Notre Dame de Guadalupe

Le 11 décembre

Belle, le 10 décembre

Le 9 décembre, un lundi

Samedi en décembre

Le 5 décembre

Prairie aux Femmes Maps

La Veuve de Musicien

La balance de la vie 
Devient les restants 
C’est nous qui reste 
Quand les hommes sont gone 
Le dernier bout c’est la veuve du pain
Mais moi j’suis la veuve d’un musicien 

December 1

November 30

Comme la Femme dit

From the Egyptian Book of the Dead Chapter 94, Prairie des Femmes Journal 2-2016, Tomb of Nefertari #pdfjournalaew

Found Poetry: Carencro Coyote Sightings

Prairie Noël

Song for a Blue Roday

Items on my desk at the Academy of the Sacred Heart on a Thursday in Mid-November

11 novembre

10 novembre

November 5

Le 4 novembre

Le 3 novembre

Ville Platte Girl

"Les filles de la Ville Platte

Moi j'connais pas quoi y'a avec eux

Elles me semblent si vaillantes et si adorables

Mais y'a pas un qui veut de moi

Moi j'connais pas si c'est moi 

Si c'est moi le malchanceux de la Ville Platte"

My parents met at the Evangeline Club

My daddy said that it was instant love

He'd played all over Acadiana

Lookin for the prettiest girl in Louisiana

A Ville Platte Girl

The way you know that she a Ville Platte Girl 

She'll cut you some yeuxs canailles

Yan-yan et yon-yon après cet homme tout le temps

She in love with his soco eye.

***

 J'etais au bal at the fais-do-do

We step'd it fast and then we waltz'd it slow 

Y'avait une catin 

Who really caught my eye 

Elle 'té assis au coin avec les yeux canailles 

J'ai dit moi-même

Mais hey I like that 

But you know that girl looks like 

She's from Ville Platte

Mais je m'ai dit  moi-même 

I'm gonna give her a whirl

No matter what they say 

About the Ville Platte girl.

We some real good dancers now

Don't ya know?

Yeah we can jitterbug 

and we can zydeco

All them good ole boys 

They wanna give us a twirl

Cause there's just something bout 

A Ville Platte girl

You know I been warned time and time again

About the girls from the Parish of Evangeline 

But my paw paw said that I should give it a whirl

No matter what they say about the Ville Platte girl:

Elles ont les yeux canailles 

Tout le temps elle tchequaille

Ça aime roder la Prairie Ronde

Ça l'aime aller au Fred's

Cook on the braise

Elle peux jouer bourée et bataille

T'as jamais connue une fille comme ça

And if you think you know 

You probably connais pas 

All them good ole boys 

They wanna give her the world 

But that ain't nothin to a Ville Platte girl.

Ashlee Wilson 2016

Unrequited love’s part of being young

Maison Blanche

Maison Blanche

Moi je reste dans un mobile home
Mais tous les soirs je rêve de ma maison blanche
Moi j'ai une femme et un ti-garçon
Et j'aimerais les mettre dans ma maison blanche

Moi j'veux pas d'être president
Mais j'aimerais rester dans ma maison blanche.

Moi j'veux pas d'être le president
Mais j'aimerais rester dans ma maison blanche.

Ma Maison Blanche

 

Vinéraire

Plan A or Plan B

Octobre

Il était une fois dans la Louisiane

Il était une fois 

dans la Louisiane

une place qui s’appelle 

la prairie des femmes

Les signes de l'automne

La vinéraire blanchit 

Dans la savane 

The painted bunting's gone

The turn of the goldenrod 

Annonce l'avant automne

La fête de l'Assomption 

J'après ramasser ma sasafron

La lumière jaune me donne

L'envie du gateau sirop

La roulaison en vermillion

C'est un oxblood de trop

Beau Jocues' death anniversary

Damballah weather for Andres Esprit

Umbrelles of elder in the sureau trees

A carencro feather, Bon Dieu te bénit

The sides of the coteau are cut for hay

He likes a thin gumbo, no filé

“Be Happy”

 

Origin of Grand Coteau

 Grand Coteau, La. 

The origin of Grand Coteau dates back to 1821, when Sieur 
Charles Smith, a large land owner in this section, donated land to 
the church for a convent. The convent was founded by Mother Eugenie. 
Aude and called “Grand Coteau.” In 1837 St. Charles College was 
built. The settlement that grew up around the two schools was 
originally called “St. Charles Town,” but later became known | as 
Grand Coteau, the name it still holds today. 

Opelousas Place Name

Some origin stories I have heard about Opelousas name:

1.  It was briefly mentioned to me once a long time ago that someone said they heard it was believed it is from "la pelouse" (the lawn in French). I don't think this is a correct origin, but is an interesting view onto the French lens applied to native named things in Louisiana (think sac-a-lait). I only mention it for thoroughness, because everyone knows Opelousas is a native place. 

2. Opelousas is known to be a native place, named for the tribe of Ishak who called                 themselves or their place Opelousas (black leg).

            a. black leg because - the natives walked the tea colored swamp water (Leonard             swamp) and other bayous. The tannins in the water made their legs dark.

        b. black leg because the natives had dark skin

        c. black leg because the natives walked the burned prairies and the soot made                         their legs  black

        d. black leg referring to salt water?

        

        e. vpi lusa /black stem  (oppaloosa) - aster. This is also known as the Symphyotrichum lanceolatum /panicled aster.  The Choctaw name for it is vpi lusa (black stem).  The elder who brought the plant told me that it's where he believed the name Opelousas. Unsure if this is passed down information or based on similarity of the name. 

                                             -   information relayed from Dr. Ian Tompson of the Choctaw                                                     Nation of  Oklaholma

                                                                                    -through Dustin Fuqua

 photo Pete Gregory

INFORMATION From Some History of Saint Landry Parish from 1690's By RUTH ROBERTSON FONTENOT

*Note Attakapas-Ishak is the preferred name of the tribe today, and

 One hundred and fifty years ago April 10, 1805, St. Landry Parish was officially established by an act of legislature. In 1690 the first white man is believed to have settled in Opelousas, which is the parish seat, thus making Opelousas one of the oldest settlements in these United States, The name of the first settler has not come down to us, but he was undoubtedly a Frenchman. The Attakapas Indians were here - this was their land, They had chosen for their camping grounds the site of the city of Opelousas, because of its location on high land above the flood level. From legends comes the story of how Opelousas was named. The Attakapas were {RUMORED TO BE} a cannabalistic tribe, fierce and warlike, and they: preyed upon the neighboring tribes who dwelled along the high bluff that we call the Grand Coteau ridge. There were three tribes - the Opelousas, the Choctaws, and the Alabamans. They held a counsel and decided to try and wipe out the Attakapas, who were constantly making war with them. So together the three tribes waged war upon the Attakapas and finally succeeded in driving them from their lands, destroying almost the entire tribe of Attakapas Indians. The few who escaped with their lives flew to the south, and made their camping-grounds in the regions of what is now St, Martin parish. The three tribes then made a pact and gave the land of the Attakapas to the Opelousas Indians, and thereafter the territory was called ‘‘Opelousas”’, as the land below it was cal= led “Attakapas"’. ‘For their main campsite the Opelousas tribe chose the high land on which the present city of Opelousas is located. The exact spot has by tradition been established as the grounds of the old Academy of the Immaculate Conception, on the north end of town. Some years past there was here a small mound with a pine tree Standing on it, and this was said to be the lookout post. Many arrowheads have been turned up on lands nearby, and also fear this same spot are some very old springs. The name “‘Opelousas’ has been given many meanings, but the one most commonly accepted is ‘‘Blackleg’’ -- possibly the tribe painted their legs a dark color. Other trans- Tations are “Blackfoot’’, and ‘‘Man with black leg’’. Still another translation is ‘‘Salt Water,’’ which alludes to the fact that from here south the land lowers to the Gulf of Mex- ico and ‘‘saltwater’’,

Olivier Plantation

 OLIVIER PLANTATION HOUSE on Bayou Bourbeaux in Prairie des Femmes, as viewed here, shows it to have been a typical river plantation house that was similar to those built by most of the early French settlers in Louisiana. The view is-from.the rear and shows the carriage entrance. A pigeoniere stands oneither side of the house. The present Olivier home, which is also a very old one, is said to have been moved out to its present location from the town of Grand Coteau. All of these old photographs loaned to us by the Oliviers are of especial interest in that they are arranged for viewing with a stereoscope, which makes the pictures thus seen three-dimensional -and very sharp and clear although they are yellowed with age. 

KING COTTON Goes To J & W SIBILLE CO. In Sunset 

Prairie Des Femmes Water Corporation

 

Prairie Des Femmes Water Corporation constructs and operates a water distribution system within and for that part of the area within the confines of St. Martin Parish lying within the following area:

Beginning at a point which is the confluence of Bayou Carencro, Bayou Fuselier and the Vermilion River; said point also being the common boundary of St. Landry Parish, St. Martin Parish and Lafayette Parish; thence following the meanderings of Bayou Fuselier in a northerly direction to its intersection with Bayou Bourbeaux; thence following the meanderings of Bayou Bourbeaux in a northwesterly direction to its intersection with the centerline of Louisiana Highway 93; thence in a westerly direction along the centerline of Louisiana Highway 93, a distance of 5,400 feet; thence in a due north direction for a distance of 7,000 feet to Bayou Bourbeaux; thence following the meanderings of Bayou Bourbeaux in a northwesterly direction to its intersection with Coulee de Marks; thence following the meanderings of Coulee de Marks in an easterly than a south-easterly direction to its intersection with Bayou Fuselier; thence following the meanderings of Bayou Fuselier in a south-easterly direction to its intersection with the western corporate limits of the Town of Arnaudville; thence southerly along the western corporate limits line and a projection thereof to the intersection with the centerline of Bayou Pont Brule; thence following the meanderings of Bayou Pont Brule in a southwestern then southerly direction to its intersection with the Lafayette Parish-St. Martin Parish Line; thence westerly along said parish boundary line to its intersection with the centerline of the Vermilion River; thence following the meanderings of the Vermilion River in a north-westerly direction to its intersection with Bayou Carencro and Bayou Fuselier which is the point of beginning.

Write up from Botanica

Life Everlasting | Pseudognaphalium obtusifolium

Ashlee Wilson, 2024

Installation

In "Café des Exiles," George Washington Cable reports,

"An antiquated story-and-a-half Creole cottage sitting right down on the banquette, as do the Choctaw (women) who sell bay and sassafras and life-everlasting."

What was this old herb the Choctaw women sold while sitting on the banquette in New Orleans? Used by traiteurs in down the bayou communities for centuries, life everlasting known also as fragrant rabbit tobacco and vinéraire is revered for her healing properties, as well as a distinct syrup smell. Indigenous people of this land used her as a sweat lodge and funerary herb, smudge, lung and skin healer, as well as psychological aid. She is a spirit plant and integral part of smoking blends of the Americas. In Creole culture, she was used as a remedy for fever.

Living in southwest Louisiana, I was told that vinéraire was a "lost" plant, her absence a sign of the impact of saltwater intrusion and habitat destruction. But in 2011, a patch appeared at my home, Prairie des Femmes (Prairie of the Women), in St. Landry Parish. I first realized vinéraire was growing by smelling its fragrance. I often say she's smart like a chaoui (racoon). If you leave food out and make a habitat for it, she will follow you around. A mid-successional species, she can appear when a prairie begins to heal, coming back to its original vitality. The quest to identify and grow her has given me what feels like a secret wink from the universe.

From the first three volunteer plants, there are now over 200. I celebrated every new plant, complimented her, called her "darling," manicured the caterpillars, cleared the weeds and protected her from poison as well as from man's cruel blade. The plants multiplied and they got bigger. In addition to making medicines, I save the seeds and share them with native women, and all those who need it, in an effort to return this important healing herb to the land and people of south Louisiana. 

edited by Rachel Breunlin

The Prairie Has a Memory Ashlee Wilson, 2024

Ashlee Wilson is a Ville Platte native and self-taught Louisiana French speaker. She is a teacher and artist known for her writing, photography and visual journals that document her acquisition of Louisiana French, as well as native plants and folk herbalism. She is the creator of the Prairie des Femmes blog (2012), an online space that documents this historical prairie's daily life, as well as The Plains of Mary (2014) and the Ô Malheureuse collection (2019 UL Press). She teaches French at the Academy of the Sacred Heart at Grand Coteau.

The Prairie Has a Memory is an homage to her home, La Prairie des Femmes (Prairie of the Women), in St. Landry Parish. Found in records since the mid to late eighteenth century, the land is located in an area of high native traffic near the boundaries of the Attakapas-Ishak and Opelousas territories, just east of the sacred hills of Grand Coteau. A former sweet potato farm, for more than twenty years, Ashlee has cultivated plants and knowledge of the prairie with her family as an act of restoration- planting native species, and implementing a plan to minimally mow, periodically burn, and forgo poison on the land.