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Hurricane Katrina
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In 2006 Hurricane Season brought devastation - please read below for Native communities still in need:
As you know our communities were impacted by Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita. We need help rebuilding our Houma communities as well as help in meeting the basic needs of our People. Some communities need trees and debris removed and roof repair while others needs range from major cleaning because of flood damage, to total reconstruction of the homes of tribal members destroyed by winds and flood waters.
The challenges that lie ahead to rebuild our Houma settlements are enormous. We humbly ask for your assistance. Please call the UHN Tribal Office at (985) 475-6640 if you are able to help.
You can donate by sending a check to:
State Recognized: United Houma Nation Hurricane Relief, 20986 Hwy 1,Golden Meadow, LA 70357
In addition:
The Reservation communities of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians were impacted the most. Here is the contact information for the MS Choctaw Indians:
Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, PO Box 6010, Choctaw, MS 39350 Honorable Phillip M. Martin, Chief 601.656.5251
Choctaw Housing Authority, PO Box 6088, Choctaw, MS 39350 Nathaniel Nickey, Executive Director 601.656.6617
The communities of the Poarch Band of Creek Indians were also seriously impacted by Hurricane Ivan in 2004, and the MOWA Choctaw communities to a lesser degree. Hurricane Ivan touched down at Gulf Shores, AL. The contact information for the two NAHASDA recipients in Alabama is as follows:
MOWA Band of Choctaw Indians*, Route 1, Box 1080, Mt. Vernon, AL 36560 Wilford Taylor, Chief 251.829.5500
MOWA Choctaw Housing Authority1080-A Reservation Road, Mt. Vernon, AL 36560 Craig Taylor, Executive Director 251.829.5000
Poarch Band of Creek Indians of Alabama*, 5811 Jack Springs Road, Atmore, AL 36502 251.368.9136 Fred McGhee, Chairperson 251.368.9136
Poarch Creek Housing Authority, 5811 Jack Springs Road, Atmore, AL 36502 Susan Wicker, Executive Director 215.368.9136
Donations would be welcomed! Please read below.
Sunray: Ninth Ward shares common fate of forgotten Indian peoples
by: Cedric Sunray <http://indiancountry.com/author.cfm?id=577 > (c) Indian Country Today September 08, 2005. All Rights Reserved
The word ''tragedy'' can hardly signify the extent of the pain being suffered by many in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. While America comes to grips with the enormity of the despair, the primarily black population of the previously unheard of Ninth Ward of New Orleans (one of the country's most impoverished ghettos) already understand the touch, taste and sound of generations of poverty - a poverty created by a very real caste system, which exists here in the United States of America. And Indians are no exception.
Indian country has its own Ninth Ward of faceless individuals and families who have been some of the hardest hit over the course of this past week. The BIA won't be assisting them anytime soon. The United South and Eastern Tribes won't be shipping supplies their way. And by all current accounts, the National Congress of American Indians has also left them out of the loop. The reason: federal recognition.
The United Houma Nation in southeastern Louisiana and the Mobile-Washington Band of Choctaw Indians, located just north of the city of Mobile, Ala., have been forgotten. The United Houma Nation will not receive final word on their petition before the Bureau of Acknowledgement and Research until September 2006, and the MOWA Band of Choctaw Indians pending House of Representatives bill 3526 is currently being reviewed in Washington, D.C.
Though forgotten in legal terms, poverty hasn't forgotten them. Racism hasn't forgotten them. Help, it seems, has. While the federal government and national Indian organizations intent on assisting federal Indian tribes - many of whom need little assistance - send money and supplies from one casino-wealthy Southeastern tribe to another, the United Houma Nation's eastern territory sits submerged under the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Homes, vehicles, personal mementos and their traditional lands have disappeared. From Boothville in Plaquemines Parish to New Orleans, Houma Indians have had their lives turned completely upside down.
When the phone rang Aug. 31, my heart was in my stomach. My Aunt Dove was calling me to let me know that they had escaped New Orleans and made it many miles north to Clinton, La. Her beloved pets had not. Many of her irreplaceable photos of tribal history and family had remained as well. She was all right, though shaken. The previous evenings had been filled with emotion and non-stop phone call attempts by me and my wife. Two days later, the Houma's Vice Principal Chief Michael Dardar would call. He and his family had also escaped. His words to me were simple: ''There is nothing left down the bayou. Our home is gone. All the people's homes are gone.''
News from the MOWA reservation, though better, wasn't that great either. Tribal citizens had extensive roof and water damage. No electricity or phone service for a week meant there were no edible foods in refrigerators or contact with the outside. Our tribal school, they told me, had been closed since the hurricane struck. Needed repairs are forthcoming.
The MOWA Choctaw and United Houma Nation are one and the same. As communities of primarily impoverished and identifiable Indian people, we have never had the best of what America has to offer. The prosperity parade doesn't march down the roads of our communities. And neither will assistance. Our lack of federal recognition has placed us at the mercy of federal bureaucrats and the BIA. We are the neglected of the neglected.
You see, it is easy to forget about people when you marginalize them and pretend they no longer exist.
Just ask the people in New Orlean's Ninth Ward.
Cedric Sunray is an enrolled tribal citizen of the MOWA Band of Choctaw Indians and has numerous family members among the United Houma Nation of Louisiana. He is employed as a Cherokee language teacher and coach at Tahlequah High School in Tahlequah, Okla.
Hurricane Katrina Tribal Status Report September 1, 2005 - morning
No injuries or deaths were reported from the reservations impacted by Hurricane Katrina.
Chitimacha Tribe – LA The Chitimacha Tribe reported that they have several hundred tribal members who live in the New Orleans area. Many of these members are returning to the reservation to seek shelter due to loss of their homes. As a result the Tribe has set up a shelter and is expecting need housing for several hundred people for en extended period of time. The Poarch Band of Creek Indians (PBCI) immediately volunteered to help with logistical and clean-up issues. Currently the Nashville Area Office (NSAO) has cots, blankets and pillows en-route to PBCI from the Trans Am program. A load of cots was also taken down from the NSAO. PBCI will be acting as a staging area for equipment and supplies and assist in transportation to the Chitimacha Reservation. PBCI will be using their emergency response trailers and a police escort to get the supplies to Chitimacha.
Coushatta Tribe – LA The tribe may need to open a shelter but as of this morning, that had not taken place.
Tunica Biloxi Tribe – LA The tribe has opened a shelter at the Mari Center and already had 450 people there before the storm. They had some concerns over food and ice for the people at the shelter but were able to work through the local Red Cross office for assistance.
Jena Band of Choctaw – LA The tribe may need to open a shelter for overflow from the Tunica Biloxi Tribe but as of their last report, they were not requesting assistance. There was a need for some small generators for some tribal members in the
Mobile area, but the PBCI were able to meet the need with generators that NSAO had supplied to them immediately after Hurricane Dennis.
Mississippi Band of Choctaw – MS MBCI opened two shelters. The hospital was reported to be in full operation yesterday. There are still areas without power. Yesterday afternoon NSAO received a request for small generators for special needs patients. That request has been met and generators are on their way and should arrive at MBCI this afternoon. There was also a request for two larger generators to provide relief for some sewer lift stations that have lost power. NSAO has sent two medium sized generators along with the small generators. The tribe will be swapping the medium size generators with some larger ones on site (which will be moved to the lift stations) to meet the local need.
Seminole Tribe – FL Reporting in the recovery stage and not in need of our assistance, the Seminole Tribe sent several law enforcement officers to Mississippi via PBCI to assist in patrol activities for impacted tribes.
Miccosukee Tribe – FL Power was restored late Sunday afternoon and the tribe is not requesting additional assistance.
Poarch Band Of Creek Indians – AL The PBCI are not requesting assistance. They are in fact rendering assistance to other tribes.
General Statement
Activity for the NSAO has increased over the last few days, as tribes have been able to get out into the communities and assess damage. Several tribes, who initially indicated they thought everything was ok, later found needs for assistance. This is not a criticism, but a "heads up" for those who might be in similar situations in the future. In spite of the fact that the NSAO had multiple contact numbers (office phone, cell phone, home phone, tribal police, etc.) for key tribal officials, communications went down on all of those systems and there was no communication available with several tribes for a day or longer. This shows the critical need for independent communications systems during emergency situations. The NSAO has purchased several satellite phones for our staff to use during emergency operations. We will be encouraging the tribes to do the same.
We will also be looking into HF radio systems and developing networks of volunteer amateur licensed radio operators (Hams) throughout the Area. Should you need further detail or information my contact information is given below.
Captain B. Kevin Molloy, Nashville Area Office Emergency Management Officer, IHS National Emergency Operations Coordinator, Cellular 615-308-7157, Office 615-467-1504, bruce.molloy@ihs.gov
From Journal # 492 by sdc 9.12.05