Cultural Preservation Project

Project to Document History, Culture, and Traditions of Tribe

The Tribe received an ANA Grant to complete Phase I of this Project; the Tribe is looking for project partners and donors to complete Phase II. The Tribe submitted an ANA Grant Application in 2010 and is awaiting a decision. Even without funding, tribal members have been engaged in documenting oral histories and completing tribal historical research. Much research involves papers from the Spanish Colonial period in the late 1700s that has never been reviewed for Louisiana Indian History. These documents are hand written in old French and old Spanish.

Project Partners:

LSU T.Harry Williams Center for Oral History http://www.lib.lsu.edu/special/williams/

Tulane University

Live Oak Baptist Church

Pointe-aux-Chenes Elementary School

VIDEOS

Human Coast: Louisiana's Environmental Catastrophe, Sept 2009

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuVI5h3J6Gg&feature=player_embedded

PRESS RELEASE

November 16, 2005

Chairman Charles Verdin and Tribal Council Representative Melissa Billiot recently returned from a three-day trip to Washington, D.C. The tribal representatives were in Washington D.C. area to attend a training workshop for a grant awarded to the Tribe. While in D.C., representatives met with U.S. Representative Charlie Melancon to discuss cultural resource protection, levee projects, protection of sacred sites, and to request assistance in rebuilding and recovery efforts from Hurricanes Rita and Katrina.

The Pointe-au-Chien Indian Tribe received a grant from the Administration of Native Americans to assist in documenting the Tribe's history, culture, and traditions. The funds from the grant will be used to establish a cultural preservation office. The goal of the project is to collect and analyze information that can be used to draft a manuscript about the Tribe, including primary resources and oral histories. Tribal members are excited about this project because it will be the first resource available about the Tribe. The Tribe also hopes to use the resource to clarify the Tribe's history and tribal ancestry.

The compilation of tribal oral histories, historical information, and the draft manuscript can be used by tribal members in preparing school projects or for general knowledge. The oral history tapes will be available to any person interested in the Tribe's history, culture, and traditions. In addition, copies of the tapes will be maintained by the Tribe to facilitate easy access for tribal members. The project will be used by Pointe-aux-Chenes Elementary to develop curricula and lesson plans for grades pre-K through 4. The availability of this resource will positively impact the cultural preservation goals of the Tribe.

Partners in this effort include Pointe-aux-Chenes Elementary School, the T. Harry Williams Center for Oral History at LSU, the University of Mississippi Press, and the Deep South Humanities Center at Tulane University. Professors at Tulane University will also provide assistance in documenting the Tribe's history and analyzing the Indian French dialect spoken by tribal members. Anthropologists Steve Austin and Angelito Palma will also assist in documenting the modern history of the Tribe. Tribal members have committed over 1200 volunteer hours to ensure that this project is successful. Melissa Billiot has been selected as the Project Manager. Matthew Dardar and Cindy Verdin have been selected as Project Assistants.

See the Story

Courier Article 11/28/05

Please sign up to conduct interviews, translate and transcribe interiews, and to engage in research for this project.

For more information contact the Cultural Preservation Office at pacitp1@aol.com.

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Many thanks to volunteers who have assisted in the project including Beatrice Watson from England and Patrick Bresnan. Both assisted in modern-day photography projects.