Five Things about Traiteurs

Picture: "Doc Moses, Cajun Traiteur" by George Rodrigue

In Living Among the Dead, one of the principle characters is Honoré Mouton, a carpenter, and, more importantly, a traiteur, a healer.

Traiteurs have been around south Louisiana as long as Acadians have, a tradition passed down the same way as music and food. Here are five things about them.

1. Generally, the ability to heal, or treat, is passed down from one family member to another of the opposite sex. That is, mother to son, father to daughter.

2. A traiteur can't offer to heal you. You have to ask. In Living Among the Dead, the narrator wonders why Honoré doesn't offer to heal a certain person. The answer is, that person hasn't asked to be healed.

3. A traiteur can't be paid. Sure, you can give a gift of gratitude, but that's it. I would add that because the treatment is free, it's covered by most medical plans, but that would be sarcastic. True, but sarcastic.

4. You shouldn't even thank a traiteur. It's considered blasphemous. That's because...

5. Healing powers are considered a gift from God. For a traiteur to except thanks would be tantamount to saying you did it all by yourself.

In Living Among the Dead, this exchange occurs after one person is healed by a traiteur:

What do you say to someone when they save your life? Are they the same tired words you use when someone holds a door for you? Is it the same ancient phrase you might use when a Yankee soldier offers you half of the boiled beef from his tin plate and water from his canteen? I could think of no others at the time.

“Thank you,” I said.

The words felt foreign in my mouth, like rocks or cotton or marbles. They were words I was unaccustomed to saying, but I had to say them again. “Thank you.”

His smile fell, and he raised a finger. “You don’t never thank me for things like that,” he scolded. “It’s not me you should thank.” And he pointed to the sky.

In medical school, we were told that above all else, cure sometimes, care always. And that is what's at the heart of a healer.