Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana
Lucia Alfaro, born in 1972, a member of the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana from the Kawaknasi (Bobcat) Clan, is an accomplished long-leaf pine needle basket maker specializing in animal baskets known as “effigies.” As a wife and mother of two college students, she enjoys traveling, learning about other cultures, collecting baskets, fishing, and walking. She served as the 1990 Coushatta Princess and is currently a Tribal Gaming Commissioner for the Coushatta Tribe.
As a fourth-generation basket maker, she apprenticed at a young age under her late grandmother, Edna Lorena Langley. She continues to honor the teachings of her late grandmother and mother, the late Evelyn Langley Alfaro, by sharing generations of knowledge of her foremothers and ancestors with her family. Effigy is a term her grandmother often used to collectively describe animal baskets. Using her grandmother’s traditional style of basketry, she creates her own signature effigy baskets by blending traditional and contemporary methods. She hand picks her pine needles, dyes her raffia, and challenges her skill set and artistic ability to create unique baskets. Among her favorite baskets to create include turtles, ducks, hummingbirds, cats, and any basket requiring pinecone petals.
Knowing the priceless gift of ancestral heritage and cultural identity, she is honored and proud of her Coushatta heritage. She hopes that the legacy of Coushatta basketry will continue for generations to come and that it helps retain the identity of the Coushatta people and all the adversities they have overcome.
