Position Statement

Helping to sustain the traditional cultures of coastal Louisiana

We invite you or your organization to sign-on to the Bayou Culture Collaborative position statement either as an individual or as an organization. This position aligns with LA SAFE‘s strategy 5 and NOAA’s Theory of Change: Causal Pathways 1, 2, 3, and 4 cited below.

SIGN-ON TO THE BCC POSITION STATEMENT

ORGANIZATIONS

INDIVIDUALS

See below for all the organizations and individuals that have signed-on.

BCC Position Statement (pdf)

Given the extreme vulnerability and change affecting many Louisiana communities, especially those on the coast, the Bayou Culture Collaborative asserts that the state must address the human dimension in environmental planning, including intentional strategies to support traditional cultures and social ties to the physical environment.(1)

Attention and funding have focused to date on restoration of the coast’s physical landscape, while individuals and most groups have had minimal resources for responding to the growing environmental changes. To redress this disparity, state leaders must take steps to ensure all Louisianians stay connected to, and are supported in, efforts to maintain their cultural heritage and identity.

Without assistance, the transmission of traditional knowledge will falter as community members relocate, many out of state. We must start thinking of ourselves as future ancestors and challenge everyone to ask: What will our great-great grandchildren wish we had done?

Toward the inclusion of traditional and local knowledge in planning and decision-making, future action must be taken in the following contexts. 

  • Recognize the agency of all Louisiana people to adapt in place or relocate and provide support for them to stay in community or relocate in community. 
  • Acknowledge that both environmental and cultural changes disproportionately impact marginalized communities, especially people of color, and that color-blind planning will replicate injustices of the past. 
  • Sustain the spectrum of Louisiana’s living traditions, or folklore, practiced and passed on within groups (familial, ethnic, occupational, and/or regional). These include material culture and craft, performance, storytelling, foodways, eco-knowledge, ritual, spiritual practice, and language.
  • Reflect the understanding that humans are part of a complex ecosystem, and that there are benefits to all when we preserve habitat migration corridors, plan for ecological changes, and ensure equitable access to healthy air, lands and waters in all communities, including urban green space and accessible farmlands or community gardens. 

Accordingly, the Bayou Culture Collaborative recommends the following steps to state leaders:

  • Include representatives from diverse cultural communities and arts and culture organizations as active participants at all stages of planning and decision making.
  • Prepare and support communities to preserve their culture and placemaking while also welcoming diverse newcomers.
  • Support communities that want to relocate with the resources they need to maintain cultural and social ties.
  • Mobilize and support artists and tradition bearers to lead community resilience conversations and communicate the statewide impact of environmental change.
  • Train local leaders and educators to include cultural assets—the people of the community, their traditions and cultures—in understanding and addressing environmental challenges faced by communities. 
  • Help communities identify, assess, and determine appropriate actions for endangered historic and archaeological sites, local museums, collections, and landscapes. 
  • Include trauma-informed strategies in planning. 

Endnote

* The Bayou Culture Collaborative Position Statement is a starting point and living tool. It is not a comprehensive policy vision, nor does it promote specific adaptation or management strategies. We nonetheless believe in the urgent need to explore the issues, consider the options, and ultimately make recommendations to state and local leadership that center the people and cultures of Louisiana. We also acknowledge the tremendous challenges of finding balance, common ground, and synergy in this endeavor. 

Sources

Office of Community Development Disaster Recovery Unit. 2018. LASAFE: Louisiana’s Strategic Adaptations for Future Environments. Recommendations summary, pages 10-11.  Strategy 5: : Support Healthy Communities, Regional Culture, and Recreational Access to Nature, page 142. https://s3.amazonaws.com/lasafe/Final+Adaptation+Strategies/Regional+Adaptation+Strategy.pdf 

Bey, G., C. McDougall, & S. Schoedinger. 2020. Report on the NOAA Office of Education Environmental Literacy Program Community Resilience Education Theory of Change. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Washington, DC. doi:10.25923/mh0g-5q69. https://www.noaa.gov/education/explainers/noaas-community-resilience-education-theory-of-change 

Individuals and Organizations that have signed-on to the BCC Position Statement (this list will be updated periodically)

Individuals: (109) Robert Alexander, Sean Ardoin, Brian Avet, June Babin, Corliss Badeaux, Becca Begnaud, Marc Berard, Jr., Traci Birch, Mart Black, Haley Blakeman, George Bond, Andrew Boyd, C. Ray Brassieur, Steven Breaux, Dacia Briley, Honora Buras, Debra M. Butler, Emma Butler, Robert Caldwell, David Cheramie, Elaine Clement, Craig Colten, Jessica Converse, Brittany Cook, Bruce Craft, Lanor Curole, Nathalie Dajko, Jamie Dardar, Mark DeWitt, Simone Domingue, John Doucet, Michael Doucet, Patty Ferguson-Bohnee, Marianne Fisher-Giorlando, Sarah Fontana, Jonathan Foret, Robert Fortier-Benson MD, Nydia Freedman, Michelle Glaros, Randy Gonzales, Phyllis Griffard, Dirk Guidry, Mandy Hatman, Lola Hemard, Samantha Hicks, Camille Hill-Prewitt, Theodore Hilton, Holly Hobbs, Kathryn Hobgood, Diane Huhn, Chad Huval, Shelley Ingram, Joyce Jackson, Susannah Johannsen, Charlotte Jones, Kiane Kirksey, Gary LaFleur, John Laudun, Mary Lee, Keagan Lejeune, Maureen Loughran, Ann Maier, Amanda Malloy, Michelle Maloney, Kathe Managan, Ivy Mathieu, Kelsea McCrary, Alison McCrary, Francesca McCrossan, Earl Melancon, Eugene Meneray, Corey Miller, Morgan Miller, Sabina Miller, Sheril Miller, Christy Mo, Amanda Moore, Maida Owens, Teresa Parker, John Parker, Margaret Pearce, Angelle Percle, Kristina Peterson, Anadi Premlall, Susan Prevost, Nathan Rabalais, Martha Radice, Helen Regis, Dustin Reuther, Kelley Rick, Susan Roach, Bob Romero, Matthew Rota, Kelly Sanks, Mike Saunders, Jenny Schexnayder, John Sharp, Jessica Simms, Jeanne Claire Solis, Leona Strassberg Steiner, Sheila Tahir, Ann Thompson, Ben Usie, Rev. James VanderWeele, Shana Walton, Carolyn Ware, Nathan Wendte, Robin White

Organizations: (28) A Studio in the Woods, Acadiana Center for the Arts, Center for Bayou Studies/Nicholls State University, Center for Louisiana Studies/UL Lafayette, Common Ground Relief, Greater New Orleans Interfaith Climate Coalition, Jean Charles Choctaw Nation, Lafayette Compassion Center, Local Learning, Louisiana Division of the Arts, Louisiana Environmental Action Network (LEAN), Louisiana Folklife Commission, Louisiana Public Archaeology Lab/UL Lafayette, Louisiana State Arts Council, Louisiana Trust for Historic Preservation, Lowlander Center, LSU Coastal Sustainability Studio, New Hope Collaborative, Nicholls University, Pax Christi USA, New Orleans/Vets For Peace, Pointe-au-Chien Indian Tribe, Ristroph Law, Planning and Research, Sierra Club, South Louisiana Wetlands Discovery Center, The Neutral Ground Collective, United Houma Nation