If you read Michael P. Foely’s Why We Kiss Under the Mistletoe: Christmas Traditions Explained, you will come across this passage:
Another remarkable transformation took place in Louisiana’s Cajun country, when the Kristkindl brought by Swiss immigrants became “La Christine,” a woman who brings homemade treats and small gifts on New Year’s Eve.
That description almost fits in with the remarks of Paul Chiquet, a Lousiana librarian, who told the blog EvangelineToday.com that La Christiane [not La Christine] was associated with the New Year, not Christmas, which jibes with accounts that in times gone by Christmas was the day for a religious celebration and the New Year was the time of gift giving.
“To Cajuns Pere Noel is for Christmas and La Christiane is for New Year’s. This Cajun tradition is still followed today in many place like St. James Parish, where I am from. This was an Acadian tradition that came with them to Louisiana.
“La Christiane was a woman who always came to the Cajuns on New Year’s Eve and gave out fruits, homemade candies and small gifts. My family still follows this tradition. We put out a pillow case on the fireplace with my grandchildren’s name on them and one for my grown children also for any family member who will stay overnight for New Year’s.”
Note that Foley attributes La Christine’s origin to Swiss settlers bringing with them the Christ Child (Christkindl or Kristkindl) as the Christmas gift-bringer while Chiquet attributes it to the Acadians (refugees from French Canada who arrived after 1745). If Chiquet were correct we must expect to find remnants of the La Christine tradition carried on in New Brunswick or Prince Edward Island. No custom by that name persists in eastern Canada but inhabitants there revere Mother Goody (also known as Aunt Nancy or Mother New Year), a lady who brings little gifts to children on New Year’s. Is that the connection?
It must also be said that in some ports of Louisiana “La Christiane” is simply a synonym for Papa Noël or Santa Claus while others refer to the figure as “Santa Claus’s wife”.
I have searched for 40 years to understand why ” lady new years” a name we call her… Didn’t come to anyone else but my family. The tradition was alive and well for us and I passed it to my children growing up. I’m in Newfoundland. My grandmother passed down the tradition from change Island… But they are of some Scottish decent (we always assumed it was due to that). Finally after years of searching I’ve found something referring to a similar tradition.
I have searched for 40 years to understand why ” lady new years” a name we call her… Didn’t come to anyone else but my family. The tradition was alive and well for us and I passed it to my children growing up. I’m in Newfoundland. My grandmother passed down the tradition from change Island… But they are of some Scottish decent (we always assumed it was due to that). Finally after years of searching I’ve found something referring to a similar tradition.