Members of the Gulf of Mexico Climate and Resilience Community of Practice (CoP) recently selected the Pointe-au-Chien Indian Tribe as the recipient of the 2019 Spirit of Community Award for its exemplary work in the field of climate adaptation planning and environmental resilience. Through a competitive process, group members voted to select the winner, and they announced the decision April 4 at their annual meeting in Fairhope, Alabama.
The Pointe-au-Chien Indian Tribe consists of 750 members who occupy the southernmost portions of Terrebonne and Lafourche Parishes along Bayou Pointe aux Chenes in Louisiana. Historically, the residents of this area made a living as farmers, fishermen, trappers and hunters. Unfortunately, this way of life has been compromised over time by the impacts of sea-level rise and coastal storms, which have led to land loss, saltwater intrusion and lack of freshwater.
Residents have adapted to the changing landscape by migrating north along the bayou and elevating their homes. Members of the community do not want to relocate, if they can help it, so they have partnered with CoP members in order to assess their climate vulnerabilities and enhance their hazard mitigation planning efforts.
The tribe has partnered with CoP members to combine their traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) of the area with scientific and geospatial datasets to identify and map habitat changes over time, while also identifying key cultural sites that are in danger of eroding away. Efforts to assess vulnerability have enabled them to prioritize areas of cultural significance for adaptation measures, and they have actively sought new partnerships and funding to support adaptation activities. For example, in 2017, the tribe partnered with the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana and Terrebonne and Lafourche Parishes to submit a proposal to the Gulf of Mexico Alliance (GOMA) for a community small grant to install an oyster reef to mitigate shoreline erosion and protect cultural resources.
The tribe also was instrumental in supporting CoP initiatives, such as the Community Resilience Index. In 2017, the tribe partnered with Louisiana Sea Grant and GOMA to incorporate local knowledge into the resiience self-assessment.
The tribe’s willingness to include CoP members in its work has provided a valuable learning opportunity to explore how resilience and adaptation tools work across different cultures. The tribe’s willingness to share challenges and successes supports a key goal of the CoP, which is to learn how different communities are adapting to climate impacts. These various projects and initiatives are prime examples of the tribe’s willingness to explore new partnerships and engage in new activities.