People often think that I made up the name Prairie des Femmes but I could have never. It is a real place on maps and colonial records since the late 18th century.
The concept of this romantically named place hidden in Louisiana was outside of the realm of my imagination because of its elegance. A place called Women's Prairie? Vernacular poetry. I became enchanted by the name and by the lore behind it. I became inspired by the humble grit of these women who lived here, as I did.
Part of the charm of this place is in the unexpectedness and beauty in the survival of the name as well as the unassuming nature of the physical place. As the population of this place loses touch with the languages that were lived here, the information about the place also is lost. As a resident, woman, artist and French teacher, I was able to access this place and the information that remains here on multiple levels and gather it as I have on this blog.
I initially connected my view of the prairie to the abundant Folk Catholicism and Marian veneration seen across south Louisiana and expressed that through local photos of Marian shrines. I viewed them as a visible portal to the invisible realm, a place where the memory of indigenous matriarchy was transmuted, but still present.
I also use the blog to express and explore my own relationship with my maternal ancestors. Like so many women of my generation I did not have a French speaking grandmother and had to patch work my language and cultural knowledge together. I had a nanny and a great aunt who guided me in this. I wished to to research and honor my matriarchs and their linguistic and cultural folkways, and meld their stories with Louisiana herself, her history and symbolism through the eyes of a daughter. Through this lens I was able to document the landscape of the prairie and the unique native folklore and French still spoken here.
Prairiedesfemmes.blogspot.com
