Native Christians
When Hurricane Katrina swept across the Gulf Coast it impacted many Native Americans living in that area. The St. Bernard’s Parish and the Plaquemines Parish had several small Native communities that were completely under water. Many urban Native people living in New Orleans received shelter and assistance from their tribal relations, the Tunica-Biloxi people, the Juna band of Choctaw, the Chitimacha tribe and the Choshatta tribe.
The Native community in the Jefferson Parish was directly hit. Approximately 15,000 homes were damaged in the Barataria-Lafitte area (just across the river from New Orleans). The people in this area have also had their source of income threatened as they are mostly fishermen and many of their boats have been damaged, destroyed or blown away.
Grand Isle, also in Jefferson Parish, had approximately half of the homes and businesses on the island completely destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. Cheniere, located in the Grand Isle area, also experienced a lot of flooding.
Terrebonne Parish was also decimated by the hurricane. Point Aux Chenes, the primary village in Terrebonne, had 30 homes damaged and Isle Jean Charles also had a number of homes damaged. Both Point Aux Chenes and Isle Jean Charles are fishing villages and part of the long-term relief efforts will center on restoring the livelihoods of the people by repairing or replacing their fishing boats.
The first response efforts that included food, water and temporary shelter, have for the most part, been completed and the Native Christian churches in the area are now in the process of shifting to long term relief efforts which encompass the process of rebuilding and recovery. The people affected by Hurricane Katrina will need help to recover from the trauma and regain some sense of normalcy in their lives.
To aid in this process, members of the Native community in the Plazuemines area have been invited to come to a Christian camp for four days of prayer and healing. These people, who have no homes to go back to, will share together their stories… and their hopes of rebuilding their community.
The Native Christian Fellowship, in the Jefferson Parish, is co-ordinating various relief efforts (including the 4-day camp described above). They are asking for our prayers as they assist those affected by Hurricane Katrina—and those who have been more recently evacuated because of Hurricane Rita (the Choshatta and Chitimacha tribes).
Pastor Steve Cheramie Rising Sun reports that volunteers have been arriving from all across Canada and the USA. The main concern now is coordinating their efforts. It would be better to have smaller teams (of 5-20 people) on a regular, consistent basis than to have large teams (of 500, for example), the reason being that the available manpower needs to be coordinated with the corresponding amount of available building materials.
Another area that the church is working on is organizing professional trauma counselors. There are also issues of injustice and environmental protection. As Native people, they desire to be a voice for the care and respect of the land.
Being a voice for individual cases of injustice is also an integral part of the recovery work still needing to be done. An example of this is the case of an individual who was arrested the night before Hurricane Katrina struck, charged on a misdemeanor that would normally have resulted in bail being posted and the individual being released. Because the jail records are now under water, this person has been locked up in a state prison for over a month now—with no immediate release in sight. Other issues of justice include distribution of funds and of the new building contracts.
Assistance is also being given to some of the older people who have limited English and need help to navigate their way through the federal assistance that might be available to them.
Please continue to pray for the people in this region. There is till a need for funds, especially for the purchase of building materials. Those who would like to help in this way can send money designated for Hurricane Relief to Native Christian Fellowship, P.O. Box 141, Gretna, Louisiana 70054
