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The peacefulness and beauty of the Atchafalaya Basin have inspired generations of Cajuns to attempt to make their living in the South Louisiana wetlands. Today, Faren Serrette is one of only a handful of men skilled in handcrafting the traditional wooden boats that once made life in the Basin possible.
Serrette, who balances his traditional skills as boatbuilder, musician, and carpenter with expertise as an oilfield instrumentation specialist, was born in Henderson in 1956, the sixth child of Milton “Noon” Serrette and Delores “Ti’ Lor” Allemand Serrette. When not exploring the Basin or doing farm chores, Faren enjoyed listening to the stories and songs of older relatives who frequently stopped by with families in tow. Visitors were always welcome to share some strong drip-coffee, and maybe some couche-couche or freshly caught crawfish. Music was inevitably a part of these large family gatherings, as the men of the family played what was then called
"French" music as well as other popular music, cultivating the love of traditional music that Faren continues to develop. Often, Faren would slip away from the boisterous family scene for some peace and quiet in the Basin with his Uncle Danny.
Faren grew up watching Henderson men building many different types of vessels. His grandfather Anatole Serrette was renowned in the Henderson area for his distinctive hand-built boats, and his techniques were handed down, first to Milton and later to Faren. Some of his earliest memories are of carving small boats from blocks of wood and floating them in the ditches when it rained.
The Serrette tradition of fine boatbuilding found an eager disciple in young Faren. Additionally, boats allowed the boys of the family to enjoy the life Milton passed down from his father and grandfather: fishing, crawfishing and trapping in season, camping in a houseboat or on the water, frogging at night, bass fishing when crawfish season was over, and hunting deer, ducks, and squirrel.
Faren Serrette's fascination with boats grew as his skill increased. As a boy, he began making small bateaux for hauling traps and catches in crawfish ponds. Resembling regular bateaux in shape, flat-bottomed with a "rake" (the curved end of the boat) in front and with a flat back, these miniature boats were pulled along like wagons behind the crawfishermen, carrying "set nets" and bait to the ponds and loaded with crawfish on the way home. Faren remembers that, either by luck or design, the boats, though usually tarred, always leaked just enough to keep the crawfish alive until they could be prepared for eating, freezing, or sale.
When he was thirteen, Faren was given a full-sized pirogue of his own by his Uncle Danny. The bottom of the boat needed work, so Faren taught himself how to take out the original bottom and make a new one. His success encouraged Faren to build his first full-sized pirogue, a more difficult boat to build than a bateau, at the age of fifteen.
Through the years, Faren continued to build more and better boats for his own use. But word of his skill spread, and in 1984 Faren and Milton were invited to build some examples of traditional Louisiana wooden boats for the World's Fair in New Orleans.
The father and son built a "putt-putt," so christened for the noise made by its old-fashioned inboard engine. A flat-bottomed long-rake boat, usually twenty to thirty feet long, the putt-putt was one of the first boats to be powered by inboard motor, and was Milton's primary means of transportation growing up in Butte LaRose. A large one served as the children's school bus.
After the fair, people began asking Faren to make cypress and plywood boats. His pirogues are especially noteworthy because they incorporate a stylistic element thought to have been created by Faren's grandfather, Anatole, but possibly dating back to earlier boatbuilding ancestors. The Serrette family boats are known for their distinctively curved head blocks. Although no one seems to know the reason for the curve today, it is thought that the design might have developed simply because it was unique and attractive, and because the extra degree of difficulty showed off the builder's skill.
For several years Faren Serrette was master boatbuilder at Vermilionville in Lafayette and has been asked to demonstrate his skills at festivals such as the Smithsonian Festival of American Folklife, the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, and the Madisonville Wooden Boat Festival. He was also one of a team that built a replica of an antique-style oyster lugger for the Center for Traditional Louisiana Boatbuilding at Nicholls State University.
More information about traditional boats of all kinds can be found by contacting the Center for Traditional Louisiana Boatbuilding at (985) 532-5106.
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