United Houma Nation works to revive native language – Houma Courier
Even before it was colonized and would become known as Louisiana, there were various languages spoken in the region by the natives who lived here, calling the area “Bulbancha,” Choctaw for “place of many tongues.”
But many Louisiana residents don’t know that a diversity of native tongues existed well before colonization of the state, something that the Houma Language Project hopes to change.
Established in 2013, the Houma Language Project has worked to study and revitalize the indigeneous Houma language, called “Uma.” The project started when co-founders Hali Dardar and Colleen Billiot heard an old audiotape from the 1970s of two women singing the “Alligator Song” in the Houma language. One of the women was Billiot’s great grandmother, Elvira Billiot.
Billiot said since the project started, team members have been reconstructing the language to reflect what their ancestors would have actually said.
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“It’s all done with so much on your mind about culture, heritage and ancestral teachings,” Billiot said. “We always are looking forward and back for several generations and just trying to make sure that we’re doing the best we can in the space and time we have.”
The language no active speakers in 2022, so the project has limited information, mainly from the 16th and 17th centuries. But through their research, team members have been able to develop open resources like Anũpa’ Estwasúhah — the Uma version of Wordle — a dictionary app, keyboard and pronunciation guides.
Billiot said working in Uma has given her insight into what society was like when the language was used.
“We also put a great deal of thought into every word that we create. Even the rebuilding and reclaiming, you’re piecing together the language and the very rules and premises we follow for it,” Billiot said. “Muskogee languages, including Uma, are very verb-focused. It’s very intentional that the action is sort of more important than the who and the noun or what’s being acted upon.”
This spring marked the first set of interns to complete the group’s Youth Language Internships, which came about because of an $84,000 federal grant for the United Houma Nation and the Houma Language Project.
The grant was from the Administration for Native Americans as part of the American Rescue Plan, a bill passed by Congress in March aimed at stimulating the U.S. economy to help it recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. The grant focused on helping develop and save indigenous language efforts across the country.
Most of the volunteers and all interns are Houma tribe members. Project team member Brittany Verdin Jimenez said the internship has been a way to create much-needed Native representation, something that isn’t available to them in a traditional school setting.
“We’re still here, we still have stuff to share with our people. We are still doing everything we can to make sure that the next generation thrives,” Jimenez said.
Spring intern Jace Naquin, 17, got involved with the project after his mom became more involved with the tribe and wanted to continue rediscovering their indigenous culture. The internship ended up being a natural way to connect further.
“My focus was to figure out my place in the community, learn more about my history, my culture and how to speak the words of my ancestors,” Naquin said.
