Hurricane Katrina & Rita

17 November 2005

National Treasure

On September 23rd, 2005, as hurricane Rita neared the Louisiana coast, the strong winds of the storm pushed a wall of water into the bayous, lakes and bays of Terrebonne Parish.

Though the Parish avoided a direct hit by Rita, days of strong southerly winds flooded the lower bayou communities under eight and nine feet of water.

Near the mouth of Bayou Grand Calliou lies the Houma Indian community of Dulac. Over the years Dulac has seen its share of storms but in the memory of most inhabitants Rita was “as bad as they’ve seen”.

On the bank of the bayou, at the end of Goatfield road, is the small wood-framed house of Mrs. Marie Dean. To her family and indeed the rest of the Houma people she is known affectionately as “Tante Marie”.

The bare plywood walls of Mrs. Marie’s house had bore witness to the ravages of past hurricanes. The high water marks of the previous storms were noted on her living room wall. Rita of course surpassed those marks, inundating the simple structure. Bedding, curtains, appliances, furniture, etc. ruined and were eventually set outside to picked up as garbage.

Of course Mrs. Marie took it all in stride, “c’est la vie”, and would have been content to simply have her placed cleaned of all the silt and returned to its former condition.

To the Houma people “Tante Marie” is a treasure, though quite and unassuming Mrs. Marie is responsible for a cultural renaissance that is still taking place within the Houma Nation.

Mrs. Marie is a world renowned basket weaver and moss doll maker. Her work has been on display in most local museums as well as the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C. She is the inspiration to generations of Houma crafters and has almost single-handedly brought our ancient arts into modern times.

As the leaders of the tribe’s hurricane relief effort considered these things we knew early on that we’d somehow find resources to help Mrs. Marie. Work crews went to Goatfield road to fix and repair her home but the unflappable spirit of “Tante Marie” has done much to fix and repair our tribe’s spirit. As the repairs progressed on her house we could not help but feel that we, the Houma people, were recovering.

New walls, insulation (most of Mrs. Marie’s house was un-insulated), new bed, new curtains, fresh paint, etc. made the little house the talk of the bayou. As the Houma community worked to clean-up, rebuild and recover from the effects of Rita there is an excitement in the air about what’s being done for “Tante Marie”.

As one of our most cherished elders overcomes the storms devastation we, as a people, find new inspiration. As we are able to restore Mrs. Marie’s home our spirits are restored with it.

Through all the work Mrs. Marie sits close by weaving her palmetto, not realizing that she is weaving together the heart of a Nation.

T.Mayheart Dardar