A Religious Spirit
By hannah orgeron, staff writer While the United Houma Nation’s traditional religious practices have mostly been lost over time due to the integration of Catholicism and Protestantism, religion is still an integral part of their lives today. Micheal Dardar, UHN historian, says the Catholic and Methodist religious practices were brought to the people by religious leaders and church groups starting schools. When the Indigenous people could not attend school, many Catholic and Methodist church communities fought to give them an education. When the Native Americans would attend the Catholic and Methodist schools, the teachers within the schools were teaching their religion and the citizens began adopting it. Father Paul Du Ru was the first person to start a Catholic Church within the Baton Rouge area. “Paul Du Ru stayed in the tribe ever since Catholics stayed in the tribe and he is especially relevant in the Grand Caillou community,” Dardar says. Ann Bolton of the Diocese of Baton Rouge, says Du Ru was the first person to hold a Catholic mass in that territory. According to the Native Heritage Project website, in the 1700s, Du Ru travelled with Iberville and instructed the Houma Natives to build the first Catholic church, St. Paul’s, in the Mississippi Valley in Bayou Goula, Louisiana in Iberville Parish. Du Ru eventually left to go back to Canada, but the teachings of Catholicism stayed with the Native people, who continued practicing Catholicism, passing the faith down from one generation to the next and replacing the old traditions. Helen Duplantis, a United Houma Nation citizen who works at the Southdown Plantation, says religion is very important in the area. “I grew up in a Catholic Church,” Duplantis says. “It was dominant in our area and we had a segregated church along the bayou. Our parents wouldn’t attend, but they made sure that we would.” Duplantis says her parents were more traditional and hadn’t fully adopted the Catholic religion, but wanted to make sure that the children got opportunities to go to church and have a sense of religion that was going along with their schooling. In the Dulac and Dularge areas, the Methodist communities started to evolve into larger groups. The religious leaders of the Methodist church noticed there was not a school system in place, so several started schools that evolved into a community center. The schools were employed by religious leaders who taught Methodists practices. As the children went to school, they started to adopt the Methodist religion into their lives. “Today a lot of people aren’t in the Catholic church, they are Methodist now and following the Methodist church,” Duplantis says. The Methodist religion was introduced by Rev. Anatole Martin in 1912, according to the document labeled Clanton Chapel. Anatole traveled across the bayou in a canoe to Bayou la Butte where a community of Houma families lived. This area no longer exists because in the 1930’s everyone started to move closer to the Dulac Mission Center. In order to be closer to the schools and the church community. The citizens of Dulac needed a place to hold services because they were taking place within residents’ small homes. According to another document from the United Houma Nation Archives, when Clanton met with the teacher of the Dulac Mission Center to see the work that was taking place, she and her husband decided to donate money to build the chapel. In 1936, the chapel opened and it served to fill the spiritual, social and physical needs of the people. Although previous generations had more traditional spiritual practices, the newer generations have adopted the beliefs and practices of non-natives, leading to the practice of modern day religions. PODCAST Tribal member Corine Paulk talks about religion and the United Houma Nation. Garde Voir Ci · Season 4, Episode 4 – Religion with Corine Paulk before and after clanton chapel in pictures The Dulac Indian Mission School helped give the Southeastern Louisiana Native Americans the education they deserve. Miss Ella Hooper and Mrs. George Deforest were sent to complete mission work with the Native American community in Dulac. They soon became concerned that none of the children were in school. Wanting to help in any way they could, they came together and organized a school for the community. For the first year they were holding classes in a dance hall, and then in April 1933, Miss Hooper purchased a plantation house that would soon become the Dulac Mission School. This school was a part of the four church-related schools in the area at that time. Although the schools were Methodists, they were still open to anyone regardless of their religious beliefs. (LSU) Miss Bessie Williams, an employee at the MacDonnells Methodist Center, reached out to her former Sunday school teacher, Mrs. Mattie Clanton, and mentioned that she felt the Houmas in Dulac needed a church building to have religious services. Mrs. Clanton and her husband wasted no time and donated the money that was needed for the chapel. The Chapel was named Clanton Chapel in the dedication of them in 1936. (Houma Chamber) Shortly after Miss Ella Hooper obtained her college degree in rural education at the Louisiana State Normal School, she had taken on a position at Terrebonne’s Cedar Grove School. She soon came to the conclusion that she wanted something different. She and fellow Methodist, Loura White traveled to the lower bayou communities in hopes to spread the Methodist faith. Once she made it there, she realized that there were bigger issues that needed to be taken care of. Hooper knew right away that establishing schools was the greatest need of the Cajuns and the Houmas. (J. Daniel d’Oney) In October 1919, the missionaries purchased a home that contained acres of property that would soon become the center of educational activity in Houma, this school. The Houmas main religion at the time was Catholicism; however, they soon realized they may have to convert to another religion if they wanted to receive an education. A hurricane
Regalia
By Jade Hawkins, photo editor REGALIA Houma women from three generations — Jasmine Rain, Morning Dove and Bette Billiot — wearing traditional regalia that would be normally worn for ceremonies, dancing or prayer. They are all holding their shawls and feather fans, both would be used in dances. MorningDove says she loves to dance with her shawl and flicking the fringe as she moves a look at morning dove MorningDove’s love for otters has been fostered since she was a little girl. As a child, her family had a family of otters living on their land, and when one would accidentally find its way into one of her dad’s hunting traps, they would use the otter’s fur. MorningDove specified that they do not kill an animal in order to wear it, they get the fur when the animal gets trapped by accident or a roadkill. As she got older and began making her own Regalia, she continued using otter pelts by tying them in her hair. “When you dance with an animal that means the animal is dancing with you. You are dancing with their spirit, in other words they are still living,” says MorningDove. MorningDove’s Moccasins were a gift from her mother, Irene Hamilton, who beaded the shoes and made sure to include cheyenne turtles. Irene Hamilton passed away a few years ago and MorningDove likes to wear these moccasins in honor and remembrance of her mom. Eagle feathers are of great importance to the Houmas. They believe that because an eagle can fly the highest, then they can carry your prayers up to the heavens. When an eagle feather falls, it is prayed over and cleansed and then is used in spiritual ceremonies and/or Regalia. MorningDove has a fan of eagle feathers tied together by beading with the feature of a turtle. Turtles are MorningDove’s favorite animal and is meant to symbolize “a long life.” MorningDove highlights turtles on almost all of her Regalia. a look at Jasmine Rain Jasmine Rain makes sure that every Regalia outfit that she wears highlights her beadwork. Her beading was gifted to her by her uncle, Randy Sulliman, who is a member of the Choctaw tribe. Beadwork takes many hours to complete, so any gift of beadwork is often cherished. Jasmine Rain’s crown is also a part of her beadwork. For traditional ceremonies, her grandma, MorningDove, will place an eagle feather that was gifted to her by her uncle in the back of the crown as a ploom. Jasmine Rain will then dance with that eagle feather in the competitions often hosted at powwows. Jasmine Rain is the current Junior Miss Princess of the United Houma Nations and she loves to be able to represent her culture. Jasmine Rain says “I love having the opportunity to live my great-grandparents dream, and do it for people who could not.” On the side of her eyes, Jasmine Rain did a design of earth paint. She explains it is similar to that of war paint but this is a special clay made of materials important to the Houma culture.
Celebrations of Life
By Robbie Trosclair, staff writer For the seasons of life, the United Houma Nation combines their traditions with the culture of the surrounding French Cajuns. Traditions like smudging, smoking pipes and prayer songs are integrated with infant baptism baptism, marriage feasts and wedding masses. And in all these traditions, music accompanies each life event. The songs vary in purpose as they have different songs for each event and the songs have been passed down through the generation. Although they don’t all have names, they all have the name of “Wakonda” or creator. Chief August “Cocoa” Creppel says he’s lucky to have the gift of singing to help him and his people enjoy life. “I’m just sharing the gift that God gave me,” says Creppel. For birth, it all starts with a name. The child is given its government name, but the elders of the tribe, or the family, also give them a name. For Creppel, his Native name translates to Sea Eagle Dances. He gave his daughter the name Sunrise Eagle. The birth of a child also calls for a large celebration with singing, dancing and a feast. Along with his Indigineous traditions, Creppel and many other UHN tribal citizens are Christians. For weddings, Creppel does the standard vows as a pastor, but also introduces more Indigienous traditions. The married couple will receive Pendleton blankets, which are very important gifts that Native Americans give during celebrations. The couple is also smudged with a mixture of sage, cedar, tobacco and sweet grass, four ingredients to represent the four elements from the four directions where we all come from. The four directions of course being north, according to Creppel brings cold, cleansing fresh air. The east brings new beginnings with the sunrise, the south brings the heat and warmth of the day, the west brings the end of the day Charlie Duthu says he has a Calumet, a peace pipe, which was given to him as a gift. It’s made of twisted wood and adorned with beads and an eagle head and traditionally was smoked for ceremonial purposes. Creppel said that through smoking the pipe together, no lies should be told. Duthu let a friend use his Calumet to smoke with his bride at the wedding. Along with the gifts, the UHN also celebrates through Native American prayer songs dedicated to Wakonda, the creator. The men feed women meat while the women feed men berries. This tradition goes back so far so that husband and wife would each gather their gift as well. For deaths in the tribe, Creppel sees it as a bittersweet moment. “When a person dies you don’t get to talk to them, see them, kiss them goodnight or kiss them good morning,” says Creppel. It’s always sad, Creppel says, but as a believer, he knows that they’re with Jesus now. Creppel also has a whistle made from an eagle bone. It is blown in the direction of the four winds in collaboration with prayer songs and smudging. The four winds come up so often because it’s the circle of life, says Creppel. Duthu remembers a time when death was a little different. When he was younger, women were inside the home with the body and the men would be outside. Although he doesn’t remember why, Janie Luster was able to explain that it may have been due to the gender norms at the time. Women stayed inside to do housework and men stayed outside to do traditionally masculine tasks at the time. Creppel says that these celebrations of life were harder to do with the COVID-19 pandemic, even having his own wedding shortened because of it. However, the UHN was able to overcome that obstacle and look forward to many more celebrations of life in the future. PODCAST SERIES marriage Garde Voir Ci · Season 4, Episode 7 – Marriage with Karen Solet Garde Voir Ci · Season 4, Episode 8 – Traditional Marriage with Kirby Verret Garde Voir Ci · Season 4, Episode 9 – Marriage with Chief Cocoa Creppel
Powwows
powwow in pictures There are many different styles of dance that take place during a powwow. Each dancer wears regalia unique to that style. Items such as jewelry, pottery, baskets and art are sold from vendors. They are all hand-crafted and authentic to the tribe’s origin. The drumming that takes place during a powwow is considered the heartbeat of the tribal nation The clothing worn during a powwow is called regalia. Rituals and honorings often take place at a powwow Members of the public are welcome to attend the powwows and experience the culture.
Three Sisters
One pound of black beans is added to a separate pot until fully cooked. This take about 5-10 minutes. While the beans cook, prepare the vegetables Chop the onions Slice the squash Slice the sausage Sauté sausage and onions Add the bell peppers and celery Add a handful of fresh shrimp and continue to cook Add 2 pounds of frozen corn and stir Cook for 20-30 minutes until all ingredients are cooked down. Enjoy! a recipe Three Sisters Lora Ann Chaisson Three Sisters Dish is a vegetable dish combining three main ingredients (corn, squash, and beans) together to make a nutritional dish. It is named this because all three of the main vegetables in this dish are planted together when farming. *spices are Chaisson’s secret Ingredients 2 links of sausage 1 onion (diced) 1 lb of black beans 1 bag of frozen corn 4 tomatoes (diced) 3 squash Fresh shrimp 1 Dice one whole onion, slice two links of sausage, and three squash into pieces. 2 Cook 1 lb of black beans in a pot of water until fully cooked. Strain afterwards.3Begin cooking the sausage and onions together4Add bell peppers and celery5Add fresh shrimp6Add one bag (2 lbs) of corn to the pot and stir7Cook for 20-30 minutes
Fry Bread
Step 1 The dough is prepared beforehand and allowed time to rise before preparing this dish. Step 2 Louise Billiot stretches the dough out to make individual pieces of fry bread Step 3 The piece of dough is set in oil at approximately 350 degrees for 3 minutes or until golden brown. Step 3 Step 5 Once the Fry Bread is finished, enjoy plain or make an “Indian Taco” with fixings of your choice. a recipe Fry Bread Louise Billiot Fry bread is a traditional Native American dish common to many tribes. *exact measurements are Billiot’s secret For the bread flour baking powder water For the Indian Taco ground meat salsa lettuce tomatoes shredded cheddar cheese 1 Prepare the dough and allow to rise 2Stretch the dough out to make individual pieces3Fry the bread in 350 degree oil for 3 minutes or until golden brown4Once the Fry Bread is finished, enjoy alone or as an “Indian Taco” with fixings of your choice
Crafts Showcase Artistry
By loryn monceaux By troy dupont
Foods and Influences
By Robbie Trosclair, staff writer For the United Houma Nation, food starts with traditional crops like corn, squash and beans — a trio known as the three sisters because of the way they sustain each other and the soil while growing together. Monique Verdin, a UHN member, believes the food they grow is important to help heal the damage done to the Earth from overfarming. “We should look down at the earth beneath us in order to look forward,” Verdin said. With the crops grown, the UNH can start to celebrate their history by creating traditional foods. Ida Aronson, who runs the United Houma Nation farm, says growing traditional produce is helping them connect to their past through traditional recipes like Maque Choux (pronounced Mock-Shoe), a recipe made from corn and herbs. Other traditional dishes include dumplings made from persimmons, custards made from squash and traditional teas. “I’m hoping to bring back more nutritional foods to the surrounding Houma area,” Aronson says. Louise Billiot, who grew up with indigenous dishes like the ones above, says another traditional dish she grew up with is fry bread. “It’s simplicity is why it’s so good,” Billiot says. Billiot says that when she was a child growing up, she remembers the cooking being plain because they didn’t have much. Even her gumbo recipe just consists mostly of onions, chicken, water and filé, a thickener used in gumbo made from ground sassafras, a traditional UHN crop. In fact, the Houma introduced many ingredients that are now considered Cajun — foods like grits, sweet potatoes and beans, she says. A community farm Cooking With annie’s restaurant Recipes & Foods
The Musical Backdrop
By Jade Williams, features editor For the United Houma Nation, music represents history. The songs of the tribe are about the lands and the waters. They are also about tribal leaders who were here long ago. “Some of the songs we sing are about the culture and about some of the stuff my people went through,” says August Creppel, chief of the UHN. “Most of the songs we sing though are Native prayer songs.” Some of the songs that the tribe sings are in English, Choctaw and some are in French. These songs are tribal songs that were passed down from elders. According to an article Ten Native American Music Traditions, singing is popular in Native American cultures and is integral to the storytelling purpose of many Native American songs as well as helping preserve Native American languages. Native American tribes all use the same instruments like drums, flutes, rattles and whistles, but the construction and sounds of their instruments vary. The drum is the oldest instrument and is significant to Native American music. “I use a hand drum, ” Creppel says. “We use big drums that we make out of different skins like elk skins We use regular keyboards and things like that.” Creppel says they play music with those instruments at ceremonies like weddings, before meetings and at powwows. He says that before the virus, there would be powwows held every March, but recently they had to shut all of that down. Creppel says he and his wife would also travel all over the country and go to festivals and culture centers, but all of that is also shut down. Outside of music being played at ceremonies, music has also had a huge impact on some of the tribal members when they were growing up. Roxanna Foret from the tribal council says she remembers delivering food boxes to people during Christmas time where she could smell the food and hear swamp pop music playing from people’s homes. “That for me, the old swamp pop music playing, just growing up, that is something that I remember a lot of like in a home like on Saturdays, just that type of music,” Foret says. “Or the French music. That’s something too on the radio. Like my grandpa, he would be up so early and the French music would be playing and there would be coffee brewing.” Lanor Curole, another tribal member who grew up in Golden Meadow, says she remembers waiting for the bus in morning as a child where they would listen to the KLEB radio station’s French program. “It was all French music and they only spoke French, and that French program would play every morning and they would do birthday wishes to people and it was so exciting if they wished you a happy birthday,” Curole says. “But that’s what we grew up hearing.” Curole says their people were traditionally stomp dancers and that there is some very distinct music that goes along with the ceremony stomp dancing. “Our people were traditionally stomp dancers and there are some very distinct music that goes along with the ceremony stomp dancing,” Curole says. “Our generation, that’s what we grew up listening to and hearing from our parents and grandparents.” chief creppel on hand drums PODCAST Dr. Gary LaFleur, Louisiana native and professor of biological sciences at Nicholls State University, discusses Isle Dernière before it became a popular resort.
Traditions Connect to Past
By Brendan Landry, staff writer The southernmost part of Louisiana is home to some of the most diverse people and traditions in the state. One group with many rich traditions is the United Houma Nation. The United Houma Nation is unique in many ways, from the songs they sing to the clothing they wear. The tribal citizens that make up this diverse group of people say they are proud of continuing the traditions of their ancestors like dancing, basket weaving, regalia design, palmetto hut building and bead crafting. Louise Billiot, a tribe member and traditional southern cloth dancer, says carrying on traditions connects her to her tribal history. “When I celebrate my tribe’s traditions, it reminds me of the history that has come before me,” Billiot says. One way the tribe keeps their traditions alive is at the annual celebration of traditions known as a pow-wow. The event brings together all of the tribal traditions into one big family-style event. “It is the heartbeat of the Indian people,” Billiot says. It allows tribe members to interact with one another and see displays of the member’s handcrafted jewelry, clothing, spears and dancing sticks for sale. Sometimes members will also build and display palmetto houses in the style of the past. “Before social media, it was how we got news from other tribes in the area,” says Kathleen Bergeron, an elder of the tribe. While some traditions are still practiced, some have also been lost over time. One tradition that has been lost is the traiteur or healer. Traiteurs would practice rituals to treat the ailments of the sick. They would often use plants such as Prell, a healing plant they believed could treat the sick. “Our parents couldn’t afford doctor bills, so this was the next best thing,” says Billiot. The traditions are a connection to the past, but also a way to show the tribe’s unique characteristics, says Charlie Duthu, a tribal citizen. “They have said that our people never existed, so it’s our job to show them that we were right here all along before anyone else.” United Houma Nation traditions Powwows Crafts Showcase Artistry Foods and Influences The Musical Backdrop