Passing It On workshops are one of the types of workshops supported by the Bayou Culture Collaborative. They are taught by a tradition bearer who would like to pass on their tradition through a workshop that provides deep learning. Priority is for tradition bearers and traditions in parishes endangered by coastal changes or who practice a highly endangered tradition. We provide funds to an organization or the tradition bearer for workshops or mini-apprenticeships. Expenses generally cover the teacher honorarium and supplies.
Contact: Maida Owens, Louisiana Folklife Program, folklife@crt.la.gov to explore possibilities for this year or future years.
2025 Workshops
Winnsboro Easter Rock Workshop
DATE: March 8, 12 and April 12, 2025
PLACE: Original Truelight Worship and Cultural Center
TIME: Noon to 2 pm
DESCRIPTION: Participants will learn the songs, music, movement, craft and food traditions of the Winnsboro Easter Rock.
FACILITATOR: Hattie Addison
REGISTRATION: Registration is open to the Winnsboro Easter Rock Ensemble community. Contact Laketa Addison to register: levylaketa@yahoo.com.
Apache-Choctaw Sewing and Quilting Workshop
DATE: June 22,23, and 24, 2025
PLACE: Ho Minti Society Cultural Camp at Toledo Bend State Park in Zwolle, LA
TIME: 1:30 – 3:30
DESCRIPTION: Participants will learn how to read and cut out a pattern; thread a sewing machine; how to use quilting racks; quilt by hand. Each participant will do an individual project.
COLLABORATOR: Ho Minti Society
FACILITATOR: Pam Cartinez
REGISTRATION: Registration will be open to the public. Limited to 15 participants ages 12 and older. To register, email pamcartinez@hotmail.com or call Pam Cartinez at 318 471-5854.
Past Passing It On Workshops
Since 2019, 56 Passing It On workshops have been supported with over $105,000 in funds from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Louisiana Division of the Arts.
Below is a sampling of those workshops. Learn more about the tradition bearers, traditions, and their community connections in the Passing it on Workshops Database.
Tradition Bearers’ Completed Workshops
- Vermilion Parish Cajun Songs and Dance Traditions, Abbeville
- French Idioms and Expressions, Thibodaux
- Mardi Gras costume designing, Krewe of Tradition, Houma
- Cajun music, Cajun Music Preservation Society, Thibodaux
- Houma Indian gumbo making, Chauvin
- Wood carving, Terrebonne Folklife Center, Houma
- Houma Indian Palmetto weaving, Janie Luster, Theriot
- Houma pigments and dyes, Baton Rouge
- Traditional plant storytelling, Pointe-au-Chien
- Pointe-au-Chien traditions, Pointe-au-Chien
- Houma half-hitch palmetto weaving and Spanish moss doll making, Janie Luster and Ann Luster Robichaux, Theriot
- Brown cotton weaving, Elaine Bourque, Lafayette
- Sewing regalia, Grand Caillou/Dulac Band of Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw, Chauvin
- Indian foodways, Atakapa-Ishak Chawasha, Grand Bayou Indian Village
- Cypress paddle making, Center for Traditional Louisiana Boat Building, Lockport
- Cloth doll making, Jessica Brown, Houma
- Cypress basket making, Bourg
- Cypress dugout pirogue restoration, Center for Traditional Louisiana Boat Building, Lockport
- Medicinal herbs and the traiteuse tradition, Marlène Toups, Thibodaux
- Traditions and storytelling, United Houma Nation, Golden Meadow
- Adding Curved Roofs to Buildings, Quang Huynh, Independence
- Grayhawk's Shaving Horse Program, Grayhawk Perkins
- Grayhawk's Storytelling Program, Grayhawk Perkins
- French Storytelling Program, Richard Landry
- French Singing, St. Martinville
- Bousillage, Dale Pierrottie
- Adding Curved Roofs to Vietnamese Buildings, New Orleans/Independence
- Waxed Paper Flowers, Thibodaux
- Creole Storytelling, New Roads, Baton Rouge
- Caning Chairs, St Martinville
- Crochet, Arnaudville
- Aztec dance, New Orleans
- Split oak basketmaking, Port Allen
- drum making, Houma
- Jure' (call-and-response songs), Opelousas
- Black Indian Masking, New Orleans
- Coil, Low-fire Pottery, Lafayette
- 3-D Woodcarving, Livonia
