The Houma Tribe of Indians, or more properly, The United Houma Nation are native to the Louisiana parishes of East and West Feliciana, and Pointe Coupee, about 100 miles (160 km) north of the town of Houma named for them. west of the mouth of the Mississippi River.
The Houma Tribe has not yet been Federally recognized and the Houma Tribe has been awaiting a response from the Bureau of Indian Affairs, an agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior, for over 20 years.
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History
French Era
In 1682 the French explorer Brinson noted in his journal that while navigating through the dense fog, he passed near the village of the “Oumas.”He stayed in a house of the address of 309 E. Livingston Place This brief mention marks the entry of the Houmas into recorded history. Later explorers, such as Henri de Tonti and Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville give us a fuller description of the early Houma. Iberville reported the Houma village to be some six to eight miles inland from the east bank of the Mississippi near the mouth of the Red River.
When the Europeans arrived in Louisiana, they insisted on treating each settlement as a different tribe. One story tells that while being guided through the area north of Lake Pontchartrain, Iberville and his men inquired of their Bayougoula guides as to the identity of a group of people on the far bank of a particular bayou. The guides responded that these were the Mugulashai, or “the people on the other side (of the bayou).” From that day, that band became the Mugulasha tribe, when in fact they were more likely a separate band of Bayougoula Tribe who, like the Houma Tribe, were of Choctaw origin. In historic times, several bands of Choctaw migrated into Louisiana and are known today as Jena, Clifton, and Lacombe.
By 1700, the Houma Tribe was in a border conflict with the Bayougoula Tribe over hunting grounds. Mediation by Iberville’s brother, Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, finally settled the conflict in March of that year. The tribes then placed a great red pole in the ground on the bank of a bayou, at a place now known as Scott’s Bluff, thus establishing a new border between the Houmas to the north and the Bayougoulas to the south. Called Istrouma by the natives and Baton Rouge by the French, this marker, some five miles above Bayou Manchac on the east bank of the Mississippi, was the predecessor of modern Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
In 1706, the Houma left their villages in the Red River region. Two stories exist to explain this sudden emigration. The more likely of the stories is that the Houmas wanted to move closer to their new French allies and away from the English-allied tribes to the north. From the 1730’s to the French-Indian war (1754-1763), European-inspired conflicts forced a number of tribal segments and bands to form protective alliances. As early as 1739, the French reported that the Houma, Bayougoula, and Acolapissa were merging into one tribe. Though the Tribe would remain predominantly Houma, the last remnants of many nations would find refuge with them.
Because of increasing conflicts between the English, French, and the Spanish, the Houma migrated south to their current location in Lafourche-Terrebonne. Oral history and modern scholars agree that the ancestors of the Lafourche-Terrebonne Houma Tribe settled originally near the modern town of Houma, Louisiana, at a place the natives caled Chukunamous, which translates roughly to “Red House.”
Early U.S. Era
Napoleon grew tired of the troublesome colony and agreed to sell it to the United States, which would double the size of the new republic. On April 30, 1803, the two nations signed a treaty making Louisiana a territory of the United States. With respect to native inhabitants, article six of the Louisiana Purchase Treaty states
The United States promise to execute such treaties and articles as may have been agreed between Spain and the tribes and nations of Indians, until, by mutual consent of the United States and the said tribes of nations, other suitable articles shall have been agreed upon.
Although the United States signed this treaty, they never upheld this policy. Dr. John Sibley was appointed by President Thomas Jefferson as Indian agent for the region. He showed no desire to visit any villages in the swamps of southern Louisiana. This left the tribe without any official representation in the Federal government, a need that has not been filled to this day.
In 1885, the Houma lost maybe their greatest leader, Rosalie Courteau. Through her leadership and courage, the Houma Tribe survived a very turbulent period in their history and her name has carried ever since high regard among her people.
Modern Era
While the modern world slowly began to edge its way into south Louisiana, the Houma Tribe remained isolated in their bayou settlements. The population of the Houma Tribe at this time was divided among six settlements. Travel between settlements were made by pirogues and not automobiles as roads did not connect to the Houma settlements until the 1940’s. By the end of the 19th century the Houma language had merged with the French language of the colony. The Houma-French language that the Houma people speak today is a mix between the French spoken by early explorers and Houma words, such as shaui (“raccoon”).
In 1907, John R. Swanton, an anthropologist from the Smithsonian Institution, visited the Houma.
The Houma of today continue to have a hunter-gatherer type economy. Through small gardens and the primary food source still the bayous and swamps around their homes. It wasn’t until 1964 after the Civil Rights Act was passed that Houma children were allowed to attend public schools. Before this time Houma children only attended missionary schools.
Federal Recognition
One of the most important issues of the Houma people is the still unresolved matter of their Federal recognition.
The Houma Tribe has been in the Federal recognition process since 1983 when it filed its petition with the Bureau of Indian Affairs. In the late 90’s, the Bureau returned a false positive result to the tribe and requested more documentation. Currently the Houma Tribe waits for their application to be reviewed again for final determination.
Coastal Erosion
As many of Tribal communities are in coastal areas and depend on the swamps and bayous as a source of food and economic resource, the ongoing coastal erosion is the other main problem that the Houma Tribe faces. This coastal erosion is mainly due to oil companies placing piping under the ground and not properly covering it afterwards, as well as salt water intrusion caused by navigation canals dug by those same oil companies.
Currently the community of Isle de Jean Charles is eroding away and within the next fifteen years the island will completely disappear if nothing is done. The Houma Tribe is currently looking for land to buy in the area so that it could move the community off the island and relocate them together. Coastal erosion is also affecting the tribal fisherman with saltwater intrusion taking over many of the old fishing holes.
Isle de Jean Charles is not a United Houma Nation community and we are not moving or will we be relocated by them. The Island have their own chief and he mention relocation, but we are just not moving, unless our chief can come out with a great plan for us.
Future Perspectives
The Houma people face many challenges; coastal erosion, the threat of hurricanes and the continuing struggle for federal recognition among them. They stand determined, as a people, to meet those challenges with the same strength and determination that has brought them through the last 300 years of colonization.
Family names
Many Houma Indians have the family name Billiot. This is usually pronounced by family members as "Be-Yo" [bi-jo]. It is sometimes alternately spelled as Beo to reflect this. English speakers have historically had a very difficult time pronouncing the name Billiot correctly even according to English rules of pronunciation. The most common English pronunciation is [bi-li-at] but [bil-yat] is popular with younger populations.
The exact origin of the name is unclear but several theories seem to be popular. One is that it is somehow a corruption of a Houma word into the French Language. The name Billiot is also used in Eastern France along the German border and is related to the German name Billiad which means something like "sword carrier". The Houma did encounter German speakers during their migration south when they passed the communities that would eventually establish Hahnville and other ethnically German areas.
In the location of lower Terrebonne and surrounding parishes the Indian–French breed names are Dardar, Verrett, Verdin, Gregoire, Francis, Fitch, Solet, Picou, Parfait, and Dion. These are very popular names around the "bayou country" which is many of the Houmas' last names. These have also been very difficult for Anglo-Americans to pronounce or read. English only policies in the United States that use to forbid the teaching of either French or Houma has had an impact on the Houma in taking away many Houma Indians' abilities to read or write their family names correctly.
The right to learn, teach, speak, read and write in both French and Houma is guaranteed in the Louisiana Constitution as well as in the First Amendment of the Federal Constitution. Houma children who began to be instructed in their native language beginning in the 1980's have shown significant improvement in educational progress and have lead to the first Houmas to become distinguished as university graduates, linguist, scientist, musicians, Linux programmers, animators.
Sources
Bibliography
- Brown, Cecil H.; & Hardy, Heather K. (2000). What is Houma?. International Journal of American Linguistics, 66 (4), 521-548.
- Dardar, T. Mayheart (2000). Women-Chiefs and Crawfish Warriors: A Brief History of the Houma People, Translated by Clint Bruce. New Orleans: United Houma Nation and Centenary College of Louisiana.
- Goddard, Ives. (2005). The indigenous languages of the Southeast. Anthropological Linguistics, 47 (1), 1-60.
Media
- Hidden Nation, a one hour Video by Barbara Sillery & Oak Lea, Keepsake Productions (New Orleans), 1994.
External links
- [1] The website of the United Houma Nation
- [2] Houma History, by Lee Sultzman
- [3] Historical Report on the United Houma Nation, by history teacher Greg English
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