Carrying on a Family Tradition - LeeAnn Raye Law

by Christine Guidry Law

It is often said by many of the older generation that today’s youth just do not understand the age-old traditions of the past. I’ve heard some remark that “young people today just don’t care” or “they lack the passion and conviction of our ancestors.” Furthermore, there are extreme concerns that our Acadian Culture will be lost in today’s modernized world where many teens live for the latest technological gadget or that next great video game. However, that is not the case for one young girl living in the midst of a very “English” community.

LeeAnn Raye Law is not your typical 14-year-old girl. Sure, you can find her at the local high school football game on a breezy Friday evening, flute in hand marching alongside her classmates in the high school marching band or in the middle of a group of friends playing guitar and singing the latest Country or Pop hits. But come Saturday morning, it’s well worn cowboy boots and a modest skirt with fiddle in hand as she heads with her mother, Christine Guidry Law , across the Atchafalaya Basin to Breaux Bridge and Lafayette for a little Cajun music fix.

LeeAnn is the direct descendant of many Guidry and LeJeune ancestors who were well-known Cajun Musicians and Acadian Fiddlers even before their arrival into Louisiana after the Great Deportation of 1755. “The music of my ancestors is in my blood and in my soul,” says LeeAnn whenever anyone questions her about her choice of music. Young Miss Law is an accomplished musician playing several instruments since the age of 7 years old beginning with the Mountain Dulcimer, guitar, piano, flute, drums, and onto her favorite, the Cajun fiddle. She accompanies her family on fiddle and French vocals in their traditional Cajun band, Chere Mom. Her mother plays accordion and sings, her father plays guitar, and her twin brother plays bass. “It’s a family affair,” laughs LeeAnn as she rosins up her bow for the next tune.

It is not just her taste in music, however, that sets LeeAnn apart and makes her stand out in the crowd of over 1300 students at Zachary High School. LeeAnn is a champion for her culture and is working hard to preserve the heritage handed down to her by her grandparents and ancestors all the way back to Claude Guedry, Marguerite Petitpas, Pierre Lejeune, etc. She is very outspoken about who she is and speaks with great pride of her Acadian and Mi’kmaq heritage. It is not uncommon to find her in deep conversation with another student with a “French” name such as Landry or LeBlanc in which she is “educating” them about their heritage. In 2011, LeeAnn was selected as the youngest member ever chosen to a Louisiana Delegation to travel to LaHave, Nova Scotia to present the Louisiana and Acadiana Flags to the Acadian-Mi’kmaq Council. LeeAnn and her mother were also chosen to play at the Acadian-Mi’kmaq Cultural Festival and Reunion at Fort Point. It was during this visit that LeeAnn was appointed as Youth Ambassador for the State of Louisiana by Acadian-Mi’kmaq Elders in Nova Scotia and commissioned to promote, preserve, and restore the culture among the youth of Louisiana as well as to bridge a connection between the youth of Nova Scotia with those of Louisiana. During the ceremony, LeeAnn was presented with the Canadian, Nova Scotia, and Mi’kmaq Council flags to bring back to Louisiana and use in her important role as a Youth Ambassador.

LeeAnn, alongside her mother, has since then conducted several presentations, workshops, and exhibits on the Acadian-Mi’kmaq Connection as well as the Cajun Culture of Louisiana. She also uses her role, as a Cajun Musician to educate and promote her ancestral traditions, proving that being “French” in an “English” town can indeed be “cool.”

In the summer of 2012, LeeAnn was chosen to represent East Baton Rouge Parish on a new board for the creation of a young French alliance group called Franco-Jeunesse Louisiane for French-speaking youth in Louisiana.