After lying dormant for more than 40 years, a beloved cornerstone of Saint Lucian cultural and Catholic heritage has returned to the community of Babonneau. On Sunday, August 23, the long-absent Lawòz tradition was rekindled at Babonneau Church, where community members gathered to crown George Louis and Brenda Aimable as the new Lawòz King and Queen.
This historic ceremony marked the first official Lawòz coronation held in Babonneau since the 1980s, drawing participants from both the Babonneau and Monchy Lawòz community groups. The coronation kicks off the lead-up to the annual Feast of Lawòz, which this year will be hosted by the neighboring community of Monchy on August 30. Rooted deeply in both local Saint Lucian identity and Catholic religious practice, the annual gathering serves as a unifying event for residents across communities to honor their shared heritage.
For Father Albert Aaron, parish priest of Babonneau, the revival of the Lawòz group extends far beyond simply resuscitating an old folk custom. He detailed the tradition’s complex origins, tracing it back to the era of plantation slavery in the Caribbean. Enslaved people were barred from holding formal positions of social status in colonial society, so they created Lawòz as a space to imitate and claim those roles for themselves, building a community tradition that outlasted the systems that birthed it.
Passed down through generations of Saint Lucians, the tradition has retained its deep ties to the Catholic faith, a connection that made this year’s coronation date particularly symbolic. August 23 is the official feast day of Saint Rose of Lima, a revered Peruvian Catholic saint whose life of service aligns closely with the core values of the Lawòz celebration.
“Lawòz is a way of bringing people together and being able to appreciate each other as who they are, the things we do, how and why we do them…and bringing people to care more and more for each other,” Father Aaron explained, noting that Saint Rose of Lima’s lifelong devotion to serving others embodies the spirit the celebration seeks to nurture.
For new King George Louis, the revival of Lawòz in Babonneau is a deeply personal milestone: the tradition has been a thread running through his life since childhood. “I understand it’s part of our culture, and so I have continued whenever I get the opportunity,” Louis said, adding that the coronation holds profound meaning as a public marker of the tradition’s return to his home community.
New Queen Brenda Aimable shares that commitment to preserving the custom, particularly through engaging younger generations to ensure the tradition does not fade away. As a young girl growing up in Babonneau, Aimable missed her early chance to participate in Lawòz, a regret that left her acutely aware that the local culture was at risk of dying out without active effort to sustain it.
When she heard that organizers were rebuilding the Lawòz group in Babonneau, Aimable did not hesitate to sign up, determined not to repeat her earlier mistake. “I have always been interested in being the queen, and I stated my interest and there you have it. God bless me. I am the queen,” she shared.
For Aimable, the role of Queen is about more than the coronation ceremony itself. She hopes her tenure will inspire young people across the region to explore their Saint Lucian heritage and join the Lawòz tradition. “So during our reign, I pray that God helps us to get that done,” she said.