Economics and Authenticity: A Collision of Interpretations in Cane River National Heritage Area, Louisiana David W. Morgan, Kevin C. MacDonald, and Fiona J. L. Handley Ed. note: A version of this paper was originally presented at The Alliance of Natural Heritage Areas 2nd International Heritage Development Conference, Nashville, Tennessee, June 2005. Introduction Melrose Plantation, a United States national historic landmark, is a focal point for cultural tourism in northern and central Louisiana (Figure 1). It is celebrated as a pre-Louisiana Purchase property,for the origins of Melrose may go back as far as 1796. In that year, legend has it that a freed slave of African descent named Marie-Thérèse Coincoin acquired the land grant for this property on behalf of her son, Louis Metoyer, who was then still a slave (Mills and Mills 1973:33–59). Louis Metoyer was a Creole of Color, which in central Louisiana refers to a distinct group of people of mixed European, Native American, and African ances- try. Cane River is home to the descendents of this original colonial-era community, and the Cane River Creoles, as they call themselves, are a vibrant group of people who have experi- enced a strong cultural revitalization over the last decade. In the Cane River region, Marie- Thérèse herself is considered a founding figure of exceptional—almost mythic—importance, and most members of the Creole community trace their genealogical ties back to Marie- Thérèse and her ten children by the Frenchman, Jean Claude Thomas Pierre Metoyer. Marie-Thérèse’s prominence in popular culture is due in no small part to the fact that their descendants became one of the South’s wealthiest antebellum families of African descent (Louisiana State Museum 2003). Her more global importance has been highlighted recent- ly by the attention given Cane River and Marie-Thérèse by Oprah Winfrey and two contem- porary novelists (Tademy 2001; Mills 2003). For the last four years we have worked of the Maison de Marie-Thérèse, see at Melrose and the other plantations of MacDonald, Morgan, and Handley 2002/ Marie-Thérèse and her family as part of a 2003; MacDonald, Morgan, and Handley, collaborative archaeological and archival in press; MacDonald et al., in press). Little project between Northwestern State by little our research has unraveled the links University of Louisiana (NSU) and between traditional narratives and certain- University College London (UCL). During ties about the history of these properties, these years we have lived very much in the forcing us, as academics, to refine our shadow of Coincoin’s legend (for the story understanding of the plantation’s develop- 44 The George Wright Forum The ICOMOS–Ename Charter Figure 1. Locations of sites discussed in the text. Map by David Morgan. ment. This has thrust us into a position we sometimes they are discordant. As such our did not anticipate, in which our findings are negotiations over the legend of Marie- sometimes welcomed, but sometimes are Thérèse provide an interesting case study seen as contesting, contradicting, or deny- with which to illustrate the tenets of the ing accepted narrative “truths.” third draft of the proposed Ename Charter There are three main parties who wish for the Interpretation of Cultural Heritage to stake a claim in the way in which Marie- Sites (see Silberman, this volume). Other Thérèse’s story is told. One, obviously, are similar charters have mentioned the need the individuals who self-identify as Cane for sensitive, effective interpretation, but the River Creoles. A second party is the Ename Charter, drafted under the auspices Association for the Preservation of Historic of ICOMOS, the International Council on Natchitoches (APHN), a not-for-profit Monuments and Sites, attempts to “define preservation group composed mostly of the basic objectives and principles of site affluent Anglo women who currently incor- interpretation in relation to authenticity, porate Marie-Thérèse and Creole heritage intellectual integrity, social responsibility, into their interpretation of Melrose Planta- and respect for cultural significance and tion. Lastly,there are the outside academics, context” (ECPAHP 2005). It is particularly represented by us, as well as members of the appropriate here, for it begins with the National Park Service’s Historic American recognition that interpretation can be con- Buildings Survey program and, over the tentious and should acknowledge conflict- years, an assortment of other social scien- ing perspectives. As an international stan- tists. dard for all types of heritage sites, the char- In this paper we attempt to show how ter is necessarily broad, but there are three these three corporate voices come together principles that are especially appropriate to to relate the tale of the Cane River Creoles. the case we present, because together they Sometimes the voices are harmonious, address the need for interpretation through Volume 23 • Number 1 (2006) 45 The ICOMOS–Ename Charter scholarly methods and through living cul- Anglo owner responsible for Melrose’s ren- tural traditions, the need for authenticity, aissance in the early twentieth century), and and the need for fiscal sustainability. Clementine Hunter (the celebrated African- American artist who lived and worked at APHN’s Melrose Narrative Melrose during the Cammie Henry era). Melrose Plantation is the only publicly The APHN’s clear focus on strong-mind- accessible cultural heritage site at which the ed, independent women, two of whom were history of Cane River Creoles is currently African American, is unusual, if not unique, presented to the public. The APHN has in historic house interpretation in the owned the historic core of the plantation southern U.S., and is an extremely impor- and acted as its steward for 34 years. The tant and valid interpretive approach. society’s members obviously govern in a The interpretive tour explaining these large measure how the tale of Marie- women’s histories is based around five key Thérèse and her family is interpreted there. “original” buildings. Three are of particular Melrose, with its grand oaks and architec- importance because they have been associ- ture, is certainly capable of attracting ated directly with the Marie-Thérèse leg- tourists for aesthetic reasons alone (Figure end: 2). The real marketing and advertising efforts of the APHN, however, are to convey • Yucca House. It is presented as being Melrose as embodying the tale of three built around 1796, and legend has it influential women: Marie-Thérèse Coin- that this was the original main house, coin, Carmelite “Cammie” Henry, (the built and lived in by Marie-Thérèse Figure 2. Main house at Melrose Plantation. Photo by Jack Boucher, National Park Service, Historic American Buildings Survey. 46 The George Wright Forum The ICOMOS–Ename Charter (Figure 3). costume, and from her dramatic perch • Africa House. It is also presented as delivers the story of Marie-Thérèse and the being built around 1796 as a grain plantation’s founding; she then sweeps store, or, according to some accounts, a downstairs and across the lawn to com- slave jail built in a Congolese style by mence the heart of the tour at Yucca and Marie-Thérèse (Figure 4). Africa houses. • Ghana House. A third supposedly As another example, the APHN web- original 1796 structure, this small site’s main page leads visitors to two cabin is reported to have been built in tourism sites, one of which is Melrose. Each an architectural style reflecting Marie- heritage site is linked to a text blurb intend- Thérèse’s African heritage (Figure 5). ed to draw a reader into a closer inspection, and Melrose’s lure is telling: The story of Marie-Thérèse is famous in Cane River country, and the APHN uses “According to the tradition preserved it to their advantage. For instance the by her descendants, Marie Therese Melrose Plantation tourist brochure (2002) Coincoin was the recipient of the grant of land known as Melrose Plantation.” proclaims, “The story of romantic Melrose Plantation begins with the legend of Marie The legend of Marie Therese Coin- Thérése Coincoin.” It is accurate advertis- coin is not just the story of a woman ing, for so too does a visitor’s trip to the but the story of a family grounded in plantation. Special tour groups are some- African tradition, mellowed by French times greeted by Betty Metoyer, a descen- culture, this family developed in the briefest span of years into one of the dent of Marie-Thérèse. Metoyer typically unique societies in American history, awaits her tour groups from the upstairs a culture so distinct, so close-knit, that porch of the main house, dressed in period they have always termed themselves Figure 3. Yucca House at Melrose Plantation. Photo by Jack Boucher, National Park Service, Historic American Buildings Survey. Volume 23 • Number 1 (2006) 47 The ICOMOS–Ename Charter Figure 4. Africa House at Melrose Plantation. Photo by Philip Gould, reproduced with his permission and courtesy of the Cane River National Heritage Area. Figure 5. Ghana House at Melrose Plantation. Photo by Jack Boucher, National Park Service, Historic American Buildings Survey. 48 The George Wright Forum The ICOMOS–Ename Charter “The People.” According to legend, it served simultaneously as both a jail for was here that the story began .... Coincoin’s recalcitrant slaves and as a store- room. By choosing and italicizing a quotation Local folk historian Louis Nardini from the author François Mignon, whom scornfully disputed Mignon’s claims that we discuss below, and invoking the word same year. Nardini (1972) asserted that “legend” twice in their explanatory text, the Coincoin never owned Melrose; did not APHN brochure exploits the allure of the build Yucca, Africa, or Ghana houses; and Marie-Thérèse mythos, while attempting to lived in her own plantation at Cedar Bend reinforce it using documented history.