The Biloxi D’Iberville Press

Gulf Coast Time Traveler

May 12, 2004

Faire Dodo
by Edmond Boudreaux

 

During the Blessing of the Fleet article I mentioned the “Faire Dodo” that used to occur during the Shrimp Festival.  Most likely there are a lot people who do not know what a “Faire Dodo” is so I will try to explain. Now some folks will tell you it’s a street dance; while others say it a big party.  Yet, some will say that it is the gathering of family, friends, food, and fun.  None of the above would be wrong it’s just a different point of view.  The origin of the “Faire Dodo” lies deep in the roots of the Acadians or the Cajun culture.

                                                                                    

Let us first look at the translation of “Faire Dodo.”  It simple it means to “make sleepy, beddy-bye” or simply “go to sleep”.  It was usually used in reference to children.  I can remember my father, grandmother, aunts, and uncles telling us or other small children to go “dodo” or to “make dodo.”  Well what does that have to do with a street dance?  We have to visit the Cajun culture in south Louisiana to get to the bottom of this mystery.

 

In south Louisiana during the horse and buggy day private and public dances were held just about every weekend.  Everyone from the grandparents to the small children attended the event.  All brought food for a kind of potluck supper which was followed by the dance.  The elders would visit and gossip but the babies were put to sleep or “Faire Dodo.”  It was a chance for single young folks to socialize but the young woman and girls were strictly chaperoned.

 

The Cajuns were first recruited to work the seafood industry on the Mississippi Gulf Coast in 1914 after factory agents went to Louisiana.  The first Cajun laborers arrived by train on July 25, 1914.  After their arrival they were taken to the Barataria camps that were located on Point Cadet.  During the 1920s and 1930s, Biloxi factory owners and their representatives would travel to southeast Louisiana recruiting laborers from places like Broussard, Youngsville, New Iberia, Jeanerette, Erath, St. Martinville, and many other south Louisiana areas.  The surnames of these early families were Borel, Boudreaux, Breaux, Broussard, Comeaux, Delahoussaye, Duet, Gautreaux, Martin, Olier, Thibodeaux, Theriot, Viator, and Use. 

 

The Cajuns brought many cultural customs with them but one was the old custom of having neighborhood dances or “Faire Dodo.”  Their numbers continued to increase and in early 1934 the Fleur De Lis Society was formed.  The purpose of the society was to create a means to hold on to and teach their Cajun culture, to educate its member and help them become productive citizens, to assist individuals of their community who were in need, and to have social gatherings  (“Faire Dodo”) with friends and family.

The arrival of every cultural and ethnic group has help to create and change the face of our Gulf Coast.  Thus, closing another chapter of Mississippi Gulf Coast History.

 

References:

Biloxi Daily Herald, July 25, 1914, First Labor for Shrimp Industry, page 1 column 8

Harrison County MS Marriage Records 1900s

Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Catholic Church early 1900s