Reclaiming a Language: Houma Language Project
In 1686, Henri de Tonti recorded the first contact between Europeans and the Houma. What followed was centuries of changes and displacement, but despite all the Houma adapted to living down the bayou. As for French and Creole speakers, they were increasing in number and became the dominant linguistic group. Little by little a language that once was spoken for centuries was disappearing, swallowed and replaced by another. There are not many amongst the Houma who remember their original language. Fortunately for the Houma, a linguistic work saw the day of light when Greg Bowman recorded Elvira Molinere Billiot and Valentine Dardar who both sung in Houma. Anthropologist John Swanton also compiled a list of over 80+ words. Despite these treasures, it was not enough to resuscitate the language.
Today, the Houma primarily speak English and French, but for some who wish to learn an indigenous language, they search for resources for Choctaw and Mobilian Jargon according to Brittany Jimenez. A member of the Houma tribe, she was born in Marrero and as a child often participated in summer camps held by the tribe, but it wasn’t until she moved to Texas when she started to actively search for resources in the Houma language. In 2018, Brittany joined the Houma Language Project. A group, founded in 2013 by Hali Dardar and Colleen Billiot, whose mission is to reconstruct their lost language.
Since its founding, the group has faced several challenges. Primarily the lack of people who speak it. However, they progressed and, after doing a lot of research, were able to create several resources. Brittany shares, “we didn’t have a reference for cadence, pitch, tone, etc. so we had to look to our sister languages, the Western Muskogean Language family.” A language family that includes Choctaw and Chickasaw, two languages that are experiencing their own revivals. It was with the help of linguists such as Lokosh Josh Hinson and Jason Brightstar Lewis and the work of Mary Hass, Aaron Broadwell, Pam Munro, and David Kaufman, they were able to compare the syntax, vocabulary, and grammar to better imagine a modern Houma language.
Despite all, the project is still in the shadows. Brittany tells us, “Generally, people don’t know of us.” Yet, this volunteer group doesn’t stop. They hold workshops at festivals such as Jazz Fest and Tasso Time, Powwows, and even online like many revitalization movements. Due to hurricanes and a coastline that is shrinking, the people who participate in Houma culture and recognize the bayous as their home are moving. They are displaced by the intensity of the weather that is increasing every year, and Louisiana has already witnessed the first climate refugees of the country when the community of Isle de Jean-Charles, a majority native community, didn’t have the choice but to move to Schriever. It’s a nightmare that the Houma fear will occur to them. Brittany said, “My people already don’t have any federal protections offered for our ancestral lands and now it’s literally disappearing.”
Nonetheless, the Houma language project progresses and creates resources for the people who wish to learn Uma’ Anũpa. On 7000 Languages, an app that supports endangered languages, Brittany and the team offer an interactive experience in which people are able to learn Uma’ and practice what they studied at Tasso Time.
Despite this, the future of the Houma language is not easy to predict. There is still hope amongst the people who are learning it little by little and the interest in the project is growing. But they are not the only ones in this fight, everywhere in Louisiana there are linguistic revivals such as Tunica, Koasati, Creole, and even more. According to Brittany, collaboration between these groups can help shine a light on each language. She tells us, “Our struggles unite us, but our hope binds us.”
To follow their work or learn Uma’ Anũpa go to their website: houmalanguageproject.com
