Michael E. Mamp

When author William Faulkner Rushton published “The Cajuns: From Acadiana to Louisiana,” his book detailing the history of the Cajuns in 1979, he asserted that weaving was “the oldest, and least modified, surviving folk phenomenon of the culture.” Yet decades later, many people, even those of Cajun descent, know little about the history of the Acadians and next to nothing of their weaving practices.

Present-day Cajuns are, in general, descendants of Acadians who migrated to Louisiana after their expulsion from Acadia in New France (present-day Canada) by the British in the mid-18th century. They brought a rich weaving tradition but were accustomed to working with wool. Ever adaptive, the Acadians found a new material to use for weaving, which they referred to as coton jaune, or brown cotton, a variety plentiful in Louisiana.

The LSU College of Agriculture’s Textile and Costume Museum (TCM) houses a substantial collection of Acadian textiles that documents this unique agricultural history.

Brown Cotton Weaving

Brown cotton is a seedier variety that many found unsuitable for commercial purposes, but the Acadians wove domestic textiles using it. They planted, harvested, carded, spun and wove the naturally brown fiber by hand to make the distinctive brown cloth often used for their blankets. Hand-carding produced rolags, or small bundles, which were then spun into yarn and woven on handmade, two-harness home looms of variable sizes in a plain-weave configuration. Pieces woven on smaller looms were stitched together to create blankets large enough for a bed.

Color was used minimally. Blue from home-grown indigo and other natural or commercial dyestuffs appeared only sparingly. Acadian brown fiber blankets are now highly coveted by collectors and antique dealers. Occasionally, they wove blankets from white cotton, likely for use on sick beds, or as more elaborately woven couverture de mariage (wedding blankets). Another variation was white cotton mixed with brown — or doublé — resulting in a softer, somewhat speckled color.

Especially rare — but held by TCM — is a brown-and-white cotton striped Acadian paillasse (mattress cover) typically stuffed with corn husks or Spanish moss. The Acadians also wove cotonnade, a densely woven but soft textile used for durable and comfortable clothing. White cotton dyed blue or brown and brown cotton were used to weave the cloth. TCM’s collection even includes a rare piece from the early twentieth century — an Acadian quilt made from remnants of indigo-dyed cotonnade cut from worn-out clothing.

Heirloom Trousseaus

Acadian textiles were cherished family heirlooms, passed from one generation to the next. Mothers and other women in the family wove many textiles for a daughter’s wedding. Tradition held that the trousseau included “12 blankets, 12 bedspreads or coverlets, 6 sheets, 12 towels, 4 mattress covers, a bolster, and two pillows … [and] a quilt may have been included,” according to reference materials from a museum exhibit shown at Musée du Nouveau Monde in La Rochelle, France, in 1983. These were enough textiles for a young woman to start a family and to concern herself with weaving the next generation’s trousseaus. This tradition of weaving for daughters was known as l’amour de maman, or mother’s love.

While Acadian or Cajun cuisine and music remain well known, the weaving legacy is, unfortunately, largely forgotten. Highlights from the TCM Acadian textile collection were featured in a 2024 exhibition staged in partnership with the LSU Libraries’ Special Collections. It featured a variety of textiles alongside archival materials that traced the history of Acadian weaving in Louisiana, especially the Acadian Handicrafts Project, which from 1942 to 1962 endeavored to preserve French language and culture in Louisiana under the leadership of Louise “LouLou” Olivier, an LSU graduate and extension employee. Through that project, Acadian women sold handicrafts, particularly handwoven textiles and hand-sewn christening gowns, generating valuable income for their families.

Though they are not part of the permanent display, many examples of these Acadian fabric treasures can be viewed at TCM by appointment.

Michael E. Mamp is the director and curator of the LSU Textile and Costume Museum and is an associate professor of textiles, apparel design and merchandising. This article appears in the summer 2025 edition of Louisiana Agriculture.

LSU Textile and Costume Museum

The museum endeavors to preserve the unique history of Acadian weaving and other handicrafts.

LOCATION:

LSU campus, Human Ecology Building,

330 Tower Drive, Baton Rouge

HOURS:

Monday to Friday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and the first Sunday of each month from 2 to 4 p.m.

Natural brown cotton harvested in Louisiana. Photo by Kevin Duffy

Blankets made from brown and brown/white cotton combinations hang at the LSU Hill Memorial Library as part of the installation Woven Louisiana History: Acadian Textiles. Photo by Kevin Duffy

A rare indigo patchwork quilt and a blanket woven using white cotton were both featured in the Woven Louisiana History: Acadian Textiles installation at the LSU Hill Memorial Library. Photo by Kevin Duffy