Read this before you visit a New Orleans Cemetery
New Orleans Cemeteries are famous for their above ground tombs. Though this style is common to regions colonized by Spain as well as by France, they are quite rare in North America. They are one of the many reasons New Orleans is a unique and fascinating place. I studied architectural conservation, and have for years been writing about cemetery conservation as well as doing restoration work in a variety of historic cemeteries in Louisiana and doing masonary work in the New Orleans area. During this time, I have been frequently dismayed by the behavior of the living among my most favorite of clients: the dead. Due to their age, their location in a unique subtropical climate, and various economic woes, our cemeteries are very fragile. Allow me to bestow upon you a courteous request to respect the dead when you visit a New Orleans Cemetery, by considering the following:
Many visitors do not realize that burials still happen in all of the city’s cemeteries. They are not mere relics of the past here for entertainment. There may be people mourning a loved one nearby, so be respectful of this fact. Likewise, do not remove memorials or spiritual offerings from burial sites, as you probably would not from any other burial site. Not only is it insanely disrespectful, you’ll just get all bogged down with curses and nobody wants to bring that home with them.
This is what Maria Laveau’s tombs looked like before it was restored. This is vandalism.
The “XXX’s” on tombs left as a voodoo offering? Sorry….not true. This myth was generated by tour guides generations ago, in reference to Marie Laveau’s tomb. Since then the habit has been continued, leading to much damage to historic tombs. Though people do leave spiritual offerings of all kinds, you are not bringing good luck upon yourself by vandalizing a stranger’s tomb. If you are interested in such spiritual practices there are many resources in New Orleans to learn about them.
Just because tombs are in (sometimes shocking) disrepair, does not mean that they are abandoned. In New Orleans tombs are legally treated exactly as if they were houses. If the property falls into disrepair, it is likely because the family can no longer afford maintenance. This does not mean that they are no longer important to a family, and it certainly doesn’t mean there are no longer human remains inside. I know of a man who removed bricks from a tomb so he could fit his hand inside. He would charge tourists $20 to take photos of the human remains for them. Apparently some of us are really desperate for a thrill, but don’t make it harder on families that are already struggling by damaging these tombs further
When you see work being conducted in a historic cemetery, please be respectful. This is skilled labor that requires concentration, and working outside year round in New Orleans is a demanding job. Do not touch or grab their tools, or photograph them without their consent. Once I turned around to see a drunk lady in heels climbing up my ladder to take a selfie, promptly crushing the plaster cornice that I had spent hours building. We are all mortal beings, but your lifespan may be drastically shortened if you destroy someone’s work. Just….don’t.
Image courtesy of The Historic New Orleans Collection
I am surprised at how often I hear that restoration work is “ruining history”. Hey, nobody loves a patina more than me! The crumbling old tombs, covered with ferns, are indeed beautiful, but like any structure they need maintenance. he traditional lime-based materials used to construct the tombs are intended to be limewashed once a year to keep them intact. For generations they received this maintenance from families on All Saints Day, but sadly this tradition has become less common. When preservationists restore a long neglected tomb, its change in appearance may appear shocking. In reality, it is being restored to how it was originally intended to look. There is evidence that many tombs in the Creole cemeteries were limewashed bright colors including yellow, rust red, and blue. This is how their residents wanted to be remembered. And without restoration they will crumble into dust, sooner rather than later. And then nobody gets any patinas.
Last but not least, don’t be like the infamously idiotic “etsy witch” and steal bones. Yes, sometimes you will see human remains. And if they are from an in ground burial within the city limits, they are likely there because someone could not afford to bury their loved one otherwise. Poverty tourism is not a good look on you, and OPP jumpsuits are a very unflattering shade of orange. Leave them be!
How soulless and horrible do you have to be to be stealing human remains from poverty-stricken burial grounds? I guess I shouldn’t be surprised since she said she was using them for curse spells/work – if you’re throwing curses out with your energy, the probability is high that you are not a decent person – but even most of those on darker and left-hand paths don’t *steal human remains from poor people*. And then selling them…? Jfc. Seeing her mugshot in the article I found is *very* gratifying.
I would just like to comment that several pages online (https://blackwitchcoven.com/product/graveyard-dirt/) and a Facebook profile called Margay Art are bragging about stealing dirt from the New Orleans cemeteries. I don’t know who the proper authorities are to report this to, but people like this are why the cemeteries are now either closed to the public altogether, or you have to go on a paid tour to see the cemeteries. It disgusts me to no end to see people brag about desecrating cemeteries.
I wholeheartedly agree! I do not remember offhand how they caught the “etsy witch,” who was stealing human remains from the Holt Cemetery. But it is definitely illegal as well as unethical.
She posted on facebook and people outrage shared it, it went viral and the police saw it and went and knocked on her door
Most of what you say is not true. The REAL reason some of the cemeteries were closed was because they are owned by the Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans who was facing HUGE lawsuits for child molestation and to avoid crippling fines they filed for bankruptcy. Since these cemeteries were income generating, they would have lost them to pay off debts so they closed them before filing and made up some BS about vandalism so they would be able to keep the properties. As far as cemetery dirt is concerned, there is no disrespect when taking dirt from a cemetery in local spiritual practices, many do not take it from someone’s graver, there is plenty of other dirt in the property, it is asked for and gifts are given. Lets get our facts right before you get publicly disgusted about things you don’t know the facts about. Of course, stealing bones or desecrating is a different story.
There was an issue with (and still is an issue) of vandalism and the cemetery, St Louis #1 was closed to the general public due to vandalism back in 2015. I was working in St Louis #1 when someone was opening tombs so tourists could snap photos. I was also working when someone broke in and painted a tomb pink. Not to mention the marking of Marie Lavaeu’s tomb. Now, that said Catholic Archdioceses of New Orleans decided after covid-19 lockdowns to cancel every contract with every tour operator and sign and exclusive an contract with one company. This has everyone thing to do with money and classic New Orleans Nepotism and is probably related to their money issues over lawsuits. Selling dirt from a cemetery online is weird and not something anyone should do. I mean if we all did that their would be holes dug in all the historic cemeteries in New Orleans.
Honestly, having requested city emails about the Lafayette No. 1 closure, they claimed vandalism right and left, and you can still find articles hand-wringing about that everywhere, and privately that’s not what their emails were about. They literally show elites engineering which excuses could affect a closure.
Now, we don’t know with the Catholic Church, because those records aren’t public. But we know there’s a long record of claiming vandalism, whether or not it had anything to do with a closure. Based on any statistics I’ve found, vandalism has vastly decreased, steadily since 1980s. So why does that require cemetery closures, in these spaces? The people making these decisions are elites, not responsible to being honest or fair. And the media simply prints “vandalism”. I’ve written to these same media figures who wrote these articles, they admit they haven’t seen evidence but printed it based on statements. And yet the band plays on.
Nola Tour Guy, you know that what I’m saying is absolutely correct. You know the position we’re in as tour folks, the pressure to carry a lie. Please, join me in telling people the truth! Cause it ain’t happened yet, from basically any tour operator. Those of us who say what’s actually going on are targets, and you know it. Please join me and tell the truth!
“Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity” Lafayette #1 was absolutely closed because one woman complained to city council because she was blocked in seeing her families tomb by a large ghost tour group. She had some sorta of verbal altercation with the tour guide and then went out of her way to get the cemetery closed. I was there, I watched the city council meeting live streamed on Zoom. I was also doing tours of the Cemetery at that time and I have to say something had to be done, things were out of control. You had a couple guides hustling tourists as they walked in, you had a guy selling ougji boards and another guy blasting music on his homemade pedicab. It was not a place for quiet reflection as cemeteries aught to be. There are plenty of sensible options the city could do to re-open the cemetery to the general public while respecting the wishes of families who have tombs in the cemetery but we can’t even keep the lights, the streets paved or city hall from falling apart so I am not holding my breath on that one. That said, suggesting as you do, that this is some sort of conspiracy is absurd. We live in a barley functional city where the closest thing to a conspiracy we have is wealthy elites plundering tax dollars and nepotism. Maybe that’s what you should focus on?
I cannot imagine how stupid you have to be to desecrate sacred ground.
Thank you for this page.
RESPECT people !! I truly cannot believe the lack of respect people have now a days.
If that was yours, how would you feel?????
Thank you for this article.
LOOK DON’T TOUCH!
I am about to visit New Orleans for the first time with my family. I am constantly horrified by my fellow humans and their lack of respect for anything historic or art-related. I live in Dallas where rich people LOVE to tear down beautiful, sound, historically significant homes to build massive homes that have no character at all, but probably a huge gym and indoor bowling alley. I have so much respect for the dead, I can’t imagine getting drunk and climbing on someone’s tomb let alone stealing bones, vandalizing for “luck” etc… I was once at a co-worker’s home and her husband brought out a very old Japanese sword. He was passing it around talking about how it had been in his family for hundreds of years and it had taken many lives. When I was asked if I wanted to hold it, I said no and stated that I had way too much respect for the dead and the artifact to touch it. The room got very quiet and then I think a few people got it. This was several years ago and I still remember that feeling of shock as the people at this party were passing around this weapon that had been in battle and taken life — or so it was said.
We just took the BYOB cemetery tour. Kendal our tour guide was the bomb. It was a great tour. Thank you, Kendal!!!
I have family in the cemeteries tourists come to visit. I don’t Iike it. Those are my people. If you don’t have family or friends there you’ve got no business being there. I’ll be cremated, so it’ll be one less body for the vultures to pick apart or take selfies with.