Paper short abstract:

The Houma Indians of Louisiana occupy a coastal territory that will soon be submerged by the Gulf of Mexico. As a response to this slow catastrophe, social actors have proposed several competing strategies, ranging from avoidance to resilience, and the acceptance of exile as a necessary evil.

Paper long abstract:

For the Houma Indians of Louisiana, the catastrophe should be understood in superlative terms: devastating hurricanes (i.e., Katrina) followed by storm surges (subsequent flooding and increase in salinity, which has a lethal effect on the ecosystem), the oil spill of 2010, the Dead Zone (seasonal anoxia), the dumping of highly toxic chemical wastes in their community... Yet there is a disaster that is even more insidious, that related to coastal erosion and land loss. This inexorable process should eradicate the Houmas' entire territory in the coming years. As a response to this massive ecocide, the main social actors propose a wide range of competing strategies that will be analyzed throughout this paper. First, both local and federal political authorities favor inertia--apart from temporary evacuations, they delay any decision-making indefinitely as if this ecological crisis was of an unpredictable nature. Then, the scientists advocate several methodologies (i.e., polders, partial diversion of the Mississippi River), which are rarely implemented due to a lack of budget and political will. Finally, relying on a pragmatic approach, the United Houma Nation has decided to be proactive in finalizing a comprehensive three act plan known as "How Safe? How Soon?" 1 - Crisis management and emergency evacuation. 2 - Assistance towards reconstruction for those who reject the idea of migrating. 3 - Programmed relocation on higher grounds in order to preserve a sense of community and ethnic identity despite an ongoing deterritorialization.