A Creole Success: Creole Culture Day
June 7th, in Lafayette, people celebrated Creole Culture Day at Vermilionville. An event that paid homage to the Creole culture that is still present in the state of Louisiana. This event gathered musicians, cooks, filmmakers, and culture bearers in order to educate people in and outside of the Creole community. This year, the event saw an increase in the number of guests with 1,225 guests compared to last year that only saw 885 people in total. A wave of people that Vermilionville has never saw for an event.
Creole Culture Day attracted people from everywhere, black, white, Creole, and non-Creole with vendors, an addition Colby Martin, manager of programming and education, saw as a hole in the programming. A few organizations even appeared such as NOLA Zydecofest, Chinbo Inc., and Holy Family Catholic School. Where visitors were able to learn about what each group had to offer.
For Clif St. Laurent, president of Chinbo Inc., the event was “Creole culture” with faces that were easily recognizable. One of those faces was Lauren Richard, cultural activist, who demonstrated her talent in the kitchen with corn maque choux (a classic dish in the Creole household). The Catalon family even awarded the Catalon Award to a remarkable member of our community, Dr. Ernest W. Kinchen Jr. who has dedicated his life to the preservation of the Creole culture and is an advocate of civil rights.
Lauren Richard (middle), her cousin Kaya Jones (right), and Ms. D (left)
Another important aspect of our culture is the language that we speak. During the event people had the chance to listen and speak Creole. There was a latab kréyol hosted by Herbert Wiltz, member of C.R.E.O.L.E. Inc., where people were able to learn and practice the language. Present was La Table Chantante hosted by Jolene Adam that helped introduce and remind people of the old Creole songs. Furthermore, Clif St. Laurent raffled Chinbo Inc. prizes all in the language. He said, “I refused to speak in English if I found out that a person knew how to speak. I found that out by speaking to everyone I saw either in French or Kouri-Vini. I even questioned a guy in Creole.”
Shelby Thibeaux & Drake Leblanc
Trying to connect the Creole culture of southeast and southwest Louisiana, Vermilionville added some activities that folks have never experienced. According to Colby martin, it was the first time in the history of the event that they showcased a mini-trailride, guided by Drake Leblanc and Shelby Thibeaux, that went throughout the village until they arrived at the Schoolhouse where Footwork, a film by Drake Leblanc, was projected. Another addition to the program was the 2nd line which allowed people to participate in an aspect of the Creole identity that is not celebrated in southwest Louisiana.
Even though the response to the event was primarily positive, some people saw ways to improve it. The first way is to increase the representation of the Creole community. Clif St. Laurent thinks that the language could have a larger role as well. That’s not to say that these aspects were not present, but nothing is too much when it comes to our culture.
