Oral History and Ethnographic Interviews with Traditionally Associated People of Cane River Creole National Historical Park

Bowker Lee, Dayna

In 2006, H. F. Pete Gregory, Dayna Bowker Lee, Susan E. Dollar, and William Fagan of Northwestern State University completed a Phase I Ethnographic Overview and Assessment (EOA) of Cane River Creole National Historical Park (CARI) and associated communities. Phase I of the project traced cultural development and community formation, examined changes in the regional economy, provided an ethnohistorical overview of populations associated with the park and Cane River National Heritage Area (CRNHA), and targeted communities and themes for ethnographic research to be conducted in a Phase Two EOA. It became apparent during the course of the Phase I research that the park properties of Magnolia and Oakland Plantations cannot be viewed independent of the larger, more inclusive region. The research area was therefore expanded to include the extent of the CRNHA and the parish at large in order to enhance the understanding of NPS personnel and provide better interpretation for park visitors. Nevertheless, efforts were made in Phase I to link identified sites and populations within the heritage area directly to park properties whenever possible. It was recommended that Phase II research should build upon the Phase I EOA to concentrate primarily on the twentieth century and the social, political, and economic changes that began especially after World War I and which continue into the twenty-first century. In the waning of the nineteenth century, sharecropping and tenancy were well-established labor systems that served to keep the post-bellum plantation system reasonably intact. Workers remained economically, culturally, and emotionally tied to the large plantations that remained in Natchitoches Parish. The break-up of these large plantations began after the Civil War, but was more evident within this region during and after the Great Depression. The social landscape began to change noticeably with the Great Flood of 1927 and the introduction of New Deal programs designed to put land in the hands of the un-landed. Most importantly, the advent of mechanized cotton farming in the 1960s sundered whole communities and forever altered ways of life that had defined the region for over 200 years. Once-vital communities like Cloutierville, a hub for cotton plantation-related populations and businesses, became almost empty villages in the span of just a few years. Many churches and schools that had served tenants and sharecroppers disappeared altogether. More importantly, families and whole segments of society still tied closely to pre-mechanization plantation agriculture relocated to cities like Chicago, Los Angeles, and Houston to find work in the industrial sector. Recommendations for a Phase II study targeted not only contemporary populations with direct relationships to the two plantations that comprise the park units, but also locales and communities within the CRNHA at the point just prior to the advent of mechanized farming. Recommendations also included an examination of twentieth-century immigrant populations like Italians, Croatians, and Syrians, as well as new populations including seasonal and permanent immigrants from Mexico and Latin America, as well as Middle Eastern and Asian immigrants who may be more recent additions to the area. Also suggested for future research were the rise in historic preservation efforts in Natchitoches Parish; cultural tourism as economic development; the implications of Natchitoches as a retirement destination; the return of diaspora populations; and the impact of the federal presence on park-associated properties and on the other historic properties and diverse communities within the heritage area. This project—Oral History and Ethnographic Interviews with Traditionally Associated People of Cane River Creole National Historical Park—represents an initial attempt to address the recommendations in the Phase I EOA.