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I had hoped to be able to resume publishing after Katrina. Unfortunately this has proven to be too difficult at this time. Perhaps in the future this will change.
Carl Fedrowisch
Unfortunately there were very few people around to provide the answers. So I did a little digging on the Internet and the local library. What I discovered would fill a book and did.
Bonfouca is very old. We know Indians lived here when the North Shore was the Gulf Coast, 5000 years ago. Many different Indians lived there over the centuries. There are still sloughs named after their tribes. When the early French settlers arrived in the early 1700's, the Indians welcomed them and they lived side by side in peace.
When I discovered Bonfouca was made world famous in the 1800's by the Bards of Bonfouca, a family of poets and one of them was the Indian missionary, Chahta-Ima, I knew I had to write this book.
By the way, Bonfouca is a Creole word, half French, half Choctaw, meaning "Good People".
Many have written excellent books about the life of Abbe Adrien Rouquette - Chahta-Ima. They range from romanticizing his life to very scholarly works. This book is different, it chronicles the life of Adrien Rouquette, from being born into priveledge, to spending a life devoted to the Choctaw Indians of St Tammany Parish, Louisiana.
Adrien's grandfather was Francois Cousin, who owned almost 4000 acres on the North Shore of Lake Pontchartrain, from Bayou Liberty to Cane Bayou. Adrien was born in New Orleans but was moved to his grandfather's plantation on Bayou Lacombe after his father and his grandfather died. No matter where he lived, Adrien sought out the local Indians.
Orphaned while he was away at school, then shuttled across the Atlantic to go to college in France, Adrien turned to first to poetry and then to religion. After publishing his first book of poems he became the first American Creole Catholic priest .
Chronologically they grew more sophisticated in content and imagery, culminating with Adriens epic prophetic vision of the future, America, My Country.
If Adrien sang these poems, there is no record of the tunes or music that he used. I had to figure out how he did it. I decided that they might have sounded like hymns, so I tried that first.
I was amazed when how well the songs turned out. Some sounded pretty good as hymns.
Encouraged, like Adrien writing English poetry for the first time, I tried more.
All I can say is, when I sang Adriens poems, I felt his soul.
Hear more song tracks at Recordings.
Pere Adrien Rouquette's 1848 book of English Poetry, before he became the Creole Catholic Choctaw Indian missionary, Chahta-Ima. Wild Flowers is filled with pictures of the beautiful wildflowers that he loved so much, where he grew up and returned to do his missionary work in Lacombe, Louisiana.
Dominique
Rouquette's
first book of Creole poetry started the rise to fame of the Bards of
Bonfouca. Mechacebeenes (Chacta for Mississippi) . Never before
translated, Dominique's poetry gives us a glimpse into the life of a
Creole gentleman, who was equally at home in the finest Paris had to
offer, or smoking with Chacta friends gathered around a fire.
Dominique's interesting life is chronicled along with his inseperable friend and brother, Chahta-Ima, in The Chahta-Ima Chronicles
Dominique's interesting life is chronicled along with his inseperable friend and brother, Chahta-Ima, in The Chahta-Ima Chronicles
Les Savanes
by Adrien Rouquette
Creole Poetry Translated into English
Still a work in progress, but some examples are available:
