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Gifts From The Hills: North Central Louisiana Folk Traditions Edited by Susan Roach [Revised in 2002. Originally published in 1984 as an exhibition catalog.] Click Here For Map .INTRODUCTION NORTH CENTRAL LOUISIANA: AN HISTORICAL OVERVIEW NORTH CENTRAL LOUISIANA FOLK TRADITIONS
INTRODUCTION By Susan Roach The North Central Louisiana Folklife Project was begun in November, 1983 for the purpose of surveying and documenting the existing folk traditions located in the five parishes of Bienville, Claiborne, Jackson, Lincoln, and Union. With Lincoln as the hub, the five parishes share common geographic characteristics such as landscape, high rural population, and the absence of major metropolitan areas. Drained by small creeks and bayous, the gently rolling pine-covered hills of north central Louisiana boast the highest point in the state. Driskill Mountain in Bienville Parish, at 535 feet above sea level. Although the hills are small, they offer a marked contrast to the lowlands of South Louisiana; consequently, the upland area of the state is known locally as the "hill country" or as the area's newly formed tourist promotional organization named itself, the "Piney Hills Country." Many of the local rural inhabitants also refer to themselves as "hill country people" or "just simple country folks." The selection of this area for folklife research, although somewhat arbitrary, was made because of the accessibility of the area to Louisiana Tech and because of the richness of its folklife, which had received little previous scholarly attention. The scope of this project can be better understood if a few definitions are provided. For our purposes, folklife may be briefly defined as the traditional ways, customs, skills and other cultural materials that are passed down over time in families, churches, and communities, or occupations without the aid of formal academic schooling, popular workshops and classes, or the mass media. Folk traditions fall into a number of general categories, or genres, including verbal arts (oral history, jokes, riddles, dialect, tall tales, legends, myth, personal anecdotes, etc.), religious rituals, festivals, folk music and dance, folk medicine and beliefs, foodways, folk arts and crafts, traditional architecture, and land use (farming, fishing, hunting, trapping techniques, etc.). Folklife is ultimately conservative in that it is slow to change, being more concerned with the repetition of forms rather than in creating new forms. However, there is also room for creativity and innovation. More broadly defined, modern folkloristics encompasses the ethnographic description of expressive culture and communicative behavior. However, the focus of this project is limited to the regional folklife of the north central Louisiana area; that is, it does not consider all the folklore forms that occur in the area such as urban, occupational or ethnic lore, such as xerox humor, ethnic jokes, or children's scary stories, which all fall under the academic umbrella of folklore. Although also important, these forms with less depth in time, are not as endangered as rural folklife. In the discipline of folklore, regional folklife is the term given to similar cultural traditions developed by people who have lived in one rural area for several generations. In the case of north central Louisiana, most of the people are descended from settlers from other parts of the deep South, an area usually considered a folk region by folklorists and anthropologists. Consequently, the folk traditions of the area are rooted in those of the deep South. Because of its slow industrial growth and its rural population, north central Louisiana has maintained many southern folkways, while many Southern areas are lamenting the death of these traditions. In hopes of preserving these endangered cultural resources, a number of national and state programs have been initiated. The North Central Louisiana Folklife Project is one result of such programs in Louisiana. It is the hope that the identification, documentation, and presentation of folk culture will not only preserve for historical purposes the elements of traditional culture in a permanent documentary form, but also will conserve and keep these traditions alive by encouraging them and providing similar attention and monies previously awarded only to elite culture. The present project has consisted of three phases directed toward these goals. First of all, it has surveyed the existing folklife in its context found in the north central Louisiana area and secondly, provided documentation through photographs, tape recordings, and survey forms. These documents will then be preserved in the Louisiana Tech Louisiana Archives. Finally, the project is presenting the findings to the public in three forums-this catalog, the exhibition, and folklife demonstrations at the Ruston Centennial Heritage Day. The exhibition, which this catalog accompanies presented a number of objects and foodways still being produced in the area. The exhibition also included documentary photographs of the traditions and their practitioners in context. Although not all the region's traditions were documented fully because of their seasonal inaccessibility, a number of the folklife genres are presented in some depth with serial photographs. Since space limitations in the catalog preclude the presentation of the detailed data on the many folk traditions documented in the project, we provide instead a general frame for interpretation which gives overviews of the north central Louisiana history, essential because the project's regional focus, and the area folklife with examples and illustrations drawn from the data. Likewise, although the catalog cannot present photographs of all the objects in the exhibition and all the traditions documented in the research, it does attempt to give a sampling of the wide range of traditions covered by the project folklorist fieldworker. Rather than concentrating only on the objects of the exhibition, the photographs presented here focus on the maker of the object, its production, and use or on the performers of folk tradition and the context of the performance. The more humanistic approach to the data, hopefully, will put the viewer in closer touch with the tradition bearers and, thereby, promote a greater understanding and appreciation of the vitality and complexities of the folk process and the heritage of the hill country.
NORTH CENTRAL LOUISIANA: AN HISTORICAL OVERVIEW By Glynn Ingram At the end of the 18th century, when sugar cane and cotton helped make South Louisiana a booming financial success, the north central Louisiana hill parishes of Bienville, Claiborne, Jackson, Lincoln, and Union were still inhabited only by the Caddoes and other scattered Indian tribes. Even as late as the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, Fort Miro, on the Ouachita River, in Ouachita Parish, and Natchitoches, on the Red River, in Natchitoches Parish, were the closest permanent settlements to the five-parish area. Trappers, hunters, and traders, like the legendary John Honeycutt, brought furs and hides out of the hill section as early as the 1790s. But the tangled underbrush and wilderness, along with the absence of adequate trails and navigable waterways, discouraged even the hardy hordes of settlers beginning to roll across the southern states in the late 18th century. In 1812, however, Daniel Colvin of Tennessee moved his family near what is presently Vienna, in Lincoln Parish, and established the first permanent white settlement in the five-parish area, Colvinville (Gilley, 1984: 27-8). This established a migration pattern, which drew over 30,000 people to the region at the time of the 1850 census (U.S. Dept. of Int.). As people came, organized government followed, and by 1848, Bienville, Claiborne, Jackson, and Union parishes had been carved out of the former parishes of Natchitoches and Ouachita. In 1873, as part of the Reconstruction plan, Lincoln Parish was formed from portions of Jackson, Ouachita, and Union (Harris 1886: 21-22). The first settlers in the region found a wilderness filled with wild game for food, including deer, turkey, squirrel, and rabbit, as well as a soil and climate which easily and abundantly produced all the crops necessary to feed both themselves and their livestock. What they also found was land, which would produce that agricultural and financial staple of the ante-bellum South-cotton. Here, as in the remainder of the South, cotton quickly became the principal money crop. At a time when owning fertile farm land equaled self-sufficiency and success, the presence of cheap cotton-growing land in the hill parishes created a strong lure to the agriculturally-oriented citizens throughout Tennessee, the Carolinas, and the remainder of the deep South. As early as 1824, Thomas Moore constructed a gin for Adam Reynolds in Claiborne parish, and by the 1840s, gins were scattered throughout the five-parish area (Claiborne 1956: 8). The people who were drawn to the hill parishes by the cheap farmland represented all the ethnic groups found on the Atlantic seaboard, but it was the Scotch-Irish who proved the wedge and driving force of the parishes. And it was the Scotch-Irish, with their strong Protestant ethic, who gave the region its distinctive social, ethical, moral, and religious character. These people were a hardworking lot, strongly imbued with the Calvinist belief that those who worked hard and held to their faith would succeed. These self-reliant, pragmatic people assumed God would help those who helped themselves and that industry and thrift were reflections of character and not just of ambition. From the early 19th century to the present, the character drive, and sense of moral uprightness typical of the Scotch-Irish has been the single most dominating influence of the north central parishes of Louisiana (Hanna: Leyburn 1962: 322-24). When the settlers came, perhaps the single most important institution they brought with them was a strong Protestant religion. The overwhelming majority of these people were Baptists, a statistic, which holds even today, while the Methodists and Presbyterians made up the remainder of the Protestant population. While South Louisiana, with its large French population, was dominantly Catholic, only a half dozen Catholic churches existed in the entire five-parish area before the Civil War. James Brinson, a Baptist preacher from Tennessee, brought organized religion to north central Louisiana in 1821, when he organized the first Baptist Church in North Louisiana at the Pine Hill Baptist Church in Upper Pine Hills, near Vienna (Cook 1983: 1-12; Gilley 1984: 118-9). Over twenty years later, in 1848, the Louisiana Baptist Convention was organized at Mount Lebanon in Bienville Parish. In subsequent years, other Protestant denominations followed the Baptist, Methodist, and Presbyterian churches in the area, but from Brinson's move in 1821, the Baptist church has been the church of the people, black and white alike (Gilley 1984: 113-6). Agriculture constituted the principal livelihood in north central Louisiana before the Civil War. Like the remainder of the South, this part of Louisiana turned to black slavery to supplement the family work-force. But slavery, while it was widespread, never thrived in the hills as it did in the far more fertile land of the Mississippi Delta or the flood plains of the Red and Ouachita Rivers. The table below affords a good picture of the total white and slave population, and presents a good picture of the extent of slave ownership in 1850.
Thus it can be seen that about 41.6% of all householders in North Louisiana owned slaves and in the hill parishes, as in the remainder of the South, most slave owners fell into what has been called the yeoman farmer class rather than that of the plantation owner. Only about 10% of the slave owners in the region fell into the planter class -- that is, people who owned 20 or more slaves (U.S. Dept. of Int.). Most owners could not afford to hire slavedrivers and overseers. Most of the owners worked with their slaves and did much the same manual labor as their charges. The close contact between slave owners and slaves joined in common tasks had important social and cultural results, for with this contact came emulation. While the white South was influenced in many ways by the black heritage and culture, the influence of white on black was without question the stronger (Owsley 33-48, 7-10). When the Civil War came in 1861, north central Louisiana, like the remainder of the nation, was caught in the jolting emotional upheaval preceding the coming fight. There were isolated spots of Unionism in the region, particularly in Union Parish, but by and large the men who volunteered to fight in the war joined the Confederate Army. Companies were organized in Vienna, Homer, Farmerville, and many other towns in the area, and it is safe to say that the greatest contribution of north central Louisiana to the Civil War was in the hundreds of Confederate volunteers who fought on battlefields from Texas to Gettysburg (Winters 1963: 57-67). The participation of these men in the military reduced the area's potential agricultural and economic contribution to the Confederacy's war effort, however. With the sudden loss of so many young men, managing the land and maintaining the crops became increasingly difficult. An added problem, too, was an old one in the section-lack of transportation. Before the Civil War, cotton was ginned and then taken by wagon to the various creeks and bayous, which flowed into the Red and Ouachita Rivers, from whence it was transported to the textile mills of the Atlantic seaboard. When the Union fleet gained control of first the Mississippi River and then much of the Red and Ouachita Rivers, the cotton got no farther than the gins or warehouses. Thus little good came from the cotton grown between 1863 and 1865. The problems which plagued the cotton producers also stifled the farmers who tried to produce corn as forage for the horses and mules used by the Confederate Army (Wilder 1971: 1-7; Shugg: 1939, Passim). However, the hill area provided a solution to one problem faced by the Confederacy during the Civil War, namely the critical shortage of salt. Prior to the Civil War, most of the salt used in the South was either imported or produced in facilities along the coastline. With the Union naval blockage, the ante-bellum salt sources disappeared and were partially replaced by salt from Bienville Parish. The Lake Bistineau Salt Works, Raburn Salt Works, and King Salt Works were sites long known for their ability to provide abundant amounts of high quality salt. During the war, when salt supplies dwindled quickly, Bienville Parish became the center of a large salt traffic as individuals poured into the area to extract salt from the brine removed from the underground salt domes. Reports show that people came as far away as Texas, Mississippi, and Arkansas to extract the salt and that several produced salt under contract for the Confederate government. It is estimated that during the last two years of the Civil War, Bienville Parish was the single most important source of salt for the Confederate government (Cook 1970: 1-9). The parish also helped alleviate another problem experienced by the Confederacy -- a shortage of medicine for military use. In 1864, when the Confederate government was hard pressed on all fronts, Louisiana Governor Henry W. Allen appealed to Dr. Bartholomew Egan to establish a laboratory to produce medicine for the Army. Dr. Egan bought out the facilities of Mount Lebanon Female College in Bienville Parish and immediately began producing large quantities of turpentine, castor oil, opium, and medicinal grades of whiskey. The laboratory closed shortly after the Civil War ended, but while it was open, it produced enough medicinal supplies to supply the Confederate army in Louisiana in late 1864 and 1865 (Winters 1863: 408-9). A dubious distinction of the region during the Civil War was that the densely wooded countryside served as an ideal hiding place for deserters and draft dodgers. In 1863, General Richard Taylor sent five companies of soldiers into Winn and Jackson Parishes to round up deserters, arrest conscripts who failed to report, and break up jayhawkers who were terrorizing the countryside and acting like gangs of brigades. Late in 1863, a group of deserters and draft dodgers in Union Parish even went so far as to organize themselves as a military unit in anticipation of an expected attack from soldiers sent by General Kirby Smith. While this and all other skirmishes and raids by deserters, dodgers, and jayhawkers were put down, the section was constantly threatened by the non-Confederate supporters down to 1865 (Winters 1863: 306-7). Once the Civil War ended, Louisiana and the hill parishes faced Reconstruction, a period almost as traumatic as the Civil War itself. When the carpetbaggers, Scalawags, and the free blacks took control of the Louisiana government in 1868, under Governor Henry Clay Warmouth, unity between the people and the government, which ruled them disappeared. In north central Louisiana, both blacks and whites faced grave problems, problems associated with either the working or owning of land. Blacks, who made up over 40% of the population in the five-parish area, now found themselves without jobs and by and large without land. Moreover, those whites who owned land, both former slave owners and non-slave owners, were faced with financial ruin and could not afford to hire blacks as laborers for what was a devastated agricultural system. What resulted was an agricultural system where sharecropping, share-renting , or the crop lien method was used to work the land. It was a system which satisfied the needs of both the newly freed blacks and the impoverished whites, because without land to work or cash to buy either land or supplies, these classes were thereby provided economic security without capital outlay (Taylor, 1974). Each sharecropper and his family were responsible for an average of twenty acres, with the owner providing the land, seed, and perhaps equipment. Most sharecroppers had a hog or two and grew vegetables for their own use (Highsmith 1964: 25). Seeking a better position, sharecroppers frequently moved from farm to farm (Smith and Hitt 1952: 218). One serious long-range problem resulting from the different forms of sharecropping was that the people actually farming the land needed to turn a profit to pay both themselves and the landowner from whom they rented the land. The result was an even heavier reliance on cotton because this was the crop which brought money. Over the years, as cotton was repeatedly planted on worn out soil and then as the Mexican boll weevil moved into Louisiana in the 1890s, the production of the land dropped and the economic fortunes of the people declined, throughout the South and in North Louisiana (Taylor 1974). In the post-Civil War period, while industrialization and the New Immigration were radically changing the social, economic, and cultural character of the United States, the South in general, and the hill parishes in particular remained largely unchanged. The hill parishes of North Louisiana remained overwhelmingly agricultural in the late 19th century, with little industrial intrusion and little change in the ethnic distribution. One of the things which helped create this static condition was the section's relative isolation combined with the absence of waterways and railroads. By 1840 there was one significant road across North Louisiana connecting Shreveport and Monroe built along the old Ouachita Trail, a road popularly known as the "wire road" because the telegraph lines ran parallel to the dirt highway. This served both stage and freight lines, but the rains made the dirt road impassable in some months of the year and made the route too rough and unreliable as a practical commercial route with the outside world (Wilder 1971: 1-20). Railroads, the real transportation boon of the industrial age, did not reach the hill parishes until 1883. As early as 1852, a concerted movement had been made to organize and build a railroad across North Louisiana from Vicksburg to Shreveport and Texas Railroad Company was organized and stocks in the company sold to finance the venture. However, over the next two years the project was delayed by a virulent outbreak of yellow fever, broad flooding of the proposed track line by the Mississippi River, over-speculation, and lagging profits on stock subscriptions. With the Civil War, plans for a railroad were delayed indefinitely (Legan 1976: 125-42). In the late 1870s and early 1880s, interest in building a railroad across orth Louisiana revived again and in 1883 the Vicksburg, Shreveport, and Pacific railroad company was organized. The opening of the company's line between Vicksburg and Shreveport in 1884 opened a whole new chapter in the history and economy of the five parishes and, as one writer noted, it also ended the frontier period in North Louisiana. Once thriving and important towns were missed by the railroad and soon died -- places like Ouachita City in Union Parish, Mount Lebanon in Bienville, Arizona in Claiborne, Vernon in Jackson, and Vienna in Lincoln and soon, new towns cropped up along the new railroad, including two new future parish seats: Ruston in Lincoln Parish and Arcadia in Bienville Parish. Soon afterwards, in 1899, a North-South railroad, running through Claiborne, Lincoln, and Jackson, was opened up by Rock Island Railroad. Over the past ninety years, numerous spur lines have been constructed, giving most of the five parishes good railroad access (Cawthon 393-402). One valuable hill parish resource that had not been utilized by the people or by businesses to any significant extent before the 1890s was timber from the virgin shortleaf forests. According to the 1880 Agricultural Census, Union, Claiborne, Bienville, and Jackson parishes had a combined total of 7.95 billion board feet of marketable shortleaf timber, a total as large as that of any comparable land area in the entire South (U.S. Dept. of Comm.). Now, the transportation afforded by the new railroad, the booming demand for milled lumber, and the large and cheap source of local labor brought the sawmill era to North Louisiana. Between 1890 and 1915, towns like Yellow Pine, Ansley, Hodge, Bienville, Alberta, and Haynesville became the North Louisiana version of boon towns as billions of board feet of shortleaf pine came pouring out of the area. The golden year of the timber industry in Louisiana was 1913 when over 5 billion board feet of lumber was produced, more than any other year in the history of Louisiana's timber industry. The five-parish area, which saw companies like Globe Lumber Company, David Brothers Lumber Company, Hodge-Hunt Lumber Company, and many others operating, was part of the bonanza (Lindsey 1970: 17-25; Harrington 1979). However, with the financial harvest came some serious problems. In a day when "cut out and get out" was the rule and when conservation or reforestation were new terms, much of the region went from land with dense stands of virgin shortleaf pine timber to badly cut-over, erosion prone rolling hills. In the period of World War I, when the more astute foresters began to realize the long range damages of the lumber industry, Henry Hardtner of Olla began the pioneer reforestation work which would earn him recognition as the father of Louisiana reforestation. For North Louisiana, reclamation of the forest land came with the reforestation programs of the 1920s and 1930s, and with the help of companies like Urania Lumber Company and Olla and T.L. James Company of Ruston, the correction of a serious problem began. However, when the depression began in 1929, much still work remained to be done (Humphreys 1964: 345-67). The work of the Civil Conservation Corps established by Franklin Roosevelt's administration in 1933 helped bring the timber industry back as an important economic endeavor in the area, along with the Soil Erosion Service. The CCC began its work by hiring young men to plant pine seedlings, both on government property and on private land. In 1933, the first CCC camp in the United States organized exclusively for soil erosion work opened in Minden, followed shortly by a camp at Cypress Creek in Lincoln Parish, a short distance from Ruston. Both camps helped impress the people of the adjacent parishes with the advantages of systematic soil control and helped save what in some cases was badly endangered land (Humphreys 1964: 345-67). The saw timber industry which peaked in Louisiana in 1913 declined in large part because the virgin strands of pine timber were cut off, leaving the diseased, deformed, and immature trees behind. In 1926, the Advance Bag and Paper Company from Howland, Maine, opened a new phase of timber-related industry in the five-parish area when it bought out the interest of Hodge-Hunt Lumber Company of Hodge, in Jackson Parish. The Advance Bag and Paper Company brought in a pulp paper plant which utilized trees unsuitable for the saw timber industry. Other paper mills opened in Bastrop, West Monroe, and Springhill and in each case these mills depended heavily on pulpwood from Union, Bienville, Jackson, Claiborne, and Lincoln (Harrington 1979). Today, with the advantages of reforestation programs begun in the 1920s and with the development of new, faster growing strains of pine timber such as loblolly and slash pine, the timber-related industry in the five-parish area is one of the largest non-white collar industries in the region. In 1983, 15.8% of all saw timber and 20.2% of all pulpwood harvested in Louisiana came from the area and 17% of all income from the sale of timber in Louisiana came from the same region (Louisiana Timber 1983). In addition, the large national conglomerates of Willamette Industry, Manville, and Georgia-Pacific plan to expand their production of plywood, particle board and chip board, while other plants are processing piling timber for electrical lines, bridge pilings, and foundation pilings. In the opening decade of the twentieth century, in 1904, when the timber industry in North Louisiana was reaching its peak, wildcatters from Texas drilled a pumping oil well in Caddo Parish, the first successful oil well in North Louisiana. Over the next twenty-five years major drilling operations began at Haynesville-Homer field and the Lisbon field in Claiborne Parish and the Oakland field in Union Parish. Today all five parishes have both oil and natural gas production and it is a common sight to see pumping rigs operating where cotton and other crops once flourished. In the 1981 oil and gas reports, Claiborne Parish ranked third among all parishes in the state in crude oil production, with 3.4 million barrels of crude oil, and Bienville Parish ranked 13th in natural gas production, with 42 trillion cubic feet (Louisiana Oil and Gas 1983; Hair 1977, 179-82). With the success of the petroleum drilling industry new jobs came for skilled and unskilled laborers alike and thousands of men were employed in jobs ranging from the technical services of engineers and geologists doing surveying and research down to the common jobs of oil field roughnecks. In the process much of the land which declined in value as its agricultural value fell now turned new money as oil and gas royalties were paid to the landowners by the petroleum industry. Agriculture, once the life-blood of north central Louisiana, has become much more diversified in the twentieth century as people have turned from their earlier dependence on cotton to produce other money making goods. Truck farming has become popular in much of the five-parish area, while in recent years soybean production has been the new money crop for farmers. In Lincoln Parish peach orchards flourish, the majority of the peaches produced in Louisiana coming from the farms of Dennis Owens in Hico and J.E. Mitcham in Ruston. The dairy and beef cattle industry has also flourished as has a relatively new poultry industry. The diversified agriculture has provided farmers a way to work the soil on a part-time basis without being as tied down by time-consuming farm production as they had been in the cotton-producing period of the 19th century. Politically, the hill country has been a conservative section. Until the 1960s the region, like the rest of the deep South, voted solidly Democratic, associating Republicans with Reconstruction. It is a section, too, which has always been more intensely concerned with local than with state politics. In the Huey Long era, when North Louisiana in general gained more political leverage, the voters realized it was possible to use the political influence to gain favors which had long been the monopoly of the more populous and politically powerful southern part of the state. Under Long's guidance, the section at last got respectable roads and bridges and free textbooks in schools, but more importantly, the section realized it might have real political impact. In recent years the five-parish area has helped elect such North Louisiana gubernatorial candidates as John McKeithen, Jimmy Davis, and Robert Kennon. Another noticeable political change has been the rising influence of the Republican party and for the first time since Reconstruction the Republican Party, now perceived by North Louisianians as the more conservative of the two major national parties, has fared well in North Louisiana. Relatively few local candidates run or are elected on the Republican ticket, but in national elections the Republican Presidential candidates have consistently drawn heavy votes in north central Louisiana since 1964, reflecting the region's tendency to regard local autonomy and fiscal responsibility as key issues on the national front. In the Protestant hill country, education has always been a primary concern and this concern is reflected in the number of schools established over the years. As early as 1825, when settlers were clearing land and building houses, John Murrell, in old Claiborne Parish, opened a school in his home for area children. When other settlers came, they followed Murrell's example and established private schools because parents believed all children should have the rudiments of education in order to read and study the Bible. By the Civil War, academies for males and females opened in Homer, Farmerville, Mt. Lebanon, and other places, and in 1855 the first college in North Louisiana opened its doors at Mt. Lebanon in Bienville Parish. Each of the five parishes after they were chartered, maintained public schools and collected taxes to support these (Harris 1886; Gilley 1984; 127-9). In 1890 the region got an added incentive to train teachers and provide a public forum for educational speakers when the Louisiana Chautauqua Association opened the Louisiana Chautauqua in Ruston. The project flourished for about fifteen years before it finally closed in 1905 and the property of the Chautauqua was sold to James L. Martin. In 1906 a similar project started for blacks at Grambling when the Louisiana Colored Chautauqua was organized (Smith 1974: 138-42). In 1884 the push for higher education resulted in the opening of Ruston College, a venture which lasted about ten years. In 1894 Louisiana Industrial Institute and College, an institution which later became Louisiana Tech University, was chartered by the state Legislature. The area boasts a second college at Grambling, a university founded in 1901 through the efforts of Charles Adams (Carter 1976: 401-12; Graham 1934: 54-5). Because the five-parish area has only a limited industrial work force, the average annual income for whites and blacks is below the average for the state. In 1979 the average annual income for whites in the five-parish area was approximately $20,000 and for blacks $11,700. This compares with the state average annual income for whites at $24,280, and for blacks at $13,608. Additionally, the poverty level, a general measure of the quality of economic life, shows that the whites who live below poverty level in the five-parish area ranges from 7.7% in Claiborne to 14.0% in Jackson while the range for blacks below the poverty level varies from 29% in Lincoln to 39.3% in Bienville (U.S. Dept. of Int.). Today the ethnic distribution of the five-parish area remains essentially unchanged from the Civil War and the area is still predominantly a rural one where Lincoln Parish, with a 62.4% urban population is the only parish in the area with an urban population that exceeds 45%. There are no major metropolitan areas in the region and Ruston is the only town in the section with a population over 20,000. In 1980 the total population of the five-parish area was 111,131, less than the population of several cities in the state (U.S. Dept. of Int.). How long the region will retain its essentially rural character is a subject of some interest, however. The opening of Interstate Highway 20 across North Louisiana has brought national industries like Willamette and Laurens Glass to the area and changed the work patterns of area citizens. The presence of Lakes D'Arbonne in Union Parish, Claiborne in Claiborne Parish, Kepler in Bienville Parish, and Caney in Jackson Parish has attracted tourists and sportsmen. These recreational areas along with the low tax rate found throughout the north central parishes have also made the region a popular retirement area for people throughout the United States. Indeed one group of urban planners has projected a model "linear city" which would extend from Monroe to Shreveport along Interstate 20 and make accessible to area residents all the transportation facilities, varied workplaces, businesses, and diverse cultural opportunities of a large American city. The question remains how these changes and possibilities, each of them a threat to the traditional, rural character of the region, will affect the north central Louisiana parishes.
NORTH CENTRAL LOUISIANA FOLK TRADITIONS 1 By Susan-Roach I will lift mine eyes unto the hills from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord which made heaven and earth. Psalms 121:1-2 (Scripture often cited at funerals) God give it to me. I can't get rid of it. I wouldn't want to if I could; I wouldn't take a gold guinea for what I know. -- Dennis Clark2 I'm just gifted, I guess. -- Howard Henry The country agent had a fire; I had just finished a "Fence Row" [quilt]...and I give it to the county agent...It's helping somebody else, I guess; it's more blessed to give than receive. -- Iska Walker
The north central Louisiana people maintain a vital complex of folk traditions which are bound up in a traditional Protestant worldview focused on God as the creator of Earth, the land, and giver of all worldly goods, help, and spiritual blessings. One has only to listen to a typical blessing offered for a meal as an open expression of this view: "Our Father in Heaven, we thank Thee for the many blessings of life, especially for this day and this food." Although some people do not openly express their religion, their lives reflect the powerful Protestant work ethic and the importance of reciprocity. While some may attribute their skills to hard work and practice, many other tradition bearers think of their talents in music, crafts, farming, or building as gifts from God which they are obligated to use and share with others. Many are also aware that their traditional abilities are a precious heritage from their ancestors which they wish to hand down to others. The complexities of this heritage may be better understood if the variety of traditions are isolated and categorized for examination purposes. In reality, they cannot be separated, for the farmer sings in the fields and prays over the peas, and the folk architect hunts in the hills.
Folk Architecture And The Landscape3 He said, 'How are you goin' get that [log barn] down?" I said, 'Well, I've got a little boy that weighs about 125 pounds. I'm goin' get up there and take the logs off and drop them and he's going to catch them and put them on the wagon.'... He said, 'Now I've got to see that.' I said, 'Well, be out here in the morning, and we're fixing to start taking it down.' We done had the tin and the rafters and everything off. We were ready to take the logs off. We took a rafter and stood it up over here and over yonder, and I'd get up there and prize it up [the log], and I'd let it slide down that rafter. We'd let about three or four slide down and then get down and put them on the wagon. I put the whole crib on the wagon at one time. -- Victor Tabor Aw, nothing's built right these days;
Traditionally, the typical small farm had several buildings in its settlement pattern on its 40-200 acres, which were usually arranged in a loose cluster. Generally, the barn (usually a double pen) was located behind the house on the right or left or across the road. A garden plot was usually near the house. The smokehouse was behind the house and the syrup mill near the bottomland (Wright 1956: 113). Sheds or wagons and other farming and blacksmith equipment and later privies might be situated counter to the barn. If the well was not near the house or on the porch, it might have its own shelter. Many farmers such as Homer Eaves of Simsboro, and Victor Tabor, of Spearsville, have farms which follow and expand upon this basic model. Both have built log barns on their farms; Tabor's barns are both behind his house and across the road, and one is actually an older barn he tore down, moved, and rebuilt. Eaves' are clustered behind his house. Eaves' farm began with his small shotgun house where he "batched" until his marriage when he had a bungalow built. He built the numerous buildings on the farm, including a rat-proof barn (or crib), mule barn, cow barn, weighing shed, blacksmith shop, saddle shop, smokehouse, and equipment sheds. Although neither of these farmers makes his own syrup now, there are scattered working syrup mills in the region; however, the majority are pulled by tractors instead of mules. In the past, split-rail snake fences were used to protect cultivated fields from open range livestock, but today's traditional farms use wire fences, and open range is rare. Today's small farms also have miscellaneous, often crudely constructed, shelters for hogs and chickens, with the later custom of penning livestock and the increase in the popularity of chickens. After the plain single or double pen log cabin, the most common farm house type in early rural North Louisiana was the dogtrot, a double pen house with an open hall separating the pens. Chimneys were located outside at both gable ends and a porch was often attached (Wright 1956: 27-28). Shed rooms or L-additions might be made on the back of the house. With the coming of the sawmill in the late 1800s, many dog trots were built with machined lumber rather than logs. A few log and many frame dog trots are still present in North Louisiana (Martin 1983). Most of the dog trots (halls) have been enclosed to facilitate more efficient heating in those still inhabited. The most common house type in rural North Louisiana today (with the exception of the typical brick suburban home) is the bungalow, which is two rooms wide and two or more rooms deep with forward facing gables. A fence, rived paling of 19th century farms and wire of the 20th century, sometimes enclosed the house and yard which was swept clean and kept grass-free with homemade broomsedge, switch cane, or dogwood brush brooms. With the development of the power mower, grass lawns came into vogue; however, there are a few dirt yards remaining in North Louisiana, such as that of Miss Jesse Kendricks, near Homer, and Mrs. May Owen, of Point, who still uses her brush broom for yard sweeping. Some small town yards such as David Allen's are still clean swept (Figure 5). The country store, a vital part of rural communities in providing essential products and a daily social center for dominoes and conversation, is often a type of folk architecture. Usually the store is of a shotgun or bungalow style (Pulliam and Newton, 1973). Country churches were also frequently built with traditional patterns without architects. Although many of these traditional buildings have been replaced with brick buildings, quite a few remain.
Farming And Animal Husbandry You learned those things being raised on a farm, not only having those things but learning them and seeing what the fundamental parts of life was all about. This is the part of life you can live with what God gave you, the natural things of life. -- Alvia Houck You know, out in the field growing something, you're close to God and it makes you think about life and death. I stand there and pray the Lord will give a good crop. -- Sarah Albritton
The small farmer after the Civil War until the 1930s actually may have been relatively better off than the planter in north central Louisiana. What little cotton he grew yielded him more net cash proportionally than the planter's huge crop (Shugg 1939: 255-256). Subsistence farming was common in some hill sections of Louisiana until the 1930s when highways and technology made commercial agriculture more feasible (Kniffen 1968: 140). A few such farms remain operated by the older generation. Several factors have affected the operation of farms in the region. Many farms were left after World War II with no younger generation to operate them. Often the younger farm residents turned to developing industry, perhaps lumber or oil, for jobs. Some of the hill farmers sold land to timber companies (Highsmith 1964: 29-31). In fact, today, timber companies own some of the largest tracts of land in the area. Ultimately, transportation did even more to change the face of North Louisiana. Networks of railroad and highways created new towns along their routes and bypassed others, leaving them to wither away. New towns provided opportunities for rural residents to find new jobs in industry and commerce. Many people from rural backgrounds moving into these jobs brought their belief systems and their folk traditions with them. Although some of these traditions would not be needed in the towns, memories of these were retained; other traditions such as gardening and food preserving were maintained in spite of the urbanizing effects of transportation and communication. Some of the remaining farmers today began as sharecroppers. Jewel Davenport remembers how his family after years of sharecropping finally got enough money to buy forty acres of their own land. While north central Louisiana farmers in the past were practically self-sufficient (Lockett 1969: 47-48) and dependent predominantly on farming for their livelihood, few people today draw their complete support from farming. Farmers like Alvia Houck, Pat Otwell, Clonie Otwell, Abie Colvin, and Jewel Davenport have worked in a variety of occupations from oil jobs to highway work to truck driving. Following the example of their families before them, they were not able to totally give up farming. Rather they have continued traditional farming techniques and raised a wide variety of crops and animals. Popular crops grown in north central Louisiana include several types of peas -- purple hull, California pink eye, black-eyed, crowder, speckled, lady, little cream, and red rippers just to name a few -- field corn, sweet corn, sweet and Irish potatoes, string beans, butter beans, cabbage, turnip greens, collards, tomatoes, cucumbers, hot and bell pepper, watermelons, and cantalopes (Figure 1). Many farmers also often have small orchards and vineyards including fruits such as peaches, pears, apples, plums, and muscadines. Although some of the farmers have been influenced by the agricultural extension service, many of today's farmers such as Annie Rene Harris and Jewel Davenport follow traditional practices of planting by the signs. In general, according to Mrs. Harris, "Anything that grows under the ground, you plant dark nights; on top of the ground, plant light nights. Three days before the full moon and three days after, that's a good time to plant anything that grows on top of the ground. Under the ground, plant before the new moon." Based on his experience, Jewel Davenport, who learned from his mother to plant such crops as peas when the moon was full, thinks the planting by the signs can make a difference in the success of a crop. Most farmers use the Ladies Birthday Almanac, still provided free in many drug and general stores in the area, to check the stages of the moon. In addition to traditional planting times and techniques, cultivation and harvesting have certain traditional techniques which are learned through example and practice on the farm. Most of these techniques are accomplished with old commercial equipment still in use on older farms (see Figures 1 and 2). Many farms still use mules, horses, or donkeys for plowing with this equipment; most older farms choose mules over tractors even when they own tractors because the animals can do a "prettier" job. A mule or horse can get closer to the young plants without damaging them and consequently, do a better job. They can also get into the corners of the small fenced garden, a feat which a tractor cannot do. Along with traditional farming techniques, farmers must also be familiar with animal care practices (Figure 3). Farmers such as Victor Tabor, Homer Eaves, Richard Bryant, and Annie Rene and Walker Harris still have a number of animals on their farms, including mules, horses, cows, pigs, donkeys, chickens, ducks, guineas, geese, dogs, and cats. Each animal has its own requirements for health and food and its own set of ailments, many of which are cured right on the farm without veterinary help. Some farmers such as Dennis Clark, of Spearsville, are known for having a knack for healing or dealing with animals. Many old cures for healing certain problems have been handed down along with techniques for dealing with difficult births (Figure 4). Expertise in this area is highly valued, as is talent for breaking horses or mules to ride or plow.
Farm And Domestic Crafts If you've seen anything done once, you can do it if you're interested. -- Howard Henry
I don't throw away nothing; whenever a thing's too ragged for one thing, make another one out of it. -- Annie Rene Harris
In the 19th century, all members of the agricultural spectrum -- planters, yeoman farmers, sharecroppers, and poor black and white farmers -- relied to a large extent on handmade tools and other items used in farm operation and in the home. Usually farmers made these themselves, or obtained the services of another more skilled member of the community. In the case of slaveholders, slaves were often taught the necessary crafts needed for the farm and home. Many of these crafts have been passed on to surviving generations of blacks and whites in north central Louisiana. A number of the traditional crafts found take advantage of the natural environment and by-products from cultivation or other domestic activities so that little is wasted. The forest provided white oak for baskets, which were made in large sizes for cotton or small for gathering and storage. Today white-oak baskets are still made; however they are more likely sold to community members who use them for nostalgic decorative purposes. White oak also still provides wood for handles as do pine and other woods. Carved walking sticks are another favorite wood item and may be made from hickory, gum, willow, or other small saplings. While whittling itself is a traditional pastime, some of the forms made are visionary rather than traditional, especially among black carvers such as David Allen, who carves walking canes using a number of motifs which may occur to him in dreams or in imaginative visualization. Along more traditional and functional lines, some farm equipment such as plows and singletrees are still homemade by farmers such as Dennis Clark and Victor Tabor. Boards (or shingles or shakes) are still rived from cypress and pine to be used for roofing small sheds; however, the prevalent roofing material is sheet iron. A few woodcarvers such as Truett Moore can make bowls (for kitchen use) from maple or tupelo gum. In general, those who continue a woodcarving tradition can make a variety of traditional functional objects and toys and also may attempt to copy modern or commercial forms as well. Some farmers continue to grow gourds to fashion into birdhouses, dippers, scoups, and storage containers. Said to ward off snakes, gourds are also grown just for decorative and traditional purposes. Corn crops also furnished cornshucks for making mule collars, whip crackers, chair bottoms, or hats; today only a few people such as Nonie Waters, Leola Simmons, and Dennis Clark have knowledge of these crafts. Although farms in the past also provided raw materials such as leather from cowhide and cotton from fields for crafts such as whip-making and chair-bottoming or quilting, today these materials must be purchased. Blacksmithing crafts are slowly disappearing with only a few blacksmith shops remaining on farms such as Homer Eaves'. Mr. Eaves still uses his forge to sharpen plows and in the past constructed tools such as hoes, logging grabs, and other farming equipment. Interestingly, most of his iron for blacksmithing came from old automobile parts, which he structured into new forms. In many respects domestic crafts have fared better than farm crafts. Probably the most popular, quilt-making, is done in both rural and urban areas. In earliest days of the area settlement, thread was spun and fabric woven and dyed for clothing. Scraps of cloth left over from this and from purchased cloth were saved to piece patchwork quilt tops, which would later be quilted by women in the family or community. Today, most traditional quilters continue to save remnants from sewing or factories; consequently, many of the newer quilts are made from polyester knit rather than the traditional cotton. Church groups, senior citizens, homemakers' groups, and friends still get together for quilting; however, for the most part, quilting has become a solitary pastime like the piecing of the quilt was previously. Other forms of needlework such as crocheting, hairpin lace, tatting, and embroidery are still done today. Although some women learned these crafts only with the aid of printed instructions, most frequently, they learned by observation and individual tutoring. Today needle crafts have been so much influenced by the popular commercial patterns and instruction books that it is often difficult to separate the popular from the traditional forms. In the midst of the popular crafts craze of today, it is not surprising that traditional crafts remain as strong as they are. Many older craftspeople attribute their continuing practice to their inability to just sit and do nothing; they have a great need to "keep the hands busy." Many craftspeople do make distinctions between the traditional crafts and the more transient popular ones; as quilt-maker Moselle Durrett sees it:
Foodways My first memory of making biscuits, I was so short I couldn't reach the cabinet. My mother fixed me some- thing to stand on. She fixed the well and put the staff in there and let me mix it up and take them [the biscuits] out. Gradually I got to where I could do the whole thing. -- Maxine Otwell
Subsistence food crops for early settlers included corn, sweet potatoes and black-eyed peas, green vegetables, sugar cane for syrup, free -ranging hogs and some cattle (Shugg 1939: 44; Kniffen 1968: 139). Although the foods are no longer relied on for subsistence, they are still a large part of the north central Louisiana diet in rural areas. The diet has often been accused of having too much fried food. As early as 1869, geographers Samuel Lockett's account voiced this complaint about the piney wood food in Louisiana:
Chances are that Lockett was visiting in a season other than summer, for in that season, vegetables are often the staple of the rural North Louisiana diet, even today as reported in a 1981 editorial in the Shreveport Times:
For special occasions such as Sunday dinner, fried chicken, chicken-fried steak, or pork chops might be added to the above menu, and other types of beans (string, pinto, pole), or peas (speckled, black-eyed, cream, lady, or English) served with homemade tomato sauce, chow-chow and/or cucumber or peach pickles, and corn (cream style or corn on the cob) could be included. Often raised in home garden plots, these foods and other vegetables in various combinations are common today in rural white and black families and in urban ones if vegetables are available. These may be served throughout the year now with the aid of home freezers and traditional canning. Freezing, and to a lesser extent, canning, preserving, and drying out of vegetables and fruits are domestic chores still widely practiced by women such as Sarah Albritton and Maxine Otwell, in the summer in rural and small towns in North Louisiana. Although fewer hogs today are butchered and cured on the farm as in earlier years, farmers still choose to butcher their own hogs, smoke their own pork, and make their own sausage and scrapple, a variant of hogshead cheese (Figure 12). Even in homes which do not butcher their own hogs, such traditional meats as cracklins and chitlins, available at local processors and grocers, are prepared. Wild game including such "delicacies" as fried or stewed squirrel, fried quails, venison (usually fried), barbecued "coon", roast "possum" with sweet potatoes, and fried fish and boiled crawfish are still served occasionally, primarily in hunting and fishing families near the forests, lakes, and rivers. Often the game obtained is used as a special celebration meal -- a fish fry or a barbecue. The wilds also furnish a variety of berries and fruits which are a valued part of the north central Louisiana diet. These include black berries, dew berries, elder berries, choke berries, muscadines, scuppernongs, and mayhaws (Figure 10). Gathering or picking these fruits is often considered an important seasonal family endeavor also, with both husbands and wives taking part. The foodways of the hill country are perhaps the best preserved traditions in spite of the influx of packaged convenience and fast foods and other ethnic dishes which are also popular. The introduction of these new items has added more variety to menus, but traditional dishes and their preparation have hardly been affected.
Fishing, Hunting, And Trapping One time I gigged a 132 pound gar...and I couldn't handle it. I was in a little paddle boat, and I had some neighbors, Archie Wilhite and Charlie Barkley. I came out and got them to help me. I had him tied to a swinging oak limb in the backwater. He'd go this way and that way...When I got a hold of my gig, he come up to the top, and Barkley gigged him with his gig and wrestled with him for a while round there and rolled him over in my boat and brought him to the bank...He was big as a man...We went down there and got him with a wagon and brought him to the house and dressed him out, got what we wanted, and give all the neighbors some...We fried that; you can't cut it where it doesn't have a bone in it, a tall. They got a rib cage there and they got a wide strip by the stomach and then they got a wide part on the backbone -- what I call the tenderloin --not a bone in that; you cut it off the backbone, cut the ribs off of it, and cut it straight crossways in little thin strips. You talk about something good to eat -- that is! -- Howard Henry One night we went [coon-hunting] and they [the dogs] treed, and we made a fire and lay down and went to sleep, and a wolf come and started dragging my daddy off [by the britches leg]. He dragged him off to this tree over there; then he woke up and said "Eeee, get 'em, dogs." Them dogs was running trying to catch that wolf. That wolf got in the creek; he swim all the way down that creek. He was skimming that water! He looked like that dog; he was brown and got a big bushy tail like a fox. -- Hugh Lee Cooper
Given the numerous lakes and creeks and the dense forests, perhaps the most popular pastimes for many in north central Louisiana are fishing and hunting and the telling of their resulting stories and tall tales. These sports may be social events in which several family members or neighbors take part, or they may be solitary endeavors in which the individual matches wit with nature. Many people in the area are practically obsessed with these sports, hailing back to times when the settlers relied on them for food. As Annie Rene Harris put it: "I've got one son, all he ever does is look cross-eyed at the creek. Everytime, he can come back with a foot-tub of fish." Fishing remains a popular traditional sport of all economic classes; the gear changes with the finances and the intent. Blacks and whites alike (often in whole families) converge on nearby lakes, rivers, or creeks to bank fish using simple cane poles with catalpa worms for bait. Many others with large bass motor boats and rods and reels fish area lakes in the popular bass tournaments. Some commercial fishing is still done in the area with hoop, trammel, and gill nets. Usually, as in the case of Howard Henry and his son W.T., fishing income is only a supplement to another job. A few fishermen like the Henrys continue to make much of their own equipment such as traditional hoop nets and boat paddles. Their hoop nets today usually have a fiberglass or rubber hose hoop instead of the traditional white-oak hoop; however, the form and the techniques for weaving the nets are the same. Boatbuilding, although becoming rare, may also be found with the most common traditional form being the "little john boat," an approximately twelve-foot long skiff made of cypress milled lumber sealed with tar. Boat builders such as Cecil Tiddwell, a retired carpenter from Wilhite, built boats for himself and community members such as Howard Henry. In Mr. Henry's father's generation, most people built their own boats rather than having a specialist build them. Trapping and hunting which sustained the first settlers in the region are still practiced although they no longer provide a sole livelihood. Many other retired farmers such as Clonie Otwell and some younger people continue to trap coons, mink, nutria, bobcats, and other small game for their hides. A few hide traders such as Roy Bayles will purchase the hides for marketing. Old commercial steel traps are the preferred method of trapping, and the traditional methods of tracking the animals and setting the traps are still practiced (Figure 9). More popular, hunting has the most avid followers. Crafts associated with the various types of hunting are also practiced in the region. However, the traditional decoys prevalent in central Louisiana do not seem to have had wide use in the north central area. The few decorative decoy carvers in the area have learned carving from books and workshops. According to area hunters, decoys were not necessary for hunting in the earlier days when ducks and covers were plentiful. A few good carvers like Truett Moore and Homer Eaves do, however, make gunstocks, usually to replace a commercial one. Other paraphernalia such as turkey callers made by Lonnie Gray and duck callers are reviving in popularity. Still used and made today, the hunting horn or blowing horn for calling dogs is an especially important piece of hunting equipment which must be carefully burned out, scraped, and sanded to produce a good sound. One of the most important elements of the hunt in the area is the hunting dog, which has been bred for specific game since the days of the early settlers. Different breeds of hounds, such blue tick, red bone, and black and tan, are used to hunt deer, foxes, and coon. A variety of bird dogs, including retriever, setter, pointer, and spaniel breeds are highly valued for hunting duck, quail, and dove. Hunting small game, sometimes termed "varmits" such as squirrel, possum, rabbit, or armadillo, usually requires a "fice" or "feist" dog, a mixed breed, which is bred and trained to run or tree game. While their size and color can vary, typically, fice are smaller than these other breeds, averaging 12-24 inches tall, and may be white with black spots (or maybe brown spots), similar to a Jack Russell terrier. Probably the most highly regarded today is the Catahoula cur hog dog, a breed developed especially in Louisiana to round up and pen free-ranging wild hogs. Today, the Catahoula cur (sometimes called hound today) is also used for herding, hunting (especially deer), and guarding as well.
Verbal Arts And Oral History I want to tell you a story about some cold weather we had up there one time -- about two years ago it got real cold. A fellow had a pond right close to his house there and late that evening -- it was a real cold day -- a flock of geese come over and stopped in his pond to spend the night, and it got real cold that night and everything froze over, and this fellow decided he would go down there the next morning and shoot a few of them geese. He got down there, and their feet was froze in that pond and they couldn't fly. They got to flapping their wings, and he got to shooting at them, and they finally got to flapping their wings together and they flew off with his pond. -- Lonnie Gray
Although tall tales such as the above are not told as frequently as they once were, storytellers such as Lonnie Gray, from Bernice, still enjoy telling them. In addition to hunting and fishing narratives, jokes and tall tales, other traditional verbal arts are also common in the area. Talking and visiting are especially valued among rural neighbors and families and take place in the home and community centers such as the general store and church gatherings. Gossip and personal anecdotes are the most common sociolinguistic genres which occur in the conversation. Many older folks especially enjoy reminiscencing about their early days and traditional lifestyles. Many are also aware that their memories are important as oral history. Artist DeCinter Farley has begun painting her memories in an attempt to further preserve this history. Her paintings then become visual cues which evoke personal narratives such as the following:
Narratives such as this round out local history by providing social information on children's play and the importance of religion. Mrs. Farley's memories of other traditional farm activities such as hog-killings, syrup-making, and cotton-picking along with others' accounts of folk traditions including quilting bees, log rollings, house dances and play party games provide details of work and play in daily life during earlier days in the region. These accounts and the stories of local characters, legends, and events serve to complete the historical picture of the region. In addition to farming oral history and stories, there is also a wealth of verbal lore surrounding the petroleum and timber industries, which are quite important to north central Louisiana. In particular, drilling and logging were occupations which were learned and passed on in a "hands on" folk process. Partly because of the difficulties and excitement inherent in them, these occupations are especially rich in their own esoteric verbal lore and jargon which is passed on within the occupation. Ex-loggers like Merritt Robertson, of Litro, have stories ranging from handling ornery mules to felling giant trees; oil men like Merritt Robertson, of Luna, now retired, can explain the basic oilman's vocabulary. The language in which these stories are told still exhibits many non-standard constructions ("used to could," "ain't never,") and pronunciations (middle English for it-- "hit," and a distinctive drawl). The regional dialect is still predominantly southern with basic difference between black and white speech. Vocabulary seems fairly standard to southern speech although a few unfamiliar usages were observed; for example, the verb to follow is used in black communities to mean to accompany or to go with. A most interesting word is also used in the black communities to refer to old fashioned, traditional practices or beliefs -- old folksism or also called old folkyism. It, no doubt, stems from the same root as folklore, and could perhaps be a mispronunciation of folklorism; however, it seems unlikely that this would be the case since the users of the word remembered the word as one they heard all their lives. At any rate, there does seem to be a correlation between the academic use of the word folklore and the folk term old folksism, a coincidence which merits further linguistic research.
Secular Music Somebody give a dance and they would take down the beds in the front room and sprinkle meal on the floor for easy moving. -- Hugh McGee In my family there was a lot of fiddle-players. My daddy played a little bit, my grandpa's on both sides of the family played a little bit. I had a great uncle and cousins that all played a little bit. But I heard fiddling all my life but I started out playing a guitar when I was about seven years old; I sawed around on it. I never did try to play a fiddle till I was about thirteen. -- Fred Beavers How I got started, I was sittin' around and I heard a girl -- she had a little music talent -- she played a little old song about "Hattie" and I learned it. From then on I went on playing...I ain't never taken a lick of music lessons. I used to play for white people when I was working for wages by the month on the farm.-- Mitchell Shelton
The play parties or house dances popular in the early days in north central Louisiana usually had music provided by a fiddle and a guitar. Somewhat later mandolins and basses were added to make a four-piece string band. Every community seemed to have a small group of musicians. These bands often consisted of several family members. For example, the Beckham family band included Roy Beckham on fiddle, his sisters and one brother on guitar, and a brother on piano. The waltzes, breakdowns, and reels hailed from the British Isles. Both square dancing and round dancing was common at these events although many Baptists frowned on it. According to reminiscences of Eva Colvin and Lula Revels, one could be thrown out of the church for dancing. Nevertheless, this did not stop even the preacher's children from participating. Eta Crowell, who played bass violin with the family band, also learned a number of ballads and parlor songs from her father. Today this ballad tradition has all but disappeared from the north central area; however, the breakdowns and waltzes are still performed by old-time country musicians such as Bill Kirkpatrick, Fred Beavers, fiddlers; Lesley Raborn, mandolin; and guitarists Tracy Tyler, Verley Carr, and Gene Harper. Today these musicians no longer play for house dances. Instead they "jam" together at each other's homes in much of the same fashion as the earlier "shade tree" and "front porch pickers" used to do. Some musicians such as Fred Beavers join country western bands to play for dances such as the "over 50 dance," held monthly for senior citizens. Although it is rarely used in string band, the harp or (harmonica) is still a popular instrument for playing traditional country and gospel tunes. Often the harp is played alone (see Figure 14) for self or family entertainment. Other musicians including Lawrence Rippertoe who plays both harp and fiddle like to have a guitar to play "second" (Figure 15). The old-time musicians still playing today have been heavily influenced by blues, minstrelsy, jazz, popular music, and by radio, especially the Grand Old Opry, which began in 1925. Out of this music came western swing, contemporary country-western, and bluegrass, which are still highly popular in the area today. Bluegrass festivals held during the warm months throughout north central Louisiana, draw hundreds of fans, and many new musicians who learn to play primarily in the folk tradition from other musicians. The music is both learned from other musicians in the festival or jam context and from records. The bluegrass festival is noted for its wholesome atmosphere in which no drinking or drugs are permitted. Also popular in the area are the "country music shows" such as Ruston's Wildwood Expres, Homer's North Louisiana Hayride, and Shongaloo's Red Rock Jamboree which are modeled after the Louisiana Hayride in Shreveport (Figure 17). These shows feature mainly country-western music with a touch of gospel and rock & roll. Dancing is a rarity although the Homer Hayride is followed by a dance. Although blacks in the past participated in the Anglo-country music tradition, they popularized another traditional music form -- blues. Some musicians such as Charles Ellis Dawkins, harp player, play both blues and country music (see Figure 16). Today few country bluesmen remain in the area. One form, which seems to have disappeared, is fife music. David Allen remembers how to make the flute-like instrument which he calls "quill;" however, the last quill-blues player he remembers, "T-bone" Smith, died several years ago. Many who formerly played blues have switched entirely to gospel music, feeling that blues was a negative type of music. Eighty-year old Mitchell Shelton disagrees with the idea however: "I don't think it's any harm in playing them [the blues]. God likes music himself. My suggestion is this -- God likes all music; it's just what you use it for." Today Mr. Shelton plays blues guitar and sings mainly for himself at home, although he sometimes joins some local white youths who are learning to play blues from him and also sings gospel with his wife. The younger blacks throughout the area have turned primarily to popular music, although a few rhythm & blues groups can be found. Many of the younger groups such as the Sensational Golden Wonders show much rhythm & blues influence in their instrumental and vocal styles. Country music, along with blues, was moved into the bars or "honky-tonks" in the twentieth century when rural people began to move into the cities for work in industry. This changed the image of both forms of music, causing the music to be regarded with some ambivalence by its original adherents. Nevertheless, today's audiences for both types of music with their more recent developments prove them to be some of the most popular entertainment in the region.
Religion And Family
And the next day, he carried me over to a pool, a pond and baptized me. He said, "Well, this is the first one I've baptized, and I've baptized a hardshell preacher." He walked out to the water's edge, and he said, "Here's y'all's gift to the church. We'll start using him." I was just a gift to the church as a minister. -- Hilton Mercer
The religious practices of the Scotch-Irish who settled in North Louisiana were according to the specific Protestant denomination. Generally, Protestants in the area have been evangelical fundamentalists of mainly Baptist and Methodist persuasion and a few Presbyterians. Many slave holders held religious services for their slaves who adopted their masters' religions with some modifications. Consequently, the majority of blacks in the area today are also Baptists and Methodists; however, their churches remain for the most part, separate from whites, although their traditions are similar. Early church meetings for the pioneers and the slaves before the war were often held in brush arbors and directed by an itinerant minister with little regard for denominational differences. However, North Louisiana communities were quick to build churches as soon as the population could support them. Even after churches were built, periodical revival and camp, or tent, meetings would be held in various regions, drawing crowds of all denominations from several surrounding communities. Often these ministers conducting these meetings and pastoring the churches were traditional folk preachers with a "call to preach" but with little formal education (Rosenberg 1970). Still today many fundamentalist ministers receive this "call." Some go on to seminaries after the call as did Rev. George Hood, pastor of Zion Hill Baptist Church in Grambling. Yet many such as Hilton Mercer and David Godwin, of the Primitive Baptist belief, began preaching soon after their call, their only training being Bible study within the church. Many of these folk preachers may have learned their techniques of preaching within the church they attended, but they believe that their inspired sermons are given to them by God, through the Holy Spirit: "We are just an instrument. The Holy Ghost is the comforter" (Hilton Mercer). A congregation can also tell if the preacher has been divinely inspired according to the way in which the sermon is delivered. "If you was gifted and really preached a sermon, then they ordained you; but if you got up there and talked and the spirit didn't hit you just right, they could tell" (Hilton Mercer). Generally, if the preacher develops a rhythmic, almost musical chant, he has the Spirit. According to Rev. George Hood, when he receives the Spirit, something outside himself takes over, and he may not even remember what he has said later. In spite of differences in preaching styles, belief, and doctrine among the different Protestant denominations, in general their services have much in common, reflecting their common backgrounds. Many community churches still maintain a complex of religion-related traditions which were common in frontier and plantation days. Sunday afternoon singing with "dinner on the grounds" can still be found. In fact, gospel singing, an important aspect of Protestant worship service, may be even more popular today with the expanding country-western music market. Often gospel singing ensembles are composed of family members who visit different area churches to "witness for Christ" through their music. Gospel techniques and four-part harmonies are usually learned at a young age through the oral tradition and hymnals (often still using the shaped-note system). At the turn of the century, many churches sponsored singing schools held by traveling music teachers who taught gospel music with the seven-note shaped system. Learning to sing in the church, Alvia Houck, of Hico, attended such a school in his youth in Hico. Today his eight children take turns singing with him in a gospel quartet. In regard to their abilities, Mr. Houck comments, 'The only thing I can say about it is that it was a gift from the Lord. He blessed with it...and he blessed me by my children having the talent to sing." Although the Houcks also sing some country music, their favorite is gospel music. There are a number of such family gospel groups in the area such as the Balls, from Ruston; the Fullers, from Eros, and the McCartys from Quitman. These groups perform at churches, gospel festivals, country music and bluegrass shows, and area benefits (see Figures 20, 21, and 22). Black gospel music includes much of the same music as white gospel since many of the songs were learned during slavery and were sung in the fields along with work chants. Often rhythms are different, and the African tradition of call-and-response will be used in the singing. This is most obvious in the singing of the "old Dr. Watts hymns," usually done after the devotional reading by deacons of the congregation. One of the older deacons may sing or chant a line of a hymn and the congregation will repeat it after him, line by line. These hymns which are usually quite slow are different from newer more upbeat songs usually accompanied by piano or organ, which feature soloist and choral selections. Music holds an important place within the black churches in the region as evidenced by the number of gospel fests, and other special song services. One reason for its importance may be that it, like a sermon, can evoke an ecstatic religious experience, an important feature in the Black church, which, no doubt, reflects an African influence. Black and white churches in many areas are also an important part of a complex of burial traditions. Older community cemeteries are frequently located at churches and are the focus of annual Memorial Day and Homecoming services. For this event, church and community members and families who have moved away gather to commemorate their dead with a religious service and an outdoor dinner, often followed by a "graveyard working," in which the gravestones are cleaned, grass trimmed, and flowers placed on graves. In earlier days before power mowers, graveyards, like yards, were kept free of grass by scraping with a hoe. Today, only a few are still scraped, although many older people today still prefer scraped graves because they "look nicer." In some mowed cemeteries, some graves are still kept clean according to a family member's wish. One such person left strict instructions that not one blade of grass be allowed on his grave. Consequently, his plot is the only bare spot in the cemetery (see Figure 23). Black cemeteries, like their churches, have remained segregated, and their graves are often decorated with bits of glass, broken clocks, and other symbolic objects in addition to traditional headstone markers. This practice may be based in African tradition (Vlach 1978: 139), as are many other practices in black religion from the emphasis on ecstatic religious practices to the institution of the burial society. Unlike the burial above ground in South Louisiana, graves in North Louisiana are below ground. Gravestones have changed from the crude red ironstone rock markers of the poor pioneers and slaves to the upright granite and marble headstones of later settlers and contemporary rural residents, although the modern Forest Lawn-type cemetery is becoming a burial choice of many today. Family plots in old church cemeteries were sometimes set apart with a wrought iron fence. Many early settlers, especially before there were nearby churches, established family cemeteries on their own land. Although some of these have been neglected and taken over by new forests, many of them are still conscientiously cared for by family members who make periodic visits, usually on Sunday afternoons (see Figure 24). This tradition of keeping the family together even in death remains strong. Even in modern cemeteries, family members are still reserving several adjacent plots to insure that they will be buried with their families. This importance of family is also apparent in other religious traditions, especially rituals such as funerals and weddings as well as holidays. Even though funeral rituals are now directed by funeral homes, funerals continue to be strongly religious occasions attended by the extended family of the deceased. In more rural areas, wakes are still occasionally held at the home or church of the deceased; however, this practice usually now takes place at the funeral home. Rural community members continue the tradition of bringing food on the days before the funeral for the bereaved family, so that the extended family can gather for meals before and/or after the funeral. Extended family meals are also common on religious and secular holidays such as Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, or New Years, and especially at family reunions (see Figure 25). Often Sundays are also a time for family visiting. During these visits, infants and young children are often the focus of attention, perhaps reflecting the culture's feelings on family perpetuation. This traditional emphasis on family and religion makes up an important part of the culture of North Louisiana and has, no doubt, functioned to maintain the rather conservative atmosphere in the area. This conservative nature of the region has, in turn contributed to the maintenance of many folkways today. While many poorer people have been forced by economic necessity to retain many of these traditions, some have chosen to cling to their folk traditions for other reasons. Some choose a more traditional lifestyle out of a sense of loyalty to their families or the past. Still others actually have an aesthetic preference for the older familiar forms which may seem more attractive than newer ways. Often these traditional forms and performances are thought to be more lasting and worthwhile. In many cases, folk traditions appeal to the basic thrifty nature of those who follow the "waste not" philosophy because many folk practices and forms rely on recycled materials. The questions as to why some folk forms and practices are in danger of disappearing while others have grown and been adopted in popular circles and which forms will be able to withstand pressures of mass culture can only be answered by future research and the passage of time. If the tradition bearers have it their way, these traditions will all be maintained. Indeed, some tradition bearers have passed their skills along to their children; yet others are saddened at the fact that none of their family has shown any interest in learning them. They feel that their heritage is a valuable gift from the past which they wish to pass along to the future. It will be up to the present generation to decide if it wishes to accept this trust. ___________________________ 1 Portions of this essay have been taken from my earlier essay, "Regional Folklife of North Louisiana." To appear in Spitzer, ed. Louisiana Folklife: A Guide to the State, Louisiana. Folklife Program, Office of Cultural Development, 1984.2 The quotations in each section have been drawn from taped interviews and field notes made during the North Central Louisiana Folklife Project conducted by Susan Roach-Lankford.3 For a detailed documentation of north central Louisiana folk architecture, see Martin, 1982, 1983, and 1984, which provide drawings, photographs, and listings of folk forms.
This publication first appeared as an exhibit catalog in 1984. Dr. Susan Roach is the Regional Folklorist for the North Central and Northeast Louisiana Regional Folklife Program at Louisiana Tech University.
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