April Bayou Culture Gathering to highlight mission of École Pointe-au-Chien, Terrebonne’s historic French immersion school

The Bayou Culture Collaborative is excited to present their April gathering of people and organizations focused on preserving Louisiana’s heritage and examining the effects of land loss on local culture.

Christine Verdin, director of École Pointe-au-Chien, will discuss the importance of French in Louisiana, as well as the mission and day-to-day operations at the historic immersion school.

École Pointe-au-Chien was established in 2023 by the Pointe-au-Chien Indian Tribe, who wished to pass the bayou’s Cajun culture, along with the regional French language, along to the next generation of students. The school teaches traditional French, Cajun French, and also “Indian French” — meaning the varieties of French spoken by indigenous communities in southern coastal Louisiana.

École Pointe-au-Chien is the first Cajun and Indian French Immersion School in the state of Louisiana, as well as the only school offering French immersion programs in Terrebonne and Lafourche Parishes. As of 2024, nine students were enrolled at the local school.

The April Bayou Culture Collaborative will take place on Friday, April 25, 2025 from 12:00 PM-1:30 PM via Zoom. Interested participants can register here.

The Louisiana Folklore Society offers these gatherings to share perspectives on the human dimension of coastal land loss. In partnership with the Center for Bayou Studies at Nicholls State University and the South Louisiana Wetlands Discovery Center, the Bayou Culture Gatherings are supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Louisiana Division of the Arts, the Office of Cultural Development and the Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism, the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, and the Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Program.

For more information, please visit the Louisiana Folklore Society on Facebook.