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