Native Americans In
Louisiana Swamps Seek Tribal Recognition
Posted: Nov 26, 2015
This story is
repeated time and time again
and has been repeated for all of my life
and then
some!
Stories like this is
why
I
( Shechaim Ohjieshan - (Sachem Walkingfox)
am still alive,
still writing, still speaking and why
even though I joined the service to
protect this
"My Country!"
I am so ashamed of
this "My Country!"
This "My
Country"
has no right to pick
and chose whose ancestors
were living in this
"MY Indian
Country!"
Before first
contact!
This is why, for
whatever it is worth, I offer my name,
for whatever it is worth, my time,
for
whatever it is worth, my life!
If all of the
"Down trotted non-recognized by this My
Country!"
Like these brothers
and sisters of
"Houma
Tribe!"
Will join together
by the will of Kiehtan (Creator) and the "Grandfathers"
and
your ancestors to
kick the scoundrels that are holding you back,
out of office and replace with
one of our own!
LAFITTE, La. (AP) —
Giovanni R. Santini has done just about all he could to prove he's an American
Indian over the decades he's lived in his Louisiana bayou town — even fighting
with his fists to defend his bloodline with the Houma tribe.
"Every day at
school they'd beat me up, bloody me up, for being Indian," recalled the
80-year-old Santini, who's worked on tugboats, laid pipelines and built homes.
"We became good fighters because they beat us up so much. Even teachers didn't
like me ... We earned our respect with fights!"
Today the folks in
Lafitte, this town of fishermen and oilfield workers, don't doubt he's a proud
member of the 17,000-strong tribe of Houma Indians scattered over south
Louisiana's bayou communities.
Not so for the
federal government.
For decades, efforts
by the Houma to become a federally recognized native American tribe have
failed. It's a story common across the nation for dozens of groups that have
come up short while trying to prove they should be treated as sovereign
nations.
But this could
change.
In June, the Obama
administration hit the reset button on how a tribe becomes recognized by the
federal Bureau of Indian Affairs, or BIA. It's a sea change that's expected
make it much less difficult for many tribes — including the Houma — to achieve
tribal status.
The biggest
difference is that a tribe now will have to prove its existence and cohesion
starting only in 1900. Until now, tribes had to prove they'd been intact tribes
— with unique identities, cultures and governance — dating to historical times.
For the Houma, that meant tracing a history stretching back to 1682 when French
explorers first wrote about them.
Besides the Houma,
there are four other tribes alone in coastal Louisiana seeking sovereignty. And
much is at stake: water rights, land rights, fishing rights, mineral rights and
millions of dollars in federal aid. Sovereignty also brings taxation and law-making
powers.
For south
Louisiana's native Americans, obtaining federal recognition could be a major
step for impoverished American-Indian communities in their struggle to survive
and hold onto ancestral lands disappearing along the Gulf. Traditionally, these
communities lived off the riches of the marshes — fishing, trapping and
foraging.
Places like Lafitte
have been battered by coastal erosion, loss of fisheries and environmental
assaults such as the catastrophic 2010 Gulf oil spill.
"It's
definitely a fight for survival," said Thomas Dardar, chief of the United
Houma Nation. "The coast is being washed out. We just go from one disaster
after another."
Facing such
difficulties, the Houma tribe — which has been recognized as a tribe by the
state — seeks to maintain its cohesion. It has a tribal council, sponsors
cultural events, such as summer camps and pow wows, and has a cultural center
in Golden Meadow.
It's far from clear
what federal recognition would do for tribes pursuing claims over coastal lands
rich in oil and gas. Most of south Louisiana is in private hands. But legal
experts agreed that it was unlikely that Louisiana's coastal tribes suddenly would
be given any large tracts.
"I don't think
ConocoPhillips will have to turn all its lands over to the American
Indians," said Mark Davis, a Tulane University law professor and expert on
Louisiana's coastal issues.
Lawyer Patty
Ferguson, a member of the Pointe-Au-Chien tribe, hopes her tribe can at the
least have more power to save Indian mounds, burial sites and other tribal
areas eroding into the Gulf.
"With federal
recognition, we'll have more voice," Ferguson said.
The federal
government presently recognizes four tribes in Louisiana — the Chitimacha,
Choctaw, Chousatta and Tunica-Biloxi tribes, though these were historically
larger and intact tribes living farther inland.
The Houma tribe
pushed for federal recognition starting before World War II. Rejected by the
BIA in 1994, the tribe has been appealing since. In the 90s, Louisiana
politicians even sought tribal recognition through Congress but failed.
It wasn't that the
Houma tribe couldn't prove they had native American ancestry. A Houma tribe was
mentioned in French documents as early as 1682. The French said the Houma —
with a red crawfish as their symbol — were living roughly where Baton Rouge is today
and marked their territory with a "Baton Rouge," French for "Red
Stick." Priests historically described the Houma as a rich culture with
male and female leaders.
But the BIA argued
the tribe eventually went extinct amid intermarriage and disease. It also
rejected claims the Houma were an organized tribe, calling them an amalgamation
of native American groups.
Many experts
disagreed.
"They had a
pretty strong case," said Mark Miller, a Southern Utah University history
professor who wrote about the Houma petition in a book, "Forgotten
Tribes."
Miller argues the
Houma case revealed flaws in the tribal recognition process. He said the BIA
relied too much on written records, of which none exist for the Houma. The
group's isolation in Southern swamps also hurt its chances.
Greatly
disappointed, Houma leaders said they've been discriminated against by a
federal government more keen to protect Louisiana oil and gas development than
defend tribes.
"There's too
much involved," Santini said, interviewed in a small wooden home he built.
"Too much land involved. They don't want to give the land back."
His front room
exudes his native American spirit: Indian art is on display, a handmade spear
graces the corner, and framed tribal documents and albums with ancestors'
photos abound.
Like many native
Americans, he claims his family was illegally forced off their land decades
ago.
"The oil
companies are the biggest ones to take our land," he said. With pride he
added: "We're still Indian. They can't take that from me."
