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.