The story of the Bayou Lafourche Band of Biloxi-Chitimacha Indians is one of resilience, adaptation, and an enduring connection to our ancestral lands. Our members are direct descendants of a line of identified and recognized Biloxi-Chitimacha ancestors who formed a unique, amalgamated community in the coastal parishes of Terrebonne and Lafourche. For generations, we have lived in harmony with the rich environment of the bayous, building our homes, raising our families, and developing a distinct culture. This history of perseverance shapes who we are today and guides our mission to secure a strong future for generations to come.

The First Footprints on the Bayou

Our presence on Bayou Lafourche is recorded as early as 1827 with the land purchase of Genevieve Magnon, who had two children by Jean Charles Billiot, son of a Chitimacha mother. By the 1850 census, the children of Adelaide Billiot, including the Dardar and Crepelle families, were documented as living on the bayou. By 1900, a clustered community of eleven families, including the Verdins and Billiots, was officially recognized as "Indian" in the census, with their lives centered on fishing, hunting, and labor on the east side of Bayou Lafourche, below Golden Meadow.  

A Life of Self-Sufficiency and Tradition

Our ancestors lived a life of ingenuity and deep connection to the land. As interviewed by John R. Swanton in 1907, community leader Charles "Chalo" Billiot lived in a home of rough-hewn wood with a palmetto roof. Many other homes were one-room structures built with "mud and moss bousillier" between branches, a mixture of clay and moss that, once dried, became as hard as concrete. Food was cooked in "stick and mud" fireplaces, and bread was baked in outdoor beehive ovens built with the same method. The community thrived by trapping, fishing, and gardening, preserving meat in salt crocks and vegetables by drying them in the sun. This self-sufficient lifestyle was a testament to our ancestors' deep knowledge of the bayou. 

A Legacy of Resilience

Our history is marked by profound hardship and unwavering resilience. The devastating hurricane of 1909, followed by storms like Hilda (1964) and Betsy (1965), forced our people to continually move farther inland for safety, from chenieres like Fala and L'Eskine to the "settlement" area below Golden Meadow, and eventually to Larose and Lockport. Alongside these natural disasters, our people faced intense discrimination. The derogatory term "Sabine" was used to isolate our members, who were often barred from public places. For years, our children were denied a public education, with only the "Settlement School" available, which went through just the sixth grade. Despite these challenges, our community endured, holding fast to our culture and fighting for our rights.