Every year, the Louisiana Folklife Commission and the Louisiana Folklore Society coordinate with institutions across the state to select and honor six people or groups as Louisiana Tradition Bearers. Chosen by Folklife Ambassadors who are themselves active in cultural preservation work, these honorees represent some of the truest examples of Louisiana residents maintaining the traditions that mean so much to our state and its residents. For more on Folklife Month, including a full list of related programs taking place across the state, visit louisianafolklife.org.   

Honoree: Fred Johnson Jr. 

Ambassador: Mona Lisa Saloy 

Fred Johnson Jr. is a widely known community activist and a steward of New Orleans social aid and pleasure club and second line traditions. Johnson came up as a Spy Boy with the historic 7th Ward Tootie Montana’s Yellow Pocahontas Black Masking Indian group, and as a member of the Tambourine & Fan club. He began learning of these street parade traditions from his uncle Roy “Sundown” Johnson, following him to a club called Holly’s on Orleans and North Villere. His Uncle Roy was a member of the Sixth Ward Diamonds, and Johnson followed their parades. Years later when legendary banjo jazzman Danny Barker passed away, Johnson and jazzman Gregg Stafford (along with a traditional jazz funeral) honored Barker with a second line, marking the beginning of the Black Men of Labor Social and Pleasure Club organization. Founded in 1994 by Johnson, Gregg Stafford, and Benny Jones Sr., the Black Men of Labor pay homage to African American labor and its impact on the culture of New Orleans.  

Honoree: Rose Fisher 

Ambassador: Josetta LeBoeuf  

Rose Fisher is a long-time resident of LaSalle Parish and Tribal Elder of the Jena Band of Choctaw Indians. She is a talented artist, teacher, and environmental steward. Inspired by the stories of her grandfather, she joined a class at age fifteen to learn traditional basket weaving that had been lost to her tribe in the 1930s. She is most proud of her recent work with the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, where she now shares her more than fifty years of experience harvesting processing, and weaving rivercane. Recognizing the tremendous loss of rivercane ecosystems in the United States since European settlement, Fisher has worked collaboratively to protect and restore these systems to ensure this resource is available for future generations of weavers.  

Honoree 3: Carl Parfait  

Ambassador: Jonathan Foret  

Carl Parfait, a native of Dulac , was raised along the waterways of Terrebonne Parish, where he learned the shrimping trade from an early age. Inspired by his father, who prepared his own trawl nets each season, Parfait learned to make trawl nets at age sixteen, and by eighteen, he was building his own. He further honed his skills under the guidance of Abel “DaDa” Boudreaux, a respected net maker who taught him the technical details of net construction. Working closely with his Uncle Wilbert, Parfait also engaged in hands-on experimentation, designing nets through trial and error to maximize shrimp catches while minimizing unwanted species like crabs. This dedication to innovation and craftsmanship helped him earn a reputation as one of the region’s finest net builders. Parfait operated his own net shop from 1988 to 1994 and continues to build nets today at his own pace. His lifelong practice ensures that the art of trawl net making will continue to thrive for generations to come. 

Honoree: Ivy Billiot  

Ambassador: Teresa Parker and Rachel Ornelas  

A member of the United Houma Nation, Ivy Billiot is a self-taught woodcarver who creates colorful, meticulously rendered fish, birds, reptiles, and other wildlife out of native Louisiana woods. Born in 1945 in Grand Caillou, Billiot learned about traditional Houma culture as well as the state’s Indigenous animals from his mother. His artistic interests, however, derived largely from his father, an accomplished craftsman. Honing his skills in a community of master craftsmen and working in a traditional American Indian medium, Billiot employs modern flourishes to create lively, often whimsical forms. Such pieces include life-sized songbirds and Gulf Coast fish, as well as miniature panthers, buffalo, and black bears. On occasion, he carves much larger works, such as towering blue herons and open-mouthed alligators extending several feet.  

Honoree: Dale Bordelon   

Ambassador: John Sharp and Herman Fuselier  

In the small Avoyelles Parish community of Effie, the living traditions of wildlife heritage are kept alive by Dale Bordelon. For more than thirty years, Bordelon has preserved the skills and knowledge tied to Louisiana’s waterfowl traditions, crafting cane duck calls, cypress wood decoys, and cypress dugout pirogues the same way they have been done since the mid-1800s—by hand.  His methods honor traditional techniques passed down through generations, and his stories reflect the history embedded in these practices. Bordelon is a dedicated teacher and tradition bearer who has thrived in the modern age. Through online platforms, he shares instruction on duck calling and waterfowl customs, reaching new audiences, and ensuring these skills continue to be transmitted. His storytelling bridges past and present, blending humor with lived experience to preserve outdoor culture in “Sportsman’s Paradise.” 

Honoree: Becky Thomas-Meziere 

Ambassador: Shane Rasmussen   

Becky Thomas-Meziere is a traditional pine needle basket maker of Choctaw descent currently living in Natchitoches Parish. As a young child she learned traditional Native American methods and techniques from her mother, such as gathering long leaf pine needles from the local forest, using raw material to make baskets, and the art of weaving. A master basket weaver with over thirty years of experience, she is known for her beautiful handwoven baskets that can be seen all over the world in both private collections and museums. She has demonstrated her traditional art form in multiple juried art shows and festivals and is currently active in promoting awareness of traditional pine needle basket making and the importance of passing down this rare art form to younger generations.