Louisiana Creole people

Distressed by all these newcomers, who, though French, weren't of the Creole culture, the government gave them land in the southwest part of Louisiana, near the swamps and bayous and grass prairies that hadn't been settled yet.

These Acadians, now commonly referred to as Cajuns, made a life for themselves under these difficult conditions, creating an entirely different culture than the Creoles in New Orleans.

Though both were French-speaking and relatively close in distance to each other, They were worlds apart.

They were somehow able to maintain these unique identities for over a hundred years, each with different dialects and customs, food and music.

¶¶ ¶¶ ¶¶ ¶¶ ¶¶ Well, I'm just a lonely boy And I'm about to lose my mind

The song wasn't really a hit, but it did give Clifton a calling card when he traveled up and down his circuit.

He played shows from Lafayette to Houston, entertaining all the black Creoles who had immigrated to Texas looking for better paying jobs.

His music was a unique blend of that modern electric blues mixed with that la-la music he had grown up with.

Let's talk about this.

Tell us about your great-grandfather, who was the legendary Creole musician Alphonse Boissek-Adoin.

Absolutely.

So Alphonse Boissek, which means dry wood, is my great-grandfather.

Now, of course, has gone on but has left a tremendous legacy behind.

My great-grandfather is actually known for putting Creole music on the map.

Him and Can Ray Fontenot would travel around the U.S. and abroad and You know, people would come and sleep on his floor for weeks to jam with him, just to learn from him, just to sit with him.

And he was very well respected, and I knew him up until I was about 23 years old, whenever he went on to the next level.

In southern Benin, Togo and neighbouring regions, we encounter Vodun or Vodou among Fon, Yu, Aya and related peoples.

In Haiti, we encounter Vodou, a Creole religion formed in the extraordinarily violent social world of colonial Santo Domingo and post-revolutionary Haiti.

In 19th century Louisiana, particularly New Orleans, we encounter what historians conventionally call voodoo or voodoo.

Alongside these, but not identical to it, we find African-American hoodoo, conjure and rootwork, which I have a dedicated video on.

Here, the archive becomes frustratingly fragmentary.

Louisiana's African-derived religion

developed from multiple sources, including African-American traditions, Catholic Creole culture, West and Central African inheritances, and substantial migration from Santo Domingo and the wider Caribbean.

The most famous figure is of course Marie Laveau.

So some of the different tales that it came across...

Like somebody who was a Rougarou came across and basically has been inhabiting with the Creole people in Louisiana.

Also, too, a lot of Cajun folklore says that it, you know, it's like stocks a swamp.

And this is where you kind of have the two divergent stories that a Rougarou is a werewolf who can... like shift shape at will.

And has a lot of bayous, which people think bayous, they think swamps, but they're more like slow-moving waterways and wetlands, surrounded by wetlands.

So there's a Creole and Cajun culture there, Cajun cuisine.

gumbo, jambalaya, crawfish, beignets, which my kids just love, and New Orleans is famous for Mardi Gras.

That's called the pelican state, and the brown pelican is the state bird.

We certainly will, Peter.

Our journey will take us way beyond New Orleans to explore the fascinating history, foot-tapping music, and unique Creole culture of this great southern state.

We recommend a few road trips too, each one guaranteed to take you on the road less traveled.

Joining host Aaron Millar today are two guests, Jay Steiner, a Cajun food tour guide and historical interpreter at Vermilionville, a living history museum in Lafayette, and Wanderlust North America editor, Jackie Agate, a longtime aficionado of Louisiana's food, culture, and down south hospitality.

Can you give us a little bit of background on that? Like, what have you discovered on your explorations of L- of Louisiana?

Yeah.

I think the thing that struck me traveling through Louisiana is just how layered the culture is, how many different influences there are to Louisiana's culture, whether it's the Cajun, you know, Acadian, so kind of descendants of French exiles from Nova Scotia that made their way south and have created this very distinct, unique culture to Creole, which itself is such a blend of influences, indigenous French, Spanish, African, Caribbean, and the way that comes to life in the food and the music and the crafts.

I think it really is that mix, that stirring mix as we've, of, as we've mentioned, that kind of makes Louisiana so unique and you can taste it, you can hear it, you can see it, you can feel it through the, you know, the folk craft traditions.

It's the first time that story's been put out in such a way, free available to the whole world, wanting to spread our culture.

This year we have Cajun and Creole music.

We have a museum exhibit, we have heritage demonstrations, we have stage shows, we have educational symposiums, and we have a Rock the Rafters kickoff show at Tipitina's on Thursday night.

Can you walk us through some of the highlights of the lineup? Who are some of the big headliners performing and some of the lesser known acts that you're particularly excited about?

Well, first of all, we talked about some of the collaborations, right? We believe that to honor and respect the people who perpetuate our music and inspire a great future, you've got to give them resources, both financial but opportunity to grow in their talent.

So we talked about some of that.

Also in the Cajun and Creole tent, there'll be a museum exhibit on Cajun and Creole music history.

There'll be heritage programming there.

On today's show, two NPR reporters are out with a new book on Pope Leo XIV.

We dive into the details, including his New Orleans Creole ancestry, and we speak with a Baton Rouge weight loss specialist on the GLP-1 craze and why the drugs don't work for all body types.

But first...

Communities across Florida and Alabama are in cleanup mode in the wake of Hurricane Isaias.

He was an unlikely candidate.

All Things Considered host Scott Detrow, who was in St. Peter's Square that day leading NPR's coverage, had written down a question in his notebook, who is he? Shortly thereafter, reports revealed that Pope Leo XIV had deep ties to Louisiana.

His Creole maternal grandparents were from New Orleans.

Detrow and NPR senior editor of Religion and Spirituality, Daniel Burke, spent more than a year on a quest to find that out and have released a new biography called American Pope, Leo XIV's Road from the South Side of Chicago to Vatican City.