|
By: Madalynn Matson Summary. Hurricane Ida, bringing wind speeds of up to 150mph, brought destruction to all in it’s path. The storm is one of the largest ever recorded, leaving behind damaged houses, severe flooding, and devastation. While many were affected by the storm, many communities were hit harder than others, as is the case for many Indigenous people. The Houma Nation is the largest of fifteen Native tribes that Ida passed over, with upwards of 19,000 people living along the Gulf Coast. Despite its size, it isn’t recognized by the federal government, causing the nation to struggle with access to education, funds, and recovery aid. They also receive next to no help from the state government, forcing them to rely on outside donations. After Katrina, a study revealed that not many people even knew about the existence of Native communities in Louisiana. This, in addition to the general lack of media attention to Indigenous populations, reduces their aid and leaves many overlooked. After all, many don’t even realize these communities (a) exist and (b) are facing this much damage. Another pressing issue is the rapid coastal erosion in Mississippi and Louisiana. Rising sea levels are one of the main causes of the area’s alarming depletion of land. The buffer that had once slowed down the storm’s wind and water has been destroyed, allowing the hurricane to hit the area harder than ever. The road to recovery is expected to be a long one due to this level of damage. With climate change showing no signs of slowing down, coastal erosion continuing at rapid rates, and a lack of help from the government, many are worried for what is to come. Why we should care? When talking about climate change, many refer to it as something that “could” or “will” happen. The Houma Nation is one of the many examples showing that it is already happening.  Photo Credit: Sophia Germer, NOLA, https://www.nola.com/news/environment/article_8751e728-0d8a-11ec-9fa1-cb44d2a508a1.html Example Article. https://www.npr.org/2021/09/05/1034439258/louisianas-houma-nation-was-devastated-by-hurricane-ida In this article, the Houma Nation’s chief, August Creppel, speaks about the devastation that hit his community. Houma is located on the Gulf coast, and is spread across six perishes. The nation received some of the worst damage from Ida, affecting over nineteen thousand Natives in that community alone. Many are unable to return, and if they do they are greeted with more rubble than home. Power and internet have been unstable, if available at all, and aid is incredibly difficult to come by for the state-recognized tribe. In addition to Ida, record temperatures plagued the country. The heat alone is dangerous and difficult to deal with, but coupled with hurricane recovery, no air conditioning, and no water, is entirely deadly. The article offers a new perspective on just how bad Ida has been. Science in Action.
Dr. Jennifer Francis is a Senior Scientist at the Woodwell Climate Research Center. Dr. Francis, a senior scientist at the Woodwell Climate Research Center, specializes in studying rapid changes in the Arctic, and how these changes are impacting the rest of the world. Her work covers the warming of the Arctic itself, and how recent, severe storms are the result of these changes in the Arctic. Francis’ early works looked into how moisture and energy exchanges occur throughout both the atmosphere and the globe. This work led her research to the connection of arctic warming and weather patterns closer to the equator. Francis has been working to better communicate her findings to the general public.
14 Comments
Benjamin Feld
10/1/2021 15:12:01
Really not surprising, like all environmental issues it will effect the poor, minorities like Black people, Indigenous people and Latinos. We've seen it been seeing it but because its not White people being harmed the media looks the other way. This is why environmental justice is extremely important when talking about Climate Change.
Rochelle Durand
10/2/2021 17:38:26
It seems like every year, hurricanes are getting worse. As climate change continues to increase Earth’s temperatures, we should expect to also see an increase in extreme weather events such as hurricanes. It’s unfortunate that indigenous communities don’t get represented enough in the media, such as the Houma Nation. I’ve never heard of those native communities, and it angers me that they get no government assistance whatsoever. 10/3/2021 13:13:46
The ancestral homeland of the Houma people needs to be preserved. The ancient Mississippian tribes used to cover the mid-west of America and and even Michigan. The Houma people are a part of this rich culture. Since not many people knows about this over thousand year culture, rising sea levels may prevent us from ever knowing. Since the end of the last ice age many structures submerged. Many of these biulding are pyramids and remain intact. Climate change and rising water levels could make are modern-day coastal cities underwater museums.
Rachel Mangulabnan
10/3/2021 16:03:12
When I read the title of your blog post my first thought was how I was not surprised at all. I have not seen any media coverage on how impacted the Houma Nation was and as sad as that is, I feel like it is nothing new. Many major issues indigenous populations face is seemingly always neglected by our government and the media. How little aid the Navaho Nation received during the start of the pandemic or how members of the Sanding Rock Tribe were arrested for protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline are testaments to that. It is also disheartening to know that they are not even recognized by the federal government. If the Houma Nation is the largest in the area that were impacted, I cannot even imagine how smaller tribes were affected as well. I like how you mentioned that many refer to climate change as something that we are still awaiting to happen when that is not the case at all. The fact that coastal cities are being hit so hard and are on the verge of being wiped away and people continue to deny climate change or just ignore the issue all together is baffling. It is even more concerning that a tribe of almost 20,000 people and the humanitarian crisis they are still facing just gets swept under the rug so easily. It makes me even more concerned for all the other vulnerable populations like them that are neglected and the government just does not care enough to provide them with proper aid.
Tommy Maloney
10/4/2021 10:29:37
Up until I read this article, I had no prior knowledge of an indigenous population down in Louisiana. It is sad to hear not only how much this hurricane has damaged them but also that they cannot get much financial help to recover from it either. It is no surprise the media does them no justice. A big question I have is if the ocean levels keep rising and the land they live on keeps eroding away where is this population going to be able to go? How many more years and how many more of these storms can these people survive until that area is just uninhabitable for them.
Jacob Philip
10/4/2021 12:10:31
This was a great article choice, Madalynn. When we talk about climate change, indigenous communities are often left out of the conversation despite the fact that they are often the most impacted. It is important to elevate stories such as these because the media often ignores tragedies like this when they pertain to indigenous communities.
Mikaela Owen
10/4/2021 19:43:59
It is increasingly frustrating how we have had so many recent political movements to bring equality to all people, and yet it seems as though indigenous and native peoples are consistently left out. Hurricane Ida showcases this in an extreme situation, but I am sure there are more tribes across the United States that have failed to be recognized nationally and therefore do not receive the resources they deserve. Hopefully the Houma people can get the assistance they need after the government surveys the damage in place from Ida.
Ximena Mazariegos
10/4/2021 21:25:25
It is really disappointing to see that the government is not helping these native tribes as much as they should be but at the same time I'm not surprised. It also doesn't help that these tribes get little to no news coverage, this is actually my first time hearing about how hurricane Ida has impacted and still is impacting native tribes. This is a very interesting article and I will definitely be doing more research on this.
Michelle Kim
10/4/2021 22:17:09
It is so sad to hear that these hurricanes are getting worse and that they create such a big impact, especially towards the indigenous population and very little changes are being made to help. This was my first time hearing about the impact hurricane Ida did to these populations. There should be more coverage to the news that matter since we already know that hurricanes are happening and help create changes.
Hailey Bernys
10/4/2021 22:37:29
I was not aware of the indigenous people living in Louisiana before this post. How can such a large group of people be so overlooked and not recognized? I heard a lot about Hurricane Ida but definitely feel like this was not covered in the news reported, the ones I read at least. Also, imagining wind speeds up to 150 mph is so crazy to me. How much can this state take?
Batoul Hassan
10/4/2021 22:51:20
It's terrible to see how Hurricane Ida troubled so many people. Over 19,00 indigenous have lost their home and have nowhere else to go. Even if they decided to go home, there's nothing but debris and rubble. The government does not have any type of plan to help the people that have been hurt by Hurricane Ida, which is extremely disappointing.
Mary Whitfield
10/4/2021 23:12:29
I remember the worry that hurricane Ida brought in the south. Being from the north, I tend to never think about the horrors of these tropical storms but reading about the damage caused by them seems so terrifying. Louisiana has been completely destroyed by climate change, for the most part, when you look at a standard map of Louisiana it is very misleading. Rising waters have cut away much of the land in Louisiana. This is why hurricane Ida is so detrimental to the state. Obviously, its even worst for the native communities, I think this hurricane may have even taken away more land from those communities. The need for awareness and research is so important for the stability of Louisiana and other states and countries affected by these hurricanes. Being that hurricane Ida was so severe, its likely only going to get worst after 2021 with the rate of climate change. I find Dr. Francis research interesting it. It feels so weird to think about hurricanes and how research in such a different climate, like the artic, can be useful. Climate change in the artic affects so much more than I think people realize. I hope more research can be done to find the links between climate change and the increase in storm intensity, however I’m not sure what can specifically be done with the research in regards to change. Really the only thing that can be done is to use to research to try to convince nations to implement wide spread policy changes that will hopefully, in time, reverse some of the effects.
Loren Solomon
10/7/2021 00:21:09
Very interesting discussion! I'm part native American, and have never heard of these tribes, though it was very interesting and sad learning about these indigenous people and all they go through. I can't imagine the struggles they face, knowing that majority of the world doesn't know they exist, nor care when they find out. In times of need especially, it's devastating to hear how people can be so easily forgotten about and abandoned, especially by their own federal government.
Alexis Potoff
12/9/2021 15:46:40
I think the most important thing I noticed from this article is the lack of media attention regarding indigenous communities. This sentence will sound very ignorant but prior to reading this article I really did not know much about Native communities which in a way proves the point that they deserve more media attention. Regarding the hurricane, rising sea levels resulting from melting sea ice and other climate issues is a huge deal. While everyone living in these places that sit lower will be affected by rising sea levels it is important to consider the disadvantaged people in these areas. Leave a Reply. |
AuthorStudents of ESG 1500 Archives
December 2021
Categories |
RSS Feed