La. Indigenous tribes appeal to Gov. Edwards for state recognition
27th June 2022 · 0 Comments
By Ryan Whirty
Contributing Writer
Louisiana Native Americans have appealed directly to Gov. John Bel Edwards and launched a Change.org petition demanding official state recognition following a contentious, disappointing hearing in front of the state Senate.
In a letter last week to Edwards, Shirell Parfait-Dardar, traditional tribal chief of the Grand Caillou/Dulac Band of Biloxi-Chitamacha-Choctaw and chairwoman of the state Office of Indian Affairs’ Native American Commission, decried the treatment she and other Louisiana Indigenous representatives at the May 24 hearing before the state Senate’s Judiciary B Committee.
In the letter and a follow-up interview with The Louisiana Weekly, Parfait-Dardar said some of the state senators at the May 24 hearing to discuss the status of the state recognition of several tribes and bands in Louisiana displayed a shocking ignorance of the recognition application and approval process.
She added that she was somewhat stunned at the hostile attitude of some of the senators, who at times showed a reluctance to renew or bestow official state recognition to the tribes, something that in the past has often been granted with little problem.
“We wanted simply to clarify and clean up any confusion in the process,” she said. “But it was obvious that some legislators were not knowledgeable in regard to Native-American matters, and they were not knowledgeable about their own roles in the [recognition] process.
“I thought we had made progress getting recognition for tribes going in [to the hearing],” she added, “but it was as if nothing had been done, nothing had been achieved.”
The letter to Edwards was pointed and direct.
“Native-American, tax-paying citizens of Louisiana, actively contribute to the wellbeing of our State and communities, with many serving in the Armed Forces,” it states. “Tribes seeking State Recognition should not be heard in a committee that makes determinations regarding matters that do not pertain to them and whose members are uninformed as to tribal sovereignty. Tribes are not to be harassed for the loss of their language, a cultural genocide perpetuated against them, or be required to be acknowledged by only Federally Acknowledged Tribes, nor to be required to pursue non-mandatory Federal acknowledgment.”
The Edwards administration is represented by the Office of Indian Affairs, which forms the Native American Commission, coordinates state policies toward Indigenous affairs and enforces regulations regarding recognition and other matters.
Multiple requests for comment sent by The Louisiana Weekly to Chandler Vidrine, the executive director of the Office of Indian Affairs, were not answered.
Also present at the May 24 committee hearing were representatives from two tribes – the Avoyel-Taensa and Apalachee Indians Talimali Band – that are seeking state recognition for the first time. Both groups are also seeking seats on the Indian Affairs Native American Commission.
Several other tribes applied to have their existing state recognition reaffirmed, but had asked that some of the language of the recognition process be cleared up and clarified. Those seeking reaffirmation were included in a bill filed by state Sen. Michael Fesi, R-Houma, to enhance their recognition, legislation that subsequently failed to be approved by the Senate Judiciary B Committee.
Desi’s resolution noted that muddled language in the current recognition text resulted in tragic results during Hurricane Ida last summer; the bill states that “the lack of clarity…inhibited the delivery of life-saving aid during Hurricane Ida. … [and that] reaffirmation of the state recognition…is necessary for rebuilding these communities and enhancing their chances of receiving federal recognition and its associated investments.”
The bill points to the value of the state’s Indigenous people by noting that “the tribes…have lived in Louisiana for centuries and have been integral to our Louisiana culture and economy for generations, especially in Terrebonne and Lafourche Parishes.”
Those tribes in Fesi’s bill included the Bayou Lafourche Band of Biloxi-Chitimacha Confederation of Muskogees, the Grand Caillou/Dulac Band of Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw, the Jean Charles Choctaw Nation, and the Pointe-au-Chien Indian Tribe.
Parfait-Dardar said the negative outcome of the state Senate hearing in May was crushing, asserting that tribal representatives were frequently cut off during their comments and not given a chance to explain their positions.
“The whole experience just broke my heart,” she said. “We clearly were not even shown common decency that day.”
She added that “we are not reinventing the wheel here. We are not asking for anything new.”
Parfait-Dardar’s letter to Edwards was endorsed by several other Louisiana Indigenous groups. The letter singled out the statements and actions of two state senators – Gary Smith Jr., D-Norco, and Gregory Tarver, D-Shreveport – as particularly uninformed about Indigenous matters and obstructionist in the process.
“Both Senators made multiple assumptions and their questions made it very apparent that those responsible for making decisions in the Senate Judiciary B Committee hearing were not knowledgeable regarding Native American affairs, particularily the long and documented history of genocide committed against Native Americans,” the letter states.
Neither Smith nor Tarver responded to requests for comment from The Louisiana Weekly.
One state senator who was receptive to the tribes’ applications for recognition was Louie Bernard, R-Nachitoches, who said some of the legislators who blocked the requests of the tribes mistakenly believed that some of the tribal groups who appeared at the hearing simply wanted state recognition as a means to open casino and other gambling operations.
Bernard said that at least some of tribes have no interest in launching gaming business, but rather applied for recognition because obtaining such status makes the Indigenous groups eligible to receive state and federal funding for programs and benefits that have nothing to do with casinos.
“The elephant in the room has always been the belief that all the tribes are seeking just to open casinos,” Bernard told The Louisiana Weekly. “There’s too many people that believe recognition for Native people is just the first step to a casino. But opening casinos is not the goal of every tribe. They’re just seeking recognition.”
Bernard said the Indigenous groups that made recognition appeals last month had been careful to make sure their applications and requests were in line with all state and federal guidelines and regulations for recognition and, as a result of their diligence, had presented a comprehensive report as part of their appeals.
He added that the state recognition process needs to be clarified and streamlined – one of the goals of the tribes present at the hearing – so any such confusion and misunderstanding as that was displayed by some legislators can be resolved.
He said it was unfortunate that the resolution actions for recognition subsequently failed to get out of committee by the end of the session.
“We need a better pathway [to recognition] to be laid,” said Bernard, adding that state Sen. Heather Cloud, R-Turkey Creek, has also done much legwork toward establishing a recognition process, including filing resolutions on the matter.
“We need to make [opponents] understand the process,” he added. “Hopefully we can get to a point that we can get [the tribes] state recognition. We were not successful [in May] to get it out of committee.”
He said the erroneous belief about the tribes’ goals – to start gaming operations – “is a misconception. That’s just not the case.”
Bernard brought a touch of poignancy to the discussion by noting that before the hearing, he spoke with several elder tribal members for whom official recognition would mean more to them than just signatures on a piece of paper.
“They said that before they die, they simply want to be recognized as people,” he said. “It’s sad to think that they may die without knowing they are recognized as a people.”
In addition to Parfait-Dardar’s letter to the governor, another subsequent development of the rejection of the recognition efforts was the issuing of a petition on Change.org, demanding that the governor’s administration respond to the letter.
As of last Thursday night, the petition had 373 signatures, with a goal of 500. The petition was begun by Dr. Alessandra Jerolleman, an author and an associate professor at Jacksonville State University who currently is a senior fellow at the Tulane University School of Social Work.
Parfait-Dardar said she and her peers – including members of the state Native American Commission and leaders of Louisiana’s other tribal groups – will continue fighting for official recognition, particularly helping to clear up and simplify the application and approval process for all involved.
“[The effort] is gathering more and more support despite the limitations [tribes] have,” she said, adding that signatures continue to be added to the Change.org petition.
“People are being vocal about it,” she said. “[Petitioning] is really the only option we have to shed light on this injustice. It’s time we start respecting our Indigenous people in the United States.”
Parfait-Dardar added that the tribes have no desire or intention to open casinos and called legislators’ concerns about such as “the same old stereotypical things.”
She said that the recognition process is about access to government programs and benefits for the benefit of all tribal members.
“There’s so many things involved in recognition] that are benefits for our community,” she said. “And it’s not just to the benefit to our tribes, but for the community and for the state as a whole. We don’t exclude people.”
She added that “a lot of people don’t understand all the challenges we go through, so people are unwilling to touch [the issue]. The more able we are to learn about each other, the better we can take care of each other.”
This article originally published in the June 27, 2022 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
