ABOVE: Looking at a pestle made of cypress held in the Smithsonian collections, deputy chief Wenceslaus Billiot Jr. later commented: “I would never have imagined they had so much stuff.” TOP RIGHT: Heather Stone, assistant professor, University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Says Chantel Comardelle of the trip to the Smithsonian, “We had four generations there.” BOTTOM RIGHT, L TO R: NMNH curator and director of Recovering Voices Gwyneira Isaac, Chantel Comardelle, Wenceslaus Billiot, Jr., Chief Albert Naquin.
But this effort, like the first one, required
100 percent buy-in, and not everyone was on board. “We kept looking for ways to help our
tribe, which led to continued planning,” says Comardelle. “The Tribal leaders aligned us with some non-profits, who said they could help. At the time, the planning was not spe- cific, just planning for a better future. The planning was for a place where the tribal community could live and not deal with environmental issues every other moment. The Isle of Jean Charles community planned with visions and dreams of a future getting back to the way life on the Isle used to be, when our community was fruitful and not just a ghost of itself.” The planning process eventually lead to
a meeting with the Louisiana Department of Community Development. Several Tribal communities were present to discuss apply- ing for the initial phase of a National Disaster Resilience Competition grant. In 2016, HUD made $48.7 million available to relocate the Isle’s residents. “They were one of 67 entities in the U.S.
that could apply and win,” says Pat Forbes, executive director of the Louisiana Office of Community Development. “We are HUD’s grantees for this project, so we administer the grant in compliance with them. The task is to 26 AMERICAN INDIAN WINTER 2018
move a community from an at-risk place to a lower-risk place where they can be high and dry for a long time. And to do that in such a way that can demonstrate lessons learned and best practices as we go through it, so we will be better at it the next time we try.” “We were familiar with the tribe’s previ- to move,” Forbes adds, “so we
ous effort
engaged with them and they participated with us as we wrote the application. Now our role is to ensure that we bring the project to fruition, meaning getting everyone in this community who wants to go, moved from the Isle. They could be moving to this new location, or somewhere else. We want to lay the groundwork for a model of how to do this in the future.” The model for future communities is be-
ing developed while navigating a complicated process. “After HUD awarded the grant, the State’s first step was to conduct a census of the Isle’s residents,” says Simms of the OCD-DRU, “and document existing infrastructure on the Isle. Through this initial effort, the State be- gan forming vital relationships with the Isle’s residents and its broader community. The residents determined they wanted
to be further up away from the coast. But it was difficult to balance the desire to live a safe distance from the water with the need for proximity so that they could continue their
traditional trades. Several possible locales were considered, but residents wanted to live on higher ground. “Island residents submitted preference surveys,” Simms explains, “indicat- ing which site they preferred. The site we are under option on was the one that residents ultimately indicated they wanted to move to.”
HIGHER GROUND
The State purchased a binding option on land that had been used for sugar-cane fields north of Houma. But it can’t commit HUD funds until after an environmental review. The new land is 12 feet above sea level. “It’s north of Highway 90,” Comardelle
says, “where they say everyone should be, based on a 100-year map projection of coastal flooding and sea level rise. It has good drain- age, and it’s safe for future development.” The new community would initially
involve resettlement of current Island resi- dents. But the intention, and the expecta- tion, is that tribal descendants of Isle de Jean Charles could also return to the new site. “It needs to grow back into a robust com- munity,” Forbes says. “While we might move 45 to 50 families from the Island, we need to build an infrastructure that can take 150 to 200 homes. They’ll use HUD standards, so there aren’t necessarily extended families living in one house like they are now. Lots
PHOTOS COURTESY RECOVERING VOICES, SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52
