Cane River Stories » natchitoches

Cane River Creoles – Phil Delphin

Thomas — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 21:23:18 +0000

Cane River Creoles – Roque Brothers Farm House

Thomas — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 18:32:55 +0000

Cane River Creoles – St. Augustine Catholic Church

Thomas — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 18:45:23 +0000

Cane River Creoles – The Turtle

Thomas — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 19:29:10 +0000

When you fish with limb lines sometimes you get more than you expect. That was the case one morning when Phil and Woody went out to check on their lines. As we slowly came upon one of the lines near the bank – they could tell they had hooked something big. At first they thought it might be a catfish, but then the tail made an appearance above the water line – it was no catfish, but a turtle. A large alligator snapping turtle that is not to be taken lightly. It can remove fingers from your hand and break bones. After wrangling it into the boat they had the dubious task of getting it ashore and securing it safely. It remained in a large, plastic tank behind the big house for others to check out for a couple of days before meeting an untimely end and becoming turtle soup.

Cane River Creoles – The Hog

Thomas — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 17:43:26 +0000

When the weather turns cold the LaCaze family goes hog hunting, and if they’re not shooting hogs, they’re trapping them. When you collect hundreds of pounds of hog meat you can’t eat it all, and often times they’ll give it to friends. So one afternoon Woody shows up with a wild boar in a cage he got from the LaCazes. They normally don’t just slaughter and eat a boar right away. The meat of a boar (a male hog) is much more musky and gamey than a sow. So what do you do? Effectively turn the boar into a sow by removing the testicles, which isn’t as easy as it sounds! Then keep it penned up and well feed for about a month, giving the hormones time to filter out. Then it’s ready for sausage and cracklins!

Cane River Creoles – Getting the Crawfish

Thomas — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 07:14:51 +0000

When it’s in season, crawfish is a staple of the Creole diet, and behind the Delphin Big House, they harvest their very own right out of the ground. After straightening out empty traps, we headed to the back woods to collect the traps already in the bayou, and bait and put out new ones.

Cane River Creoles – Fishing on the Cane

Thomas — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 17:13:10 +0000

“This river runs in my veins” F.J. exclaimed as we headed out of the Cane. F.J. and Phil were heading out to check their limb lines to see if they had caught anything over night. A limb line is exactly as it sounds: A line tied to a tree limb hanging over the water, with the other end hooked and baited several feet below the water. You’re fishing even when you’re sleeping – or as Phil put it “even when you ‘aint doing nothing, you’re still doing something.” After collecting their catch, they took the fish back, cleaned it and of course, fried it and ate it for lunch! I quickly learned how to eat fish that, minus the guts, is fried whole – bones and all. Every now and then Phil would clean a piece that didn’t have bones, or as he called it: “a city slicker cut.”