Houma History
United Houma Nation History
by
T. Mayheart Dardar
Most researchers universally accept the early history of the Houma (1682-circa 1765). The tribe enters the historical record in the journal of LaSalle in 1682 when the explorer notes that he passed their village but does not visit them. They were visited by Tonti in 1686 and D’Iberville in 1699 beginning a friendship with the French that continues to this day.
In 1706 the Houma left their village, located at the site of the modern-day Angola Penitentiary, and began a southward migration that brought them to the area of the LaFourche Post in the mid-1700’s. Conflict arises when we attempt to connect these historic Houma with the United Houma Nation of today. Indeed the gist of the Bureau of Indian Affairs decision to not Federally Recognize the UHN is tied to this one point. In the opinion of this bureaucracy the tribe can not make this all-important historic tie-in. Presented here in this chapter is a simple presentation of facts that I feel were overlooked. They show a clear link between the United Houma Nation and the historic Houma Tribe.
In 1793, Judice ( 3 June 1793 PPC ) reports a Houma population that remained relatively stable over the preceding ten years;
“All the body of this ( Houma ) Nation forms no more than ninety persons.
15 in a village at Cantrelle’s
17 in a village at Verret’s
58 in a village at Judice’s
( 13 men, 22 women, 23 children )
whose places were all located near the confluence of Bayou LaFourche an the Mississippi River at Donaldsonville.”
Just downriver from the LaFourche at Cabahanoce ( St. James ), situated side by side, were the resident plantations of Judice, Cantrelle and Verret. In the forested backlands of these landholdings were the three Houma villages listed by Judice. These settlements had existed at least since 1783, corresponding with the end of Galvez’s campaigns against the British.
These types of settlements and their relationship to the colonial plantation system are well documented.
“By the nineteenth century….they moved to isolated areas-swamps and pinewoods-not in demand by the expanding plantation economy of the time. Planters used Indian hunters to augment their meat supplies, to track down runaway slaves and to provide entertainment. Stickball games and even traditional dances were held on the plantations to amuse the planter’s guest….The bands of Choctaw and other Indians were permitted to live in the back-swamps or in hill areas of plantations. Creole planters became patrons of these groups and frequently attempted to protect them from Anglo-American intruders.”( The Historic Indian Tribes of Louisiana, Kniffen, Gregory and Stokes 1987 )
By tracking the Houma references in the PPC and correlating the leaders most associated with the different planters ( Judice, Cantrelle and Verret ) I believe we get a clear picture of which tribal leader lead which band.
The 15 at Cantrelle’s were lead by Mico-Houma or Chac-Chouma, at Judice’s was the remnant of Calabe’s band, numbering 58, now lead by Mingo Oujo, while at Verret’s was the band of 17 lead by Natiabe. It is this band at Verret’s that would become the ancestors of the UHN.
With Nicolas Verret and the PPC reference to a Houma village on his plantation comes a firm historic link. Nicolas Verret had a liaison with a woman named Marianne ( parentage unknown ), a free woman of color. From this union two sons are born, Zenon and Paulin Verret. These two eventually marry into the UHN ancestral community and have extensive documented relationships with known UHN ancestors. It is not, therefore, unreasonable to assume that Marianne, her sons and the UHN ancestors were all part of the Houma settlement at Verret’s in 1793.
The Houma village on Bayou Cane, called Whiskey Point by the local settlers [ a corruption of Ouisky the Houma word for cane ] was initially established as a seasonal settlement, probably while they were still at Verrets.
“From all indications, Indians moved freely from plantation to plantation to hunt and possibly raise crops for themselves and their patrons.” ( Bill Starna 1996 )
It is important to note that Verret had a large land grant on Bayou Terrebonne that encompassed the Bayou Cane area. Bayou Terrebonne and the surrounding area at this time was a vast wilderness virtually uninhabited by any save the Indians.
“….Finally, few Acadians dared to explore, and only seven families actually occupied lands in the densely forested, natural levee along Bayou Terrebonne.” (The Founding of New Acadia, Carl Brassaux, 1987)
The early church records of the UHN ancestral community such as the 1808 marriage of Jacques Billiot and Rosalie Courteau and the 1809 marriage of Michel Dardar and Adelaide Billiot were witnessed by landowners from upper Bayou Terrebonne such as Thibodaux and Malbough. It is the Bayou Cane village and the Indians that lived there that became the namesake of the town founded in 1834.
“Court, in the early days of the Parish, was held in a little building on Bayou Cane. On May 10th, 1834, Richard H. Grange and Hubert M. Belanger donated to the Parish of Terrebonne the property on which the present Courthouse and other public buildings are situated. This land was valued at the time at $ 150. The land on each side of this was laid off into town lots and the town of Houma came into existence, bearing the name of the Indian tribe that lived and loved and worshipped among its groves, the ancient Houmas, which means the sun….” (Directory of the Parish of Terrebonne, E.C.Wurzlow, 1897)
Also of note are the oral histories of the tribe that tell of the Houma Courthouse being built on Rosalie Courteau’s land. The misunderstanding has been that it was not the modern courthouse but rather the original one on Bayou Cane. Sometime after the American takeover in 1803 the Houma tribe filed a claim to twelve sections of land, 7680 acres, on Bayou Black/Boeuf.
“The Houma tribe of Indians claims a tract of land lying on Bayou Boeuf or Bayou Black, containing twelve sections. We know of no law of the United States by which a tribe of Indians have a right to claim land as a donation.” ( ASP 1834 3:265, 1817 )
This appears to be an attempt by the Houma to secure a land base in the face of a growing White population. Likely, they hoped the American Government would honor the Louisiana Purchase Agreement in which they promised to continue the Louisiana Colonial land policies that respected, for the most part, tribal landclaims.
Unfortunately the claim was rejected but it stands as evidence of a Houma presence in the area during this period. At this time Bayou Black ( called Bayou Boeuf on its western end ) flowed from the swamplands northwest of the town of Houma. The bayou cut through the backlands of the tribes Bayou Cane settlement, hence it would be logical to assume that the tribe at Bayou Cane and the tribe that filed the landclaim where one in the same.
It is the contention of the BIA’s Branch of Acknowledgement and Research that the ancestors of the UHN were not a tribe at the beginning of the nineteenth century but rather a few Indian individuals who married into the surrounding population and eventually produced a separate community.
This theory is clearly contradicted by the following chart (1) of baptisms. The initial perception has been that they took place within a white community but a closer examination of the dates ( Monday July 7th, and Tuesday July 8th, 1817 and Wednesday Dec. 16th, and Thursday Dec. 17th, 1818 ) reveal these to be mid-week services taking place within the UHN community.
The White sponsors of the baptisms were, for the most part, a single extended family that lived near the Houma’s lower bayou settlement.It may have been in there house that the actual service was held, the nature of the service was describe a couple generations later.
“I went to visit all those families who cannot come to church. These visits took me two weeks…to see those who are in the islands neighboring Bayou Terrebonne. The people are not able to come to church. I go from time to time among them for baptisms and communions. These are practically all decent well-disposed Indians. I have already given communion to a good many of them. When I arrive among these people they gather ( from ) all the islands to attend Mass. I stay in the house most suitable. One sees that the sight of a priest makes them happy and it is with sorrow that they see me leave them. The day of departure ( having ) come, they take great pleasure in taking me to the embarkation”. ( Fr. Dene’ce to Monsignor, 10 Dec., 1868 )
With these records we see a single Houma community in the early nineteenth century, with no distinction between Billiot, Courteau or Verdin. As the community continues we see it again in 1836 ( chart 2 ) as the tribe attempts to secure another land base, this time in the wilderness west of Pointe Coupee near the town of Fordoce. Perhaps it was the efforts of the American Government at the time to remove tribes to the Indian Territory that persuaded the Houma to abandon this area but it does serve to show the continuation of a Houma community.
Lastly, we consider the history of Abbe Rouquette and the St. Tammany Choctaw. Father Rouquette was a missionary to the Choctaw community centered around Bayou LaCombe in the mid to late 1800’s. Twice in the text is mention of the Indians of Barataria who are invited to the annual Feast of the Dead and are also invited to the funeral of Abbe Rouquette in 1887. At this time the ancestors of the UHN are known to inhabit the Barataria area.
By tying these scattered documents and references into a single narrative we see a single Houma community from 1783 on into the late nineteenth century. A community that links directly to the modern United Houma Nation.
This clearly contradicts the Branch’s assertion that the Houma of Bayou Terrebonne between 1809 and 1820 “….did not live in a distinct, identifiable Indian community-geographically, socially or politically.”
And it shows that their decision to not recognize the UHN was based on bias and ignorance.
200 Years Ago This Month
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Discovery of Oil
United Houma Nation History
The end of the Civil War meant the beginning of huge changes in southern Louisiana. The discovery of oil in southern Louisiana in the early 1900s forever changed the landscape of southern Louisiana. Members of the United Houma Nation have directly experienced two of the most significant environmental impacts of oil and gas exploration: coastal erosion and the contamination of the environment. There were few benefits to the Houma community as local and outside elites acquired their land and brought in outsiders to work in the new industry. Because of their lack of education, the Houma Indians were unable to read land leases and contracts, and many were cheated out of their land. They were at first unable to get jobs because of language differences, illiteracy, and discrimination. As the industry moved offshore, some fishermen and other experienced boat operators used their vessels to haul people and supplies to the rigs and platforms.
Pump, tanks, and pipe in Golden Meadow, LA, 1939.
Photo courtesy of Bernice Curole, OOGHP, 1-21-02.
Discovery of Oil
In 2001, as part of the Offshore Oil and Gas History Project, researchers from the University of Houston, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, and University of Arizona began collecting oral histories of the early pioneers in the offshore oil and gas industry.
Major Changes
The oil and gas industry forever changed the landscape of southern Louisiana. Members of the United Houma Nation have directly experienced two of the most significant environmental impacts of oil and gas exploration: coastal erosion and the contamination of the environment
Each stage in the development of oil and gas fields from exploration to discovery and production can have major impacts on the environment. While the process has been improved, the legacy of the early activities and the ongoing disposal of oilfield wastes continue to have negative effects on the people and communities in which tribal members live.
History/Time Line
History
The Houma Indians had been driven to the most isolated swamplands on this continent to find a place where they could independently maintain their Indian ways of life, language, medicine, arts, traditions and ceremonies. It would be hard for one to imagine the struggles the Houmas would face and be forced to endure in the years to follow before gaining state and federal recognition.
The first written, historical mention of the Houmas occurred in 1682, when French explorer LaSalle noted a Houma village on the east bank of the Mississippi River opposite the Red River, near what is now West Feliciana Parish, LA. The total population of the tribe was estimated at between six hundred and seven hundred members at the time of the first encounter. By the beginning of the eighteenth century, about half the tribe died of disease introduced through contact with the Europeans.
The boundary line marker of the Houmas and the Bayougoulas Indians who lived to the south, was a tall red pole, topped with a bear head and several fish heads. This marked the hunting grounds for the two tribes. When the French first saw it, they referred to it as "le Baton Rouge".
The Houmas had many ways to obtain his food. The men were hunters and used the blow gun, made of local cane reeds, for small game such as turkey and rabbit. Darts were also made of bamboo. He became quite skilled with this weapon.
For larger game, he used the bow and arrow, and the spear. Arrow points and spearheads were made from shell, also of stone and flint which were traded from the Indians to the north. Tomahawks were made of shell and stone. Sharp shells were used as knives, as were flint and sharp stones.
The Houmas worked community fields, sometime several acres in size. Here they would grow such crops as a melon, pumpkin, beans, and several varieties of corn. The women did the planting. To break up soil, she fashioned a hoe in the ground with a stick, dropped in a seed and covered it over by hand. At harvest time she gathered the crops and stored them in community bins. These were built on stilts about 12 feet high and were kept highly polished to keep the rats away.
The Houmas spoke the Muskhogean language. Their language was used by most of the tribes in south Louisiana because it was easier to speak. As the white man came in, they adopted the French tongue and eventually English.
The red crawfish was the war emblem of the Houmas, although they were not warlike people. It helped identify them from other tribes.
As far as we know, the dugout pirogue was the only kind of boat the Houma used. Before advent of the steel ax, the Indian felled a cypress tree by fire. He then made another fire to eat through the other end. Still another fire was kept going in the middle to eat away at the insides until the desired width and depth was achieved.
Because of conflicts with the Tunica Indians and colonial tensions between the French and English, the Houmas began migrating south. By the late eighteenth century, the Houmas had settled in what is now Terrebonne Parish. They gradually occupied the bayou marshlands from Dularge in Terrebonne Parish to Golden Meadow in Lafourche Parish. Some took up farming, and many others took up hunting, trapping, and fishing in their struggle to survive. Many of their descendants continue in these occupations today, living in or near the same places where their ancestors lived. Houmas have traditionally maintained close kinship and friendships, and are tied to members in other areas through their extended families.
The children of the Houma tribe from the isolated rural areas of south Louisiana were educationally under-served for over two centuries. During the first half of the twentieth century, and well into the 1960's the Houmas were still struggling for the right to have their own schools. Denied admission to public schools, many remained largely uneducated until 1963, when they received access to public school on an equal basis. The tribe however continues to feel the wounds of their long educational neglect.
Throughout the struggles over land, education and trapping rights both the tribe and friendly whites appealed to the federal government for help. The Bureau of Indian Affairs has however continued to ignore its responsibility to this Indian people. Its failure to acknowledge the Houmas continues to cripple the tribe by excluding it from the full range of federal services to which it is entitled. The United Houma Nation, Inc., the governing body of today's Houma's compiled a petition for the federal recognition of the tribe. The tribe awaits the decision of the tribe's petition for federal recognition.
Time Line
1682 Lasalle notes existence of Houma tribe at intersection of Mississippi River and Red River.
1685 Tonti records first European-Houma contact
1699 Houma tribe visited by Iberville
1706 Large numbers of Houmas perish in Tunica massacre. Segment of Houma tribe moves south from Angola area.
1718 Houmas negotiate peace between Chitimacha and the French.
1723 Tunica and Natchez tribes seek peace with the Houmas.
1763 Peace Treaty of Parish places Houmas hunting grounds under control of the English and villages in Spanish territory.
1765 Houma and Alabama warriors raid the British fort Bute, at Manchac, during the waning days of the Pontiac rebellion.
1766 Houma tribe moves south from Donaldsonville.
1774 Mississippi east bank Houma village is sold to Conway and Latil.
1800 Houmas begin to move to present location in Terrebonne and Lafourche Parish.
1803 U.S. buys large tract of land from France: the Louisiana Purchase Daniel Clark reports only 60 Houmas remaining above New Orleans.
1806 John Sibley reports to the U.S. Secretary of State that Houmas “scarcely exist as a nation.”
1811 Author H.M. Brackenridge writes that Houmas “extinct”.
Houma Chiefs (including Louis Savage) meet with W.C.C. Claiborne, governor of the Louisiana Territory, to formalize relations with the United States.
1814 Houma tribe files land claim with U.S. government.
1821 John J. Audubon mentions presence of Houmas in Southern Louisiana.
1832 The death of Louis Savage, famous Houma Chief and maternal uncle of Rosalie Courteaux.
1834 The town of Houma, Louisiana is founded, named after the Houma Indian village in the vicinity.
1840 The Houmas southern migration was at an end.
1859 Rosalie Courteaux purchases “large amount” of land for Houma tribe.
1870-80’s Houma spread west from Lafourche Parish and Terrebonne Parish to St. Mary Parish.
1883 The death of Rosalie Courteaux heroine and matriarch of the Houma People.
The seven principal Houma settlements at the beginning of the twentieth century were: DuLarge, Dulac, Montegut, Point Barre, Point au Chene, Isle jean Charles, Grand Bois and Golden Meadow.
1907 John Swanton “re-discovers” the Houmas.
1918 Henry Billiot loses his court challenge to enter his children in public school. This was the first, recorded, formal assault by the tribe on the Terrebonne parish School System.
1920 Houma tribe begins to seek federal recognition.
1931-40 Houma tribe contacted and “studied” by Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) officials and anthropologist Nash, Underhill, Meyer, and Speck.
1932 Protestant education mission schools open for Indian students in Terrebonne at Dulac, DuLarge, and Pointe-aux-Chene.
1935 The dedication service for Clanton Chapel in Dulac, “the only Indian church in Louisiana” at the time.
1940-48 Parochial and public elementary schools open for Indian students in Terrebonne Parish
Late 1950’s Houmas are allowed to attend Indian schools up to the seventh grade.
1960 Stoutenburgh lists Houmas as “extinct”.
1963 Houma children admitted to public schools.
1963 Frank Naquin, the community leader in Golden Meadow, sends Helen Gindrat and Delores Terrebonne to the American Indian conference in Chicago. This event would become the catalyst for the modern political movements in the Houma community.
1972 Houma Tribes, Inc. is established at Golden Meadow in Lafourche Parish.
1974 Houma Alliance, Inc. is established at Dulac in Terrebonne Parish. First Title V Indian Education program is funded in Lafourche & Terrebonne parish.
1975 Houma tribe joins with other Indian tribes of Louisiana to form the Inter-tribal Council.
1975 – present United Houma Nation administers grants & job training programs in association with Inter-tribal Council.
1979 First formal meeting of the United Houma nation Tribal council after the merger of the Houma Tribe and the Houma Alliance.
1985 United Houma Nation files petition for federal recognition.
1986 United Houma Nation under the leadership of Chairman Kirby Verret and Vice-Chairwoman Helen Gindrat
1990 Tribal roll books closed. Only newborns can be registered.
1991 BIA places United Houma Nation on active status.
1992 Laura Billiot elected Chairwoman of United Houma Nation.
1993 Tribal enrollment numbers 17,000.
1994 United Houma Nation receives negative proposed findings.
1996 United Houma Nation files rebuttal to negative proposed findings.
1997-present United Houma Nation under the leadership of Brenda Dardar Robichaux, Chairwoman and Michael Dardar, Vice-Chairman.
1999 The Houma Tribal Council meets with a delegation of French Senators. Principal chief Brenda Dardar Robichaux is presented with a medal from the French Government, becoming the first “Medal Chief” since the colonial period.
1996-present United Houma Nation awaits its final determination from the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
International Relations
LaNation Unie Houmas
The International Identity of the Houma
“Each Indigenous Nation has the inherent collective and individual right to maintain and develop its distinct characteristics and identities, including the right to identify or define itself;”
International Covenant on the Rights of Indigenous Nations
Part II; Paragraph 7, 28 July 94
In September of 1999 the Houma hosted a reception for the Group d’Amitie France-Amerigue (France-America friendship group). M. Paul Girod, a Vice-President of the French Senate, presented a medal commemorating their visit to Brenda Dardar Robichaux, Principal-Chief of the United Houma Nation.
What took place there, on the banks of Bayou LaFourche, was a formal renewal of the relationship between the government of France and that of the Houma. Three hundred years earlier the French soldier and explorer d’Iberville smoked the calumet with the Houma Chief at their village near present day Angola.
What was being acknowledged by the French delegation in 1999 was the fact that they were renewing their ties to the same nation, these Houma of 1999 were the same Houma of 1699.
It has been many generations since a Houma Chief had been acknowledged as a “Medal Chief” by a European power. The Houma had, briefly, stepped out from under the shadow of American domination to reclaim the friendship of their ancient ally.
Since that meeting several other events in Franco-Houma relations have come about, including meetings between Tribal leaders and the Duke d’Orleans, members of the French Navy and the Mayor of Nice France. All of these meetings have been positive expressions of the international identity of the United Houma Nation.
For over one hundred years the tribe had figured prominently in the French and Spanish colonial administration of Louisiana. We were valued allies and, in some respects, strategic partners in the defense of the territory. After the American purchase of Louisiana that position declined rapidly.
In 1811 Houma Chiefs meet with the American colonial governor and in 1815 individual Houma warriors fought with General Jackson at the Battle of New Orleans. By the 1820’s, however, the Americans had secured their position in Louisiana and no longer needed the “petit nations” that had been steadfast allies of the previous colonial governments. The United States Government then refused to honor the tribe’s land rights and began to list the Houma as extinct in all official documentation. Since that time the Federal strategy of “non-recognition” continues, giving the Houma nothing to rely on but our own strength and determination.
Hidden in their lower bayou settlements the Houma clung to their culture and identity. Away from the turmoil of mainstream society our community cohesiveness remained intact, we were a people apart, a Nation. In the late 1930’s, when oil industry workers began to encroach on Houma territory, the Houma referred to these “outsiders” as “Americans”. To the Houma, America was a world outside their own.
When Houma children were finally allowed in public schools in the 1960’s the tribe had achieved a victory in the long struggle for education. It also marked the beginning of a more active role in white society for the Houma. The Federal policy of non-recognition and the intense discrimination of local government had long denied the Houma their rights to education, land, resources, etc. What had remained during those days of discrimination and isolation was the culture and identity of our people, we are Houma.
So today the Houma seek a balance between the opportunities of the modern world and the values and traditions of the old ways. The renewal of Franco-Houma friendship is a reflection of that balance, bringing an Old World friendship into the present.
We are not defined by another nation, we are not a “non-recognized” ethnic group, we are the United Houma Nation. We are heirs to a history and culture that we rightfully claim. We have seen many things since we first joined hands with our French brothers three hundred years ago. Through all the adversity we have survived and grown stronger, the tenacity and determination of the Houma people still insure our future we are and will continue to be …Houma.
T.Mayheart Dardar
Shadows of The Past
“The background color of yellow represents the morning sun when our fishermen, in boats, would leave home for their day’s catch of seafood.
The background color of black represents the evening sky when our fishermen would return home from their day’s work on the water.
The line between the two represents the horizon as it is seen out on the water with reality above and its reflection below.
The white boat represents our Indian people’s boats and pirogues used for shrimping, hunting, and trapping.
The larger red boat behind the smaller boat represents the recreational fisherman and the oil industry boats that have taken over the waters that provided the living for our families.
The red diamond shape represents the riches of our lands taken since the oil companies invaded our waters.
The shape of the white oil derrick inside the diamond represents the oil rigs that have cut into our homeland bringing salt water intrusion and coastal erosion.”
Louise Billiot
United Houma Nation
2005