In Louisiana, the term traiteur (sometimes spelled treateur) describes a man or woman (a traiteuse[1]) who practises what is sometimes called faith healing.
An important part of Creole folk religion, the traiteur combines Catholic prayer and medicinal remedies.
They are called to treat a variety of ailments, including: earaches, toothaches, warts, tumors, angina, and bleeding.
In Southern Louisiana, the co-existence of conventional medicine and traiteurs offers patients a range of resources for treating illness.
Katharine Poissot-Kinney, a practicing generational Creole traiteuse in Louisiana, also advises those seeking healing not to stop medical care until cleared by their physicians.
Traditionally, traitement (or treatment[2]) consists of the laying of hands on and praying over the patient in-person;[3] in fact, many traditionalists claim that the powers of the traiteur cannot cross bodies of water or, at the least, bodies of water between traiteur and patient may limit the effectiveness of the traitement.