Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Fall 2008 - (Page 51)

A Native American family watches sailing ships from the banks of the Mississippi River near New Orleans in a watercolor lithograph by Felix Achille de Beaupoil Saint-Aulaire titled Cours du Mississippi au dessous de la Nouvelle Orleans, dated between 1816-1826. Though the United Houma Nation today centers in Terrebonne, St. Mary and Lafourche parishes, at their initial 1699 meeting with Europeans the Houma lived in highlands just above present-day St. Francisville. Not until the early 1700s did they relocate to a bayou just outside modern New Orleans, and not until several decades after that did they become closely identified with the Donaldsonville (or “Lafourche”) area. The “three sisters” of corn, beans and squash reigned as staples of Houma upland diet, though the tribe supplemented them with other fruits and vegetables, birds and animals. Tribespeople enjoyed a rich and varied diet, and the French quickly noted this and relied upon these native foods during times of famine. For their part, the Houma initially equated food with hospitality and proper ceremonies. In 1699 Iberville traveled against the Mississippi current retracing the steps of La Salle’s 1682 downriver expedition. Unable to verify previous accounts and with the uneasy feeling that his Bayougoula guide deliberately avoided other tribes to prevent a French alliance with traditional enemies, Iberville decided to leave the river on March 20 and explore highlands stretching up from the riverbanks. Around 10:30 a.m. a small French and Indian party disembarked and met five men — three Houma and two Quinipissa — who had been attracted by signal gunfire. Around 1 p.m. they reached the village, where he met with a separate delegation of men who relieved the previous group. After proper ceremonies, this new delegation led Iberville’s party to three huts about 300 yards from the village, where they stayed until word came from the Ouga, or tribal leader, to enter the village. Using the time to observe his surroundings, Iberville mentally noted the village’s encirclement by large corn fields in valleys and on hills. Over the next few hours, he would note the abundance of Indian-corn sagamité, the diversity of nuts and melons the Houma ate, the use of ceremonial plants such as tobacco, and the healthy and well-fed appearance of those he met. Nor did he himself go hungry. Houma elders not only supported his arms as he walked to make sure he did not fall while in their care, but also made sure all their guests were well fed. An abundance of food equaled proper hospitality. The night Iberville’s party spent in the Houma village gave both French and Indians the opportunity to draw conclusions, though both groups were already known to the other. True, La Salle had sailed past the Houma in 1682 without stopping, but extensive trade and communication networks along the Mississippi ensured that the Houma knew not only about La Salle but, almost 20 years later, about Iberville and his priest behaving almost exactly the same way La Salle had. The earlier Frenchman and his shaman erected crosses and columns painted with French coat of arms as they sailed downriver in 1682, after which they made declarations and chanted. Natives of the region were very much aware of these structures and their sacred nature to the French, as evidenced not only by their non-molestation of the crosses but also by occasional protection, as when Indians of the Arkansas valley erected a protective palisade around one of La Salle’s blessed poles. Given the extensive trade and communication networks which characterized the Lower Mississippi Valley, even tribes far from the La Salle expedition would have heard about the visitors who chanted and sang around holy columns they erected and inscribed with sacred images. Now, this second party of visitors also carved the name of Jesus on trees and erected Fall 2008/LOUISIANA CULTURAL VISTAS 51 SUSTAINING THE COLONISTS Food and food preparation nourishes the soul just as it does the body, gives reference points for cultures, and illustrates ways in which “we” differ from “them.” Just as food can separate cultures, however, so it can bridge them. Though Louisiana is rightly known for the way its different foodways blended to produce a distinctive culinary tradition, often overlooked is the intersection of food and politics. In Louisiana’s colonial history, all forms of food, but particularly corn, played a vital role in parleys between European powers and the Houma, one of the staunchest allies of both the French and Spanish. Foodstuffs bridged the cultures of the French and Houma in their first 1699 meeting, both as a form of hospitality and as a means of crossing religious boundaries. A few years later, food served as the impetus to send the first European settlers to Bayou St. Jean, near where the Houma lived at the time. Along with other tribes, they supplied New Orleans markets and contributed to the city’s food economy, but eventually this power balance flowed in the other direction as increasing number of European settlers usurped Houma food production and shattered longstanding culinary bonds. Through their history, foodways both reflected Houma culture and influenced their interactions with the French and Spanish.

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Fall 2008

Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Fall 2008 Contents Friends Editor’s Column Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities New Orleans Immortelle The Historic New Orleans Collection Highland-Fairfield: The Historic Heart of Shreveport The Ogden Museum of Southern Art Perils of the Mississippi River Louisiana Foodways Harvest of Life King Oliver: The Forgotten King of Jazz Louisiana Architecture Jazz Notes Louisiana State Museum Eye of the Storm Louisiana Association of Museums Soul Resin Bookstand Sound Advice Forum

Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Fall 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.