In the swirl of New Orleans, I forgot to tell you about one of the more surreal meetups from the journey so far.
Just outside Bourg, Louisiana, we caught up with RJ Molinere—Houma Nation elder, hunter, trapper, fisherman, four-time world champion arm wrestler, and star of Swamp People. A man with hands like tree trunks and a presence like thunder.
He carved a trail through the jungle with a skid steer just to meet us at the edge of the Intracoastal Waterway. No lie. It was the only way in.
We didn’t have long—RJ’s working on a dozen things at once—but we talked about Indigenous resilience, surviving in a vanishing marshland, and a hunter’s sacred code: if you draw blood, you must find the animal and finish the job. Even if it’s a gator. Even if it damn near kills you.
Another story of survival. Another thread in the fabric of the Delta.
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