Uncover the currents of memory
The water carries stories—of resilience, loss, and survival, of those who live at its edges. Like the river, we are shaped by what we carry.
Recent Quick Dispatches
Short dispatches from the river and beyond
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George Arnaud has been pushing water—and community—for decades.
We interviewed George, a descendant of Arnaudville’s namesake, who spent over fifty years working the rivers, pushing long rafts of barges up and down the Mississippi and beyond. A career built on current, steel, and river-smarts. When he finally came ashore, George started as a volunteer dishwasher at NUNU Arts & Culture Collective. These days,…
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An Evening at NUNU in Arnaudville
We had the honor of bringing Dotty to the remarkable NUNU Arts & Culture Collective in Arnaudville earlier this week. The night unfolded in true Louisiana fashion: a community potluck, incredible live music from Maya Kamaty, and an open invitation for folks to climb aboard the shantyboat, share stories, or just hang out. And hang…
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Big Yella County Fixins in Grand Coteau
Oh man. The food is Louisiana is great, but the flavors that Shantelle whips up are special. I don’t have enough data points to know if this is the difference between Creole and Cajun cooking or just Shantelle’s special style.
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Joe Billiot knows rivers
We sat down today for a wide-ranging conversation that covered his 54 years running tugs all over the country, his childhood on Bayou Lafourche, his Chitimacha and Cajun French heritage, and a lifetime of stories anchored in the water. Joe speaks with the clarity of someone who’s spent decades reading currents, both literal and cultural.…
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Lynda Frese is out here making art like the Earth is watching
We sat down with her this week—painter, collage artist, professor emeritus from University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Lynda grew up in Rhode Island, but her work is soaked through with bayou light and Louisiana mysticism. Her collages pull together satellite scans, saucers, sacred forests, and pigment ground from the literal dirt of this place. She…
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“Patriarchs in Stately Rows”
“The trees along the stream’s course are seen first and remembered longest. The live oak makes here its greatest stand in Louisiana: patriarchs in stately rows, long files for several miles; double avenues, with branches arching high above the heads of passers-by, leaves mingling with leaves; clumps at the banks, hanging over the water. At…
Step Aboard and Drift into the Story
What stories does the river hold? Who calls it home? How do we navigate change, memory, and belonging on the water? Step aboard our floating archive and explore the histories, people, and places that make up this journey.
Recent Field Reports
Longer reports from the field
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Lynda Frese is out here making art like the Earth is watching
We sat down with her this week—painter, collage artist, professor emeritus from University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Lynda grew up in Rhode Island, but her work is soaked through with bayou light and Louisiana mysticism. Her collages pull together satellite scans, saucers, sacred forests, and pigment ground from the literal dirt of this place. She…
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The Cats of Krotz (Katz?) Springs
We didn’t see many people in Krotz Springs. But we did see cats. On porches, in tall grass, under trailers. Lounging in the shade or darting behind cars. For every cat we photographed, another vanished the moment we made eye contact—like shadows with whiskers. They weren’t strays. They belonged here. Not to anyone, necessarily, but…
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A Night in Simmesport
Why are we sitting in a police station at nearly midnight after two white young men kitted out in military garb pulled rifles on us for allegedly trespassing? Welcome to our small town in southern Louisiana, where tying up to an unmarked riverbank can get you met by armed young men in tactical vests, backed…
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A Day in Simmesport
Just after breakfast, we passed a spot where geography and history tangle like roots underwater. This is where the Red River becomes the Atchafalaya—where a meander of the Mississippi once captured the Red, and later, human hands sliced it back open, inserting control structures to keep the rivers separated, but not disconnected. A crossroads of…
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First miles, first mishaps
We launched. Not on water yet, but we hit the road—and that’s no small thing. The past week was a blur of last-minute repairs, packing lists, untested gear, late-night epoxy sessions, and frantic repainting. There was preventative maintenance and finishing touches, but also some real “hold-your-breath-and-hope” fixes. You know: the fun stuff. We never got…
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Every River Has a Story. Tell Us Yours.
Peoples River Stories is a participatory new media project, a web-based map where anyone can drop a pin and share a memory, confession, observation, dream, or historical fragment about a river they know. It expands the world of Secret History beyond our shantyboat and beyond U.S. borders—inviting people everywhere to claim space for their own…
Follow the River to Its Deeper Currents
What draws us back to the river, year after year? How does the project challenge dominant history? How do river communities respond to change? Explore the deeper ideas that shape our journey.
Meet Our Interviewees
Conversations with people who live and work on the river
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George Arnaud has been pushing water—and community—for decades.
We interviewed George, a descendant of Arnaudville’s namesake, who spent over fifty years working the rivers, pushing long rafts of barges up and down the Mississippi and beyond. A career built on current, steel, and river-smarts. When he finally came ashore, George started as a volunteer dishwasher at NUNU Arts & Culture Collective. These days,…
-
Joe Billiot knows rivers
We sat down today for a wide-ranging conversation that covered his 54 years running tugs all over the country, his childhood on Bayou Lafourche, his Chitimacha and Cajun French heritage, and a lifetime of stories anchored in the water. Joe speaks with the clarity of someone who’s spent decades reading currents, both literal and cultural.…
-
Lynda Frese is out here making art like the Earth is watching
We sat down with her this week—painter, collage artist, professor emeritus from University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Lynda grew up in Rhode Island, but her work is soaked through with bayou light and Louisiana mysticism. Her collages pull together satellite scans, saucers, sacred forests, and pigment ground from the literal dirt of this place. She…
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A Sitdown with George Marks in Arnaudville, Louisiana
We sat down with George Marks in Arnaudville—artist, organizer, instigator of the offbeat and unexpected. George helped launch the NUNU Collective, an arts and culture space tucked in rural Louisiana that somehow radiates like a beacon. Every time we meet someone here who knows George, they light up. Then they tell us how he changed…
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Remembering Betty Goins
Remembering Betty Goins who passed away yesterday. We had the immense pleasure to interview Betty in Knoxville, Tennessee in 2016.
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On a beautiful sunny morning, I interviewed Paul Hassfurder
On a beautiful sunny morning this week after a day and night of thundershowers, I felt honored to interviewed Paul Hassfurder who lives at Payne Hollow. Paul worked with artist and writer Harlan Hubbard at the house for nearly a decade before his death in 1988 at age 88. Paul talked to me about Harlan…
Trace the Currents of Our Journey
Where did we go? What did we find along the way? Explore interactive maps from our river expeditions and road trips, with every dispatch mapped along the route.
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