- Louisiana was where it was happening, lower Mississippi Valley, things that were going on that were unprecedented in North and South America, i. e. mound building, monuments building, 3500-4,000BC
The Woodland-people making ceramic, building mounds
Mississippian Period
Historic Period-1700AD to present
All dates are approximate.
Archeology is about the study of any undocumented past both prehistoric and historic. How people lived in the past, about things, artifacts. Archeology started when people started collecting stuff /artifacts to put in museums. Its about interpreting people’s lives in the past, their histories, their cultures, their economies. Where people lived and when they lived there are basic questions of archeology. There is evidence that Native Americans were living along the Vermillion River in 10,000 BC. We have only a sketchy picture of where they lived and what they were doing.
Recorded archeological sites are those places that bear some evidence of past human presence whether it was an over night camp or a community lived there for a hundred years or a thousand years. Lafayette parish has the most sites per ten square miles. Vernon parish has 3,604 sites, 20% of all sites in the state.
(9:44):Interest is not enough: Not all digging is archaeology if it is only about the collection of things it is not archaeology. If you have not recorded where the item came from no one knows and there is no link to the past or knowledge about the people who made and used the item. Record the site with the Louisianan Division of Archeology so that some one knows about the site.
(12:41): Berwick Mounds -according to James Cathcart- he talks about four mounds, the origin of which is veiled because of the lapse of time, were situated at right angles, flat topped platform mounds, the largest of which was about thirty feet high. He believes they were the work of Attakapas Indians. Reese says unlikely, probably the Chitimacha work. One can imagine what mounds looked like by comparing them to Troyville in Jonesville. We don’t know anything about the site other than Cathcart’s description. The only thing remaining is a street named Mound Street.
(16:38): Fairview Plantation mounds were recently destroyed for a residential neighborhood.
(16:57): Lafayette airport mounds that are seen from the river are not Indian mounds but a natural landform. There were Indian mounds at the airport but they have been destroyed with the building of the airport. There are other mounds in Lafayette that have been destroyed—there was one off Pinhook that is now part of a neighborhood. The growth of Lafayette has destroyed Indian mounds. There is a lesson for the future—shouldn’t we care before we destroy.
(21:42) How should we deal with cultural resources that are in the way of progress. Progress is often elevated as if it were purely economical. Progress is inevitable—it’s going to happen, it is often pitted against cultural resources/heritage. We should make what we value as part of progress.
There are over 700 mound sites in the state, most are privately owned.
(26:28): Ancient Mounds Heritage trail in northeast Louisiana –the state has worked with private land owners in preserving sites. People can drive and view sites.
(27:00): 10,000 B.C. or earlier there were people living on the Vermillion River for extended periods. They were extremely mobile, going out—hunting –and coming back to a campsite. Sites that may still be there but such sites have not yet been recorded.
(28:45): There is Cote Blanche Island another Clovis point-an isolated find. Salt Mine Valley
another ancient Indian find in south Louisiana. Not much known about it, there was evidence of ancient mammals mixed in with other materials, some tools. The tools may not be related to the time period of the mammals. Certainly, there are other sites of that age in south Louisiana.
(30:11): Trappey-Masterdon site on the Vermillion
Also, at Avery Island Banana Bayou mound site, 3900B.C.-2500B.C., hunter/gatherers were building mounds, a monument to a tribe. Once believed that no mounds were built that early, a thousand years before the pyramids were built. Not sure what they were used for, they were not burial mounds. Studies of Native American economy show that Louisiana was so rich in substance that hunters/gathers 6,000 years ago were able to stay fairly sedimentary.
(34:29): Stelly Mounds in St. Landry parish mentioned. Selected two or three sites from each period to mention.
(34:56): Woodland Period is important because of the advent of pottery making. Relates to a more settled lifestyle, a different use of the environment, allows the use of a chronology.
Tcefuncta culture—Lafayette mounds a site not far from the airport, north on the Vermillion, visited by archeologists in 1945, set the stage for knowing more about Tcefuncta culture.
Marksville site A.D. 1-400 there is a burial mound and other large platform mounds up on a terrace overlooking the flood plain. A lot know about it because of the WPA’s work in the 1930’s.
Martin Shell mound on Weeks Island in Iberia parish composed of discarded shells from meals over many, many centuries - 800BC -700AD.
(38:53): Plaquemine period named for the town because of the location of the mound, Medora site, excavated in the 1940’s. Archeologist identified several distinctive types of pottery, which they used to tell time, and called it Plaquemine pottery. The Plaquemine period dates relate to the Mississippi period (1200-1700 AD). Plaquemine pottery is usually found in lower Mississippi valley.
(40:27): Discussion turned to some of the mound sites (major ones) in the western Atchafalaya basin visited with students in a field school to collect basic information. Such information as when did people live there, what were their lives like, what was the community like economically and politically.
(43:04): The almost goal of a field school is how little you have to dig to get some material to date. The location of the site can’t be revealed, it is privately owned and not much is known about it. Could date from 400AD to 1700AD, no idea into which culture it would fit. It is distinct and different from other sites in Acadian. It has big flat, platform mounds. It resembles a site at Moundville, Alabama. Speculation says there was a building on top. Knowing the date the mound built is important because there were flat top mounds Indians built that were not burial mounds, which were quite early. There were no buildings on theses mounds, some say the mounds were for ceremonial purposes.
(45:51): Sites B and C are stepped mounds. Nothing known about site until we went there, it wasn’t in the literature as of 1970. No one knew site existed except the locals. After site mapped someone cleared it (site A).
(47:24): Mound D excavated on edge of a gulley on the mound to get material to carbon date. The soil was practically free of artifacts. The mound looks to have been built rapidly, in two stages. In some of the small units there was dark soil, ground beneath the mound, the subsoil—soil rich with debris- junk not wanted covered by lighter soil from floods. We think we found a village that was on the bayou. The remains of the village are buried in the sub-soil, which are protected by flood deposits. Pottery found covers several periods making the date of the mound uncertain.
(51:33): Some coring done on the mound, which is over 4 meters high (12 feet). Radio- carbon dates results are from about AD 1180 and another AD 1260. This is a Mississippi period mound site with Cole’s creek and Plaquemine ceramics. People lived there 1000-1330 AD, hunting and fishing. Were they agricultural—we don’t know. The pottery changes found were because of the people. The women had down pottery traditions, they teach the skills.
(55:53): Portage Guidry is a mound site near Henderson, was visited and mapped. Site was being destroyed and a national group, The Archaeological Conservancy, became interested in it. The landowners worked out a sale to the Archaeological Conservancy of the mound site for its preservation. Inner excavations of the site gave a lot of remains of animal bones and remains of fires of debris of when they built the mounds. Debris higher up relates to 1350 AD, so it is a Mississippian period site.
In Your Own Backyard - Traiteurs
In Your Own Backyard #1
Traitement in Louisiana
Jennifer Guidry opened the program noting Dr. Ray Brassieur, associate professor of anthropology at ULL and president of the Vermilionville foundation board and Rebecca Begnaud as speakers of the night. Ann Laughlin of Vermilionville extended greetings.
Michael Lavernge, history student at ULL and worker with Jennifer introduced Dr. Brassieur. Noting his particular interest in traiteurs because his grandfather was a traiteur.
(2:39) Brassieur: Thanked Jennifer for idea of program series. We can’t oversimplify homeopathy. It is not dead center of what Louisiana folk tradition is. Samuel Hahnemann of the late 18th century came up with the idea of the approach to therapy and treatment. The idea caught on in Europe, eventually spread to United States, where it competed with other methods of treatment in medicine. It eventually ran out of popularity, returning in the 60s-70s.
(6:52) What homeopathy has to do with Cajun folk healing is a complex question. There maybe some ancient roots. Samuel Hahnemann believed in the law of similar concept sometimes used in homeopathic medicine and the ancient laws of magic. Like cures like is an ancient principal of magic that has been recorded and still is believed today. Might be part of what became folk tradition in Louisiana. Gave example of poison ivy cure and how it is related it to magic.
(10:30) Traitment system of treatment; traiteur is a male treater, traiteuse is a female treater. Faith healing in some forms traitment as associated with folk traditions in south Louisiana.
Maybe it is the same, maybe it isn’t. In some forms traitment includes large doses of faith healing and other things. Traitment is bigger than just faith healing. Traitment is not just a set of cures, it is a health system, and it includes the therapy and the causes of illness.
People who believe in traitment have belief about sickness—where did that sickness come from. If you want to understand traitment you have to understand what is believed to cause the sickness. Who diagnoses illness is part of the folk field.
Who can apply therapy, is it the knowledge, the skill where is the seat of the healing power?
It is a belief system that we are talking about. Many believe it is the spirit world, that the real healer is God. In Louisiana traitment many believe the traiteur is a pass through from God, the power from God goes through the traiteur and is channeled to therapy.
(15:09) Some traiteurs in Louisiana don’t believe power is from God. There is a complex culture in Louisiana with influences that were from Africa, here natively and those things exist, too. We need to get the broadest idea of what traitment is. Is it Cajun? What kind of traiteurs do we find in Louisiana? One group is the Bayou Healers from Houma Native American people that have an idea different of what medicine/healing is – they are looking to their youth - formed on the belief that today’s Indian children will be the healing generation for all Indian people.
(17:09) A number of musical groups were found on the Internet whose name suggests that they are traiteurs.
(18:59) Glenn Pitre movie has suggestions that traitment comes from a number of different origins. In what we think of traitment today could have come from the Cajuns, Acadians, black people, Indians, Spanish people, Canary islanders, any number of different heritage/ traditions.
(19:33) I have attempted to construct a continuum of the variations of traitment in Louisiana.
On one side is prayer healing - -generally uses no drugs, no pills, no plants, no other thing other than prayer and maybe some gestures. There is other religio-magic in addition to prayer some charms, some items also used. Some magic—going away from what we think of as established religious pray—but it may have some religious overtones.
On the other side are the natural curers –people who take plants and use them, not necessarily with prayer, know what plants helps a certain kind of thing.
A healer can fit any somewhere along these continuums
(22:04): There are some rules that go along with prayer healing which some follow. A general rule that exists in some people’s practice — treatment can’t go across waterways even if done by phone. This is a rule that some may follow showing variations in this rule.
(23:50): There is a strong dose of religio-magic. There is a strong dose of religion going on which is not recognized as standard religion and also some magic. The holy card published by the Catholic Church – someone decides on an image and a prayer—is part of tradition. The church never said what the card would do—there’s no guidebook for use. Some use the card, they’re holy, to cure.
(25:02): The string/cord is not religious but if placed in the hands of a treater/traiteur can look at it as a religious thing. If it has nine knots and a prayer associated with each knot--it becomes a religious item. There is no-know reason why a certain number. The church never indicated how many prayers to say. Some idea about numbers and how important numbers are is a tradition, which came down parallel with the church, perhaps, but not within the church.
(26:07): The same might be said about holy water. It is used in a lot of different ways and for a lot of different reasons. Some people use it in time of bad weather.
There are all kinds of things that can be used, that can be holy, but how to use is part of a belief system.
(27:05): There are crafts knowledge that people have but is starting to get away from religious teachings, teaching that came from somewhere else. Beliefs collected in Louisiana - one was if a child wore amber beads it would cure croup. When these were collected they were thought to be superstitions, something you don’t believe but somebody else does believe, then it is a belief for the other person not a superstitions
.
(28:56): There are some things in people’s mind/beliefs that can give them trouble/anxiety. Is it religious? If dealing with the supernatural in some way but we don’t recognize it coming from traditional religion.
(29:40): Religious candles - example of what happened in Louisiana when others came and there were already strong traditions of treatment. People from different parts of the world came and brought their own systems. At some point customs combined and some stayed separate. We see some separate practices in different communities. We can’t find the origin of some customs. Today you go into certain grocery stores and see shelves of these candles - so the process is still going on. Are they from a Cajun tradition, they’re written in Spanish, they might be Catholic. Pointing to illustrations noting some symbols are not Catholic, there is a combination of things, the process is still going on. We may be influenced by any number of them.
(31:25): Is this traitement? It is traitement for some people. It is the idea that controls this ancient concept - if there is a doll in the form of somebody, if you do it to this doll it will affect the person the doll represents (Voodoo Doll). Same kind of ancient tradition is involved. Does it exist outside of gift shops in the French Quarter? It does still exist. They may think of it as traitement but in this way it is negative therapy. Positive therapy will heal someone, the negative therapy will have the opposite affect.
(32:30): Talisman - Italians carry fave beans. Compared his traditions and those of Houma Indians. Houma Indians carried a piece of cabbage in their pocket instead of eating cabbage as the speaker did. That’s a talisman, a good luck charm. It has to do with health, but they had a different idea of therapy, showing the variation we might find.
(34:33): There is a whole range of remedies—a lot of them are plants. Many maybe used with prayer and there may or may not be some religious/spiritual idea used with plants. Maybe it is a practical function knowing that one plant does this, another does that. There are many ideas/knowledge where the information on the use of plants came from. There is a lot of evidence that the Indians knew plenty.
One source lived with the Natchez Indians in 1720’s and wrote what the Indians used for cures. The toothache tree (prickly ash) a leaf from the tree when put in your mouth will numb the ache. Indians thought of this one the most important one they had. The sap from the sweet gum tree was a very important medicine.
(37:10): In 1941 Frank Speck visited the Houma Indians and collected 73 cures they used with plants. He learned that palmetto could be used for something besides making baskets.
It could be used to treat the eyes, kidneys, high blood pressure and other ills.
185 different plants were identified as being used in treatment of ills.
Dr. William Reese produced a scholarly work on Indians knowledge of folk healing plant medicine in Louisiana.
Horse tail used by people on Bayou Lafourche for skin rash or stomach upset.
Maypop/passion flower - the fruit is eaten and has medicinal properties. Also has a strong spiritual meaning - it represents the passion of Christ.
(43:18): Croton oil carried by doctors in their bag in 19th century is on the margin of being forgotten. Was called a counter irritant.
(46:22): Thesis of Charles Bienvenue. Lived in St. Martinsville, died at age of 101 - when studying French at LSU collected recipes for treatments in Creole. Just beginning to use since it was published in 1933.
Traitement is not associated with one heritage but crosses over heritage lines, racial lines, linguistic lines and spreads over a variety of people.
(54:19): Response to question from audience about healing plants – there is a threat to healing plants. Healing plants are found in marginal areas—on fence rows, on a new clearing area.
They are usually called weeds—we try to exterminate them. Yes, they are in danger.
All of this is a conjectural story about what traitement might be it is so complicated I have to say maybe, if, perhaps. We have some evidence but there is a lot of research we have to do.
(55:50): There is another side of this picture –the side of the practitioner one who actually heals. They have their own beliefs, their own feelings and own understandings that any amount of research may or may not explore.
(56:24): Becca Begnaud - Healer and UL graduate. While in the hospital, a nun suggested that she should look into healing work. Her grandfather was a traiteur. Begnaud told how her grandfather treated her sunstroke. She was not afraid of him since she knew him, many people are afraid of traiteurs because they do not know them. At a meeting of healers, a woman offered Begnaud the prayer for healing. This upset her because she knew the prayer was suppose to come from a man because the rules say so. The prayer, which is handed down from generations, is not suppose to be written—which the woman did.
(1:00:51): Several years later Begnaud received prayers of another healer from a ULL instructor. This was wrong because the instructor was not a traiteur and these were the prayers of someone else. The instructor told her to have fun with the prayers, which she considered almost sacrilegious. She found in this group of prayers the one the woman had given to her earlier.
She believes there is a sacred space between two people - it’s all about the intention in your heart. Cajuns and others who are agriculturally based also did this with their animals. Begnaud told how she treated friends’ horses with her knowledge.
Healing doesn’t belong to any body. There was a time in this country when we were all connected to healing plants and being sick and nursing someone. Those things have gone by the wayside. We put our hope in something else. Sometimes when we are sick we have to let the illness run its course.
(1:09:08): Notes from handouts: What happens at the point of transmission—finding out about some of these rules from interviewing traiteur—basically, a man passed it to a woman but always passed to someone younger. Some believed prayers could be passed on to anyone younger regardless of gender. Some never got the prayer but did what they remembered their grandparents did, and it worked. So could this be in our genes? Healers never take money. In this culture living as a community, traiteurs were compensated in ways that did not include money. There was a lot of bartering. No feminine version of traiteur. Traiteur prayer is never shared with anyone except the next traiteur who will use it. Prayers needs to be held in some sense of respect and essence of sacredness. Before money counted, traiteurs took care of the community. It was a community process. It is not only the prayer, there is also a gesture. Common language was French; so all prayer was in French. It was honored and respected, but was not part of the Catholic Church. No belief was necessary but faith does increase the power. Many children brought to traiteurs were afraid because they did not know the traiteur.
Archieve Workshop: Preserving Your Family History
In Your Own Backyard # 5- Preserving family history
Jennifer Ritter and Alyce LaBry
Center for Cultural & Eco Tourism
To document family history first get stuff—go out and talk to family members, record the conservations, take stock of what exist. Go to those family members who hold the memories of the family and have preserved it and ask them to share the memories. If there are papers, acid free boxes for storage will be necessary, along with a flat bed scanner and a program to create electronic files. If there are photographs, slides or videotapes you need to make an assessment of their condition and how to best preserve them. It is best to get the family member comfortable with talking to you. Once you determine who to talk to and the condition of material that exist you can begin to set up your equipment and the process you will use to collect the information. Bring pencil and paper to jot down notes and adequate equipment for the interview. Always ask the person to state their name, when they were born, where they were born, who were the parents and that they agree to the interview. Take into account the condition of the material/artifacts being discussed.
Conservation of the item is important. Be aware that the item it is not exposed to light, temperature extremes, humidity and pest. The item should be stored in acid free boxes in a dark dry place. Once stored keep check on it. Purchase acid free photo albums to store pictures and mount them with acid free photo corners. Store slides and negatives in slide pages.
Discussion and demonstration continued showing various pieces of equipment used by the Center.
To get to the Center’s data it is easier to go to the Center’s website, select the archives tab and access it from there. The catalog is a work in progress.
(39:43): There are several ways to share collected material with the family—a slide show or perhaps a small book (there are on-line sites that can be used) or a Microsoft word document. Make CD’S of audio collected.
(42:41): Jennifer: Your family history is important. It is worth documenting. It is worth digging deeper because that contributes to the collective knowledge of what we have, knowledge of the area, of the people, of our culture, of our ethnicity, of our language everything that we are comes from who we were. If you don’ know what to do with the material after you have collected it, come to the Center and we will be glad to take it off your hands and add to our collection.