CORE PRINCIPLES:
The core principles for the Isle de Jean Charles band of Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw Tribe - Lowlander Center Re-settlement are based upon
these Ethical and Moral Principles of Resettlement written by Anthony Oliver-Smith.
The overarching vision is to maintain and strengthen the tribe’s safety, collective identity, social stability, and contribution to the region throughout the resettlement process. Traditional ways of life will be rekindled and reinforced with tribal members living in one community rather than scattered, as they are today - some on The Island and others living in surrounding villages and towns. The design and layout of the new community is inspired by the tala, Choctaw for palmetto, because of its symbolic and functional importance in the tribe’s traditional lifeways. A successful resettlement will integrate historical traditions, novel technologies, and state-of-the-art resilience measures to create proactive solutions for this time of change and into the future. These efforts will not only benefit the Isle de Jean Charles community, but will also inform other communities that decide to relocate as the most sensible response to increasing coastal environmental hazards. This effort of utilizing tradition roots, innovation, and teaching and sharing activities will further enhance tribal livelihoods and build upon their resilience and social capacity. The new site will be a self-sustaining, practical, affordable, living demonstration of a community-led resettlement, with residential, agriculture, agroforestry and aquaculture uses.
The core principles for the Isle de Jean Charles band of Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw Tribe - Lowlander Center Re-settlement are based upon
these Ethical and Moral Principles of Resettlement written by Anthony Oliver-Smith.
The overarching vision is to maintain and strengthen the tribe’s safety, collective identity, social stability, and contribution to the region throughout the resettlement process. Traditional ways of life will be rekindled and reinforced with tribal members living in one community rather than scattered, as they are today - some on The Island and others living in surrounding villages and towns. The design and layout of the new community is inspired by the tala, Choctaw for palmetto, because of its symbolic and functional importance in the tribe’s traditional lifeways. A successful resettlement will integrate historical traditions, novel technologies, and state-of-the-art resilience measures to create proactive solutions for this time of change and into the future. These efforts will not only benefit the Isle de Jean Charles community, but will also inform other communities that decide to relocate as the most sensible response to increasing coastal environmental hazards. This effort of utilizing tradition roots, innovation, and teaching and sharing activities will further enhance tribal livelihoods and build upon their resilience and social capacity. The new site will be a self-sustaining, practical, affordable, living demonstration of a community-led resettlement, with residential, agriculture, agroforestry and aquaculture uses.
PROGRAM ELEMENTS
Proposed community site plan
Landscape and Site Plan
Isle de Jean Charles Band of Biloxi Chitimacha Choctaw tribal community expertise and vision is the core to all phases of the design of a site that meets current and future needs and desires while tracking previous Island life, resources and infrastructure to the maximum feasible. The Resettlement site to be identified and acquired will have characteristics acceptable to HUD and compatible with the tribe’s needs. It will be approximately 500 acres in size, and likely have served for decades as agricultural land that may or may not include water bodies or bayous. Sites are being evaluated for their qualities for raising families, for growing food, for having qualities as similar to their original site as possible and as safe as possible within the context of coastal Louisiana. The new homeland site design will include contouring the land to increase opportunities for habitat diversity. A tribal community center at the front of the property will face a public green space that will accommodate pow wows open to the public. Parking will be provided around the green space to serve tribal visitors and others attending the pow wows and visiting the museum/cultural arts shop, obtaining social services or shopping in the green grocer and seafood shop. Behind the tribal center will be private ritual space, a cemetery, recreational fields all placed on the public side of the forest but within the more private area. The forest will include walkways with exercise stops, sculpture related to the tribe’s history and present activities described in native tongue/French and English and ethnobotany signs next to plants important to tribal customs including healing/medicinal and foods.
The IDJC community treats water as a resource to be managed rather than a problem to eliminate. The design of water features and topography will manage runoff with the goal of retaining all storm water on the property. Rain gardens and swales will also accumulate and infiltrate runoff and increase habitat diversity. Open recreation areas will serve double duty as part of this same strategy. An analysis of existing vegetation will help identify and shape microhabitats for planting and growing traditional native plants. The extensive natural area separating the Tribal Center from the residential area will be designed to accommodate a wealth of plantings, shade patterns, edge effect, etc., to enhance habitat value for education and harvesting. Naturally cleaned water may discharge into bayous passing through the site, which would improve bayou conditions. Individual homes will border created bayous. Toward the rear margins of the property, water bodies may be used for rice farming and crawfish cultivation. A Cajun coastal prairie area will graze buffalo, an animal native to the area and a key element in native prairie habitat restoration.
Isle de Jean Charles Band of Biloxi Chitimacha Choctaw tribal community expertise and vision is the core to all phases of the design of a site that meets current and future needs and desires while tracking previous Island life, resources and infrastructure to the maximum feasible. The Resettlement site to be identified and acquired will have characteristics acceptable to HUD and compatible with the tribe’s needs. It will be approximately 500 acres in size, and likely have served for decades as agricultural land that may or may not include water bodies or bayous. Sites are being evaluated for their qualities for raising families, for growing food, for having qualities as similar to their original site as possible and as safe as possible within the context of coastal Louisiana. The new homeland site design will include contouring the land to increase opportunities for habitat diversity. A tribal community center at the front of the property will face a public green space that will accommodate pow wows open to the public. Parking will be provided around the green space to serve tribal visitors and others attending the pow wows and visiting the museum/cultural arts shop, obtaining social services or shopping in the green grocer and seafood shop. Behind the tribal center will be private ritual space, a cemetery, recreational fields all placed on the public side of the forest but within the more private area. The forest will include walkways with exercise stops, sculpture related to the tribe’s history and present activities described in native tongue/French and English and ethnobotany signs next to plants important to tribal customs including healing/medicinal and foods.
The IDJC community treats water as a resource to be managed rather than a problem to eliminate. The design of water features and topography will manage runoff with the goal of retaining all storm water on the property. Rain gardens and swales will also accumulate and infiltrate runoff and increase habitat diversity. Open recreation areas will serve double duty as part of this same strategy. An analysis of existing vegetation will help identify and shape microhabitats for planting and growing traditional native plants. The extensive natural area separating the Tribal Center from the residential area will be designed to accommodate a wealth of plantings, shade patterns, edge effect, etc., to enhance habitat value for education and harvesting. Naturally cleaned water may discharge into bayous passing through the site, which would improve bayou conditions. Individual homes will border created bayous. Toward the rear margins of the property, water bodies may be used for rice farming and crawfish cultivation. A Cajun coastal prairie area will graze buffalo, an animal native to the area and a key element in native prairie habitat restoration.
Tribal Center
Tribal Center and Public Spaces
Tribal Center
A Community Center will be in the first phase of construction along with the initial homes. The center will immediately serve as an anchor for the Tribe, a point of contact with the land, a place for meetings, rituals and evolution of site development. Its design includes temporary residential space that will double as refuge in the event of storms that threaten the existing homes of the tribal community. It will be equipped to function independently for at least a week. The Center is being designed to meet the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Community Shelter Standard, allowing it to serve as a shelter for community members (as well as Tribal Members living closer to the coast) in the event of tropical cyclone. A commercial kitchen in the Community Center will serve economic (value added produce and seafood products), social (day care, meals on wheels) and cultural purposes (family and Tribal gatherings) and be an asset to enhance pow wows and community cultural re-invigoration.
Health and recreation
While land is being secured, a mobile health facility will help serve the Island and surrounding communities thus developing a client-provider relationship. After the land is accessible the mobile unit can be situated near the entrance to serve the Tribal community and the general public until the permanent clinic can be built in the Tribal-Community Center. Athletic fields will accommodate active sports, while outdoor fitness trail stations will serve people of all ages and physical abilities. Habitat trails will serve a number of purposes in addition to passive recreation.
Cultural and lifeway resources
A Tribal Cultural resource center will be part of the Community Center and will provide connections for the Tribe to Indian Country resources, such as on-line classes with the many Tribal Colleges across the country. It will provide meeting space for language classes, and areas for cultural - lifeway reinvigoration such as workshops on storytelling, traditional arts and history.
Ethnobotany
As in any ecosystem that experiences rapid regime change, some organisms disappear while new ones take their place. The plants that are disappearing from the bayou used to serve as valuable sources of food and healing tinctures for the local communities and wildlife. In the face of such a loss, communities are working to save and, where possible, reintroduce native plants and wildlife into their original habitats. Alongside this work, community members are also conducting ethnobotany studies that will help identify plants at risk and prevent their extinction from climate change. Many of these so-called ‘wild’ plants are highly nutritious and have a wide variety of uses – from serving medicinal purposes to providing habitat and food for migratory birds. This type of work helps transmit Traditional Ecological Knowledge within the community and helps inform those on the outside about the importance of protecting specific areas from further destruction while facilitating transplantation and habitat restoration to the resettlement site.
Education and training
Tribe members will have the opportunity to be trained in advanced sustainable building technology and participate in construction of new homes while gaining capacity for employment in export to the region.
Tribal Center
A Community Center will be in the first phase of construction along with the initial homes. The center will immediately serve as an anchor for the Tribe, a point of contact with the land, a place for meetings, rituals and evolution of site development. Its design includes temporary residential space that will double as refuge in the event of storms that threaten the existing homes of the tribal community. It will be equipped to function independently for at least a week. The Center is being designed to meet the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Community Shelter Standard, allowing it to serve as a shelter for community members (as well as Tribal Members living closer to the coast) in the event of tropical cyclone. A commercial kitchen in the Community Center will serve economic (value added produce and seafood products), social (day care, meals on wheels) and cultural purposes (family and Tribal gatherings) and be an asset to enhance pow wows and community cultural re-invigoration.
Health and recreation
While land is being secured, a mobile health facility will help serve the Island and surrounding communities thus developing a client-provider relationship. After the land is accessible the mobile unit can be situated near the entrance to serve the Tribal community and the general public until the permanent clinic can be built in the Tribal-Community Center. Athletic fields will accommodate active sports, while outdoor fitness trail stations will serve people of all ages and physical abilities. Habitat trails will serve a number of purposes in addition to passive recreation.
Cultural and lifeway resources
A Tribal Cultural resource center will be part of the Community Center and will provide connections for the Tribe to Indian Country resources, such as on-line classes with the many Tribal Colleges across the country. It will provide meeting space for language classes, and areas for cultural - lifeway reinvigoration such as workshops on storytelling, traditional arts and history.
Ethnobotany
As in any ecosystem that experiences rapid regime change, some organisms disappear while new ones take their place. The plants that are disappearing from the bayou used to serve as valuable sources of food and healing tinctures for the local communities and wildlife. In the face of such a loss, communities are working to save and, where possible, reintroduce native plants and wildlife into their original habitats. Alongside this work, community members are also conducting ethnobotany studies that will help identify plants at risk and prevent their extinction from climate change. Many of these so-called ‘wild’ plants are highly nutritious and have a wide variety of uses – from serving medicinal purposes to providing habitat and food for migratory birds. This type of work helps transmit Traditional Ecological Knowledge within the community and helps inform those on the outside about the importance of protecting specific areas from further destruction while facilitating transplantation and habitat restoration to the resettlement site.
Education and training
Tribe members will have the opportunity to be trained in advanced sustainable building technology and participate in construction of new homes while gaining capacity for employment in export to the region.
Conceptual residential housing
Housing
Housing safety and resiliency
Houses will be elevated on pilings, exceeding 4 feet above 50-year base flood elevation, which reduces insurance premiums through the incorporation of freeboard. According to some estimates, even just three feet of freeboard can lead to over $100,000 in premium savings over the typical life of a mortgage. These homes will not be damaged by flooding, even under expected future conditions, in the way conventional homes built to the minimum standards will be. The homes are being designed to the Fortified for Safer Living Standard, a code plus standard developed by the Insurance Institute for Building and Home Safety. This will protect the homes from the impacts of hurricane force winds and reduce the likelihood of losses. In some markets, building to this standard has also reduced insurance costs.
Energy efficiency and independence
The IDJC resettlement team is committed to achieving a self-sufficient, sustainable and resilient community that will have a minimal impact on the environment. The team has consulted numerous sustainable and resilient development frameworks and is adopting those approaches most appropriate to the community as determined by the residents. The criteria that the residents have set forth are cost-effectiveness, cultural sensitivity, local materials, energy efficiency, economic opportunities for tribal members and minimum carbon footprint, among others. Building heating and cooling will rely on an earth-coupled heat pump installation. Individual homes, in adjacent clusters, will be plumbed in to a community geoexchange system serving 6 to 9 homes, eliminating the need for drilling of individual wells. Most of this will be completed in Phase 1 in conjunction with earthwork. Electricity to circulate water from geoexchange wells within each house and operate the indoor HVAC units will be considered critical infrastructure, as are power to each home’s freezer and elevator. Efficient building performance standards will be incorporated into building design and construction. Residential appliances will be certified Energy Star® or comparable. Light-emitting diode (LED) lighting will be used throughout to greatly reduce electricity use and extend equipment life.
Housing safety and resiliency
Houses will be elevated on pilings, exceeding 4 feet above 50-year base flood elevation, which reduces insurance premiums through the incorporation of freeboard. According to some estimates, even just three feet of freeboard can lead to over $100,000 in premium savings over the typical life of a mortgage. These homes will not be damaged by flooding, even under expected future conditions, in the way conventional homes built to the minimum standards will be. The homes are being designed to the Fortified for Safer Living Standard, a code plus standard developed by the Insurance Institute for Building and Home Safety. This will protect the homes from the impacts of hurricane force winds and reduce the likelihood of losses. In some markets, building to this standard has also reduced insurance costs.
Energy efficiency and independence
The IDJC resettlement team is committed to achieving a self-sufficient, sustainable and resilient community that will have a minimal impact on the environment. The team has consulted numerous sustainable and resilient development frameworks and is adopting those approaches most appropriate to the community as determined by the residents. The criteria that the residents have set forth are cost-effectiveness, cultural sensitivity, local materials, energy efficiency, economic opportunities for tribal members and minimum carbon footprint, among others. Building heating and cooling will rely on an earth-coupled heat pump installation. Individual homes, in adjacent clusters, will be plumbed in to a community geoexchange system serving 6 to 9 homes, eliminating the need for drilling of individual wells. Most of this will be completed in Phase 1 in conjunction with earthwork. Electricity to circulate water from geoexchange wells within each house and operate the indoor HVAC units will be considered critical infrastructure, as are power to each home’s freezer and elevator. Efficient building performance standards will be incorporated into building design and construction. Residential appliances will be certified Energy Star® or comparable. Light-emitting diode (LED) lighting will be used throughout to greatly reduce electricity use and extend equipment life.
Cultural-lifeway appropriateness
The site and buildings which are built upon it must conform/reflect the tribe’s culture and their preferences while also incorporating the most appropriate technology and advanced practices in order to assure that the community represent physical and economic resiliency along with cultural. Tribal members will contribute meaningfully to the home architectural design process. Previous resettlement projects that have limited active resident involvement result in failure. A design process that contributes to a ‘sense of place’ will be a valuable model for subsequent coastal relocations. Housing designs will include layouts suitable for seniors and others who require assisted living, homes large enough for extended families and space for the next generation’s homes near their elders. The community will be constructed as flexibly as possible so that as the key functions and uses emerge, the structures and infrastructure will be appropriate for current as well as these future goals.
The site and buildings which are built upon it must conform/reflect the tribe’s culture and their preferences while also incorporating the most appropriate technology and advanced practices in order to assure that the community represent physical and economic resiliency along with cultural. Tribal members will contribute meaningfully to the home architectural design process. Previous resettlement projects that have limited active resident involvement result in failure. A design process that contributes to a ‘sense of place’ will be a valuable model for subsequent coastal relocations. Housing designs will include layouts suitable for seniors and others who require assisted living, homes large enough for extended families and space for the next generation’s homes near their elders. The community will be constructed as flexibly as possible so that as the key functions and uses emerge, the structures and infrastructure will be appropriate for current as well as these future goals.
Entrepreneurial Opportunities
Multi-use Tribal Center
The concept of developing relevant and appropriate local industry and the process leading to it will be shared in the educational instruction and tech transfer goals of the tribe for proactive solutions in a time of change. As the tribe has had to reduce its dependency on seafood harvesting with the loss of the bays and sheltered harvesting areas, new employment opportunities will make the community both economically resilient as well as structurally. The goal will be to have as self-sufficient a tribal community as possible committed to cultural re-invigoration and a model with elements useful for inclusion in the resettlement plans of other communities as such actions are warranted.
Agroforestry and aquaculture
The selected site can be restored and vegetated through an agroforestry landscaping approach that will result in a more diverse, productive native ecosystem, encouraging native medicinal herbal plants, and typical understory and crowning shrub and tree species, bisected by interpretive trails. The high water table in this area assures viable bayous and ponds. Crawfish ponds can double as rice paddies.
Value-added food preparation and indigenous market
The commercial kitchen in the Community Center will serve as a value-added food processing facility to employ community members. The planning phase will be an evolving process leading to potential business opportunities, including preparation of honey, herbal remedies, local citrus marmalades, food drying and preserving and seafood products, among others. This will require a market assessment for potential products, determination of capital investment options, assessment of raw material supply potential and a tribal branding study. The green organic market can showcase products from both the previous locale with seafood and from the current locale with on-site greens, eggs and meat.
Environmental remediation
Regional environmental degradation by the extraction industry and decades of monocultural farming may present an opportunity for the Tribe to gain expertise and develop entrepreneurial capacity in remediation of brownfield sites and/or coastal and habitat restoration, using advanced, low-impact, non-invasive technologies. Through creation of such high-profile competitions as the annual Water Challenge, Louisiana is taking a leadership position in water resource research and coastal mitigation entrepreneurship. The relocation of Isle de Jean Charles will be a model project offered for national review in that innovation process. Through appropriate habitat reconstruction, there may be opportunities to build in the natural conditions that animals and migratory birds depended upon in the old location to be part of the new, thus giving the ‘web of life’ a home.
Agroforestry and aquaculture
The selected site can be restored and vegetated through an agroforestry landscaping approach that will result in a more diverse, productive native ecosystem, encouraging native medicinal herbal plants, and typical understory and crowning shrub and tree species, bisected by interpretive trails. The high water table in this area assures viable bayous and ponds. Crawfish ponds can double as rice paddies.
Value-added food preparation and indigenous market
The commercial kitchen in the Community Center will serve as a value-added food processing facility to employ community members. The planning phase will be an evolving process leading to potential business opportunities, including preparation of honey, herbal remedies, local citrus marmalades, food drying and preserving and seafood products, among others. This will require a market assessment for potential products, determination of capital investment options, assessment of raw material supply potential and a tribal branding study. The green organic market can showcase products from both the previous locale with seafood and from the current locale with on-site greens, eggs and meat.
Environmental remediation
Regional environmental degradation by the extraction industry and decades of monocultural farming may present an opportunity for the Tribe to gain expertise and develop entrepreneurial capacity in remediation of brownfield sites and/or coastal and habitat restoration, using advanced, low-impact, non-invasive technologies. Through creation of such high-profile competitions as the annual Water Challenge, Louisiana is taking a leadership position in water resource research and coastal mitigation entrepreneurship. The relocation of Isle de Jean Charles will be a model project offered for national review in that innovation process. Through appropriate habitat reconstruction, there may be opportunities to build in the natural conditions that animals and migratory birds depended upon in the old location to be part of the new, thus giving the ‘web of life’ a home.
Infrastructure
Water supply and management
Rainwater will be viewed as a resource that provides benefits rather than a problem to be eliminated. A suite of water management methods will be used to treat water as a resource rather than a problem. Bioswales, family gardens, strategic tree planting and community park and play areas will be multi-functional, providing recreational and community interaction while receiving excess rainwater (storm water detention) in a holistic approach to managing localized flooding from typical storms. Since Terrebonne Parish government does not anticipate extending wastewater lines to areas being considered, on-site wastewater treatment will utilize best practices to reduce energy costs and re-use the resource. Individual homes will be connected to septic tanks, from which the effluent flows through subsurface reed bed systems in common use in the parish already. Naturally treated water will infiltrate back to the earth. On a larger scale, the Tribal Center’s wastewater will be treated through technology such as found in a ‘living machine’. This can take a variety of forms and designs; one capable of treating 2,400 gallons per day can be found at: https://www.clatsopcc.edu/about-ccc/campuses/merts/living-machine.
Power supply and storage
Tribal leadership is committed to energy independence and efficiency for the community, a strong expression of cultural integrity and tribal sovereignty. Self-generated electricity is a lifeline for a population when the grid is interrupted for an extended period of time, such as in tropical cyclones. While an average of 6kW of solar panels could be fixed to the roof of each residence during construction, the cost-effectiveness and ease of maintenance of an acre of photovoltaic panels will be evaluated as will the potential for battery and/or thermal storage. Combined Heat and Power (CHP) will be evaluated. CHP can serve as the primary source of power, fueled by natural gas, biomass or propane. As a renewable, methane can be collected from landfills, wastewater treatment plants or other processes. To advance toward implementation, financing options, including repayment through energy savings will be evaluated and presented.
Roadways, paths, and parking
Pervious paving will be incorporated into all feasible roadways and parking lots. Some technologies are permanently installed, which applies best to major roads. Others can be temporary and moved if need be, which could be preferable on parking areas where grasses will grow in cells, creating the appearance of a meadow. Pervious paving reduces storm water runoff and heat island effect and increases groundwater recharge.
Water supply and management
Rainwater will be viewed as a resource that provides benefits rather than a problem to be eliminated. A suite of water management methods will be used to treat water as a resource rather than a problem. Bioswales, family gardens, strategic tree planting and community park and play areas will be multi-functional, providing recreational and community interaction while receiving excess rainwater (storm water detention) in a holistic approach to managing localized flooding from typical storms. Since Terrebonne Parish government does not anticipate extending wastewater lines to areas being considered, on-site wastewater treatment will utilize best practices to reduce energy costs and re-use the resource. Individual homes will be connected to septic tanks, from which the effluent flows through subsurface reed bed systems in common use in the parish already. Naturally treated water will infiltrate back to the earth. On a larger scale, the Tribal Center’s wastewater will be treated through technology such as found in a ‘living machine’. This can take a variety of forms and designs; one capable of treating 2,400 gallons per day can be found at: https://www.clatsopcc.edu/about-ccc/campuses/merts/living-machine.
Power supply and storage
Tribal leadership is committed to energy independence and efficiency for the community, a strong expression of cultural integrity and tribal sovereignty. Self-generated electricity is a lifeline for a population when the grid is interrupted for an extended period of time, such as in tropical cyclones. While an average of 6kW of solar panels could be fixed to the roof of each residence during construction, the cost-effectiveness and ease of maintenance of an acre of photovoltaic panels will be evaluated as will the potential for battery and/or thermal storage. Combined Heat and Power (CHP) will be evaluated. CHP can serve as the primary source of power, fueled by natural gas, biomass or propane. As a renewable, methane can be collected from landfills, wastewater treatment plants or other processes. To advance toward implementation, financing options, including repayment through energy savings will be evaluated and presented.
Roadways, paths, and parking
Pervious paving will be incorporated into all feasible roadways and parking lots. Some technologies are permanently installed, which applies best to major roads. Others can be temporary and moved if need be, which could be preferable on parking areas where grasses will grow in cells, creating the appearance of a meadow. Pervious paving reduces storm water runoff and heat island effect and increases groundwater recharge.