NATCHITOCHES – The 18th Annual Louisiana Studies Conference was held this past weekend at Northwestern State University. The conference featured 36 scholars, creative writers and cultural authorities participating in nine separate panels. Conference participants came from Texas and Washington as well as throughout Louisiana. Several of the presenters were NSU faculty, students and alumni. In addition to the keynote presentation, some of the many topics discussed included Louisiana archaeology, archives, languages, law, foodways, history, indigenous peoples, literature, narratives and politics. Creative writers also addressed the conference theme, including poet John P. Doucet and playwright David Holcombe.
This year’s conference theme was “Remembering Louisiana.” The Saturday morning keynote, “The Dead Are Always With Us; To ‘Dance the Person Home’: Louisiana Creole and Cajun Memorialization Practices,” was given by Dr. Emily M. Goldsmith, instructor of English at Louisiana State University. Their presentation discussed their findings from the past three years of ongoing research about Louisiana Creole culture, language, literature and funerary practices.
“My cumulative findings highlight distinctive, and often creolized, communal and ritual practices: families ‘grieve as a unit,’ and death is marked as both mourning and celebration, with repasses featuring food, music and dance to honor the deceased and ‘dance the person home,’” said Goldsmith. “Other practices include directional placement of the body in hearses to prevent the dead from ‘looking back.’ Collectively, Louisiana Creoles are a distinct group of people and ethnicity with a vibrant culture, rich history and layered story. Death and remembering those who have passed on are aspects of our story.”
The awards ceremonies for the NSU Louisiana High School Contests—the18th Annual Essay Contest and the first Creative Expressions Contest—were also held at the Conference. Essay Contest first-place winner Emmy Habetz of Southside High School in Youngsville read her essay “More Than a Louisiana Champion,” followed by second-place winner Claire Hebert of the Louisiana School for Math, Science, and the Arts in Natchitoches who read her essay “This isn’t a foreign language; this is the language of your ancestors.” The third-place winner was Ellise Bryant of C.E. Byrd High School in Shreveport, whose essay was “Homer Plessy.”
First-place winner of the Creative Expressions Contest, Lauren Bright, displayed her original photo and read her descriptive essay “The Hidden Treasures of the Tammany Trace.”
Another Conference highlight was the world premiere of Alexandria playwright David Holcombe’s one act play “The Colfax Massacre.” Under the direction of NSU Professor of Theatre and Dance Pia Wyatt, the play was performed by NSU Theatre students Tyla Stewart, KeShaun Bridgewater, Ian Davidson and Caroline Losavio.
Conference co-chairs were Donna J. Baker, director of the Cammie G. Henry Research Center and University Archivist and Records Officer, Jason Church, chief of technical services at the National Center for Preservation Technology and Training, Daniel Gordy, associate professor of criminal justice and English, Dr. Charles Pellegrin, director of the Southern Studies Institute and professor of history and Dr. Shane Rasmussen, director of the Louisiana Folklife Center and professor of English. Church and Rasmussen also served as Conference programmers, with Church serving as chair of conference programming. Daphne Hines, director of publications, designed the conference program cover and poster developed around a photo by Goldsmith. Dr. Thomas Reynolds, head of the Department of English, Languages, and Cultural Studies and professor of English, and Dr. Fran Lemoine, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and professor of biology served as conference hosts. Marisa Dawson, administrative coordinator for the Department of English, Languages, and Cultural Studies, provided support. Louisiana Folklife Center student workers Cecilia Flanders, Jaime Perdue and Sylvia Ross kept the Conference running smoothly. Gordy and Ryan Wright served as Conference technical support. Flanders served as conference photographer.
The Conference was co-sponsored by the Louisiana Folklife Center, the Department of English, Languages, and Cultural Studies and the Northwestern State College of Arts and Sciences.
The 19th annual Louisiana Studies Conference will be held next September. For more information contact Rasmussen at rasmussens@nsula.edu or (318) 357-4327.
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Attendees at the 18th annual Louisiana Studies Conference held at Northwestern State University. Photo by Cecilia Flanders