We took the Littlest Ninja out to St. Bernard Parish today to visit the Los Islenos Museum. I should have done my homework beforehand. It appears that post-Katrina, the museum is closed for repairs. There is, however, plenty of fascinating information at the Los Islenos website.
What inspired us to learn more about the "Land of Oxen" and its inhabitants was a very interesting four part series in the Times Picayune about a vanishing way of life and landscape.
If I remember correctly, the name Terre-aux-Boeuf had nothing to do with the beef cattle we saw taking shade by the side of the road. When Bienville first came up the Mississippi River it was in this locale that he spotted "wild cattle." What's that? Cows aren't native to North America! There couldn't have been any wild cows at the time. Yep, the "cattle" Bienville saw were buffalo. American bison wandered the delta in days gone by. Another fun Louisiana fact.
The museum buildings are currently being used at the moment but not for anything we had any reason to enter. One of them is home to a BP Claims Office. Another unpleasant reminder that the land around the bayous is changing.
I had been out that way once before in May. Interesting countryside.
By the way, I'll now be posting daily pictures of New Orleans at whaleheadking.tumblr.com. I've taken too many pictures to post here on the Matrix and they have to go somewhere.
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