Tall tales, oyster-shucking monsters, and some good old-fashioned jokes are all on the menu in Swapping Stories: Folktales from Louisiana. A co-production with LPB, filmmaker Pat Mire ("Dirty Rice") wrote, produced and directed the documentary which was co-produced by Maida Owens, the director of the Louisiana Folklife Program in the Louisiana Division of the Arts. Carl Lindahl, Professor of English at the University of Houston, served as principal scholar on the project.

In culturally diverse Louisiana, the traditional art of storytelling is alive and well as a means of communicating values and culture to family, friends and the community. This special brings together some of the best storytellers in Louisiana including comedians A. J. Smith and Dave Petitjohn, Cajun storyteller Enola Mathews, and the late Bel Abbey and Colonel Ike Hamilton.

Their tales range from a Creole French version of the story of Brer Rabbit and the Tar Baby to Bertney Langley's myth about how bats got their wings. It also features Loulan and Glen Pitre regaling listeners with the legend of the oyster-shucking monster called Loup Garou who came out of the Gulf every night.

The secret of storytelling is to make the audience feel at home regardless of where they are. So sit down in your easy chair and get ready to listen to a few whoppers!

. Sample The Stories!

These stories are reprinted with permission from Swapping Stories:Folktales from Louisiana published by University Press of Mississippi. This book contains nearly 200 additional Louisiana folktales, plus more detailed historical and anthropological notes on each story. Information on the transcription rules used is available, as well as biographies of the featured storytellers.

The video clips were recorded by Pat Mire and Maida Owens during production of the documentary. To view them, you need the free RealPlayer from RealNetworks.

A Storyteller's Perspective by Bertney Langley

Animal/Magic Tales:

Bouki, Lapin et Rat de Bois (Bouki, Lapin and Possum): Enola Matthews

Les trois Jobs (The Three Jobs): Enola Matthews

Jokes:

I'm Going to Leave You, Chère: Harry Lee Leger

God Works in Mysterious Ways: Harry Methvin

Leaving Mississippi: Robert Albritton

You Think I'm Working, But I Ain't: Robert Albritton

Les trois couillon (The Three Fools): Enola Matthews

Jean Sot, la vache, les chiens et sa petite soeur (Jean Sot, the Cow, the Dogs, and Little Sister): Enola Matthews

The Reverend Gets the Possum: Sarah Albritton

She Has the Key: Sarah Albritton

Tall Tales:

The Alligator Peach Tree: Pierre Daigle

On Top of Old Smoky: Harry Methvin

Mosquitoes Save a Life: Harry Methvin

Legends:

An Oyster-culling Loup Garou: Loulan Pitre

The Shadow Companion: Loulan Pitre

Loup Garou as Shadow Companion: Glen Pitre

Life Saving Sirens: Loulan Pitre

The Widow's Buried Gold: Pierre Daigle

How the Koasati Got Their Name: Bertney Langley

Myths:

How the Bat Got its Wings: Bertney Langley

Additional Filmmaker Credits:

Maida Owens is a cultural anthropologist specializing in Louisiana traditional cultures. As director of the Louisiana Folklife Program within the Division of the Arts since 1988, she works with organizations and researchers to identify traditional artists and determine the most appropriate way to present folk musicians, storytellers, craftsmen, and traditional cooks to the public. She has been involved with folklife surveys in Louisiana's Florida Parishes and the upper Delta in northeast Louisiana to systematically document the region's folk traditions and teach community members to document their own traditions.

After ten years experience with the Louisiana Folklife Festival and various other projects, she has worked with hundreds of folk artists from Louisiana's diverse cultures. Her article entitled "Louisiana's Traditional Cultures" published in the book Swapping Stories: Folktales from Louisiana (1997, University Press of Mississippi), is also available online.

Owens curated the renovation of The Creole State: An Exhibition of Louisiana Folklife (1995) permanently located in the State Capitol, and now online. She edited the publication, Fait a la Main: A Sourcebook of Louisiana Crafts (1988), co-edited Keeping It Alive: Cultural Conservation through Apprenticeship, A Review of the Louisiana Apprenticeship Program (1993), co-edited the publication Swapping Stories: Folktales from Louisiana (1997) and served as co-producer/researcher of its companion video program (1998). For the video documentary, Dance for a Chicken: The Cajun Mardi Gras (1993), she served as assistant producer and researcher.

Carl Lindahl, editor of the World Folktale Library and Professor of English at the University of Houston, served as principal scholar for Swapping Stories. Lindahl has on-camera commentary and voiced opinion before final edit decisions were made. Lindahl is one of the three editors of the book with the same name.

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