Generational Perspectives
By Dylan Mcelroy, video editor The United Houma Nation is a tribe of Native Americans from South Louisiana fighting for their culture. Fighting to stay above water both metaphorically and physically. But why is their culture vanishing? Below are members of the community from different ages and areas. Listen to their stories of their everyday life as a Houma Native American. Generational Perspectives Chad Pierre 47 from Grand Caillou Connie Fields 45 from Golden Meadow Kacie Fields 22 from Cut Off Kalob Pierre 17 from Houma Virginia Fitch 72 from Grand Caillou
Logo Symbolism
Environmental Threats
“Our people are having to leave because of land loss. A lot of them are not doing better for it.” – Thomas Dardar
Modern Migration
Many Houma families migrated to northern parishes such as Orleans and Jefferson Parishes in the 1940s-1960s for new educational and job opportunities. As the oil industry became a more valuable career option for them, many of these families migrated back to southern Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes in cities like Isle de Jean Charles and Dulac. Today, the Houma people are beginning to migrate north again due to significant erosion of their land along the Louisiana coast. According to the United States Geological Survey, more than two thousand square miles of Louisiana’s coast has been lost since 1932. “They now fish where they used to hunt,” -former Chief Thomas Dardar, Jr. In the 1940s-1960s, many Houma people migrated from Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes to more northern areas due to education, employment and erosion of land.
Modern Culture
By robbie trosclair, staff writer The United Houma Nation has an important and unique way of life. The culture they have been developing for hundreds of years has not been forgotten by them and instead has been cleverly adapted to and retaught in ways that match modern times. Areas like traditional jewelry, basket weaving, fishing and even education are all modern issues that are constantly being reshaped and retaught to the younger generation. “Children become the leaders”, says Janie Luster, who’s family weaves baskets and makes traditional jewelry. According to former chief Brenda Dardar Robichaux, an important part of modern culture is the education of the UHN youth. This is done partially through summer enrichment camps. These camps teach both Native American history and other subjects together like learning math through beadwork and science through studying indigienous plants and their uses. For the older kids, camps offer leadership training. Members form a mock tribal council and come up with solutions for modern issues. One particular camp, the issue was the relocation of Jean Charles Island. In the simulation, the citizens of the island were offered ten million dollars to move without taking anything with them. Robichaux says she was sad they were already familiar with this issue but also said she was almost brought to tears with their attention to the subject. “They were so passionate about what it meant to lose their community,” Robichaux says. For older traditions like making a filé, Luster’s mother used to gather the sassafras leaves with her hands as well as crush them down with a mortar and pestle. Now, citizens are using tools like Ninja food processors and flour sifters. Luster says that she has memories of the filé getting everywhere but the NINJA makes things a little easier for cleanup and their lungs. Using garfish to make jewelry is also something unique to the UHN that has been modernized. Originally, Luster’s mother would take garfish scales and attach them to blue clay from whatever bayou she could pull them from. Luster and her family carry out that tradition, but use a glue gun to help with production. “We’re still doing this four generations later, my mother, myself, my daughter and their children,” Luster says. Preparing the garfish is necessary before the jewelry can be made, and Luster has modernized this by using a smoker rather than hanging the fish by a clothesline and using a drum barrel fire. The scales have allowed her the opportunity to travel to the Smithsonian Museum and France twice. “Modern ways of doing things are a little easier, yet the same things are being carried on,” Luster says. Part of modern UHN culture is finding traditions that are almost forgotten and teaching it to the rest of the tribe. One such example is the Houma half hitch basket, which Luster says was lost in the ’40s and was a product that the Houma were the only tribe in the country to make. It was relearned through a class taught in the ’90s by Richard Conn, the curator of the Denver American Indian Museum. Although the tribe struggled to relearn the technique, Luster was able to teach herself using a manual given to her by Conn. From there, she created her own way of teaching the basket so that the UHN could bring back the basket. Even fishing, a way of life that goes back thousands of years has been brought into the modern era by the UHN. Robichaux’s father fished for oysters, but now her son farms for them, a much more sustainable alternative. RJ Molinere, a UHN member who has been fishing his entire life is now sometimes dependent on his son and the map data on the internet as land disappears from coastal erosion. The most important modern tradition is making sure the next generation is able to continue on the UHN legacy. With older traditions continuing to adapt to the times, the UHN will be able to enjoy thousands of years of prosperity. “It’s given me my identity,” Bergeron says. “It rounded me, tells me who I am.” Janie Luster creating modern crafts with traditional influences.
Seeking Federal Recognition
By Jade Williams, features editor The United Houma Nation is a tribe with over 19,000 members who have been recognized by the state of Louisiana, but have been fighting for years to get federal recognition. “We’ve been fighting for federal recognition for over 40 years. I don’t exactly know how long it could take, but we will continue fighting, so they see who we really are,” Chief of United Houma Nation August Creppel says. Creppel says the United Houma Nation was recognized as a local tribe when Governor Edwin Edwards was in office in the 90s. According to a journal titled The Houma Nation: A Historiographical Overview, the Houma like many other tribes have applied for federal recognition through oral and written documents. It states that in December of 1994, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) published through its Branch of Acknowledgement and Recognition (BAR) a “proposed finding against federal acknowledgment” the United Houma Nation filed a lawsuit challenging the proposed judgement and questioning the BIA’s standards. The tribe to this day is still fighting for that recognition. With this, Creppel says as a tribe, there are certain criterias one has to meet to become federally recognized. He says the criteria used to be that they had to prove they were related to the Houma tribe back in the seventeen and eighteen hundreds. Now, he says the criteria is to be established as a tribe since the nineteen hundreds. Creppel says today they have a way better chance of getting that recognition. “I appointed a committee to a federal recognition task force and we are moving forward on our federal recognition and it seems like… the way I feel and the way some of our elders feel right now is our time for recognition that we are going to have the best chance ever,” Creppel says. Joshua Pitre, who grew up in south Louisiana and now works in Washington D.C. in a law firm that represents Native American tribes across the country says it was in the year he was born, which was in 1979, when they first found the letter of intent through the federal administrative process of getting federally recognized. One of the tribes that Pitre represents at his law firm is the United Houma Nation. “Growing up I always knew that I wanted to help my people and our recognition efforts and just overall you know just efforts to provide some services to our tribal members, but I never knew how we would get there. I feel really blessed to be in this position where I work for my tribe. So, It’s really a dream,” Pitre says. Right now, the tribe can only apply for state grants and private donations. Once they are recognized, they can apply for federal grants and programs like health programs for the elders. “That’s the main thing is taking care of our elders. I always say they are not our past, they are our culture. They are the ones who got us to where we are today,” Creppel says. He says having federal recognition could improve schools and education systems as well. “To see the look on their faces and to be federally recognized so they can feel that they are who they have always been and the trouble and things they went through because they had a hard life,” Creppel says. “I mean still today, we have prejudice towards us and now as much as they had. It would be such a blessing to them to be recognized.” First letter of intent for federal recognition 1979.
Membership
By brody gannon, staff writer Membership in the United Houma Nation is more than a title. It means more than the information printed on a tribal roll card. Becoming a member of the United Houma Nation is difficult, however. In 2014,tribal rolls were closed to all applicants over the age of five and the enrollment office only processes applications for enrollment from children of already enrolled tribal citizens, prior to the child’s fifth birthday, according to the United Houma Nation’s website. “Those Tribal Rolls were closed because we are pursuing federal recognition,” says Roxanna Foret, Tribal Councilwoman for district six. “In the eyes of the government, it looks suspicious for there to be huge influxes of people being added to our books. When we receive federal recognition, we plan to open our books fully to anyone who wishes to apply for membership.“ UHN enrollment staff maintain a database containing genealogical data of all citizens. “When our books are opened back up, if your parents are not registered as Houma citizens, you can track your ancestry to prove you have Houma blood,” says Vice Principal Chief Donny Verdin. Verdin says having an option for those who do not have registered Houma parents is important to be inclusive of people who did not have a family active in UHN affairs. The physical aspect of being a registered member of the UHN is important, but the emotional significance can have a far-reaching impact on people’s lives. “It means a lot to be a member of the UHN,” says Foret. “My dad and stepdad have always been involved with UHN activities, and it has just been a big part of my life. Actually, I almost care about it a little more because my two oldest children were not registered before they were five. I don’t want to take it for granted.” She wants to stay active among the UHN community and help receive federal recognition so her two oldest children can become registered citizens. “I was registered as a UHN citizen shortly after birth. We’ve had a lot of struggles, but our community is so beneficial to our members,” Verdin says. “Keeping our language and traditions alive gives hope that we won’t be forgotten in the future.”