Rhiannon Callais features editor
Louisiana is home to the fastest-disappearing land mass in the US, stretching from Plaquemines and Lafourche parishes as far north as Point Coupee and home to over 600,000 people.
The Louisiana coast has been experiencing this crisis for the better part of the last century and likely longer than that. Between 1932 and 2016, Louisiana lost 2,006 square miles of its coast, an area equivalent to more than 10 times the size of New Orleans, according to a 2016 study produced by the U.S. Geological Survey.
“A whole lot can be lost without it being noticed; that way, people don’t get alarmed,” says Gary LaFleur, a biology professor at Nicholls State University in Thibodaux.
“A whole lot can be lost without it being noticed; that way, people don’t get alarmed.”
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As land recedes from the coast, water is allowed to move further inland, resulting in changes to the lives and cultures of those affected.
Flooding became, at times, a daily challenge for Former Grand Isle resident Rhiannon Callais, who says she would often wade through water when a not-so-unusual high tide flooded parts of the island. This flooding could often force children to miss school, as buses were unable to reach students.
Point aux Chenne in Terrebonne Parish is a prime example of the effect land loss has had on people.
The Island, which was home to members of the Biloxi-Chitimacha tribe, has lost 98% of its land, forcing residents out for safety. In 2018, the US government recognized this issue and offered assistance in relocating from their island, making them the first climate refugees.
Although they received land close to nearby Houma to protect life, their way of life is beginning to change as many are forced to get jobs that no longer use water, losing touch with their old way of life and each other as they move.
Other area tribes, like the United Houma Nations, have struggled with the movement of their people and the fight to retain their culture.
“A lot of our elders had to move away from where they grew up along the Bayou,” Duplantis says. “When you have to relocate to a place that you’re unfamiliar with, you lose a touch of culture.”
LaFleur warns that although the culture is not yet lost, it is a worrisome trend.
“It’s never too late to fix it up,” he says. “But we are worried about the culture being preserved in those towns.”