Here in slavery families were constantly ripped
apart the the mattresses are made of moss we're gonna throw some sausage maybe some
chicken in that pot um but she was purchased from another plantation to come and work here
she was only allowed to bring two of her children (Music)
and so you lost a lot of enslaved people you know they literally worked around the clock
during this time hi my name is Janiel welcome to culture trekking where I try to collect
unique stories from around the globe that focus on sustainable adventure and cultural
connections I call Utah home but today I am taking you to Destrehan plantation in good
old Louisiana so we're out here at the Destrehan plantation this is one of the stops along
the 1811 slave revolt trail I'll put the QR code right up here that you can scan when
you're out here and it's a little bit of audio that will take you through the history of
this place along the trail and the stops what it was like during that time now i think this
is going to be a very moving and real raw tour I'm very excited to learn the real history
of these places. All right we are here with one of the best tour guides at Destrehan Diane
hi so I'm very happy to be here today yeah so tell me a little bit about what the tour
is about and you know i introduced them to the 1811 Slave Revolt Trail and this is one
of the stops. So can you kind of walk us through some of the main points of what we're going
to see on the tour today? Well my tour addresses the marginalized groups here in Louisiana
that first settled especially the enslaved people. So we talk a lot about them, and then
we do one or two demonstrations along the way -- you know our music and food ways, we
talk a lot about the Creolization process of Louisiana as well. So you have this outfit
on, now you probably don't wear this every day... or do you? I actually wear them quite
a bit. Isn't it hot though? I mean, you know, I'm from Utah desert country and I'm just
standing in this air-conditioned area and I'm like sticky sweating! So how do you do
it? So what is it? Does it have any significance for you? Yes, in 1785 the then Louisiana governor
Miro required all free women of color to cover their hair because he wanted them to look
more like enslaved women. There was this growing population of free people of color and the
free women of color had a lot to do with that so he thought he would oppress them. But they
didn't just wear little head rags like you may see an enslaved person wearing in the
field or doing a tour. They had more access to fabrics, they had more money, so they would
take all of this fabric, you know, and wrap it up. I always say they turned rags of oppression
into crowns of distinction. Oh that is so beautiful! You know they did different colors
and some of them would put broaches and feathers in their their crowns, so to speak, but they're
called the Tignon and it's known as the infamous Tignon Law. Well thank you so much I'm so
excited to go on this tour with you and taking just a second to explain a little bit more
about the nuances of this plantation. So thank you so much. Thank you thank you for being
here. I was so excited for this tour I nearly lost my words on that interview. But get ready
to be taught and inspired. The unheard voices, to give voice to all the marginalized people
you don't typically hear about on plantation tours. We're going to get into them in a little
bit but first, our first stop is the slave cabins. Now these would not have been this
close to the main house they would have been about a fourth of a mile up the road Destrehan.
They had up to 24 slave cabins at one point they were built in rows and they were facing
each other. Beside each cabin you would have found a small vegetable garden, this is because
we operated under something called the Creole system of slavery it wasn't any easier or
better it was just different. The enslaved people may have worked a few hours a shorter
per day than other enslaved people, but they were provided less food sources and clothing.
So they had to provide those things for themselves hence the vegetable garden. The other thing
is if you notice these are built like Creole cottages, you've probably seen a lot of those
in the French quarter maybe. They were not always raised you would have had four to eight
people living in either side. Not necessarily families, because remember during slavery,
families were constantly ripped apart - children were bought and sold and so forth. We have
posted here are the actual inventory records of the enslaved people that would have been
here at Destrehan plantation. These are a plethora of information, while we hate the
reasons they were there, at least they gave us a lot of information as to who the enslaved
people. You can see by the time sugarcane became popular in in Louisiana and especially
here at Destrehan plantation you can see how the list basically grew. You can see they're
very crudely built they had to be built quickly, right? The other thing is there would have
been a shared fireplace in either side. They didn't always cook inside though you know
you got to think if you're going to start a fire right now it's hot. So they would probably
be outside cooking and doing things like that. The bed, I think, was a luxury. You know,
for some people, their owners may have given them a bed or they may have found scraps of
wood to make a bed. Then the mattresses are made of moss. Just like the mattresses in
the main house. Like Spanish Moss? Yes. Oh how cool! So this this would have been a child's
palette, but you know if you have like three adults and one child.
In 1718 because the French wanted to control the commerce that was coming and going up
and down the Mississippi away from the British. Before that you had thousands of Native Americans
in the area, you basically kind of just took the land and said okay we're claiming this
for France. So you had Native Americans you had the French in the 1720s. The French basically
got the Germans to come over they lied to them and told them these were lands of silver
and gold and all this stuff. So the poor Germans came over and of course there was no silver
no gold, no beautiful forest, none of that! In fact, there was the East Choctaw who were
in cahoots with the British, trying to get rid of anybody who came to colonize with French.
At any rate, the French crown basically gave them some land upriver in this area today.
It's known as the German Coast. They were a very hardy people, they would grow crops,
they would load everything onto flotillas once they were grown, take them down to New
Orleans and settle on the levee for a day or two, and sell everything to the colonists.
Then they would come back up to the German Coast and start all over again. Part of the Africans diet, so it was brought
over with them. So then you have the French Roux, the Roux, which is basically the flour
cooked in the fat. Which is also before the French, it was Italian in origin, but we're
not going there yet. So we have the Roux, and then we're going to put in there.....what?
Our holy trinity, and the holy trinity, we want to thank the Germans from the German
Coast. We always credit them with that simply because they they were the farmers. They kept
Louisiana fed. So our holy trinity, is going to be onion, celery, and bell pepper. Which
is a descendant, we believe, of the French marcoux. Then who are you going to put in
the pot next? How about we throw some Germans and Acadians in that pot, right? We're gonna
throw some sausage, maybe some chicken, in that pot. So the Acadians didn't arrive until
between the 1760s and 1780s, which is when you had your first large influx of the Canadians
who came down from Nova Scotia. They were basically ousted by the British for religious
persecution. Then of course they found a home here in Catholic Louisiana, the French Crown
required us to practice Catholicism. So the Acadians were very comfortable with that,
they settled alongside the Germans. So you had the development of sausages, like the
Andouille, which is mostly pork shoulder and fat. You had different types of smoked sausage,
eventually you had the boudin and so forth. So we put all of that in our pot. Who else
could we put in the pot? We could slow cook it for for a nice long time, and let all those
flavors break down, and marry. So we can thank the enslaved Africans for that. We have the
Native Americans in the pot, with the bay leaf, which is what they introduced us to.
As well as the file, which is basically dried and crushed up sassafras. Later on you had
the Spanish of course, who came in, who brought us the tomato itself. It wasn't until the
Sicilians that we had the tomato gravy, and things of that nature like um they also brought
us the muffuletta and the mob, but that's a whole other story. (laughter) It was then on into the home to learn about
house slaves. She was born in Louisiana in 1740 which makes
her....a? It makes her creole. Marguerite had five children, but she was purchased from
another plantation to come and work here. She was only allowed to bring two of her children,
because your children could not be separated from you until they reach the age of puberty.
After that, it did not matter, so her other children were left at the other plantation
she never saw them again. It wasn't until one of her grandchildren, that anyone in the
family saw freedom, until after the civil war. So Marguerite and her children passed
away here...enslaved at Destrehan. She is listed as a cook and a laundress. She's also
listed as having a hernia and we're pretty sure it was from lifting heavy pots, and doing
all this laundry. Also, the children of the house, not her children, would eat in this
room with her until they were ready and their manners were okay to sit at the big table.
You know, to eat among adults. So again, if you can imagine, you know, she's passing on
her history and language and music to these children. While they (her masters) try to
erase all of that. She was born here in Louisiana, her her parents were of African descent, so
some of that is inadvertently gonna get passed on. You can imagine the story she's probably
telling them, and the music, you know she may be singing them um some sort of lullaby
or something. These enslaved women, you know they were very instrumental in the lives of
the children back then, even down to suckling the children. I do want to introduce you to Charles Paquet.
So Charles Paquet was born as a slave man, his birth year was unknown, and his father
passed away - there was land sold and Charles eventually was able to buy his freedom. Now
before he was freed though, he went to contract with Robin de Logny to build Destrehan plantation.
It lists him as a free person of color, he was still enslaved when he went into contract.
He did eventually get paid for doing the work with six other enslaved people. You can see
it took three years (to build the house), and we're going to go through the house you
can see this amazing work. The work of Charles at the lead, with six enslaved people. The
walls the bricks were all handmade, all of these arches, it's mostly made of cypress,
some things we've replaced - like of course the flooring - which would have crumbled.
These old bricks, they crumble over time which is why you see all the ones in the French
Quarter covered in plaster because they're not made of the same stuff as we see bricks
today. In any number of ways you could earn some money, I say some money, because your
owner had the right to keep a portion of it.....if not all of it... just depending on who the
person was. The Spanish came in, in 1762, and they brought with them a law called Cortocion.
That was where an enslaved person could buy their freedom. You basically had to petition
the court, your owner has to say yes or no, if they were okay with it or not, and then
you had to have an appraiser come in and tell you how much you were worth. You had to agree
or not depending on if you had that sum of money. Some people think it's just wonderful
that people could buy their freedom. We have to keep in mind, it was only about 2% of all
enslaved people here in Louisiana that could ever get to the point where they would buy
their freedom. It was a long process. I realized as I was walking through the house
that these house slaves, they knew how to cook, clean, they were over food... delicious
food....but yet they weren't able to eat or even try it.... other than preparing it for
their master. Can you imagine being a six-year-old kid that is standing over gelatin like this
and not being able to eat it knowing that if you even tasted a little bit you'd be taken
out and beaten. Going upstairs. As the tour went on, it was
legitimately hard for me not to get a few tears in my eyes over the conditions the slaves
had to live in and work in. Namely people like Margarite, would have been
made to sleep on the floor right outside the door. Everything that the person would need
at night, she would have to tend to and them, of course, still be awake and you know serving
coffee or doing whatever she had to do at three, four, five o'clock in the morning the
next day. It was excruciating work, in some cases, people think that working in the field
was a lot easier than working in the house. Maybe --- but that's just not the case, you
know how we kind of get cross when we don't get enough sleep? Then we're tired, we get
stressed out, in one week's time -- you just like ready to pull your hair out. These women
constantly went through this, in some cases they died very young because of it. Then you
have to think about how you're always under somebody's thumb, somebody's always listening
to you, or watching you. You're always having to tend to somebody. You know, in the field,
the work was hard-----it was a different kind of heart though. So I always try to to bust
that myth about working in the house was such a wonderful thing to do. It was not, these
women had very difficult lives (and were often raped by their masters).
So the girl that died in here was Lydia. Lydia from yellow fever, yes.
Because Lydia died in this room, from yellow fever, Diane said that says this is the one
room in the house that they notice the most paranormal activity. So all you ghost lovers
out there, this one's for you. The next room we went into was the interpretive
architecture room. Now originally, it was taken apart for an architecture exhibition
and/or archaeology study. Then they discovered that there were fingerprints from slaves in
the mud of the walls. They would start out with a wooden structure and put mud in the
walls of the home and then they would put more slat wooden slats on top of that and
Spanish Moss mixed in there to help absorb the moisture of Louisiana. Then more mud on
top of that, and then a limestone plaster that was actually helpful in keeping away
infections. Its Spanish Moss, it would be very pliable.
You would have slats that would be put up, and then over each slat you would take that
little loaf of bread looking piece of boucilage and you move it out and then put the holes
in it and then start with the next layer. There's something so incredible about standing
in a room that slaves had put in together. I don't know what it is about their stories,
but it's just so inspiring to me. Their resilience during this period, to survive. It kind of
makes me feel like I need to tackle my own problems a little bit better than I do sometimes. This room is where the Freedmen's Bureau first
had their office here at Destrehan plantation. So y'all know, during the civil war, we were
one of the first places to be captured. The Destrehan family of course ran off and left.
So the federal government seized the property. They started something called the freedmen's
bureau, which is where formerly enslaved people and impoverished white people and others could
come and get education, you could get medical care. You had people that would go out with
you, from the government, and they would represent you to get work contracts. Say if you were
working on another plantation, because remember slavery's done at this point, and you needed
someone to represent you to get a fair contract. They would go out and represent you and help
you get that. There were two hospitals here on Destrehan's grounds. At one point, there
were over a thousand people that were treated. You had roughly 700 people a day that were
here, that were coming and going, you had people sleeping in the house, you had people
sleeping outside in the slave cabins, but were no longer enslaved. So eventually, the
Freedmen's Bureau, became known as the Rost Home Colony. Because the home was owned by
Judge Rost at the time, who had married into the Destrehan family. He came back, and he
reclaimed his property, but the Freedmen's Bureau or Rost Home Colony was allowed to
stay for about another year after the family had come back after the Civil War.
So this is John Noel Destrehan he was one of the sons of Jean-Baptiste Destrehan the
French Royal Treasurer and we talked a little bit about how he purchased the plantation
from Robin De Logny. He was a statesman he was one of the four people chosen by Thomas
Jefferson to help write the first Louisiana constitution. He also owned up to, almost
200 enslaved people, and he also rescinded the Law of Cortacion so a black person could
no longer buy their freedom. Well in 1807, he was one of the people that said, 'No more'.
So in 1811, January 1811, it was the largest Slave Revolt in the country. Between 125 and
500 people took parts in this revolt, we do not know the exact number. It started around,
in present-day La Place, and it lasted about two days. Until the group was confronted by
the militia. They scattered into different directions, in the long run though, over 100
people, enslaved people, were killed as a result of the revolt -- and only two white
people died as a result. They did burn a couple houses, they burned down some sugar mills.
So we can kind of see what their mindset was. You know, sugar harvesting was brutal work.
At any rate, there were 29 enslaved people that were held captive here at Destrehan Plantation.
Once the revolt was over, there were three trials that were held. One was in La Place,
one was here at Destrehan with those 29 people and then one was down in New Orleans. Out
of the 29 held here, 26 of them were shot to death, and beheaded. Their heads were placed
on posts outside of their owners plantations. So it said that if you were road from New
Orleans all the way to La Place, which is a good 25 miles out of New Orleans you could
see heads on posts along the way. The other enslaved people of course that were killed,
were killed during the revolt, and then some were put to death after the trial in La Place
as well as down in New Orleans. The trial that was held here we believe it was somewhere
either in the front of the house or in front of the house here at Destrehan Because it
was public. So one of the reasons they chose Jean Noel Destrehan, was because it was said
that he was "a fair and just man". He sat on the jury with a judge and then there were
five other (white) men that sat with him You know, I've heard accounts you know where
he was there and he would get out in the field when they were working the sugar cane and
not so much help as do certain chores maybe. You know the mindset of people back then,
you just you can't get into people's heads, right? Um, as much as you look at the things
he did, like -- he did rescind the Law of Cortacion. He did agree to have 26 people
put to death. He did, produce sugar every year, which killed thousands and thousands
of people. I've had another descendant of of his, send me these long letters about how
he really was fair for the time back then, and try to prove it, and all of this stuff.
I don't think.... I don't see where he was so fair...... you know, but I'm living in
2020 all right? Okay, so, I think it was brutal, I think he was brutal, he also, he was very
much, a Creole you know in in the things that he did, and the way he handles his business.
He was very French, he didn't like living in the French Quarter. Which he did off and
on for about 20 years. He couldn't stand Americans. He didn't want to speak English. So there's
a lot of little things to his character. As to whether he was "fair", because you know
black people own enslaved people too right.... so as to whether he was "fair" in some way....
I have not seen it on paper. I don't know. It's heartbreaking sometimes, it's gut-wrenching.
Because I don't know, um, I do know about the domestic slave trade and what men did
to keep that going, the rape, and and just all of the things that have happened, all
the atrocities that happened are so unreal. It's hard to say, it's very difficult to say,
but you can see I try to be somewhat diplomatic --- because you don't, you just don't know,
right? But looking at it overall....no he wasn't fair, right? Some of these stories
are so crazy. After learning about the house slaves, it was out to learn about the field
slaves and their lives. The stories that she's telling here are just so crazy. I feel like
this tour, this plantation, it really highlights what it was like to be a slave here, to work
here, both in the house and in the fields. This next part, is one of my favorite parts
of the entire tour, but as we walked out to the kitchen area the outdoor kitchen area
-- it was hard to believe that a place that seemed so beautiful could hold such atrocities.
To be able to have this time to unwind from what we had heard in the big house, to what
we would experience of the slaves and their music and their lives that were in the field....
um, I don't know.... I just can't encourage you guys enough to take this tour with Dianne.
Our next stop was the Rost Home Colony exhibit. This exhibit is dedicated to the thousands
of freed men, women, and children, and other refugees from the civil war who received housing
rations medical care education employment at the Rost Home Colony at the Destrehan plantation
between 1865 and 1866. After the Rost Home Colony Memorial center, we headed over to
the washroom. This is where the slaves that were held for trial were crammed into this
small room. The lighter pieces of wood indicate those slaves who lost their lives, it's a
very sobering, very intimate, very sad scene -- but I think it's important that we realize,
and face, and recognize our history. This, as Dianne mentioned, is her favorite part
of the tour, and I dare say it is also my favorite part of this tour. She introduced
the music of Freed Men of Color as well as a real Mardi Gra Indian Chief.
Usually I have a little picture of Edmund Dede here, but he's not here right now. So
he was another freed man of color. He was educated in Europe. He actually became a famous
composer for his time. People associate New Orleans with jazz mostly but we were not just
known for that. The symphony was played in New Orleans there was an opera house that
was founded in New Orleans, that was actually attended by enslaved people as well. I'll
let you hear a little bit of Edmond Dede this is him.... (classical music plays).....isn't
that beautiful? Well when we sing the Indian Red, it is something
that we do at the beginning and at the end of whatever it is we're doing. Normally when
we practice, uh we sing Indian Red every year. Every Sunday we go to a a local bar, where
we have different tribes come from different parts of the city. We basically are rehearsing
what we're going to do on Carnival Day. When the practice starts we call we sing Indian
Red it allows each member, there's several members in the tribe, and those members those
positions are: the spy boy, he would be the eyes of the tribe -- he's the scout. He's
three blocks in front of everybody, he's out looking for other fellas. We're basically
playing a war game. Back in the day, they used to physically fight, my daddy is known
for being responsible for stopping the violence within it. Now it's about who can be the prettiest.
So that's what we have now but when we sing you Indian Red it allows each member to come
out and do his thing before we go out for battle. We are lining up to go to battle.
I call you, you respond, it goes like this....(Tamborine and drumming music starts)--"Malllleeeee tubifioooo,
Iiiindian Reeeed, Iiiiiniiiaaaan Reeeed. Maaaallleeeeee tubifioooo, Iiiiiinidan Reeeed, Iiiiindian
Reeeed. Weeee are iiiiindiiian, I say, Iiiiiindiaaan. I mean Iiiiiiindian from the nations, the
whoooole wiiii we in. Aaaaan we won't bown down. No, we won't bown down. No, no, on that
dirty ground. Oh how I love to let you call, my Indian Reeeed. Oh Chacamo, he know, hi-oh-hi-oh.
I say, hi-oh-hi-oh-hi-oh (repeat). I say, oh my Indian Red, my Indian Red, oh my Indian
red. I love to hear you call, My Indian Reeeed. --music continues..... Take a look at a pretty
Queen. Pretty Queen. Queen of the Nations. She won't bown down. "I won't bow down". No
she won't bow down. On that dirty ground. Oh how I love to hear you call, my Indian
Reeeed." Kinda goes within the tradition. The chief
will go through all the positions the first person he would call out would be the spy
boy, then a flag boy, his responsibility is to carry the name on the flag of that particular
tribe, because there are several tribes on the street. We're on the street playing a
war game. Back in the days they physically fought, my daddy is known for being responsible
for stopping the violence within the tradition. Now it's known for being the prettiest. So
that's why, that's why I say, I'm pretty. Normally I'll have on a suit. It's quite dramatic
and interesting and very spiritual actually. (beats drum) So all right, we're good y'all
enjoyed it? Yeah! Music was a way for the slaves of the field
to heal, to pass messages from one slave to another, or even one plantation to another.
The work was grueling, you didn't have a day off and you worked until you were either disabled
or dead. Women, if they got pregnant they were required to continue working until they
either gave labor in a house, in one of their shacks, or oftentimes in the field itself.
Violence was the way to keep people in line, and often the overseers were assisted by the
male house slaves. Three months took to cut it, and process it,
and be done with it. So you lost a lot of enslaved people, they literally worked around
the clock during this time. It was brutal, you know, you might spend time chopping cane
in the morning -- and then by the evening you're basically ladling the the boiled sugar
from one kettle to another. So the system went where there would be four kettles in
a row and then the system went from the largest kettle on down to the last. This is where
Battie Yaw (?) invention came into play. It made it easier, and less dangerous. It was
still difficult, but it was somewhat easier and less dangerous. For which he basically
got no credit here. We believe they may have used that method here at Destrehan at one
point. It was very sobering to think that the only
thing that would mourn these lives, or come close to it. Was when it would rain, as if
this heaven itself was mourning how humans were treating each other during this time.
If you get a chance to visit Destrehan, I highly suggest going on the tour with Diane
to listen to The Unheard Voices of the German Coast. Where she goes over the currency used
to buy slaves, and who would sell them, and where they would come, and how they would
live, and survive. They also have a great museum to go through as well, with many artifacts
found at the plantation. I hope you enjoyed this video. Be sure to like, subscribe, and
share with a friend that you think would enjoy this, or learn from it. See you in the next
one,,,, bye
