Aftermore than 25 years, it’s last call for theCajun
Cousinsband
Every Sunday for the past 25 years and 10 months, Cajun singer and songwriter Ivy Dugas left his home in Vinton
Herman Fuselier
at 8:30 a.m. and headed east on Interstate 10 for the one-hour and 40-minute drive to Breaux Bridge. Fellow members of the Cajun Cousins band, who lived in Orange and Winnie, Texas, Lake Charles and Mire,weren’tfar behind Band set-up began at noon
The three-hour dance started at 2p.m. before band members faced sunshine, storms,traffic jams or whatever awaitedon their treks back home.
When word got out thatthe band’sSunday routine was ending,Dugas startedseeing unexpected faces in the crowd
“A lot of musicians camein and gave their respect,” said Dugas. “Boy,that means alot Yousee some of the top-notch musicians of the day comingin that front door to hear youplay one more time. That’sanawesome feeling.”
Asellout crowd is expected Sunday when Jackie Caillier and the Cajun Cousins end their quarter-century runatLa Poussiere in Breaux Bridge. The 70-year-old club is considered to be the last of Cajunmusic’soriginal dancehalls.
Various health issues are causing the band to retireafter 28 years together
The retirement silences one of Cajun music’smost beloved bands, withhits like “The Gravel Road,” “Little Short Pants,” “Le Whiskey,C’est Mon Ami” and the crowd sing-along, “BO Sparkle Waltz.” The songs are gems among more than 100 originals Dugas has penned in his legendary career The often sentimental songs had La Poussiere owner Lawrence Patin enjoying the music as much as his customers.
“Ivy and Iare about the same age,” said Patin. “We remember the generationof our grandparents and how we grew up. Iremember going down the gravelroad andvisiting my grandparents.
“A lot of the songs he wrote are about those experiences. Good feeling stuff. It wasn’t about bar drunks and chasing women. It was good stuff, the toils of life,” he said.
Real-life toils have Dugas looking forward to freedom on Sundays and beyond. Before the COVID pandemic, Dugas was playing five times aweek with the Cousins and other groups. But radiation treatments during acancer bout brought on depression and took himoff the bandstand. Dugas returned when his health improved,but feelingsofbandstand burnout
ä See BAND, page 2G
THISARTFORM ISAPASSION
Meetthe MardiGrasIndianqueen and cybersecuritywiz whodesignedthe SuperBowllogo
BY DOUG MacCASH Staff writer
Tahj Williams saysshe’s notgiving up herday job. Even if herart career is blowing up and she could probably parlay her recentsuccessesintoa full-timeart career Williams,26, was commissioned by the NFLtocreate the officiallogo for Super Bowl LIX, and adesign to decorate thetickets to the big game coming up in her hometown on Feb. 9.
It was the opportunity of alifetime, with immediate international exposure.There’s astory about Williams in Essence magazine this month and innumerable other mediasources. If that weren’tenough, the folks at the Raising Cane’s askedher to producetheir 2025 Mardi Gras poster
Williamsiscertainly on aroll, but she’snot going to leaveher careerasa cybersecurityspecialist with Microsoft, where she says she “fixesalot of bugs and outages. She worked toohardtoget it to consider walking away
What’s aMardi Gras Indian?
Williams’designs forthe Super Bowl logo, thetickets andthe Cane’sposter might be abit bewilderingtopeople outsideofNew
Orleans. They’re notconventional graphic designs. Instead, they’re composed of intricate patterns of seed-sized beads, just like thedecorations foundonlavish MardiGras Indian costumes, called suits. The age-old Mardi Gras Indian traditionblendselementsofAfrican andNative American heritages. AndWilliams isn’tjust an artist inspiredbyBlack Masking Indians —asthe custom is also known. She’sa participant in theculture. Williams is aqueen of the Golden
Eagle tribe. These days, if she’snot at work swatting software bugs, she’s putting in hour afterhour after hour sewingher 2025 suit, whichshe’lldebutonMardi Gras morning. Each year,Black Indian Maskers makea new, unique suit It’sanenormous commitment of time.
‘I want to do that’
Williamsgrew up in Hollygrove. She thinks sheprobably got her artistic instincts from her mom, whoowned ahair-styling business. Williams went to theall-girlLouiseS.McGeheeSchool, where she was reportedly the only girl on the middle school football team, and captain to boot. As achild,she said,her family always setout on Mardi Gras morning to see the Black Indian Maskers dance, sing and compete with one another forthe mostspectacular suits. She was mesmerized the first time she saw afemale Indian masker.She still gropes to find the words forthe experience.
“I said to myself ‘This woman doesn’tevenlook real,’ she recalled. “She’ssobeautiful, out of sight. Whatever she’sdoing, Iwant to do that.”
ä See WILLIAMS, page 2G
BY ROBIN MILLER Staff writer
Louisianaisprobably best known for itsFrench and Spanish influences, but Swedish? Not so much Butthe Scandinavian country’sinfluence on thestate goes further back and deeper than many realize. Legendary opera and concert singer Jenny Lind visited New Orleans in 1851 and performed 13 sold-out concerts in the St. Charles Theatre.
The occasion not only holds a place in New Orleans history but also that of Louisiana’s Swedish culture. In fact, Cecilia Kjellgren, the honorary
Curious Louisiana to highlight this subject but also offered up examples of Swedish contributions to Louisiana’sculture and history “The very first Swede that landed here in NewOrleans met with the founding French father Jean-Baptiste, Sieur de Bienville,
PROVIDED PHOTOFROMTHE NFL
Queen Tahj Williams has created an intricately beaded Mardi Gras Indian patchfor the 2025 Super Bowl logo.
FILEPHOTO BY SOPHIA GERMER
Tahj Williams
Pomerania, Sweden. He landed in Biloxi, Mississippi, in 1721, the same year he would meet Bienville —who not only befriended the Swede but appointed him commandant of the German colony of Des Allemands, southeast of New Orleans.
Arensburg eventually modified his name to the more Frenchsounding Charles Frederick D’Arensbourg.
“He served as commandantfor morethan 40 years,” Kjellgren said. “He also fought with the French militia trying to scare off the Spanish, but they spared his life due to his old age —hewas 84 at the time.”
D’Arenbourg’slegacy doesn’t stop there.His great-grandson, Jacques Phillippe Villeré, served as thesecond governor of Louisiana after it became astate. Many came throughN.O
“The reason for finding Scandinavians in Louisiana is that New Orleans had the status of ‘Port to South,’ just as New York had in the North when it came toimmigration,” Kjellgren said.“One other main reasonisthe Scandinavians are aseafaring people, so many of them in the city were sailors when they arrived there.”
From the mid-19th century to the early 20th century,poverty forced 1.3 million Swedes to emigratetoNorth America. Many settled in the Midwest, while others began landing in New Orleans in the 1820s.
“During the Civil War, Louisiana had the only company witha Scandinavianname in theSouthern Army as awhole,” Kjellgren said.
The company was part of the Louisiana Militia’sChalmette Regiment,consisting of foreign volunteers, which was called to fight for the Confederacy between May 1862 and May 1863. Its Company A, called the “Scandinavian Guards,” was the only all-Scandinavian unit in the Confederate Army.Its membershipofsome 100 men consisted of Norwegians, Danes and Swedes.
Hammond’sSwedish link
In 1820, aSwede named Peter av Hammerdal moved from New Orleans to Ponchatoula and changed his name to the anglicized Hammond.
He eventually earned enough money to build atimber plantation, where he started alumber business that supplied New Orleans’ maritime industry.When the NewOrleans, Jacksonand Great Northern Railroadmade its way through Louisiana, a stop was named for Hammond’s settlement. It was called Hammond’s Crossing. Today,it’scalled the city of Hammond, and therailroad still makes astop there.
The railway was bought by Illinois Central, which is now owned by the Canadian National Railway Astate marker commemorates Hammond’sgravesite beneath an oak in his namesake city.
Kjellgren says Swedes are responsible for many of New Orleans’ “lavish and beautiful Mardi Gras decorations.”
“For over 40 years,wehad two prominent artistsfrom Sweden in charge of creatingand decorating thefloats duringthe golden age of Mardi Gras,”she said Krewes employ Swedishartists
According to online news site Daily Scandinavian, dailyscandinavian.com, “New Orleans parade design reached itspinnacle in the late 1800s through the work of two cosmopolitan Swedish artist-emigres Charles Briton and Bror Anders Wikstrom, which documentsthe Swedishconnection to Mardi Gras.”
Both designed fantastical floats withwhimsical confections.
Briton, anative of Gothenberg, Sweden, arrived in New Orleans in1865. Hisearliest designwas the ensemble tableau for the Comus ball in 1870. From there, he became the favorite designer
BAND
Continued from page1G
are rising again. Dugas remains gratefulfor decades of leading people to the dance floor to waltz and two-step to the band’saward-winning music.
“Wehad agood ride. Youlook back, you just can’tbelieveall this happened, in so quick atime.
PROVIDEDPHOTO
EduardMagnus’ 1862 portrait of JennyLind. P.T. Barnum sponsored an American tour for the singer,known as the Swedish Nightingale, which made astop in NewOrleans in 1851.
for krewes throughout the city, his creations including costumes and floats.
Briton died at age44in1884 while workinginhis studio in Exchange Alley.Wikstrom, Briton’s assistant, succeeded him and became known as the designer for Rex and Proteus.
TheNew OrleansMuseum of Art featured an exhibit of Wikstrom’sdesignsin2018.
Also on Kjellgren’s list is Swedish-born architect Gustav M. Torgerson, whodesigned the main buildingfor New Orleans’ 1884 Cotton Centennial Exposition,inwhat is now Audubon Park.
The building was the largest of its kind, its exterior echoing the towers, arches andturretsofthe LouvreMuseum in Paris.Its Music Hall at the center could seat 11,000 people in the audience and600 on stage.
Thebuilding was alsothe first at aWorld’sFair to feature elevators andelectric lights.
Then there’sSweden native andattorney Gustavus Schmidt, whocametoNew Orleans in 1830 andestablished the Louisiana Law Journal in 1841. It was thefirst journal not only in the state but the South.
In 1844, Schmidtestablished the Louisiana Law School, also a first forthe state.
Swedish-born artist Thure de Thulstrup, whose painting, “Hoisting American Colors, Louisiana Cession, 1803,” has beenoncontinuousexhibit at theCabildosince it has become apart of theLouisiana State Museumsystem.
Thulstrup was commissioned to paint this scene commemorating the transfer of the Louisiana Territory from France to the United States for the St.Louis World’sFair
What list of Louisiana Swedish notables would be complete withoutOlympic gold medalist and World Championpole vaulterMondo Duplantis?
Though borninLafayette, Duplantis’ mother is Swedish, andheholdsdual citizenship. He competed for LSU in college, but he competes for Sweden in Olympic and world competitions and is regarded as the greatest pole vaulter of all time.
StoryofSwedish Consulate
Kjellgren,herself, is aStockholm,Sweden, native, who has lived 30 years in New Orleans. She worked in Sweden’sMinistry of ForeignAffairs before moving to New York to work in the Swedish Consulate. Fromthere, Kjellgren and her husband movedtoNew Orleans, where theconsulateofSweden office was established in 1797. As indicated byKjellgren’stitle, the office is now classified as an honorary consul Through this office, Kjellgren promotes and shares her Swedish culture in the southernregion, just as she’sdoing now with CuriousLouisiana.
Do you have aquestionabout something in Louisiana that’s got you curious?Email your question to curiouslouisiana@ theadvocate.com.Include your name, phone number and the city whereyou live.
We started this present band in 1996,” Dugas said. “Wetried to keep it family-oriented. The majority of thewives were always with us. There wasn’t really muchofanything bad goingon.”
Herman Fuselier is awriter broadcaster and tourism director living in Opelousas. His “Zydeco Stomp” radio show airs at noon Saturdays on KRVS 88.7 FM and onlineat KRVS Public Media.
Amorning walk to take in thedetails of asunrise
BY PAUL CLIFTON Contributing writer
Human Condition
Iwalk the Southdowns neighborhood early mornings, just before daybreak, and have been for aquite awhile. Idonot jog because my back and knees say no, and they punish me when Iam insolent enough to ignore their directives.
Idonot wear earbuds when Iwalk, preferring to ease into thought, experience sounds —the faint thrum of the trucks on I-10; Canada geese, honking lustily, flying in ragged V-formations at treetop level as they make their way to the retention ponds at Rouzan; the spooky,throaty owl hoots, hidden in the tree crowns down by Bayou Duplantier where the neighborhood transitions from lawns and asphalt into alush riverine corridor The bayou’sriparian system runs acrooked west-to-east route on its way from University Lakes to its confluence with Dawson Creek. The trees, towering sentinels, are draped in poison ivy,cat briars and pepper vine, astretch of wild forming the southern boundary to the neighborhood. There is little traffic in the semidarkness. Sometimes asiren winds up from the Perkins Road Fire Station, areminder that Southdowns sits hard in the middle of south Baton Rouge. Cars ferrying students to Liberty High and St. Aloysius and Glasgow Middle and the LSU work crowd;
those that cut through from Lee to Stanford have yet to appear Dog walkers, some with bright LED safety lights, appear out of the darkness. From adistance all Ican see are the lights, piercing greens and reds, floating eerily above the street, one set of glowing bands of light high and one set close to the ground. Weaving bicycles approach and recede, headlights get bigger,brighter Red taillights get smaller and fade completely into darkness. Sometimes the cyclists wave or nod. Sometimes they do not, intent on the dark road. Cats, neighborhood Arguses with questionable intent, slink in and out of the shadows, thrown off by streetlights. Their sleek silhouettes cross the streets, pause and lower themselves closer to the asphalt in defensive postures
as Iapproach. They bolt into shrubbery as Ibecomecloser and watch me with unconcealed contempt as Ipass. Their eyes at times catch and reflect, just for an instant, the streetlights and glow asinister yellow neon.
The dogs, those that are not on the morning walk with their owners, are still asleep. Out of the east, acanvas of pink clouds appears as the sun rises, exposing Mississippi kites, graceful and lethal, reconnoitering overhead in slow,circular patterns. Squirrels begin their day doing whatever it is squirrels do. The kites feign inattention.
Some mornings Iwalk backwards, which is allegedly good for balance. But Iamdubious, and I usually manage to stumble over the small blue reflective tiles in the middle of the street, the ones that mark fire hydrants. Going in reverse must be good forthe neck muscles though. Iamconstantly turning my head around to avoid getting run over
The perspective of everything moving away from you and getting smaller as opposed to everything coming toward you and getting bigger is surreal in the semidarkness. What is behind you is ahead of you.
—Clifton lives in Baton Rouge.
Human Condition submissions of 600 words or fewer may be emailed to features@ theadvocate.com. Stories will be kept on file and publication is not guaranteed.There is no paymentfor Human Condition
WILLIAMS
Continued from page1G
As high school graduation approached, instead of wanting to be adebutante, Williams told her mom she wanted to be aMardi Gras Indian. Her uncle Lawrence Adams, a member of the Wild Magnolia tribe, mentored her intothe culture. Williams’ first patch —asthe beaded designs are known— was abutterfly.Itwas part of her first suit, which had ared, white and blue feathered motif. Heaven only knows how many times she stuck herself with the sewing needle as she learned to bead. That was 2008, she said. She wouldn’thave time to make another new suit until 2016. Thetribe validator
FloydEdwards holds the position of Spy Boy in theGolden Eagle tribe.His jobistoscout thestreets ahead of the Big Chief, searching for other groups of Black Masking Indians. Tribes ritualistically compete to see who has the prettiest suit, as they put it.
Edwards has known Williams since she was in high school and considers her alittle sister in the tribe. Though she’syoung, he said, Queen Tahj’srole is as “the mother of the people in thetribe ”Onthe “creativeside” of thingsanyway Queen Tahj is acostume consultant and “validator,” Floyd said. “If she says you’re pretty,then you’re pretty,” he added, laughing. It’sunusual to find an information age professional in the typically working-class Black Indian Maskingculture,Edwards
said, but “definitely Tahj’sflower bloomed differently.”
Microsoftcalling Williamswas astellar high school student but was still surprised when she was accepted at notoriously competitive Tulane University. During acomputer fundamentalsclass,the professor fostered her interest in cybersecurity.Somuch so, she majored in informationtechnology. Williams graduatedin2020 and interned at anorthshore bank, then at aNew Orleansprivate school,all the whilesubmitting applications and interviewing for jobs in her field.
Williams said that when aMicrosoft representative called to say she was hired, she just satinher parked car,too stunned to drive. “I was just soaking it in,” she said. “I thought Iwas the luckiest person in the world. Isaid, ‘I didn’tfeel like Iwas that smart, butIhad to be some kind of smart.’” Just afew monthsearlier,she debuted arose-colored Indian suit made with samples of her grandmother’sjewelry that was acitywide sensation. Even before composingthe Super Bowllogo, she was aCrescent City star.She appearedinthe 2022 Grammy Awards broadcast with Jon Batiste wearing aglittering suit. And last year,during the annual Essence Festival,she appeared on thecover of Essence magazine in one of her feathery creations.
Wiliams had become the “out of sight” vision of afemale Mardi Gras Indian she once admired. Grassroots culture Williams said the NFL slid into
her DMs (direct messages), in order to approach her to design their 2025 Super Bowl branding. She was told she was the first local artist to be asked to do so. Williams creditsthe NewOrleans Tourism Cultural Fund, anonprofit economic development corporation, for introducing NFL scouts to the Black Masking Indian culture.
Spy Boy Edwards said thatfor the NFL to have incorporated Mardi Gras Indian-style designs into the Super Bowl brand is “huge.” “Tohave abig, billion-dollar machine go down and get some grassroots culture, that’spowerful,” Edwards said.
Just like Hannah Montana “It’sbeen fireworks ever since,” Williams said of her exploding fame following the release of the logo. But her life hasn’tveered off course. She compares herself to Hannah Montana –ateen TV characterwho hada dual life as an ordinarystudent and afamous pop star.“People are surprised Istill have ajob,” shesaid.But she’sworked just as hard forboth dreams, Williams said. Williams said shedoesn’t have any “big wants” in life. She loves to travel and plans to visit Thailand this spring. But besides that, she’ll still be living in Hollygrove, being acomputer engineer by day and sewing suits by night. “I don’t enjoy anything as much as beading,” she said.
“This art form,” she said, “is a passion. This is what I’m doing for peace.”
Email Doug MacCash at dmaccash@theadvocate.com.
STAFFFILE PHOTOBYSCOTT THRELKELD
Queen Tahj Williams, of the Golden Eagles, was tapped by the NFL to design the logofor Super Bowl LIX
TRAVEL
Experience thetamepartofthe AtchafalayaBasin
Explorethe beauty of Lake Fausse Pointe
BY CATHERINE C. COMEAUX
Contributing writer
Editor’snote:The writerand her family spent three summers exploring state, national and provincial parks, traveling by minivan from Louisiana to Alaska, toNova Scotia, and all along the Mississippi River in between. This year, she turns her attention to Louisiana stateparks to discover the natural beauty of the Southless than aday’sdrive from home.
One can get lost in the Atchafalaya Basin, easily becoming surrounded by nothing but silent expansive swamp alive with bird calls and breezes pushing through the mossy wildness.
In order to explore the beauty of North America’slargestriver overflow swamp butnot get lostin the million acres of shape-shifting waterways, head to Lake Fausse Pointe State Park. Here, the basin is slightly tamed for all to enjoy Straddling Iberia andSt. Martin parishes, the park sits on 6,000 acres outside the West Atchafalaya Basin Protection Levee which, when built in the early 1930s, cut off Lake Fausse Pointe’snatural hydrologic connection to the basin. Thelevees and other alterations induced changes within the levee system. Many larger lakessilted in while Lake FaussePointe remains open water,giving visitors a view of what the basin lookedlike centuries ago. Despite the challenges that have arisen from efforts to controlnature in the region, nature thrives and the basin remainshome to various protected and once threatened species like the bald eagle and the Louisiana black bear More than 250 known birdspecies inhabit the basin, including the now ubiquitous limpkin. The large crooked beakbirdwas once unique to Floridabut recently attracted to the area by their choice of food, the invasive apple snail.
For millennia,people have lived and workedinthe basin, taking advantage of its life-sustaining waters and skies. The first known inhabitants, the Chitimacha, continue to thrive in nearby Charenton. The French, Acadians, Spanish, Islenosand Africans all lived and workedinthe Basin —many of theirancestorscontinue to this day— pulling crawfish from its waters oroil and gas from below Recognized by the National Park ServiceasaNational Heritage Area, the Atchafalaya Basin is the Yellowstone of the Southand Lake Fausse Pointe is its gateway Activities andamenities
The waterways are easily accessedfrom the park’sboat launch whetheryou bring your own boat ortake advantage of the kayak, canoe and flat-bottomed boat rentals available.The flat-bottomed boats
are most popular for visitors wanting to paddle out and find where the fish are biting. They can easily accommodate asmall outboard or trolling motor,but boaters must bring their own.
The paddle trails are marked and apaper map is provided showing several miles to explore, with canoe campsites available for overnight stays or picnicking (Highland Waters canoe campsite No. 4isthe mostpopular). Each site has aspace for afire and a tent; most have asmall picnic table.
The bayous and sloughs within the park are agreat place for a beginner to learn their paddle strokes, but theless experienced should stick to thebanks when out on the lake as awind on theopen waters can be challenging. It’s also great for sailing aSunfish when the conditions are just right.
Those who exhaust the paddle trails of the park need only take their boat just over the adjacent levee to the Sandy Cove Landing to accessthe basin proper. Several miles of hiking and biking trails through the swamplands give hikers aclose-up experience of the flora and fauna while keeping their feet mostly dry via boardwalks and high ground. Wear mud-worthy shoes and remember you’re in the swamps —portions of trails might be underwater at certain times of year
Visitors who prefer to let nature come to them can soak in the surrounding beauty while staying put at one of the campsites or on the screened porch of one of the waterfront cabins. Several backpack campsites offer more of a secluded experience while 50 improved campsites provide access to flush toilets, hot showers and
laundry facilities. There are 18 air-conditioned waterfront cabins with kitchens, refrigerators and basic dishes for preparing meals (including agumbo pot).
Whether one hikes, bikes, paddles or sits still, Lake Fausse Pointe State Park is an excellent location to lose yourself in the wonders of atruly amazing place.
Know before yougo
n Closest grocery store is 12 miles, Broussard’sinCoteau
Holmes n Cabins 1, 17 and 18 are wheelchair-accessible
n Cabins 9-18 are more secluded n Cabins 1, 2and 3are petfriendly
n The conditions of the tent pads at the campsites vary
Consider bringing ajungle hammock or cot if sleeping on lumpy ground is an issue.
n No cellphone service in park but boat landing 2.5 miles north reports some reception.
n No Wi-Fi in the park, though they are working on it.
n Charenton Drainage and Navigation Canal south of the park is scheduled to be completed this year,allowing navigation from Lake Fausse Pointe into the Basin. Call ahead to the Army Corps of Engineers for updates and usage information.
Monthlyand seasonal events
First Saturdays: Dutch oven gathering with the Cajun Creole Cookers (Louisiana Dutch Oven Society). All are invited to taste foods prepared in aDutch oven over an open fire. Demo at 8a.m., tasting at noon. Saturdaybefore Mardi Gras: Mardi Gras parade in the park Saturdaybefore Easter: Easter egg hunt Saturdays in October: Halloween events —movie night, haunted house, bingo December: Santa on the Bayou Useful links lastateparks.com; atchafalaya. org; waterheritage.atchafalaya. org
KENYATTA ProjectEngineer
“For nearly acentury, theU.S. Gulf Coasthas been centraltoShell’s business and theU.S. energy supply. By investinginour Louisiana assets,we arelowering emissions and supplying thenextgeneration of energy.”
EMMALEWIS
Shell Senior Vice President U.S. Chemicals &Products
ShellinLouisiana is shapingthe future of energy. With thousands of Shell men andwomen across thestate,weare workingevery daytoreduce emissions,while increasing efficiency in our operations
Our tomorrowdepends on whatwedotoday. Together,weare powering progress forabrighterfuture. Louisiana is where we live and we’reproud to call it home
PHOTO BY CATHERINE S. COMEAUX
Kayakunder the winter cypress at Lake Fausse Pointe State Park.
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