One of the most ubiquitous legends in Cajun culture is a woman whose reputation varies from region to region. The story of Madame Grands Doigts, the woman with the long fingers, has been told for decades to Louisiana children. This month the magazine Country Roads features a piece exploring how the legend varies across the state - sometimes Grands Doigts is a gentle, generous character who gives little new years gifts, while in other regions she is menacing.

Read the Country Roads story here.  

WRKF's Tegan Wendland had a conversation with LSU Instructor and Coordinator of Cajun Studies, Amanda LaFleur, about Grands Doigts and why she is a beloved figure.

LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW

WENDLAND: Can you start out by telling me the story of Madame Grands Doigts and about her importance in Cajun culture?

provided by LaFleur LSU Prof. Amanda LaFleur

LAFLEUR: Sure, well, I'm not sure that the one story I've heard of her origin is the common one, but the one story I've hear is from David Lampour from Lapacanier which is in rural St. Landry Parish near Arnaudville and David learned this story from his grandfather. He said that at one point there was a young girl who had beautiful hands - she had very long, lithe hands and they were very smooth and were so attractive that all the young suitors in the community of course wanted to get close to her so that they could kiss her hand, and they all wanted to make her their wife. So, of course, the young girls in the community got very jealous, so they got together and they decided that they were going to do something about it. So, they organized a dance, or house party, and invited her and while she was there, unbeknownst to her, they had gotten together and put together a gris gris, which is a curse, and somehow they managed to get together and put this gris gris on her hands. And of course she had a wonderful time at the party but when she went home and she went to bed, and when she woke up the next morning, her long beautiful fingers had become knobby and full of warts and her skin had gotten very scaly and ugly and her hands were so atrocious looking that she was ashamed to go anywhere. So after that day, she was ashamed to ever leave her house again. And of course she stayed home and she never got married to any of those suitors or to anyone at all and she moved into her family's attic and pretty much stayed there until she died. And, the story goes, that after she died her ghost continued to haunt that house and then the house burnt down and then the ghost moved to another house and to another attic in another home and sort of travelled from attic to attic and she became a character that parents used in their cautionary tales and they would say "Be careful, Madame Grands Doigts' going to get you!" And of course, Grand Doigts means "long fingers" so you can imagine someone sort of sneaking up behind you to get you. That kind of thing.

WENDLAND: What would you say your relationship is with Madame Grands Doigts today? Do you have any children whom you've taught about her?

LAFLEUR: Oh, absolutely. My children have grown up with Madame Grands Doigts. And, that's interesting to say because my kids grew up speaking French - we speak it at home - and my kids, at times, have fought that. There are parts of their culture, you know sometimes my son will say "Aww, mom. Speak English, we're American!" that kind of thing. But, I've been rather pleased that they don't have any problem with the fact that, for example, we don't put any stockings out until after Christmas and if friends happen to come over they love telling them that story. The idea is that they're kind of excited to share something that's unique about their culture and that's part of a tradition that goes back many, many generations.