Meet 2023's Louisiana Tradition Bearers

A month shrouded in tradition, myth, and the lingering past—October makes quite the case for designated celebrations of Louisiana’s vibrant folk traditions. This year’s Louisiana Folklife Month, presented by the Louisiana Folklife Commission and Louisiana Folklore Society, will feature a slate of events to celebrate tradition bearers playing integral roles in keeping local heritage alive. This year’s honorees include:

Brunella Luke

Brunella Luke first encountered a traditional corn shuck doll—the origins of which can be drawn back to regional Native American traditions—at the Lagniappe on the Bayou Festival in the 1970s. The elderly woman making them, Thelma Duplantis, was a friend of hers, and could not keep up with the demand. Luke made an effort to go and learn the tradition directly from Duplantis—eventually feeling confident enough to start selling them herself, and even created distinct “personalities” and themes for the dolls beyond the traditional Cajun figurine, to extend to Halloween witches, nuns, couples, and more.

The effort of sourcing the materials and the physical toll of the work required Luke to retire in 2000, but her dolls—known for their exquisite detail—are now considered collectibles.

See Brunella Luke honored at this year’s Rougarou Festival on October 2 on the Atchafalaya Narrative Stage at 3 pm.

Layman Godwin

Layman Godwin got his first pedal steel guitar in 1942 at age ten, after years of listening to radio broadcasts of the Grand Ole Opry and the Royal Hawaiian Hotel on Waikiki. Teaching himself to play by listening to the radio and old records, he paid much of his way through college by playing in country bands around his hometown of Monroe, Louisiana. After serving for seventeen years as the Oauchita Parish Sheriff, his retirement in 1996 brought on a new life for Godwin, who could now dedicate his time to his true love: music. For the past twenty-seven years, he’s contributed to music projects around the region, playing everything from country to bluegrass—playing pedal steel with the Ouachita Valley Jamboree, the Twin City Jamboree, Verlie Carr’s Ward 5 Jamboree, the Wildwood Express country music show, and the Dixie Jamboree in Ruston—not to mention countless festivals, dances, jams, and more. For over fifty years, he’s also played in a band with Ouachita Parish’s tax assessor Rich Bailey called People’s Choice.

See Laymon Godwin honored at The Palace in Monroe during the October Downtown Art Crawl on October 5 at 6 pm, during which he will be interviewed by Dr. Susan Roach and perform a set with the Grassfire Band.

Darryl Montana

Celebrating fifty years as a Black Masking Indian in New Orleans’s Seventh Ward this year, Big Chief Darryl Montana carries his family’s tradition into the future. Montana is the great-great nephew of a member of the first documented Black Masking Indian tribe, the Creole Wild West of the late 1800s, and his father Big Chief Allison “Tootie” Montana, known as the “Chief of Chiefs,” is remembered for advocating against the violence incorporated into the tradition by his predecessors, shifting the focus onto the unparalleled artistry and design celebrated in the tradition today. Montana’s own expertise as a designer and bead artist has been recognized globally; his magnificent costumes having been exhibited everywhere from Santa Fe, to England, to Paris. Ensuring that the tradition does not end with him, Montana teaches workshops and beading classes to youth and adults through programs with Xavier University of Louisiana’s Community Arts Program and Louisiana State Museum.

See Darryl Montana honored at a ceremony at the Presbytere in New Orleans on October 13 at 2 pm.

Jan Collet Webre and Jill Collet Zimmerman

In the fishing communities along the Atchafalaya Basin, one long-adored family tradition has been the great making of a crawfish bisque. A laborsome and meticulous recipe that requires careful stuffing of hundreds of individual crawfish heads, the dish is found much less frequently in the St. Martin Parish communities than it once was—though many residents still treasure memories of eating the spicy soup at their grandmother’s houses on special occasions.

One family is determined to keep it coming, though, each year for the Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival. It all started twenty-three years ago, when Breaux Bridge resident Jill Collet Zimmerman (who also happens to be Country Roads’ Creative Director Kourtney Zimmerman’s mother-in-law), made ambitious plans to prepare the bisque for guests—only to be disappointed by a last-minute cancellation. The family and friends recruited to eat the lonely dish determined that they must have it again next year, and the year after that. Now an annual tradition hosted by Jill and her twin sister Jan Collet Webre, the crawfish bisque-making involves the whole family—in a style much like a traditional Cajun boucherie. Everyone plays a part in the stuffing, the chopping, the stirring, and the drinking as this massive (utilizing anywhere form 500-1200 stuffed crawfish heads), incomparable dish is prepared and slurped down.

See Jan Collet Webre and Jill Collet Zimmerman honored at a ceremony and demonstration at the 2023 Festivals Acadiens et Créoles Food Stage in Lafayette on October 14 at 12:45 pm.

Nicol and FJ Delphin

The importance of heritage and legacy have always been tantamount to Cane River, Louisiana couple Nicol and FJ Delphin. In the area, the Delphins are well-known for their deep knowledge of local Creole culture and traditions—ranging from quilting and sewing, to hunting and fishing; to foodways like hog roasts, and the drying of cayenne peppers. Their current project is an effort to restore the 205-year-old John Carroll Jones Plantation Home—which is significant for its Creole architectural design.

See the Delphins honored at the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame and Northwest Louisiana History Museum on October 21 at 2 pm, where Dr. Shane Rasmussen will interview them about their traditions and work.

Barry Chauvin

A singer/songwriter and storyteller from Edgard, Louisiana—whose debut album My Songs Are My Friends encapsulates a lifetime of listening well and observing closely, beginning beneath the oak trees of his childhood home. He has long been an advocate for emerging songwriters in the region—taking part in events such as the Mississippi Songwriter Festival, the Ozone Songwriter Festival, and the Overbrook Songwriter Festival—as well as co-producing and hosting his own songwriter support project, “Songwriter Sessions,” which features performances, YouTube interviews, and workshops for local artists. He is currently working with the Bayou Arts Council to establish a songwriter festival in Terrebonne Parish.

See Barry Chauvin honored at this year’s Bayou Arts Fest on October 28, on the Voice of the Wetlands Stage at noon.