A strange, unearthly cry echoes across the mirrored surface
of the Louisiana bayou, echoing off scattered cypress and tupelo dripping with
Spanish moss. Is this merely the call of a wading bird? A lone puma? Or is it the
shriek of the man-wolf creature known as the Rougarou?
Rougarou is a Cajun variation on “loup garou”, the French
word for werewolf. France has a long history of werewolf folklore. In the 16th
century these creatures were often blamed for crimes such as disappearances,
animal killings, and particularly violent burglaries. In a parallel to the infamous
witch hunts also taking place at the time, scared and panicked villagers would usually
accuse someone living outside the societal norms of the time- such as a hermit
in the woods, or a person with mental illness- as being the beast. Once
accusations had been made, the condemned had little ability to defend
themselves in court other than to “confess” to being a werewolf and implicate
others in their ddeds.
Many legends existed to explain how one became a loup garou.
Some men (medieval werewolves were almost always masculine) could change by
putting on a wolf’s skin- a possible link to legends of the Norse berserker warriors
who would don bear skins to take on the beast’s power. Some people would become
werewolves through cannibalism and other debauchery. Catholic priests claimed
that a man who didn’t observe Lent for seven straight years would become a werewolf.
Stories of the loup garou came to North America in the 17th
century with French settlers in the Acadia region, located in what is now
Eastern Canada. In the aftermath of the French and Indian War, the British
colonial government took over the region and forcibly deported most of the
ethnically French Acadians. Many of
these displaced people settled in Louisiana, originally a colony of France that
was ceded to Spain in 1762. The Spanish government was fairly tolerant of the
settlers, allowing them to continue their cultural practices- which included tales
of the loup garou.
In modern times the rougarou has become more of a boogeyman to
frighten children. Parents warn their kids not to misbehave or play in the swamp
or else the beast will come for them. These stories usually do not make it
clear if the creature is a transformed human or if it is always a humanoid
beast akin to the Beast of Bray Road and other dogmen of the Midwest.
Despite- or, more likely, because of- its frightening appearance
and behavior, the Rougarou has become a popular part of Louisiana culture.
Costumes based on the creature frequently appear in Mardi Gras celebrations,
and the city of Houma even has an annual festival themed around the creature.
