Mysterious Medicine

Rooted in Acadian history and drawing on other cultures, traiteurs practice a form of healing that is based on no medical education. Still, many believe in their power.

By Katrinna Huggs

Many believe in them. Many do not. But a significant number of Cajuns and other residents of south Louisiana at one time or another have been treated by or personally know one. Anywhere else in the world they might be called faith healers. In Acadiana, one calls them traiteurs, and the title carries with it connotations far beyond simple faith healing.

The word is French for treater - in the strictest sense it means an intermediary of God who heals supernaturally through the power of prayer. While little documentation on traiteurs can be found, it is believed that their Acadian ancestors, who were poor and outcast people, brought to their new home the knowledge and ability to treat themselves when a doctor was not available or affordable.

[Note: Certain canons are supposed to be followed by the treaters, in order to be successful. But, not everyone believes in these treatments, and not all believe in the same way. The tradition is based on a history of diversity.]

From the Times Acadiana, October 2, 1987

By Katrinna Huggs

There are several basic canons traiteurs believe in as prerequisites to effective treatment. But some do not even abide by these, which are:

• To be treated, a patient must contact a traiteur and explain that he is ill, since a traiteur cannot advertise his services.

• A traiteur cannot accept pay for his services, nor can he be thanked, although leaving a small donation is permissible [Traiteur Mr. Aubé disagrees with this, saying that NO thank you or gift can be left for him, although many people he treats leave gifts for his wife.].

• One can be treated while not in the physical presence of a traiteur, but it is imperative that no body of running water exist between the traiteur and the patient [Mr. Aubé disagrees with this, saying that he has now healed by phone across the Mississippi river].

• To treat, most traiteurs place their hands on the patient or in the vacinity of the illness and whisper to themselves the appropriate prayers or incantations.

• The ability is always passed from an older person to a younger person. Many traiteurs believe that the person being given the ability must be of the opposite sex [Mr. Aubé disagrees with this also, stating that his ability and prayers were given to him from a younger male student of his.].

From the Times Acadiana, October 2, 1987

By Katrinna Huggs

One of the most fascinating and controversial aspects of traiteurs is that no two have the same treatments or even the same beliefs. Perhaps that is a reflection of their history, which is an obscure amalgam of culture and religion.

"Throughout the development of their culture, the Cajuns have been masters in the art of acquisition and adaptation: absorbing bits and pieces of other cultures into their own," says John Lancon in his University of Southwestern Louisiana thesis on folk medicine in Louisiana.

In particular, he says, the Cajuns were influenced by the Indians living in Louisiana , who are believed to have taught the Cajuns the medicinal value of indigenous plants, which the Cajuns incorporated along with prayers into their own folk culture.

There are even conflicts that personally surround the traiteur, apart from his practices. "When I was a small child, it was considered a sin to go to [a traiteur]," says Renée Adams, who teaches the only high school level course in Cajun culture in the state at Kaplan High. "But it's ironic because they are generally very religious Catholics with candles and rosaries all over their homes."

According to Lancons's thesis, written in 1986, the relationship between the medical community, the church and the traiteurs is just as controversial or diverse as the belief in the traiteur itself. Whereas some people maintain that the medical community and the Catholic Church approve of the folk medical beliefs and practices of traiteurs, others assert that the relationship is marked by strong disapproval.

The Revered Floyd Calais, pastor of Holy Cross Catholic Church in Lafayette, says the Church does not frown on the practice of treating as long as it is done in a religious context.

"The Church would be against any attempt to cure that would leave God out of the picture," says Calais. "When it's done through a prayer and bringing God into the picture, there's nothing wrong with that."

Calais, who knew several traiteurs when he was growing up in the community of Cecilia in St. Martin Parish, says the Church today is more "conscious" of the spiritual gift of healing. The Church allows the idea that lay people can be used to effect a cure, he says.

But pure superstition, with no religious or medical basis, is not viewed sympathetically, says Calais.

From the Times Acadiana, October 2, 1987

by Katrinna Huggs, with Inkie Landry and Gary Dauphin

Mr. Lousay Aubé became a treateur back in 1947. As a teacher at Kaplan High School, Mr. Aubé was teaching his students about the medical practices and traditions of the medieval times. A student gave him some prayers that had been passed down in his family, for treating.

Mr. Aubé's grandfather and uncle were treaters in the 1930's, but both died without passing the tradition on. This got him interested in treating, and he has now treated over 1000 people.

Mr. Aubé firmly believes that treating is a gift from God, and is not related to other practices, such as folk remedies, gris-gris, voodoo, or conjure. All of his "treatments" are based on prayers said in French. He firmly believes he can heal anything if the person believes, but makes no guarantees. "I'm not one of those religious hypocrites that you hear about that I put my hand on your head and I heal. This is not my line. It's just...it was handed to me. I tried it and it works, so I'm doing it. But, I wouldn't say , 'Hey, God has given me this gift,' like those faith healers you see on TV making millions of dollars."

Unlike other treaters, Mr. Aubé believes he cannot accept gifts, payment or even a "thank you" from the person he is treating, or the treatment will not work.

Cajun tradition said that the knowledge of a Traiteur could only be passed down from an older person to a younger person, and that it must be passed to the opposite sex. Mr. Aube has proven this wrong, as his knowledge was passed down to him from a young male student in one of his classes.

Aubé claims he can heal anything, but does not heal sunstroke. He says, "As far as I know, its never failed." He claims to have cured arthritis and cancer, and has helped women with pregnancies.

Mr. Aubé sees a bad future for treating, and for the French language in Louisiana. "Fifty years from now, there won't be any treaters, or anyone speaking French."

There are many canons, or rules, that the traiteurs are supposed to follow, but not all the traiteurs believe in them.

[Portions appeared in the Times Acadiana, October 2, 1987, and from a live interview by Inkie Landry in May 1994.]

by Katrinna Huggs

There's nothing unusual about Cecile Luke, except perhaps that she's a traiteur. But she doesn't think that's so unusual. After all, she's been one for 45 years. She knows little of the origins of her practice, nor does she care to philosophize on the subject. Treating for her is simply practical work. In the cane fields near Bayou Sale where the sun always threatens, she is much in demand for her sunstroke treatment.

They say you can find a traiteur in any town in Acadiana. But for the best ones, which means the old ones, you've got to go to the country.

"Sunstroke? It's like a fever, I guess," she says. "That's what they say it is. The old lady never did tell me anything too much about it when she showed me how. She used to live here on the same bayou like we do. And every time my husband would get sunstroke he'd go up there and she'd treat him. It's been a long time now before she died, but she told me, 'Let me show you how, so you don't have to be running up here every time he gets it.'"

Donald Marin, Cecile's nephew, had visited yesterday suffering from real sunstroke, and he is willing to be a demonstrator now. She places her hands over his head and whispers an unintelligible prayer. Donald says he believes in Aunt Cecile's treatment because it works.

"People don't believe like they used to because they+ got too much modern age now. Too many smart people. They don't believe in God," he says.

Donald's wife, Goldie, says her father is a traiteur for asthma and her grandfather used to treat for free bleeding. She says she took her children to a treater in Abbeville when they were cutting their teeth. The woman would stretch "some sort of crocheted thread," make a knot and pass it through her mouth. She had made about nine knots, and each time said a prayer.

"And I had to put it around their necks and let them wear it until it fell off their necks. And then I had to bury it where the water from the peak of the roof could fall on it. Then just forget about it."

The children hadn't been sleeping because of their teeth. That night, she says, they slept all night.

"They call themselves healers now, but in the old days they called them treaters. People now, they don't believe in treaters. But it's the same thing. To me the healers say prayers just like the treaters did."

[Courtesy of the Times of Acadiana 1987]