Story of a People(continued -7)
FACTS:
The following information are a few short passages extracted from a book titled “The Houma People of Louisiana A Story of Indian Survival” written by Greg Bowman and Janel Curry-Roper. Information for this book was compiled under the direction of the Tribal Council of the United Houma Nation.
Stripped of its right to hold property as a tribe, the Houma people had to resort to private land ownership, depriving them of the federal protection which is limited to lands held in trust for recognized tribes. While many Houma tribe families have lived continuously on the same property, today only a small fraction of the amount of land owned by the tribe just over a century ago remain in the families’ control.
Joseph Houma, sometimes called Courteau Houma, was the father of Rosalie, known during her lifetime and now as Rosalie Courteau. AS principal land-holder, legal activist and socio-political leader for several decades in the mid-19th century, she occupies preeminence in contemporary tribal oral tradition. Enhancing her historical figure is her genealogical significance as in-law, aunt or grandmother–with multiple “greats”–to everyone in the tribe today.
Her father was apparently a Biloxi medal chief who had married into the tribe. The Houma frequently interacted with the Biloxi and Tunica nations, providing ample opportunity for such an event. Similarly, they visited with their close neighbors on Bayou Teche, the Chitimacha.
The southern movements were marked by violence on several occasions. Rosalie Courteau, after generously donating land for the first city of Houma town hall was forced by armed whites to flee the area. Her home on lower Bayou Terrebonne was later burned by whites who wanted her land, forcing her to her final settlement on Bayou Barre just east of Bayou Terrebonne.
Rosalie Courteau purchased a large amount of “swampland” for her people in 1859 at the suggestion of Clement Carlos, a Spanish surveyor who had been associated with the Houma tribe for several years in the Civil War era. The land in question had been public land up to that point and was designated “swampland” to vest the state with fee simple title, which could then be transferred through conveyance to an individual. Because Rosalie purchased the land as a private citizen, it was not deemed eligible for federal protection as tribal land, even though Rosalie was the leader of the tribe. Rosalie Courteau died in 1885, and is interred on the left descending bank of Bayou Terrebonne.
OPINIONS:
Visit with us again as we examine why the Lafourche Parish President is attempting to “take our parish back”.
