Kont pou piti-yé: ékri dan kouri-vini
Tales for Kids: Write in Kouri-Vini led by Adrien Guillory-Chatman

Capitol Park Museum and Chinbo, Inc. are pleased to offer a one-day workshop conducted in Kouri-Vini (Louisiana Creole). “Kont pou piti-yé: ékri dan kouri-vini (Tales for Kids: Write in Kouri-Vini)” is a free one-day workshop which aims to teach kids and adults about writing and storytelling in Kouri-Vini, the endangered Creole language of Louisiana. This workshop will be led by Adrien Guillory-Chatman, a writer, educator, and founder of Vilaj Bonjwa, and assisted by visual artist and former Baton Rouge Poet Laureate Jonathan J. Mayers. Participants will engage in learning about traditional Louisiana folktales with animal characters, such as Bouki and Lapin, in a Louisiana setting. Participants will then create their own children’s tale in Kouri-Vini using the aforementioned story elements. To individualize learning and to help formulate their tales, words, and sentences will be provided according to participants’ abilities. 

“Learning your heritage languages is important,” says Lieutenant Governor Nungesser. “This unique immersion opportunity to learn through Kouri-Vini, the endangered Creole language of our state, provides our communities public space needed for continuing cultural practices.”

Schedule

Friday, June 7
9:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. Tales for Kids Workshop with Adrien Guillory-Chatman
12:30 p.m.–1:30 p.m. Group Lunch
1:30 p.m.–3:00 p.m. Participant Presentations

This workshop will be held in conjunction with Immèrsyon kouri-vini: aprenn avèk mitoloji (Kouri-Vini Immersion: Learn with Mythologies) led by Clif St. Laurent and will enhance the Mitoloji Latannyèr/Mythologies Louisianaises exhibition curated by Jonathan J. Mayers and on display at Capitol Park Museum, a Louisiana State Museum, until December 2024.

Registration

Registration opens on Monday, March 21, 2024 at 10:00 a.m. To register for the Tales for Kids workshop, please complete this Google form: https://forms.gle/jMBLEgevZMiuYtYU9. The workshop is open to the first 20 applicants. If the registration limit has been reached, you will be added to the waitlist. 

The Tales for Kids workshop is open to learners aged 10+. Knowledge of the Kouri-Vini language is encouraged; there will be a translator on hand. Registrants must be available to attend the whole workshop. Participants ages 10-17 years of age must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. Participants will be selected on a first-come, first-served basis.

IMPORTANT: Registering for “Immèrsyon kouri-vini: aprenn avèk mitoloji (Kouri-Vini Immersion: Learn with Mythologies)” led by Clif St. Laurent, will automatically register you for “Kont pou piti-yé: ékri dan kouri-vini (Tales for Kids: Write in Kouri-Vini)” led by Adrien Guillory-Chatman. Therefore, if you’re only interested in taking the Tales for Kids workshop and not the week-long Kouri-Vini Immersion program, then please use the Google form link provided above.

This program is funded under a grant from the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this Kouri-Vini Immersion project do not necessarily represent those of the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities or the National Endowment for the Humanities. This program is also funded with support from the Louisiana Folklore Society, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Louisiana Division of the Arts, and the Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism.

Chinbo, Inc., is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the revitalization and reclamation of Kouri-Vini, the endangered Creole language of Louisiana. Led by educators, culture bearers, and creatives who are of Louisiana heritage, Chinbo, Inc., provides educational and learning resources to the Louisiana community and its diaspora. For more information about the organization, visit www.chinbo.org.