The Evergreen State College Institutional Repository

It’s More Than a Place: Exploring Connections to Place and Place Identity in Louisiana

Item

Title

It’s More Than a Place: Exploring Connections to Place and Place Identity in Louisiana

Date

2022 June

Creator

Harrell, Rachael

Identifier

Thesis_MES_2022Sp_HarrellR

extracted text

It’s More Than a Place:
Exploring Connections to Place and Place Identity in Louisiana

by
Rachael L. Harrell

A Thesis
Submitted in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the degree
Master of Environmental Studies
The Evergreen State College
June 2022

© 2022 by Rachael Lynn Harrell. All rights reserved

This Thesis for the Master of Environmental Studies Degree
by
Rachael Lynn Harrell
has been approved for
The Evergreen State College
by

___________________
Kathleen Saul
Member of the Faculty

___________________
Date

Abstract
Louisiana represents the enigma of a modern state shaped by a heritage of colonialism,
displacement and adversity, fossil fuel-driven economic development, structural racism and
much more. These issues are now compounding as well as being intensified to new heights by
climate change driven events and it is impacting the people and the place. This research aims to
understand the deep-rooted connection people from Louisiana share with each other as well as
the land. Specifically, what role does attachment to place take on when discussing place
identities of those from Louisiana and the external forces impacting these inherent identities?
Participants range from ages 23 to 84 with the only requirement being the participant must be
from Louisiana. Meaning lived in the state from birth to the age of 25 for at least ten years. A
snowball technique was used to identify potential community member to talk with. Dialogues
transcribed coded for emergent themes as well as those related to sense of place, attachment to
place, adaptation, heritage, resilience, kinship, community ties, and social ties. Key findings
indicate sense of and attachment to one’s place in Louisiana factor into the place identity of those
from there and indicate theses identities, when influenced by external factors, are sustained
through adaptability, strong social systems, diversity, and the connection to self-definition.

Table of Contents
Table of Contents .......................................................................................................................... iv
List of Figures .................................................................................................................................v
List of Tables ................................................................................................................................. vi
Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................................... vii
Positionality Statement ............................................................................................................... viii
Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 1
Louisiana, the place ................................................................................................................... 2
Literature Review ........................................................................................................................... 7
Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 7
Landscapes ................................................................................................................................. 8
Louisiana People ...................................................................................................................... 11
Indigenous Peoples .................................................................................................................. 12
Louisiana’s Ethnic Heritage ................................................................................................... 15
People Interacting with The Land ......................................................................................... 22
Land Loss, Subsidence & Erosion ......................................................................................... 23
Hurricanes, Tropical Storms, and Floods – Oh my! ............................................................ 27
Future Climate Threats .......................................................................................................... 34
Conceptualizing Louisiana as More Than a Place ............................................................... 37
Sense of Place ........................................................................................................................ 37
Place Identity ......................................................................................................................... 42
Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 43
Methods ........................................................................................................................................ 45
Results........................................................................................................................................... 48
Longstanding Ties to Place and Importance of Kinship ..................................................... 51
Social Networks and Community Ties .................................................................................. 54
Sense of Place and Place Attachment .................................................................................... 57
Place-based Identity ................................................................................................................ 58
Discussion..................................................................................................................................... 61
Conclusion .................................................................................................................................... 62
Bibliography .................................................................................................................................. ix

iv

List of Figures
Figure 1: Map showing the totality of the Mississippi River watershed tributaries, and path
it takes through Louisiana to the Gulf of Mexico. .............................................................. 9
Figure 2: A map illustrates the concentration of bayous thru Louisiana and surrounding
areas. (Luz K. Molina n.d.) ................................................................................................. 10
Figure 3: Map from Owens (2015) spatially representing Native American tribes in
Louisiana. The map shows four federally recognized tribes the Chitimacha Tribe of
Louisiana, the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana, the Jena Band of Choctaw Indians, and
the Tunica-Biloxi Indian Tribe. It is not representative of all indigenous or native
groups in Louisiana. ............................................................................................................ 15
Figure 4: Map from Owens (2015) displaying the ethnic heritage of Louisiana people....... 17
Figure 5: A map depicting the use of Louisiana French Creole retrieved from Owens (2015)
............................................................................................................................................... 20
Figure 6 shows the 30 historical hurricane tracks, tropical storms, tropical depressions and
there rating to strike Louisiana from 1990-2020 NOAA (n.d.) ....................................... 30
Figure 7: This map is adapted from Google Maps (n.d.) showing locations where
participants grew up. ........................................................................................................... 45

v

List of Tables

Table 1: Theme indicators for longstanding ties to place and importance of family ties
examples from review of scholarship and theme indicators from interview responses in
this study............................................................................................................................... 51
Table 2 Theme indicators for strong social networks and community ties with examples
from review of scholarship and theme indicators from interview responses in this
study. ..................................................................................................................................... 54
Table 3: Theme indicators for sense of place and place attachment examples from review of
scholarship and theme indicators from interview responses in this study ..................... 57
Table 4 Theme indicators for place identity adapted from work done by DuCros (2019)
with examples from review of scholarship and theme indicators from interview
responses in this study ......................................................................................................... 58

vi

Acknowledgements
This essay is featured in the book All We Can Save by Johnson and Wilkinson (2021)
Colette Pichon Battle’s tribute “An Offering from the Bayou” (329-333)
“It was about two years after Hurricane Katrina that I first saw the Louisiana flood maps. These
flood maps are used to show land loss in the past and the land loss predicted to come. On this
particular day, at a community meeting, these maps were used to explain how a thirty-foot storm
surge that accompanied Hurricane Katrina could flood communities like mine in South
Louisiana…More specifically, the graphic showed the disappearance of my community and
many other communities in South Louisiana before the end of the century.
We were now bound by the impossible task of ensuring that our communities would not be
erased…Friends, neighbors, family, my community: I had just assumed they would always be
there. Land, trees, marsh, bayous: I had just assumed that they would be there, as they had been
for thousands of years. I was wrong . . .
To survive this next phase of our human existence, we will need to restructure our social and
economic systems to develop our collective resilience. The social restructuring must be toward
restoration and repair of the Earth and the communities that have been extracted from,
criminalized, and targeted for generations. These are the front lines.
The good news is we come from powerful people...those who have, in one way or another,
survived. This is reason enough to fight. The work starts here. The work starts together.”
(Emphasis added)

vii

Positionality Statement
Rachael Harrell is Caucasian female who grew up in Shreveport, Louisiana living with
her single mom who worked as a registered nurse. She spent her college years studying nursing
at The University of Louisiana in Lafayette, where she truly fell in love with her connection to
Louisiana heritage and culture. Rachael found her connection to the environment in her
undergrad years as well but was uncertain how or if that subjective imprint could ever be made
into a career. Her home state was crumbling beneath billions of dollars of debt and there was talk
of cutbacks to state funded education systems and facilities being a solution. Unsure of the future
she moved back home to Shreveport on a mission to graduate as soon as possible ensuring she
could start a new journey away from Louisiana. After graduating from Louisiana State
University Shreveport, she moved to Washington where she is now a first-generation master’s
graduate from The Evergreen State College. Louisiana still is, and will always be, a part of her
identity. The intrinsic urge to go back and the longing to be with her people on the bayous never
quieted. Rachael chose to focus on place identity in Louisiana largely due to her strong
attachment to this place and the people who are from there. Her education has led her to
understand the magnitude of her place identity, the significance of place-based education, and
inspired her drive to assist people and people in our journey to a sustainable future.

viii

Introduction

Louisianians offer a uniquely diverse perspective on the bond, or the attachment, one has
with one's place and the impact the heritage has one’s self-definition, social identity, and the life
decisions they impact. As one interview participant questioned “Can you just eat gumbo, and you
know drink beer, dance on Saturday nights, and be Cajun, or you know, is there more to it than
that?” There is more to it than that, and even those from Louisiana can’t explain it, they just
know it is there. The people of Louisiana have long history of thriving along the mighty
Mississippi River and her sprawling deltas. Beginning with indigenous peoples followed by the
influx of traders and immigrants; their close association with place-based agricultural endeavors
(from historic sugar cane and cotton plantations to modern soybean, rice, and sweet potato
farms) and fishing (shrimp, crawfish, and oysters); and the distinctive language, food, and
musical traditions that emerged from Louisiana are deeply rooted in its people today.
Research by Burley (2010) found place attachment among coastal Louisiana residents
arises from experiences embodied by landscapes, melded with social and physical elements, and
sutured to identity. The emotional bond to place built through experiences overlays the
physicality of places and can give symbolic meaning to landscapes through social construction.
Individuals see themselves through both physical and social elements of landscapes (a process
called self-definition). Therefore, everyday experiences, symbolized as landscapes, influence
place attachment as well as place-based identity. This process of forming bonds with one’s place
requires cognition (acquiring knowledge through experience) and affect (emotion that changes
thought or action), the same factors that influence behavior (Burley, 2010). Building on Burley’s
ideas, this research aims to understand Louisianian’s sense of place by examining the
1

relationship between sense of place and bonds to place, and how this relationship influences selfdefinition to shed light on the irreplaceable people of Louisiana. First however, I will explore in
a bit more detail this place called Louisiana.
Louisiana, the place
Louisiana, dubbed sportsman’s paradise, has varying geography from uplands in the
north to lowlands, marshes, and wetlands in the south. As a result, similar a simmering pot of
gumbo, Louisiana is a melding pot of uniquely diverse people that contribute to rich cultural and
legacy influences scattered about that state. The state has been shaped by a lengthy history of
fossil fuel extraction, industry driven investments, oil and gas economy, structural racism,
environmental injustices, subsidence, as well as coastal erosion. Future threats from destructive
climate related events are predicted hit Louisiana first and the hardest. Research into climate
gentrification post hurricane Katrina suggests that minority populations are at a higher risk of
experiencing disparities related to climate change disasters, putting an already vulnerable coast
and population at a higher risk for damages and destruction (Aune, Gesch, and Smith, 2020;
Colten et al., 2018).
Subsidence, or sinking, of coastal Louisiana occurs at a rate of about one inch every three
years; the coast has already lost more than 2,000 square miles of land since the 1930s (EPA,
2016). A plethora of human activities, such as dredging and the construction of river levees, have
exacerbated coastal erosion, wetland loss, and natural subsidence. These activities have inhibited
the Mississippi River from its natural and continual deposition processes that replenished the
wetlands, marshlands, and coastal delta. Human activities have also led to increased saltwater
intrusion, causing further loss of wetland barriers important in preventing coastal erosion,
mitigating storm surge damage, and providing hurricane protection.

2

This isn’t new information to the people of Louisiana; many have witnessed these
changes firsthand over time, throughout generations. Subjects interviewed by Burley et al.
(2007) referred to land loss as an eerie dimension as if a thief in the night. Channel markers
boatmen used for generations to navigate cypress bottomed waterways are now submerged;
family hunting grounds are no longer accessible due to highwater; low tides are lower, high tides are
higher; and noticeably higher water levels with each storm are just a few experiences reflected through
narratives of place from coastal residents (Burley, 2010). “Their identity, their dialect, the challenges of
living where they live, the work and pleasure that stems from living in this place, the changing landscape,
the unique environment, for residents, all form a symbiotic relationship” (Burley et al. 2007:357). A
rapidly approaching threat is on the horizon--the future of Louisiana specifically the existence of its many
coastal communities directly depends on limiting rates of sea level rise to the greatest extent possible
Devyani (2021).

The state faces rising sea levels accompanied by coastal erosion, exacerbated subsidence,
increases in precipitation, more frequent and intense flooding, depleting natural buffer zones, and
more powerful tropical storms. Rising sea levels are likely to accelerate coastal erosion currently
caused by natural and anthropogenic subsidence, as well as coastal barrier loss and erosion
related to human activities. Despite an ongoing migration away from the most vulnerable coastal
areas (NOAA Office for Coastal Management, 2022), show that out of a population of 4.6
million in the state, 2.3 million people, 50% of resident state wide, live in coastal areas.
Economically, based on 2015 data, people in the coastal area earned $46 billion in wages
annually (NOAA, 2022). Also in 2015, one in 70 Louisiana jobs was linked to the seafood
industry, with annual retail sales of over $2 billion (Holland 2015; Smith et al., 2020). The ports
along the coast contribute another 160,000 or more jobs Holland (2015). In 2019 the travel and

3

tourism industry, which supports over 400 annual festivals celebrating authentic culinary, music
and outdoor experiences, employed 242,000 people Louisiana Travel Association (2019). Some
or all of that could be at risk.
Average temperatures in Louisiana may rise more than 10 degrees Fahrenheit by 2100, as
compared to 1901-1960 averages (Climate Reality Project 2020; NOAA State Summaries 2022).
Seas are expected to rise by and thereby increasing storm surge depths. In some coastal locations
the rate of sea level rise will be more than four times the global rate due to natural variations in
the land Louisiana—State Summaries (2022). Louisiana coastal flooding risk estimates by States
at Risk (2016) says 955,000 people are at risk for flooding now with sea levels to rise 1.9ft by
2050 and 5.7ft by 2100. Still, sea level rise, flooding, storm surges, and temperature aren’t the
only climate change related threats on the rise. Floods and drought occurrences will become
more severe, and any overall global warming will lead to increasing heat wave intensity but
decreasing cold wave intensity EPA (2016).
Aside from the changes mentioned above, Louisiana faces major tropical storms and
hurricanes yearly, and those are expected to intensify in power and frequency Knutson et al.
(2021). Hurricane Katrina, making landfall in August 2005, is the most talked about Louisiana
disaster due the cataclysmic destruction the state faced in the days following the storm. Katrina
was the perfect storm everyone knew was coming just not when it would come. She lived up the
worst that was predicted by many, leaving calamitous damage in her wake. In the aftermath,
more than 80% of New Orleans was under as much as 15 feet of water, causing over $125 billion
in property damages and over 1,500 fatalities with NOAA State Summaries (2022).
The NOAA Hurricane Research Division reports that just from 2005 to 2009, six
hurricanes made landfall in Louisiana, the largest number to hit the state since the beginning of
4

the 20th century. From 2005 to 2020, ten major hurricanes struck Louisiana. Category 4
Hurricane Harvey in 2017 caused a whopping $125 billion worth of damages Chute (2020).
During the 2020 hurricane season alone, five named storms hit the Louisiana coast, including
three major hurricanes. Hurricane Laura, in August 2020, tied with two historical hurricanes to
be one of the most powerful to make landfall in U.S. history, and it was followed six weeks later
by Category 2 Hurricane Delta, a severe freeze in February and flash floods in May Ballard,
Mark, and Mike Smith (2021). This may be perceived as a weather forecast; just listing highlight
after highlight. However, each event, big or small, wreaked havoc on the land and the people of
Louisiana.
Rainfall events dumping amounts greater than one inch are also expected to increase in
frequency and result in greater flash flood risks inland Laska (2020). Even if average
precipitation remains the same, flash flooding will increase throughout the state related to the
higher temperatures that will increase the rate of soil moisture loss during dry spells, which could
increase the intensity of naturally occurring droughts NOAA State Summaries (2022). Stalled
storm systems, as seen in the 2016 floods, or indirect impacts from flooding north of the state as
seen in 2011, in combination with more intense droughts, will further increase the risks of
dangerous flooding. Because of the flat landscape (the highest point rises only 535 feet above sea
level and the lowest 3 feet below) and interconnected waterways, the impact of a rainfall event in
one part of the state is often felt far beyond the site of the original downpour.
Louisiana already experiences many forms of flooding, including coastal or surge/tidal
floods, fluvial flooding or river floods, pluvial floods related to rainfall-induced flash floods and
urban flooding, and backwater flooding. For example, in 2016, consecutive days of heavy rain
led to flash floods washing through southern Louisiana. NOAA State Summaries (2022) data
5

shows 30,000 people were rescued from these floodwaters that caused $10.7 billion in damages
and destroyed over 50,000 homes in East Baton Rouge, Ascension, Livingston, and Tangipahoa
parishes. With climate change related events on the rise, disaster impacts will be felt way beyond
the coastal parishes. Emergency flood disasters have been declared by all sixty-four parishes at
least twice over the last 20 years, and climate change has made these events 40% more likely and
10% more intense (Devyani 2021).
Louisianians are seen by outsiders as inherently resilient with a sense of adaptability.
They persevere despite facing day by day loss of their beloved place. Bit by bit. Flood by flood.
Hurricane by hurricane. Awaiting that one storm, the big one. Norris et al. (2008) found
Louisiana communities reestablish their sense of place through rebuilding after a storm, forming
a renewed attachment to place. Physical and social aspects of the rebuilding process insert
symbolic meaning to the experience socially and through the physicality of space. Observations
of interactions with the physical environment, or experiences, are melded with socially derived
meaning throughout many aspects of one’s existence and attached to place in relation to
ourselves (Burley 2010). Thus, individual perceptions of the process and the actual events are
influenced by the social context as well as by components of identity.
In the case of Louisianians, resilience can be conceptualized as adaptive capacity.
Possibly, this inherent resilience noted by those on the outside can be explained through
experiences, symbolism, and attachment to place that is embedded in the identity of individuals,
as well as the community, therefore influencing perceptions and behaviors that sustain resilience
and adaptive capacity. Those ideas and more will be explored in the literature review that
follows.

6

Literature Review
Introduction
Louisiana resident’s experiences and why they live life the way they do offer previews of
what can be expected in other locations facing impacts related to rising sea levels in our
changing climate, as Louisiana is expected feel the brunt of the first and the worst of coming
climate change events. The state’s history has been shaped by a lengthy chronicles of fossil fuel
extraction, an oil and gas economy, structural racism, subsidence, coastal erosion, and the list
goes on. Over time these factors have disturbed many facets of life on the bayou, significantly
through social and environmental injustices, a life that now faces increased threats related to
climate change. The increase in climate-driven danger and frequency of extreme weather,
storms, heat, and flood events will continue to disturb lives of the people of Louisiana. However,
Louisiana and its people share something that makes them stand out from other communities
predicted to be ravaged by climate change with such force. The people, created from a diverse
heritage that is inherently resilient, formed a symbiotic relationship with their environment by
relating to commonalities, resilience, and diversity they shared with the land.
This review of research and literature will dig into the bayou land history and what it
means to be from Louisiana. To start, the review explains the historical formation Louisiana
landscapes, today’s Mississippi River Delta, and the landscape transformations that followed due
to both natural and anthropogenic influences. Then the review will explore the indigenous groups
and the diverse ethnic heritage of the people of Louisiana and its contribution to the community,
culture, heritage, and lifestyle that still exists today. The future climate threats Louisiana faces
related to climate change are presented next to point out the future these people and their place
face. It is important to understand the vast diversity that is Louisiana, from the environment to

7

the people, to understand the depth of how changes to, or loss of, place impacts self-definition
and place attachment. To wrap up, this review will conceptualize Louisiana as more than a place,
sharing more than a bond with its people; by examining existing scholarship focused on sense of
place, place attachment, inherent resilience and adaptive capacity, and identity.
Landscapes
This section delves into the geographical history of Louisiana’s basins and delta
formations. Then I discuss the colonization and settlement, environmental exposures people
faced, and the impact humans had on the land. Much of Louisiana’s landscape consists of
wetlands, bottomland forests, swamps, bayous, marshes, and mangroves that are continuously,
seasonally, tidally, or inundated (underwater) related to meteorologic events. About 40 percent
of the coastal wetlands in the lower 48 states are found in the Louisiana Mississippi River Delta
as noted by National Wildlife Federation (n.d.). These millions of acres of wetlands were built
over thousands of years by Mississippi River floodwaters that deposited huge amounts of
sediment at the river's delta American Rivers (n.d.). The Mississippi River and its tributaries
drain all or parts of 31 states. It is the fourth-longest and ninth-largest river in the world
American Rivers (n.d.). Figure 1 puts into perspective the impact the mighty Mississippi river
system has on Louisiana.

8

Figure 1: Map showing the totality of the Mississippi River watershed tributaries, and path it takes through Louisiana to the Gulf
of Mexico.

About 20,000 years ago, at the end of last ice age, glaciers began to melt and recede, and
seas began to rise; that continued for over 10,000 years leaving the coastlines we have today.
Large areas of coastal land were submerged, becoming continental shelves, and shorelines
retreated until sea level reached a relatively stable point. The escarpments marking those 7000year-old shorelines are now far inland from the Gulf Coast, north of Lake Pontchartrain, and just
below Baton Rouge and Lafayette Laska (2020). During the period of European settlement of
North America rivers had begun discharging sediments causing the world’s ocean level to begin
9

slowly retreating leaving todays marshlands Kemp et al. (2011). For the next 4,600 years or so
rivers drained into the Gulf of Mexico refilling
the shallow gulf with sediment layer by layer
and delta by delta. As the flow gradient
diminished due to sediment build-up, the raging
river pursued quicker routes to the gulf by
finding paths to begin new deltas; eventually

Figure 2: A map illustrates the concentration of bayous
thru Louisiana and surrounding areas. (Luz K. Molina
n.d.)

forming five or six major deltas (Laska,

2020:36). As Melissa Martin says in her book Mosquito Supper Club Mississippi Delta soil is
pure fertile magic known as “chocolate gold”. As each delta lobe grew through the deposition of
river-borne sediments, it created branching distributaries, some of which left remnants as today’s
bayous Laska (2020). Bayous are usually considered to be closer to the coast but as you can see
in Figure 2, they are throughout the state. Bayous are often referred to swamps with the main
difference being bayous have moving water and swamps remain stagnant.
A bayou refers to a body of water; a river arm, a slow-moving stream, a swampy marsh
inlet, or even an old river path abandoned by the Mississippi long ago. The word bayou is likely
derived from the Choctaw tribe word bayok meaning “small stream” (Martin and Culbert 2020:2;
National Geographic Society 2012). Even so, bayous can be tiny or colossal. The intertwined
network of bayou waterways covering Louisiana work together to push sediment south to
eventually form deltas. Melissa Martin writes her take on the Louisiana bayous in her book The
Mosquito Supper Club saying they “…are a thoroughfare into history, an artery to the heart of
the Cajun life I know” (Martin and Culbert 2020:13). The bayous play a large role in local
economy as a natural resource as well as ecotourism.

10

Louisiana’s bayous are home to vast forests of majestic cypress trees draped with Spanish
moss. The tree’s roots protrude above the surface of the marsh, creating “knees” that provide
stability against the punishing winds of storms coming off the Gulf. Labelled as Louisiana’s state
tree of, a bald cypress can live to be 1,000 years old and reach heights of 100 to 150 feet, also
provide protection against erosion, holding tight to soils but also slowing the rush of floodwaters
through a swamp area Dayle Wallien (n.d.). Other plants inhabiting the bayous include
wiregrass, bottomland hardwoods, mosses, and water celery Michael Evans (2018). Those plants
then provide food and habitat for migratory birds, blue herons, alligators, shrimp, hundreds of
fish species, and white-tailed deer living on nearly 3 million acres of bayou territory statewide
Michael Evans (2018). The bayous teem with life.

Louisiana People
It is cliche to say that Louisiana is culturally diverse. Being from Louisiana can mean so
many things. The bayou state is a complex blend of French, Spanish, German, African, Irish, and
Native American influences that are supported by unique regional cultures shaped through
history (Colten, 2021; Owen, 2015). Few people realize the degree of complexity and variation
in the people of the state of Louisiana and the monumental role each group’s heritage has played
in shaping of not only the cultural environment, but also the people of Louisiana and their
relationship with the land. Melissa Martin, who grew up in Terrebonne Parish on the gulf coast,
writes in her cookbook “To me, everything above Baton Rouge was the north” (Martin and
Culbert 2020:13). If you were to travel throughout the entire state meeting people in every town
along your journey, you’d find every place and community to be entirely different. Yet the same,
through our bond with all that is Louisiana.

11

European explorers discovered the first indigenous groups on their expeditions along the
Mississippi River. Explorers described several villages they encountered on their journeys. Using
the explorer’s estimation, once colonization began, 13,000 to 15,000 native people lived in
Louisiana, speaking 22 distinct languages National Parks Service (2021). Many were displaced
to the area during the forced relocations of 1839 and sought freedom in the bayou wilderness
Louisiana State Museum (2014). By 1980, only about one-fifth as many Native Americans
remained Britannica (n.d.). In 2020, those who selected only Native American and Native
Alaskan on the U.S. Census accounted for only 0.7% of Louisiana’s population—just over
32,000 people U.S. Census Bureau (2020). Indigenous groups were the first care takers of the
land and relied on the rivers and bayous as a food supply, shelter during storms and floods, and
would navigate between settlements on the bayou seasonally to avoid different weather
conditions National Geographic Society (2012).

Indigenous Peoples
Before European colonization in the 18th century many Indigenous groups called
Louisiana home. These groups had been living in the region for some 10,000 years before
European settlement. It’s important to know the story of indigenous groups and their relationship
with their place for countless reasons. If it was not for these people and their story, we would not
have ours. The original inhabitants of Louisiana shared their culture with the arriving European
and African settlers by sharing the ways of the land and its natural bounty. The specific
contributions of indigenous groups are discussed in more detail under the section on ethnic
heritage.
Pre-settlement tribes included Poverty Point, Tchefuncte, Marksville, Troyville-Coles
Creek, and Caddo/Plaquemine-Mississippian Louisiana State Museum (2014). Indigenous
12

groups had followed the gradual growth of the basin and deltas as the sea levels withdrew into to
the Gulf, adapted to continually changing environmental conditions, and treated the landscape as
a common resource Colten (2016). Thousands of years ago as the seas began to recede the
waterways opening to the gulf forming new landscapes that these indigenous groups adapted to
and coastal lands, they grew with it. This landscape change is described in more detail in the
previous section on landscapes. Coastal Louisiana tribes shared a connection to the coastal
landscape that provided subsistence lifestyles deeply rooted in local species, rivers, and bayous
that supplied their food and shelter.
Four tribes—the Tunica-Biloxi, Chitimacha, Koasati, and Jena Band of Choctaw—have
been federally recognized and have reservations in Louisiana. However, Louisiana considers the
following as state, but not nationally, recognized tribes: Adai Caddo Tribe, Bayou Lafourche
Band, Choctaw-Apache Tribe of Ebarb, Clifton Choctaw Tribe of LA, Four Winds Cherokee
Tribe, Grand Caillou/Dulac Band, Isle de Jean Charles Band, Louisiana Band of Choctaw,
Natchitoches Tribe of Louisiana, Pointe-Au-Chien Indian Tribe, and United Houma Nation
Indian Affairs - Office of Governor (2019).
The Chitimacha tribe is world-renowned for its skills in rivercane basketry handed down
from ancestors (Owens 2015). Choctaw Apache tribe traces its origins back to Spanish peoples
stationed at a fort in west Louisiana to resist the French expansion. When the fort closed the
residents were displaced to different regions with one being in Ebarb, LA area, where a band of
Choctaw settled and eventually united with the Ebarb community Dayna Bowker Lee (2013).
Today the Choctaw-Apache Tribal artisans make traditional elaborate regalia for community
members who dance in the annual powwow held each spring, bringing people and traditions
from the Southeast and the Southwest together (Dayna Bowker Lee 2013). The Clifton Choctaw

13

Tribe emerged in the 19th century from several small family groupings scattered throughout
Rapides and Natchitoches parishes Dayna Bowker Lee (2013).
The Tunica people, first encountered in Mississippi, were known as highly successful
entrepreneurs; they traded salt, horses, and other goods across the Southeast Dayna Bowker Lee
(2013). When the Tunica learned of the French colonists settling in Louisiana, the tribe migrated
that way to take advantage of new trade opportunities. The Biloxi tribe crossed the river into
Louisiana after 1763 and settled in small groups, with one group settling near the Tunica tribe
leading to the convergence of the two becoming the Tunica-Biloxi tribe Dayna Bowker Lee
(2013).
Houma is the largest of Louisiana’s tribes, numbering about ten thousand. Tribal citizens
live in the marshes and along the bayous of Terrebonne and Lafourche Parishes. Known as the
"The United Houma Nation," it has been recognized by the state since 1972 but is not federally
recognized Wikipedia (2022). Around 1706, the Houma tribe had been pushed south by the
Tunica tribe and settled in Bayou Lafourche where traditions such as weaving palmetto which is
a native palm; curing Spanish moss to make dolls, bags, and mattresses; and carving duck decoys
and model pirogues—traditions they maintain today Owens (2015). Spanish moss, once dried
and processed to produce blankets and bags, is still used to make moss dolls dressed in either
cloth or palmetto clothing (Dayna Bowker Lee, 2013). Houma artistic traditions but all reflect
the natural environment and utilize materials still abundant in the bayous and coastal marshes.
Finally, the Koasati, also known as Coushatta, maintained their native language with
most families only speaking Koasati in their homes and they are known for their pine straw
baskets and traditional rivercane baskets Owens (2015). Figure 3 below shows the areas
inhabited by some of the tribes mentioned above.

14

Figure 3: Map from Owens (2015) spatially representing Native American tribes in Louisiana. The map shows four federally
recognized tribes the Chitimacha Tribe of Louisiana, the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana, the Jena Band of Choctaw Indians, and
the Tunica-Biloxi Indian Tribe. It is not representative of all indigenous or native groups in Louisiana.

Louisiana’s Ethnic Heritage
The settlement of Colonial Louisiana brought many ethnic groups to the region, including
those of French, Canadian, Spanish, Latin American, Anglo, German, and African descent.
Spaniards were the first non-natives to venture into the Mississippi River region. Hernando de
Soto explored the area in 1542, but Spanish settlement was deterred by the hostile climate,
wildlife, and geography; colonists chose to look elsewhere for the precious metals and fertile
soils they desired Louisiana Department Of Culture Recreation And Tourism (2014).
Well over a century later, France's King Louis XIV began encouraging forays into the
Mississippi River regions to halt the expansions of Britain and Spain Louisiana Department Of
Culture Recreation And Tourism (2014). René-Robert Cavelier and Sieur de La Salle arrived at
the mouth of the Mississippi River in 1682, proclaiming the river and all the lands drained as
possessions of France. They decided to name it "Louisiane" or "Louis' land" Louisiana
Department Of Culture Recreation And Tourism (2014). Sieur de Bienville from France founded
15

the city of New Orleans in 1718 named in honor of the ruling regent, the Duc d'Orleans
Louisiana Department Of Culture Recreation And Tourism (2014).
The colony went through many changes in ownership before it returned to French hands.
This transfer and use of the colony as a site of business brought many groups of people from all
over in the form of colonists, slaves, exiles, or immigrants. The first permanent settlement, New
Orleans, was formerly saturated with French-speaking South Louisianians compared to the
African American and British-American culture of North Louisiana. Irish fleeing the potato
famine in the 1840s settled between the Mississippi river and the garden district, an area then
known as the Irish Channel (Owens 2015). There were also waves of Germans, Italians, Czechs,
Hungarians, Croatians, Filipinos, Latins – Isleño, Mexican, Cuban, Guatemalan, and East Asians
– Chinese, Vietnamese, Laotian, Thai (Owen 2015). Native Americans, African Americans,
Acadians, Isleños from the Canary Islands, and Vietnamese populated the coastal regions.
Louisiana is also home to Africans, Greeks, Pakistanis, Iranians, Japanese, Koreans, Laotians,
and Vietnamese. Figure 4 shows a few of these different ethnic groups by location. Passing
ownership of the colony among rulers throughout this time contributed to the vast diversity of
ethnic heritage that created the immensely complex people of Louisiana and their way of life.

16

Figure 4: Map from Owens (2015) displaying the ethnic heritage of Louisiana people.

Despite the influx of foreigners, Native Americans made up the largest segment of
Louisiana's population in the 1700s. Natives shared their food, medicines, material goods, and
building and recreational practices with colonists (Louisiana Department Of Culture Recreation
And Tourism 2014). For example, from the Native Americans we gained the powdered sassafras
to make filé used in gumbo, place names like Atchafalaya and Kisatchie, hunting practices, and
fishing methods like hand fishing Owens (2015). For hand fishing, commonly known today as
‘noodling’. Basically, the person fishing wades waist-deep into muddy water and grabs for the
catfish, buried deep in the cool mud. Those fish can be upwards of 40 pounds!
Natives also shared knowledge of medicinal plants, seasonal patterns for floods and
seafood harvests, and agricultural and building skills suited to the local landscape and handed
17

down for generations National Parks Service (2021). They brought their knowledge of medicinal
plants known known soothe ailments, reduce fevers, or relieve a cough. The Atakapa Ishak and
Chitimacha tribes for example, intermarried with creole communities and tribal members with
the healing knowledge became known as traiteurs, or community healers (Jonathan Olivier
2021). Traiteurs practiced medicinal knowledge handed down for generations; using groundsel
bush (Manglier) for the common cold or flu, lizard’s tail as a sedative and an anti-inflammatory,
or bitter melon soaked in whiskey to treat stomachaches (Jonathan Olivier 2021). As the colony
grew so did the supply of goods and foods from Europe or Spain. The natives took a liking to the
European goods offered by settlers such as refined weapons, liquor, cloth, glass beads, and
miscellaneous trinkets.
The Europeans used this relationship and their access to a supply of goods to increase
Natives dependency on them (Louisiana Department Of Culture Recreation And Tourism 2014).
Over time not all native groups intermarried or were as kind to European settlers, and some
Louisiana Indians waged war. Most notably, during the Natchez Massacre and War (1729-1731),
Natchez warriors attacked a French settlement killing many and rescuing 300 African slaves
(Louisiana Department Of Culture Recreation And Tourism 2014). The French governor
responded to this attack with deadly force. French white and black troops sent by the governor
joined Choctaw warriors to attack Natchez settlements, virtually exterminating the entire
Natchez society (Louisiana Department Of Culture Recreation And Tourism 2014).
Africans were a large cultural force during this time as well. Two-thirds of the Africans
in Louisiana arriving before 1730 came from the Senegambia region of West Africa, many
arrived as slaves from Francophone West Africa, but later some arrived as free-people-of-color
from the Caribbean Owens (2015). The end of the Haitian Revolution in 1804 brought another

18

wave of African to Louisiana. This included free-people-of-color who brought the shotgun style
house and the voodoo religion to Louisiana; arriving by way of the Caribbean with most
originating in Dahomey (now the Republic of Benin) and Nigeria (Owens 2015). Free-men-ofcolor who settled the prairies of southwest Louisiana were French-speaking black Creoles and
were often landowners (Owens 2015).
.
More than 4,000 exiled Acadians from the Canadian Maritimes settled had in south
Louisiana by the 1800s (Martin and Culbert 2020). After arriving in Louisiana, the Acadians
settled the bayous where they would later join with Creoles. Intermarriage among white Creoles
and Acadians marked a major shift in southern Louisiana’s cultural landscape by coalescing
these two into a new ethnic group, known as the Cajuns Shane K. Bernard (2010). In modern
times, the terms “Creole” and “Cajun” generate controversy. It’s a complex and complicated
story due to the several meanings, some of which concern the innately sensitive subjects of race
and ethnicity stemming from intercontinental wars, real estate transfers, politics, economics,
language and identity shifts that have occurred over the past 300 years. (Shane K. Bernard 2010;
Experience New Orleans n.d.).

19

Figure 5: A map depicting the use of Louisiana French Creole retrieved from Owens (2015)

Creole is derived from Latin word creare meaning to “beget” or “to create” (Shane K.
Bernard 2010). Relative to Louisiana, Creole means “native to the colony” or a French settler
born in Louisiana. However, it has historically referred to black, white, and mixed-raced persons
who are native to Louisiana (Shane K. Bernard 2010). To break it down, all Cajuns are Creole
because they are descendants of exiled Acadians in Louisiana. However, not all Creole are
Cajuns because they are not of Acadian descent. The French-speaking black Creoles of the
Southwest Louisiana prairie remained racially distinct from their Cajun neighbors, yet they share
many cultural traits, including the food, Mardi Gras, Catholicism, musical repertoire, and often
the French or Creole language Owens (2015). Black Creoles made significant contributions to
music scene. Most notably through zydeco a distinctly black Creole music known for its
blending of French songs and African/Caribbean rhythms Owens (2015). Cajun and Creole
prairie communities also contributed the tradition of le courier de Mardi Gras, parades led on
horseback. The processions traditionally paraded from house to house on horseback or by truck

20

to gather ingredients for a communal gumbo, one last good meal and lively party before the
solemn observance of Lent that begins on Ash Wednesday (Owens 2015).
Mardi Gras, like many other Louisiana staples, runs deep in the historically diverse roots
of this place and its people. In fact, 17 years after La Salle claimed Louisiana, French explorer
Sieur d'Iberville, sailed into the Gulf of Mexico with high hopes for life in new land. His party
reached the mouth of the river on Shrove Tuesday and celebrated Mardi Gras with a mass and
chanted a Te Deum. A Te Deum is a Latin Christian hymn, and this chant celebrated the
explorers encounter with the Mississippi River. One of the explorers wrote:
Tuesday, the 3rd, Mardi Gras…the services of the mass were held and we chanted a Te Deum to
celebrate our acquaintance with the river Mississippi…Ash Wednesday, everyone received the
ashes on the forehead, then we offered the sacrifice of the Mass. After having planted a cross and
having had our breakfast, we embarked again (Anon 2005).

Other historians have said Marid Gras was around way before the French. Some theories say it’s
linked to an ancient fertility ritual performed to welcome Spring and its’ time of rebirth, with
possible early connections to the Lupercalia observed mid-February in Rome where Church
leaders redirected their pagan practices to embody a more Christian focus (Anon 2005).
There are ethnic groups in Louisiana that have resisted absorption by French or Creole
culture. They have remained distinct over more than one hundred years of Louisiana residency.
In St. Bernard Parish, the Isleños, are descendants of Canary Islanders who settled the area in the
1760s, continue to retain their archaic Spanish dialect and perpetuate the singing of décimas or
narrative songs (Owens 2015). Owen’s (2015) historical research reports the Croatians from the
Dalmatian Coast settled in Plaquemines Parish, where they introduced the oystering industry,
and continue to control it.
Diverse culture and plethora of ethnic groups contributed many mouthwatering foods to
Louisiana traditions: to name a few fan favorites - crawfish étouffée, gumbo, bisque, sauce
21

piquante, jambalaya, boiled crawfish, and pastalaya. The state has a wide variety of cuisine from
the north to the south, with the north part of the state leaning more towards down home southern
cooking and the south being everything else and gumbo.
Diversity and resilience run deep in Louisiana heritage through the people, food, culture,
lifestyle, and traditions. Starting decades ago, with indigenous groups adapting to a changing
landscape as the sea levels receded and bayous formed. Learning to hunt game, fish and live off
what the land gave them. Followed by the influx of multiple ethnic groups of colonial settlers
and immigrants tossed about by foreign rulers like a hot potato. The people of Louisiana have
historically overcome fundamentally influential trials and tribulations for generations. Whether
the challenges be social, environmental, or economical – the people have adapted with and
through the environment. An environment diverse and resilient much like themselves. Land that
has tirelessly, for over 20,000 years, built and rebuilt delta by delta through connected waterways
overpowering any diversions, damns, or levees just to connect with the sea. The diverse and
resilient people Louisiana have overcome social challenges and well as environmental impacts
and natural disasters for generations. Yet still, they yearn to be on the bayou and are resilient in
their efforts to remain connected their identity, their people, and their place.

People Interacting with The Land

Early French and later Spanish settlers were confronted by devastating river floods
almost immediately after their arrival, and, despite the flood protection systems and elevated
infrastructure that were developed over the next 300 years, the threats of rising waters and
damaging winds have remained a fact of life for south Louisiana communities Laska (2020). In
making the decision to dub New Orleans the first French settlement in 1718, leaders were aware
22

of the frequent risks of river flooding. Geographically the mouth of the Mississippi is positioned
perfectly for trade routes from the gulf through the continent. Having control of this port was
essential to the success to come. Over the next three years construction of the settlement was
disrupted or impacted by flooding. New Orleans was built barely 12 feet above sea level on
natural levees of the Mississippi River hence why in 1718 Geographer Peirce Lewis noted, it was
the “inevitable city” in the “impossible” site (Laska 2020:39).
In September 1722, hurricane winds knocked down makeshift shelters and structures,
wiping out the disorganized and unproductive settlement attempts and spurring the construction
of artificial levees. Colonial policy that emerged in 1723 and 1743 provided funds for levees
around the emerging city and required those who lived beyond city limits on river frontage
property to build levees on their private property (Colten 2016; Laska 2020). Even so, floods
remained frequent and swamped farms spread along the banks of the river above New Orleans,
destroying crops and damaging homes.

Land Loss, Subsidence & Erosion
There are many causes for land loss of land in Louisiana some of which are human
caused and others that would occur naturally to some degree. Subsidence has taken around 25
square miles of land per year since the 1930s, sinking at a rate of one inch per year, and if not
slowed by the year 2040 shorelines will advance inland as much as 33 miles into areas near or
below sea level (EPA 2016; National Wildlife Federation n.d.). As indicated above, the
Mississippi River traditionally washed sediment from Minnesota southward to create the river
delta that encompasses most of coastal Louisiana. Historically, the occasional overflow of the
river would deposit enough new sediments on the banks to gradually compact. This allowed the
23

land surface to keep pace with the delta’s incremental sinking tendencies. As flood control
became essential to the settlements survival more human made diversions such as levees and
dams which ignited the first stages of the fire that charred the bayou state and its people.
By the time Louisiana became a state in 1812, artificial levees extended from as far north
as the Red River to below New Orleans along the west bank and from Baton Rouge to below
New Orleans on the east bank (Laska 2020). As development began to extend into the
backswamps, canals and levees were constructed to facilitate drainage” (Laska 2020) The
dewatering and drainage of these wetlands increased subsidence due to its impacts on the soils.
Even before wetland drainage and development, Laska (2020) says bald cypress and other
swamp and bottomland trees were mostly cut down for timber. This loss of tree coverage and
accompanied by the wetland drainage increased the susceptibility of urban areas to winds, tidal
incursions, and storm surges. The tree loss coupled with backswamp development through
drainage and pump canals exacerbated existing natural subsidence or sinking of the land and
depleted coastal barrier wetlands leading to coastal erosion.
Levees built to prevent flooding of the river, along with other diversion methods,
restricted the continued depositions of the Mississippi that would have replenished the marshland
created by the earlier flows. As the artificial levees along the lower river became increasingly
more effective, people gained a sense of security from levee protection, leading to continued
expansion and development. Continued growth, clearing, development, wetland drainage, and
other anthropogenic activities such as levee construction, only increased the risks of flooding.
Land clearing within the basin during European expansion caused erosion and increased the
river’s sediment load during the nineteenth century, but then dams constructed throughout the
catchment by the middle of the twentieth century trapped sediments upstream Laska (2020). In

24

addition, due to reduced floodwater outlets such as over the levees or through natural channels,
river flooding threats increased.
The sense of security people got from levees, river diversions, dams, or other man-made
structures was more of a false sense of security. Reliance on levees is not sustainable.
Constraining the flow of the lower Mississippi within its channel by effective flood protection
levees and closure of distributary channels almost all the way to its mouth has prevented the
broad distribution of riverine sediments to the subsiding wetlands and shallow waters Laska
(2020). Laska (2020) found an interesting quote foreshadowing the disappearance of coastal
Louisiana from Corthell (1897) in a National Geographic article:
No doubt the great benefit to the present and two or three following generations accruing from a
complete system of absolutely protective levees excluding the flood waters entirely from the great
areas of the lower delta country, far outweighs the disadvantages to future generations from the
subsidence of the Gulf delta lands below the level of the sea and their gradual abandonment due
to this cause (Laska 2020:41).

Despite all that river armoring, the Great Mississippi River Flood of 1927 inundated
26,000 square miles from Illinois to the Gulf of Mexico. The Flood Control Act of 1928 shifted
policies from levee only mindset to include control structures and spillways in addition to the
massive levees and floodwalls. This shift altered the power structure of flood control designs and
projects under the control of the federal government (Laska 2020). With this act the federal
government was now in charge of designing and constructing flood control projects for the entire
Mississippi River and its tributaries. As major federally funded public works project, this
increased awareness on flood control best practices and theory on protecting both sides of the
levee in general. Prior to this, every parish had to fend for themselves, meaning flood control
projects were pursued without considering the impacts it may have on surrounding communities.
Once the federal government completed the flood projects, local entities had to maintain

25

operations of all flood controls, except for spillway structures and special relief levees. The
federal government was also not liable for floods or flood damages, especially not related to
flood projects they had completed. For example, one of these flood relief and control levees,
built in New Orleans, was breached by flood relief waters during a Hurricane Katrina. The levee
system ruptured and was breached in 50 separate places throughout the stretch of wall sending
flood waters gushing into unsuspecting communities. The US government was not held liable for
any damages related to flooding in the areas of completed projects, or any other land. Douglas
Brinkley recollects this disaster in The Broken Promise of the Levees That Failed New Orleans
over a piece of concrete barricade the Smithsonian Institution curators collected in the aftermath
of the Hurricane Katrina. He says it “…resides, neatly tagged, at the National Museum of
American History. It seems a powerful symbol to remind us how foolish Americans were to
assume that a flimsy wall, only a foot thick, would be strong enough to hold back the surging
floodwaters of Lake Pontchartrain” (Brinkley 2015).
Louisiana faces rising sea levels accompanied by natural and anthropogenic subsidence,
depleting barrier wetlands and coastal erosion. As bayou and marshland development spread
more and larger canals were constructed as well as navigation channels that were dredged
perpendicular to the coast exacerbating saltwater intrusion in already vulnerable marshlands.
Saltwater intrusion via these canals kills the grasses and important plants that hold the marsh
soil, causing additional soil loss through coastal erosion, affecting, and thereby increasing
susceptibility of urban areas to experience strong winds, high tides, and storm surges Laska
(2020).
These anthropogenic activities drastically increased coastal erosion as well as
exacerbated the naturally occurring subsidence processes of the landscape described above.

26

Almost half of the disappearing land and sinking issues Louisiana faces today are directly related
to anthropogenic activities of the past. 1901 was the year the first oil well was drilled in
Louisiana Theriot (2021), in a field near the town of Jennings. “In the past two hundred years,
we have destroyed an ecosystem that took seven thousand years to build, and 36 to 60 percent of
the total lost can be traced back to the oil industry” (Martin and Culbert 2020:12). Direct damage
to the landscape from the oil and gas industry was supplemented by anthropogenic
environmental impacts from the past such as levees, marshland development, and navigation
channels have exacerbated issues with saltwater intrusion, marshland and wetland erosion, and
coastal loss. The deteriorating landscape once functioned as a barrier to storms, hurricanes, and
mitigated impacts from flooding and storm surges.

Hurricanes, Tropical Storms, and Floods – Oh my!

Throughout this research process two hurricane seasons have passed, and we are coming
up on the 2022 season, which is scary considering some Louisiana communities are still in the
process of wrapping up a destructive new normal, tornados. This corresponds with a documented
shift of the center of tornado activity over the last 60 years from the Great Plains to the Southeast
(Nouri and Devineni, 2022). This section will first explore Louisiana’s relationship with
hurricanes, floods, and natural disaster events historically starting with the most recent events.
Climate change will be a risk multiplier when it comes to disaster related events in Louisiana.
The state is expected to be one of the most impacted due to numerous factors discussed in this
section. To understand what lies in store for Louisiana, this section will next investigate climate
change threats and how they will directly impact both Louisiana and its people. The conclusion
will briefly discuss what this means for people from Louisiana.
27

Three months into the year 2022, on March 22nd an EF-3 multi-vortex tornado struck
south Louisiana. Winds up to 160 mph spun the vortex through Louisiana for 11.5 miles, from
Jefferson Parish, through Orleans Parish, over the Mississippi River and ending shortly after in
St. Bernard Parish NOAA US Department of Commerce (2022). Some of these communities
were still in the process of rebuilding from Hurricane Ida in August of 2021. The multi-vortex
tornado caused the most damage in St. Bernard parish especially in the Lower 9th Ward,
Lacombe, Mandeville, and Arabi, taking down power lines, destroying cars, and ripping off
roofs. One resident interviewed on FOX8 (2022) described what he saw when he emerged from
the shelter of his bathroom “…maybe ten seconds tops…It wasn’t very long. We come outside
and it looks like Ukraine.” A week later, severe thunderstorms embedded with EF-4 tornadoes
impacted a large portion of Southeast Louisiana NOAA US Department of Commerce (2022).
These anecdotes support the contention that stronger more destructive tornados are becoming
more common yet are not the disaster event Louisianians are used to enduring. “I been through a
lot of things, but I ain’t been through this” said St. Bernard Parish president in an interview with
ABC Good Morning America (2022) later saying “people are helping people with housing and
food…this is a resilient community – we are gonna come back bigger and stronger”.
Hurricane Ida, one of the most rapidly intensifying and powerful storms to hit the United
States, was the talk of the year for 2021, making landfall in Lafourche Parish that August as
Category 4 on the 16th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Compared to historical storms, Ida tied
with Hurricane Laura (2020) and the Last Island Hurricane (1856) as the strongest to ever make
landfall in Louisiana (World Vision - From the Field 2021). The impact of the storm crushed the
power grids, leaving more than one million without power in suffocating summer heat, some
without electricity for over two weeks World Vision - From the Field (2021). In Plaquemine

28

Parish, an 8-foot storm surge overtopped the 3 to 6 feet of levee protection put in place by the
Army Corps of Engineers. The levee had been completed in 2014 and had undergone repairs
related to damage from similar events in 2016, 2017 and again in 2020 (Halle Parker 2021;
NOAA 2021).
Hurricane categories or scales are based on the Saffir-Simpson Wind Scale. The
categories ranked 1 to 5 by the storms sustained wind speed. The ratings by category (C) are as
follows: C1= 74-95mph, C2= 96-110mph, C3= 11-129mph, C4= 130-156mph, C5= 157mph and
up NOAA (n.d.-a). A 150 mph Category 4 storm is considered catastrophic and has more than
250 times the damage potential of a Category 1 storm NOAA (n.d.-b). Category 1 storms will
most likely cause minor damage with the biggest risk being the loss of power. Category 5
hurricanes step up in wind speed with the potential to destroy homes or buildings and demolish
communities leaving them displaced for many months. This scale is useful given the variables it
uses, however it’s not the best predictor of damage. A Category 1 hurricane can potentially be
just as damaging as a Category 2 or 3 depending on a multitude of factors. The map below
outlines the routes of category 1-5 hurricanes, tropical storms, and tropical depressions impacting
coastal Louisiana from 1990-2020 created on NOAA Historical Hurricane Tracks interactive
map. This map demonstrates that almost no area of Louisiana has been untouched by storms in
the last three decades. NOAA Hurricane Research Division also reports that from 2005 to 2009,
Louisiana was struck by six hurricanes, the largest number to hit the state since the beginning of
the 20th century.

29

Figure 6 shows the 30 historical hurricane tracks, tropical storms, tropical depressions and there rating to strike Louisiana from
1990-2020 NOAA (n.d.)

A direct hurricane strike on the coast occurs about once every three years, according to
the NOAA Hurricane Research Division, and these storms exacerbate severe flooding
occurrences in an already climate vulnerable coast. The 2020 hurricane season was a particularly
busy one, as mentioned above. Hurricane Laura (2020), a Category 4 hurricane, was one of the
most powerful to ever hit the state, and it was followed less than two months later by Category 2
Hurricane Delta, a severe freeze in February and in May another round of flash floods Ballard &
Smith (2021). The season started in June with tropical storm Cristobel making landfall in
southeast LA in-between Grand Isle and Port Sulphur, causing a total of $310 million of
damages across Gulf Coast states (National Hurricane Center 2020). Wave action from tides and
storm surges caused beach erosion and damaged piers; homes were damaged by flooding with
30

many downed trees. In Grand Isle, the storm eroded sand and damaged 2,000 feet of the
protective levee on the west side of the island. Rural levees were overtopped or breached in some
parts, notably the levee in Delacroix in St. Bernard Parish National Hurricane Center (2020). A
storm surge over 6 ft above normal tide levels accompanied Cristobal causing inundation along
the coast from 3 ft to 6 ft above ground level, and, as the storm system came aground, it slowed,
leading to flood waters up to 3 ft deep National Hurricane Center (2020). According to Laska
(2020), most Louisiana floods can be traced to 54 tropical weather events.
Cities under forced drainage, a common flood control measure that uses pumps and flow
monitoring systems to keep areas free of excess water, are especially vulnerable to flash
flooding. This same year, nearly 10 inches of rain fell on New Orleans, causing extensive
flooding exacerbated offline city drainage pumps with unmaintained drain and catch basins
(Laska 2020). Also in 2017, Harvey made landfall in southwest Louisiana as a Category 4
hurricane you can see it path in Figure 6. The year before this, in 2016, historical flash flooding
area wide came from days of excessive rainfall impacting the Amite and Comite river basins in
the Baton Rouge area.
The stalled pressure system led to nearly 30,000 individuals being rescued from
floodwaters that caused damage to 50,000 homes, 100,000 vehicles, and 20,000 businesses
(NOAA State Summaries, 2022). The Great Flood of Baton Rouge (2016) was the most
damaging flood in recent history, with 30 inches of rain falling over several days, causing an
estimated $10 billion in damages says NOAA State Summaries (2022). As the river peaked and
rainfall hadn’t slowed state officials realized they did not have the capacity to handle it all;
leading them to call on civilians (The Cajun Navy Movement) for help Laska (2020). Volunteers
are distributed to areas in need equipped with trailers, flat-bottomed boats, and a rescue plan.

31

This highlights the significance of social networks in Louisiana and their role in recovering from
disaster events without relying on the state government.
The disaster response system was put in a bind leaving agencies overloaded by disaster
response. This was then intensified by the lack of recovery plans for local flood events of this
magnitude. Laska (2020) found 91% homes damaged in the 2016 floods were not in a FEMA
identified Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA), the community had seen recent in-migration from
vulnerable coastal communities, and these areas were recognized as being safe from flooding due
to them being based on dated hydrological data. SFHA identifies areas that have a 1-percent
annual chance of being impacted by the flood event. Meaning the 91% of homes that were
damaged were not in a SFHA and were required to have flood insurance -- most of them did not.
Of those eligible to apply for FEMA assistance, the majority, 59% in East BR and 82% in St.
Helena Parish, were in owner occupied housing (Laska 2020). A homeowner located in a
floodplain with a federally backed loan will be required to have flood insurance as mentioned
91% of damaged homes were not identified as in FEMA flood hazard areas. The 2016 floods
impacted over 90,000 homes including 28,000 rental households, of which 17,000 were very low
income (Laska 2020; FEMA 2018).
Flood events inland like this show the flood risks to coastal-inland systems are not
resolved by coastal restoration and protection alone and have the potential to disrupt
communities due lacking in infrastructure, planning and disaster response. Almost half of East
Baton Rouge Parish, an area heavily impacted by the floods, is designated as in a 100-year-flood
plain, at the convergence of the Amite and Comet River 80% of the growing community of
Central is also designated as in a 100-year-flood plain, and 70 % of Ascension Parish is in a
high-risk zone Colten (2020). Similar events like this are likely to occur in these areas sounded

32

the Amite and Comet River basin. In reviewing studies that followed the 2016 floods Colten
(2020) found the majority attributed flood risks to drainage issues not continued development in
flood hazard zones development and did not see the impacts as related to the coastal issues tied
up with sea-level rise and climate change.
Category 5 Hurricane Katrina and the flooding that followed a day later revealed a
community with massive vulnerabilities. New Orleans was hit hard by Katrina in 2005, leaving
more than 80% of the city flooded, areas under as much as 15 feet of water, more than 1,500
fatalities in the state, and over $125 billion in property damages NOAA (2022). The real eyeopener in Katrina’s wake was the exposure of many social vulnerabilities– structural inequities,
poverty, underlying racism, race divisions, and a government struggling to stay afloat. Those
vulnerabilities were the root cause of the catastrophe for the residents, not the wind, rain, storm
surge or even the faulty hurricane protection (Laska 2012; Aune et al. 2020).
In one month, two hurricanes destroyed communities along the entire Louisiana coastline
and devastated the entire state. A month later, the Category 3 Hurricane Rita struck Cameron
Parish in southwest Louisiana, producing 5 to 9 inches of rain, and causing a 15-foot storm surge
along the southwestern coast (NOAA 2022). In the aftermath of Rita communities complained of
“Rita amnesia” slighting the national media and government for their disregard of those
impacted by Rita while focusing on recovery of New Orleans (Ron Thibodeaux n.d.). The rice
farmers of southwest Louisiana struggled in the aftermath of Rita. Levees topped by storm
surges flooded rice fields with salt water with no way to drain away the brine. Salt seeped into
the soil, reaching at toxic levels before farmers could arrive with heavy equipment to break their
levees and release the floodwater, preventing farming for almost two growing cycles -- more in
some cases (Ron Thibodeaux n.d.). “Residents witnessed widespread and incalculable losses to

33

property, infrastructure, traditions, and social networks, contributing to some of the most
widespread wreckage seen so far this century and adding to a decade of extreme worldwide
catastrophe” (Simms 2017:409).
From this history of misfortunes in Louisiana and the effects it has on residents
one can assume continuing this way of life would be perilous, hazardous, and expensive. Simms
(2017) conducted a study on influences place attachment has on environmental migration
through interviews with 76 coastal Louisiana residents. Interviews typically ended with “Do you
see yourself living in this place forever or for the rest of your life?” with Simms (2017:414)
noting most residents zealously affirmed this; with one saying, "Even if I won the Lotto, I would
stay" (resident interview, 1 October 2014) and another "Why would I live anyplace else?"
(Resident interview, 7 June 2014). Evacuating versus staying to ride out the storm, and
rebuilding what you can when you return, looks different to coastal residents versus inland
communities, since there will come a time, they will not have dry land to rebuild on.

Future Climate Threats
Rising sea level is likely to accelerate coastal erosion already taking place due to
naturally occurring subsidence as well as anthropogenic activities. Rising sea level will also
further exacerbate existing coastal environmental issues like barrier wetland loss, inundated
marshland, saltwater intrusion, and erosion. The variability of sea level rise is high on the coast
due to its geography. Exacerbated existing environmental issues is not the only challenge
Louisiana will see due to climate change and increased sea level rise.
The higher the seas, the higher the risk for inundating tides and storm surges encroaching
up to 50 miles inland from the coast. Local rivers can start flowing backwards as coastal storms
34

and hurricanes approach from the Gulf. Due to natural variations of the land, communities locate
50 miles inland are only anywhere from ten to thirty feet above sea level. So, when the inland
communities see rivers flowing backwards, they know what can come next--flooding. Whirling
tropical storms tend to crash into areas of land protruding into the Gulf of Mexico. In addition,
southeast Louisiana lies at a “corner” along the coast, with the angle made by the Mississippi
Delta with the Gulf coast to the east at approximately ninety degrees. This corner funnels and
amplifies the effect of incoming water piling up from whirling tropical storms and hurricanes
Roth (2010).
Climate Check’s Risk Rating is a 1-100 score that measures historical risk and increased
exposure to risk due to climate change, as compared to other locations in the United States. A
rating of 100 is the highest risk in the country, a risk rating of 1 is the lowest rating of anywhere
in the country. According to ClimateCheck (2021), Louisiana has a risk rating of 61 for storms.
In parallel, the percentage of hurricanes reaching Category 4 or Category 5 is increasing Laska
(2020). A Category 4 has more than 250 times the damage potential of a Category 1, and
Category 4 and 5 hurricanes are defined as catastrophic.
Soils have become drier, annual rainfall has increased, and rain arrives in heavier
downpours. Climate change impacts are to be seen as “the frequency of rainfall events of one
inch or more which are projected to increase, and at the same time dry spells are likely to
become more frequent” (Laska 2020:53). According to ClimateCheck (2021), Louisiana’s risk
rating for heat is 78, and when compared to other states Louisiana is ranked 2nd after Florida for
maximum heat risks. Hurricane season begins annually around June and extends into summer
months which is also when temperatures outside are rising with summertime. During this time of
year prolonged heat waves or very warm and humid conditions that coincide with power outages

35

increase risks of hazardous living conditions. Conditions that can lead to heat related illness like
heat stroke, dehydration, or lack of food and resources.
From the outside looking Louisiana is a place ridden with systemic issues across the
board influenced by the people and their heritage as well as todays social, economic, and
environmental factors at play. Now climate change is exacerbating these existing issues. Those
from Louisiana see these as experiences they would have in any other region, such as wildfires
or drought in California. Seeing it as ‘their place’ at the same time one that is unique in physical
landscape, culture, and people. The natural ecosystem resilience of coastal Louisiana is
increasingly recognized as an important contributor to social resilience in research done by
Laska (2020).
Yet the challenge is not just resilience to extreme weather events but also rational
responses to substantial long-term biophysical changes that ensure human well-being and sustain
the sociocultural fabric of communities (Laska, 2020). Sociocultural fabric of Louisiana people
is deeply embedded in who they are which can lead to the questions such as how these socioenvironmental changes are to place perceived and in what ways can this loss influence
attachment and self-definitions rooted in place.
The weight of recent events has impacted the state, the nation, as well as global
population. The alarming uncertainties of COVID-19 pandemic and anxieties surrounding
climate change are now icing the cake of historically high unemployment rates and low
minimum wage, racial and gender inequities, record-breaking hurricane season, and the list that
continues to grow have increased apprehension among residents causing feelings of uncertainty.
With the 2022 hurricane season upon us, many are questioning if this is the year they will have

36

to leave. Prior research on sense of place, place attachment, and place identity as it pertains to
people from Louisiana are discussed in the next section.

Conceptualizing Louisiana as More Than a Place

There is existing research regarding sense of, and attachment to place in Louisiana and
how this bond may affect behaviors. Attachment to place is strong is Louisiana this finding is
represented in the sense of place scholarship (Adger et al. 2011; Burley 2010; Burley et al. 2007;
Colten 2019; Colten 2020, Cutter et al. 2008; DuCros 2019; Hemmerling, DeMyers, and
Carruthers 2022; Simms 2017; Simms 2021). Existing research on sense of place theory among
Louisiana residents has shown it a factor in restoration planning, disaster recovery, climate
change mitigation, as well as in the formation and influence of place identities over time and
place. This section takes a dive into questions regarding sense of place, place attachment, and
place identity as well as the significance it has in the lives of those from Louisiana.
Sense of Place

Sense of place is a multidimensional concept that embodies emotions, beliefs, and
behavioral actions specific to a geographic setting in the natural environment. (“Frontiers |
Solastalgic Landscapes: Prospects of Relocation in Coastal ...”) Sense of place can be
conceptualized through a variety of lenses and connections differ in forms of manifestation,
sensitivity, and force. Place attachment can be described as an emotional bond or connection
between humans and their natural environment. The construction of this bond within the mind,
through the body and ones’ environment is well represented in the scholarship.

37

Cooke et al. (2016) argued that the human–environment connections are not produced
solely within the mind, but through relations between mind, body, and environment over time.
The relationship between humans and the environment is not always restricted to one experience
or memory in time. Over time the emotional connection grows through encounters and increased
familiarity. As Relph (2015) describes it: sense of place is a living relationship between a person
and particular place that produces feelings of wellbeing and refuge.
What Time is This Place? Kevin Lynch (2009:241) described it thus: “…space and time,
however conceived, are the great framework within which we order our experience. We live in
time-places.” This suggests time-places are consistent with the structure of reality as we
experience it and with the nature of our minds and bodies, or manifestations of temporality
(Relph, 2017; Lynch, 2009). The ideas of past, present and future, resulting from the
relationship we’ve experienced over time, only come forward when we choose to think about
them or when we experience abrupt changes, economic disruptions, natural disasters, even
changes to city historical neighborhood/downtown in a city Relph (2017).
Interrelationships between place meaning and place attachments change over time.
Evidence from Raymond et. al (2017) suggested that place attachment and the meanings they
stem from evolve slowly, and occasionally don’t match the physical or social reality (shared
meanings, practices, and experiences of the group) triggering a lag effect that led to tendencies
that inhibit change. The misalignment of place meaning and attachment with the material or
social reality can contribute to a lag effect, explained as the aptitude to increases information
recall when time between repeated exposure to that information increases Raymond et. al (2017).
This conclusion claimed that “sense of place scholarship has been conservative, non-dynamic,

38

and principally focused on aspects of place meaning that unfold over time through a process of
social construction” (Raymond et. al 2017:11).
Sensory experiences come from cognitive and practical activities of an individual and can
established through combining temporal and spatial stimuli Raymond et. al (2017). Existing
social reality knowledge (social interaction and experience of doing the activity) and emotional
relationship with experiences are examples of temporal and spatial influences (Relph 2017;
Raymond et. al 2017). Relph (2017) wrote that social-cultural processes influence “perceived
place” meaning and that what we experience is “temporality” described as a continually shifting
blend of memories and things inherited from the past, intentions, expectations, and occasional
moments.
Particularly in Louisiana, most of the research on place attachment has been focused on
impacts to coastal parish communities related to land use, land loss and coastal restoration, and
meanings behind decisions to relocate (Burley et. al 2004; Burley 2010; Colten 2019; Laska
2020). Others focused on identities that stem from place and the need to account for risks climate
change poses to cultures and social systems Adger et al. (2011) by focusing on sense of place in
terms of the local environment and symbolic contexts that give meaning and value to place based
identity DuCros (2019). Dating back to 2007, shortly after Hurricane Katrina, Burley’s research
concluded to increase the integration of communities into land-use decisions and restoration
projects it is imperative to understand the meaning behind residents’ place attachment. To
examine residents understanding of land loss Burley et al. (2007) these used guiding questions
which elements best characterize respondents' landscapes, how is change in place conveyed and
understood, and what role does coastal land loss play in their narratives? Burley et. al. (2007)
questioned how Louisiana residents perceived environmental changes to place such as land loss

39

by examining how its meaning was conveyed in their personal narratives. The purpose was to
highlight the significance of community input policy and coastal restoration planning, as plans
were evolving in the state during this time.
Burley et al. (2007) found a heightened sense of place among coastal residents with
elements of fragility and uniqueness and reasoned this attachment could stem into collaborative
advocation for increased community involvement in land-use decisions and restoration projects.
The research found amid heightened awareness of loss of place residents still hope to put off
moving up the bayou if they can saying “perhaps it is this attachment and awareness of
vulnerability that facilitates their resilience” (Burley et al. 2007:361). The research made a point
to note it was yet to be seen if these residents can mobilize this attachment to affect the
restoration of their environment. Newer scholarship on place attachment in Louisiana paints a
similar picture of communities wanting more of a voice in decision making process when in
directly impact them.
Colten (2019) discusses the unsustainable conservation policies aimed at protecting
certain species ultimately limited certain traditional hunting and trapping activities while
producing sustainable yields of commercial marine life and promoting sport hunting and fishing.
Wetlands, that once supported traditional livelihoods, subjected to forestry, farming, and marsh
drainage efforts no longer have the carrying capacity they once did, and the social costs of these
efforts fell on the economically and socially marginalized wetland communities Colten (2019).
To be from Louisiana can mean so many things as this paper has shown. The melding gumbo pot
ultimately boils down to the deep-rooted attachment to place these people share inherently with
the land and each other.

40

Recent research by Simms (2021) studied the relationship between coastal Louisiana
residents’ perceptions of socio-environmental changes and instability of place both biophysically
and culturally; and in what ways external factors influence the decision-making process behind
to relocation as an adaptability. Theoretical insights from the concept of “solastalgia” guided the
research. Solastalgia the feeling of distress associated with degrading environmental conditions
close to one’s place that triggers an evolving pain due to the inability to draw ‘solace’ from one’s
surroundings as they once could Simms (2021).
The findings suggested residents’ migration decisions are always context dependent and
location-specific, with the outcome contributing to a broader understanding of coastal residents’
experiences of staying or going. Simms focused on perceptions of loss of place quoting a
participant saying, “we’re not doing a good job of facing those challenges (the effects of climate
change including stronger storms and sea level rise) in a way that shows that people can continue
to live in those communities” (resident interview, July 24, 2016) Simms (2021:8). Large part of
existing research in this area are centered around how place attachment can influence decision
making processes or behaviors, with many focusing on decisions of relocation. This emotional
bond is formed over time varying across a multitude of scales. Sense of place definitions can be
multifariously observed as something in our heads, as a property of landscapes, or as a product of
social and personal identities.
A place can have distinctive qualities that makes it stand out influencing an individual in
a multitude of ways. Burley (2007) explained sense of place as individuals combining and
arranging information from the senses of sight, smell, touch, hearing, memory, and imagination.
Rajala, Sorice, and Thomas (2020) and Burley (2007) explains place becomes saturated with
symbolic meaning based on values and beliefs embedded in self-definition. Results from DuCros
41

(2019) surrounding place attachment, place identity, and migration builds on the interactionist
approaches to identity construction and relationships to place.

Place Identity
The study “That’s Still Home”: Constructing Second-Generation Place Attachment and
Place Identity via Time Work (2019) conducted in-depth life history interviews with 22 secondgeneration migrants from Louisiana to Los Angeles, CA. This research defined a secondgeneration migrant as the child of migrants from Louisiana born in California and the 1.5
generation as those children born in and migrated from Louisiana before the age of 12. The
sample included 11 California-born migrants and eleven Louisiana-born migrants. Most
respondents had a connection to the Louisiana Creole community via language, ancestry, or
culture and cited racial contexts in Louisiana as a cause for their migration. DuCros (2019)
noting this is consistent with most Southern Black outmigration during this period, participants
reported that their parents’ reasons for leaving the South included escaping Jim Crow racism.
The analysis is structured around three indicators of place attachment and identity these were:
continued associations with home, the low level of substitutability of Louisiana, and a sense of
pride in place. Responses from a 58-year-old migrant who arrived in Los Angeles from Cane
River in 1963 as a preteen, demonstrated Louisiana attachments through the many uses of “back
home” in interview by DuCros (2019). The 58-year-old “engaged in post-displacement
interaction talk, emphasizing the frequency of returning home throughout childhood and
adulthood, where a ritual of visiting relatives consistently reinforced the ties to his birthplace
across time and place” (DuCros 2019:684).

42

Post-displacement interaction is described by DuCros (2019) as recurrent (temporary or
occasional) interactions in the original site of attachment after displacement which gives the
place and the identities associated with it a more complex meaning. Return visits become part of
the interactional past as an association of meaningful experiences coupled with a place
constructed through recurrent interactions. Talking about interactions post-displacement in terms
of sequencing and frequency of return visits; embeds place identities and attachments in the
context of interactions that occurred in homeland gives legitimacy in the context of the present
(DuCros 2019). The study also focused on nativity talk as time-based strategy to legitimize
identities and attachments linked to the past and to specific places as references to birthplace or
one’s nativity signify a starting point in a personal timeline DuCros (2019). A participant in their
early 50s was born in Los Angeles and her mother migrated in 1942, explained her sense of
home experienced via her mother’s perspective or post-displacement talk. The research by
DuCros (2019) illustrates how the attachments are constructed distinctively by each birthplace
generation by showing that even in later life, the experiences of visiting and nativity sustain the
connections to the homeland, whether through a first-person experience or those filtered through
the parents’ perspective.
Sense of place is evident in Louisiana people through research presented above and many
are aware of their place in disappearing. Sense of place research can “identify the place-based
connections and relationships central to vulnerable populations providing insights into human
welfare and potential responses to change” (Raymond, Kyttä, and Stedman 2017:730). Identities
constructed through attachment to place or place identity will be impacted when the physicality
of this place is gone.
Conclusion

43

In today’s world, the existence and role of place in people’s lives is proving essential in
contributing to the global solution from a bottom-up approach. To begin the process of
collaborating with communities on a local scale it is imperative to examine the meaning and
symbolism behind one’s attachment to place and place based identities. Previous research has
shown “Louisiana residents - their homes, livelihoods, social relations, sense of self and
attachment - are each key constituents of many residents' identities” (Simms 2017:412). Place
attachments built into the identity of those from Louisiana is sustained through return visits,
social relations, and passed their attachment to place onto their children through nativity talk as
found by DuCros (2019). Loss of place has been researched in terms of the influence it has on
relocation decisions (Laska 2020; Simms 2017) and its ability to ignite communities to advocate
for more say in land loss mitigation decisions (Burley 2007; Colten 2019). Research has shown
the influence of loss of place or change to place has on place attachments and place identities
stems from the meanings behind those place attachments. Like place attachments, manifestations
of loss of place or relocation, differ in forms of expression, sensitivity, and force. To better
comprehend research aims to examining the relationship between place attachment and place
identity is influenced by exogenous factors of social networks, the built environment, and natural
systems over time.

44

Methods
I began my thesis project by compiling a list of potential respondents via article, blogs,
archival history, news postings, and locally relevant ongoings in the areas of interest.
Recruitment for key informants then began as I reviewed public documents, newspapers, social
media, and blogs. With my initial key informant recruitment, I aimed to speak with at least one
community activist, environmental lawyer, farmer, small business owner, governing official,
environmental group leader, and possibly a parish position holder for the state climate task. The
only two requirements were participants had to be eighteen years old or older and must have
grown up in south Louisiana. The goal was to speak with at least 15, possibly 20, Louisianians.
Once identified, contacted, and after obtaining their consent to participate, I conducted
the key informant interviews. Post interview, I used a snowball sampling technique, asking key
informants to refer others in their
networks who might be interested in
participating. I provided key with a
pre-written outreach informational
email they could send to other possible
interview respondents. The email also
provided instructions for signing up to
participate. It was up to potential
respondents to contact the me,

Figure 7: This map is adapted from Google Maps (n.d.) showing
locations where participants grew up.

preventing potential privacy issues. Participants were provided a link in the outreach email to
schedule and manage interview sessions.

45

The map in Figure 7 shows the areas participants grew up in and have a strong
connection with. The geographical area of focus was intended to be south Louisiana. However,
respondents who moved to other areas but who may have grown up on the bayou and still have
family ties and attachments to Louisiana do have valuable experiences in Louisiana therefore
their narratives of place matter. I included them in my sample. Due to the distance between
researcher and respondents, interviews were conducted remotely using the audio/video platform
most accessible to respondents. Interviews lasted around 60 minutes and were documented using
the record feature on Zoom, downloaded onto a password protected computer, and transcribed.
Once transcribed, the audio and video materials were deleted. Transcriptions will be kept for a
maximum of three years on a password protected computer.
Interviews were semi-structured in style, focusing on personal narratives and history
oriented to place. Interview respondents were familiarized with the intended purpose of the
research and interviewed using open ended questions to guide the conversation. The guiding
intended to examine place as it emerges in personal narratives, experiences, and history with the
landscape and social networks. The interviews focused on understanding respondents’
attachment to place through longstanding ties to place and family ties, community, and social
ties, and how this attachment supports a place-based identity. This perspective enables a better
understanding of how external factors and changes to place may impact one’s place-identity.
The interview guide avoided bringing up issues of land loss or climate induced changes
such as increased frequency and magnitude of weather events and sea level rise. I preferred to let
those topics emerge organically from the conversations. The research is to create a bigger picture
of those from Louisiana through of respondents’ narratives and lived experiences. Over half of
the participants mentioned experiences of climate change related events in their responses to

46

inquiries about recent changes to place. If the topic did come up, I did allow for the participants
to engage in that discussion. I remained neutral and encouraged participants to elaborate on their
experiences they felt relevant to their attachment and place-based identity.

Once interviews were complete, they were reviewed and transcribed. The interview
transcripts were first coded for emergent themes common across interviews. Next the interviews
were analyzed for indicators themes relating to sense of place, place attachment, features of place
identity, longstanding ties to place, family, social/community networks, sense of pride in place
culture and heritage, reasons for leaving or staying, and climate impacts. For indicators of sense
of place and place attachment this study referred to existing sense of place research specific to
people from Louisiana from authors Burley (2007) Burley (2010) and Simms (2017) and Simms
(2021). Structures of place identity were adapted from those used by DuCros (2019) study on
generational place identity among those from Louisiana.
All interviews were read and annotated four to five separate times to ensure theme
indicators matched the context of the conversation and no emergent themes were missed. Theme
were recorded in spread sheet form for organization. Each transcript was reviewed and added to
spreadsheet format by code. This was used to analyze the entirety of the responses in terms of
this research.

47

Results

The scene has been set and incorporates all the external factors the people of Louisiana
faced in the past, the present, as well as what the future holds. Putting the lengthy history of
socio-environmental impacts aside, it is easy to say the people of this place and their identities
that stem from it truly exemplify what it means to be from Louisiana. The ten interviews
revealed prominent themes of family/kinship, community/social networks, place specific
identities, and pride in culture/heritage. The special bond to place possessed by those from
Louisiana influenced who they are today; its prevalence signified the role this bond had in
shaping their self-definition or place identity.
Louisianian’s identities, even when influenced by external factors, are sustained through
resilient practices such as adaptability, strong social systems, pride in the diversity and culture,
and ultimately stimulate processes behind self-definition. Participants discussed the influence
their strong bonds to place had on the construction of their self-definition or identity in various
ways, with multiple participants suggesting strong inherent influences in construction of their
identity through deep rooted place-based heritage and culture. According to one participant,
being from Louisiana has taught them to "[e]ach day on a personal level, use that history, not
trying to tell you how you should act because what I know [rather], how can I inform my own
decision making, and what I say, and what I share, and whatnot".
Those from socially and environmentally vulnerable populations spoke of hardships
they’d faced indicating a sense of resilience and adaptability ingrained in Louisiana people. Yet
being resilient, or inherently resilient, because of recovering from repetitive trials and
tribulations was not the focus of this research. Resilience as a word versus the personal
48

experience and feeling of being labeled resilient are very different things. Resilience can be
conceptualized as capability or an ability. The ability to adapt. This is an ability Louisianians
have built through their relationship with the land and each other. It is a way of life that has been
lived for generations. A participant spoke of being labeled resilient saying “we are very resilient
people, and we will always rebuild, because this is our home” … “But when we are called
resilient it's a different feeling. Why do I have to be resilient? Why do I have to continue to be
resilient?” These communities are tough and fearless in the face of adversity, or the eye of
hurricane, but that doesn’t mean they enjoy fighting to have a just enough.
It is important to understand the inherent processes from which this sense of inherent
resilience stems and the role these processes have when exploring connections to place and
identity structures of those from Louisiana. When it comes to being resilient in terms of
meteorologic events, as discussed in the review of literature, historically Louisianians have been
exposed to destructive events like floods, tropical storms, tornadoes, and hurricanes since native
populations and the European colonies. People have lived symbiotically with the land, unphased.
To label a group of people as ‘inherently resilient’ or ‘resilient’ due to their ability to overcome
events they see as part of life; can be seen as a unilateral view of the situation. What may look
like resilience from the outside is these communities trying to hold on to the last bit of who they
are and where they come from. With climate change disaster events predicted to displace
millions in Louisiana, being resilient isn’t enough.
This section will first dive into the discussion of the most prominent and repetitive
themes seen in interview data. These significant themes are place attachment, importance of
family ties, longstanding ties to place, strong social networks and community ties, pride in
heritage and culture, and place-based features of identity. Each theme will be explored through
49

interview quotes and analyzed in relation to this research. Following the breakdown of key
themes, other relevant themes that emerged strongly across interviews are discussed. Emergent
themes were prominent throughout many interview responses but were not strongly discernable
in all interview responses.

50

Longstanding Ties to Place and Importance of Kinship
Table 1: Theme indicators for longstanding ties to place and importance of family ties examples from review of scholarship and
theme indicators from interview responses in this study.

Theme
Longstanding
ties to place &
Importance of
kinship

Example from literature

"My husband's parents and his brothers
live next door. My sister lives a little
down the road. Everybody down here is
related somehow”
(Simms 2017, 416)

“My family is here, I wouldn’t move”
(resident interview, July 13, 2015)
(Simms 2021,7)

“I have a son here with kids. If he goes
to Houston I will go too...I have to be
with family, you know” (resident
interview, July 10, 2015)
(Simms 2021,7)

Interview Quotes

My father grew rice maybe
for 10 and 15 years. She
[mother] was born in 1909,
and the father was born in
1913”

"There's something about
Louisiana families they're
very very close"…"very big
families. Mom's family so
she's one of seven and, 5 out
of the 7 live in Louisiana"

“Just like being
together…"when I think of
home I never think about
being alone. I feel like I never
really did that growing up"

“I want to move back because of my
family history. I want to continue
working where my grandfather works,
my great-grandfather worked and my
great-great grandfather worked. It’s
very humbling to keep on with
traditions and ways of life in that way”
(resident interview, November 11,
2015) (Simms 2021, 8)

Living next door to, or at least in the same city as, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and
cousins is just how it has been in Louisiana for a long time. One participant shared the history of
51

their family in area dating back to colonial times: “My mother’s side…a man moved down to
Mississippi, and eventually found his way to Louisiana near Eunice. Current day Eunice, and so
most of my family in Louisiana come from the Eunice area". Families are big, very close,
widespread, diverse, and having this network has been important. Parent or grandparents
watched their kids and grandkids grow up in the backyard—they were always together. Younger
generations spoke of memories from these backyards. “I grew up with a backyard we shared with
my grandparents” was a very prominent theme among participants in their 20s and 30s.
For the older generations, proximity to family made childcare much easier: you could
leave the kids with family members on the way to work, and you knew your kids were safe. One
81-year-old interview participant commented that "I was secure in the fact that they were being
taken care of the way I would have taken care of them". This family has been on their land since
their great-grandparents arrived in 1895. Their parents were born in the area in 1909 and 1913.
Many families were tenant farmers and sharecroppers and relied on the support of family to get
the work done. It was common for children of the farmers to take on that responsibility. As one
83-year-old participant noted, “[the] son was tenant farmer for [his father] but they all helped
each other".
Younger participants told stories of growing up in their grandparents’ land and the
memories they would cherish forever. A twenty-nine-year-old participant who has now moved
away from Louisiana said, "We would have family gatherings all the time growing up… in this
old house from the 1800s in the middle of the cane field". Others remembered “just being
together” and “when I think of home I never think about being alone. I feel like I never really did
that growing up". Being close to family and spending time together was a prominent theme
among all interviews.
52

Over time this closeness of family has become harder to hold onto. Participants noted
migration after storms becoming more prevalent saying “the family that came from New Orleans
[evacuating for the hurricane] almost all never went back like they normally did”. Participants in
older age groups commented on family moving farther away, disrupting the closeness their kids
had grown up with. "Eventually that's really coming to an end because our children are having to
move to get the good jobs". The ability of people from Louisiana to maintain such a strong sense
of place and connection to place relies also on support of community and social networks. As
younger generations leave in search of new opportunities or because storms have destroyed their
homes, the connections to place may weaken.
Native Heritage
Another participant coming from native heritage “1/16th native American and fifth or
sixth great grandfather was the native American chief for the Atakapa, Indian native Americans”.
He was also the first generation to intermarry with the white man, or French Acadians arriving
from Canadian Maritime area. This participant had moved away but was drawn back to
Louisiana with hopes of giving back to their community and Louisiana as a whole. They seemed
to have rediscovered their indigenous heritage over time and with education outside of
Louisiana. Yet there was a deep connection to their indigenous heritage saying, “I feel like I am,
and a reflection of my ancestors, and their attachment to place right but I’ll tell their story, or my
perception of their story first, because it's still mine.” In their education journey sense of place
theory stood out and did their graduate research project on sense of place in Louisiana. They
spoke of combining their indigenous knowledge with what they had learned in academic
research from local farmers to predict the route of a recent hurricane and predicted it right.

53

Social Networks and Community Ties
Table 2 Theme indicators for strong social networks and community ties with examples from review of scholarship and theme
indicators from interview responses in this study.

Theme

Example from literature

Interview Quotes

Social
Networks and
Community
Ties

"People help out wherever they can.
Everyone knows each other. People
know what to do, and they help
each other” (Simms 2017, 416)

"it's such a Louisiana thing to like, have
festivals and gatherings, and like, just be with
your people, and like all I don't know just like
being together" 23yo

"Well, they're my neighbors' family.
We all know each other. I try to
help [in a hurricane] whoever we
can help” (Simms 2017,416)

"that's like something That's beautiful about
Louisiana as well it's like we all come together"
29yo
“So basically, my house is ground for anyone
who wanted to stay” 30yo

"There was a sense of unity,
working through all these crises
together” (Simms 2017,416)

"Our tribe works together to sort
things out for others” (Simms
2017,416)

“Survival. We have it ingrained in
us that we have to depend on each
other for survival. (Resident
interview, August 5, 2014)” (Simms
2021,7)

As discussed in the literature review, the bayou state is a complex blend of French,
Spanish, German, African, Irish, and Native American influences that create the cultural gumbo
that is Louisiana. From this heritage stems the strong social and community influences in
Louisiana today. Helping one another rebuild after storms or other hardships is commonplace.
This appeared throughout the interviews in the theme of social networks functioning as family.

54

One participant, who has moved out of state, described everyone coming together after a
devastating event as “a beautiful thing that I hope isn’t lost and like the Louisiana culture, we are
all family". Subjects’ experiences with place in the past and present were fundamentally
influenced by social connections within the community and family.
A participant with family still living in vulnerable coastal areas described their mother’s
house when preparing for storms: “basically, my house [was] ground for anyone who wanted to
stay”. The property is the highest point above sea level in the neighborhood and became the hub
for storm preparation, rescue, and recovery. Before the storm locals would park boats at the
participants house to remain protected on high ground for easy launch when the waters rise.
Another participant commented on the influence of festivals and gathering with social
groups as “such a Louisiana thing to do” and “have festivals and gatherings, and just be with
your people, and just being together," later saying "I feel like the roots growing up here, have run
really deep in me, and I will definitely always cherish the community, and the family”. Those
that had moved out of state yet still felt a strong connection to place were adamant they would
sustain social and community connections. All responses mirrored the work of Simms (2021)
who found that social networks among Louisiana communities serve as survival tactics in the
face of hardships; generate and build trust; facilitate social mobility; offer business opportunities;
and dissuade or persuade residents to eventually migrate.
In this study, the idea maintaining social ties after relocating, both participants who’d
relocated or planned to, was prominent in responses. This expanse of sense of place maintaining
social ties regardless of relocation was pinpointed in the result responses such as “I’ll always
have some kind of social ties [to Louisiana]” but that this wouldn’t keep them living there

55

forever. It was common for dispersed participants to cherish where they come from and talk
about Louisiana as irreplaceable.
In connection with maintaining social ties to place; participants exhibited a sense pride in
place, culture, and heritage that was linked to those from Louisiana and their relationships with
each other. No matter if you’ve met before; you are family, related through Louisiana. This
connection with each other is built on sharing that uniqueness of place, heritage, and culture. It
has contributed to connections beyond the borders of the state. A participant spoke of a time they
were in Switzerland studying abroad. While on a day outing to a local restaurant they spotted
someone sporting familiar purple and gold attire. Across the street was a gentleman wearing a
Louisiana State University (LSU) shirt, excitedly they scurried over to him. Thrilled to chat with
a fellow Louisianian. The participant found the ability to “start up this conversation about
Louisiana halfway across the world” as something special and unique to those from Louisiana
and their attachment to place.

56

Sense of Place and Place Attachment
Table 3: Theme indicators for sense of place and place attachment examples from review of scholarship and theme indicators
from interview responses in this study

Theme
Sense of
Place

Place
attachment

Existing Scholarship

Interview Responses

From Colten (2018) Table 2
‘’People feel a very strong sense of belonging
here....‘There’s a strong connection to the land
and belonging to it’’ [nonprofit director, *30,
interview, Village de L’Est, 2013]
‘‘There’s no other place to be. If I get born
again and end up another place, I’ll find my
way back here’’ [shrimper, *70, interview,
Chauvin, 2014]
“The environment provides the opportunity for
a connection to your family and friends’’
[retired shrimper, *70, interview, Chauvin,
2015]

“Louisiana people are so deep rooted
in that culture that it'll never go away
because it's like a part of everyone so
deeply and it's an identity” 29yo
“I think that that theme of sort of
always coming back here. It'll never
end” 28yo
“I feel like the roots growing up here,
have run really deep in me, and I will
definitely always cherish the
community, and the family. I think the
culture, the food the attitude towards
life it’s really wholesome” 23yo
“Hurricanes and climate change are
real. A lot of people were being like.
Well, why do you keep going back,
and I said, it's my home.” 29yo
my affinity for the land, because I've
seen what land does, I've seen it. What
it makes people feel like the freedom
it gives people you know like in the
fact that there's just so many things
you can say about land that it doesn't
get enough attention
So, you tell a 90-year-old man, that he
can't go home. I saw it. I saw the
change in him, because they really
thought that they were gonna have to
live with us in Maurice and not
rebuild. But he is physically and
emotionally attached to that land, and
he would not have survived and lived
to 90 if he would’ve moved”

57

Place-based Identity
Table 4 Theme indicators for place identity adapted from work done by DuCros (2019) with examples from review of scholarship
and theme indicators from interview responses in this study

Theme

Place Identity
▪ Continued
associations with
home or being from
Louisiana
▪ Low level of
substitutability for
Louisiana
▪ Sense of pride in
place, heritage, &
culture

Review of Literature Reference
[Subject describes return visits to
LA] “Now, there is a definite
distinct lifestyle back home, because
I go back home quite often, you
know” (DuCros 2019, 684)
“I guess I didn’t really appreciate it
as much or didn’t realize how much
I appreciated it even though I could
never—I don’t think that I could live
there [again]” (DuCros 2019, 688)

Interview Quotes

“it's a part of everyone [from Louisiana] so
deeply and it's an identity” 29yo
“Louisiana is such a complex, rich, heavy
place historically, in so many different
ways. It's a mosaic." 28yo
“Louisiana people are so deep rooted in that
culture that it'll never go away because it's
like a part of everyone so deeply 29yo

Eating a 5-cent snow cone on a hot
day, and sitting on the porch and
swinging and battin’ mosquitoes,
and all that stuff, I wouldn’t even, I
wouldn’t want to give that away. I
wouldn’t sell those memories for a
million dollars” (DuCros 2019 686)
“Still have family there and friends
there. I still go to visit. Still enjoy
being there, but I love coming back
home. I like being home. I like
being—I like saying that I’m from
Louisiana, put it that way.”
(DuCros 2019, 690)

Indicators of place attachment and identity used by DuCros (2019) in a study on place
identity were adapted and used in this research as a guide for identifying place-based features of
identity among interview responses. The DuCros (2019) place identity indicators were
continued associations with home, the low level of substitutability of Louisiana, and a sense of
pride in place. The identifier “pride in place” was adapted to align with this research study to
include sense of pride in place, culture, and heritage. The theme of continued place attachment
was very prominent among all participants even those who had relocated. Connections to place
were sustained through family and social ties still living in Louisiana and well as return visits.
58

Pride in place and culture was very high among participants, one saying “I will definitely always
cherish the community, the family…I think the culture, the food the attitude towards life it’s
really wholesome". This pride seemed to grow with age as well as with education, experience,
and among those who had moved out of Louisiana.
A participant who had moved away and returned spoke of this draw to return. Only after
pursuing educational paths that led to them learning their heritage did, they appreciate what it
meant to be from Louisiana. They remarked, “I think that that theme of sort of always coming
back here - It'll never end” … “something was always bringing me back I couldn't really get
away even though [I didn’t understand why or what that meant]”. This participant questioned
what it really meant to be “Cajun”, saying that the term had lost real meaning “because it's so
saturated, and I didn't know what that meant I just knew that was me". However, “now that I
know more, I have this sort of hyper consciousness of all things going on in Louisiana".
Another participant moved out of state and worked to attain their Ph.D. After graduating,
they felt a similar pull to return, saying “I felt like it was my life's mission to bridge some kind of
gap [in Louisiana], whether it be land, whether it be research, whether it be whatever topic just
felt like I was a bridge connector for communication”. By gaining a new perspective on making
change they were able to conceptualize what this meant for Louisiana from an insider lens. Their
ability to maintain that sense of place through who they are is an adaptive quality. They
continued: “I will be most useful back here in Louisiana, helping my people, who are so very
passionate about change, but don't really have the wheels to turn it and I’m helping them by
bringing them a wheel…they just know I came back for them, and they see me here”.
For communities in turmoil, it can be seen as up to the younger generations to set the
futures tone. Yet as mentioned, many are moving away. This participants road to change is an
59

example of place attachment being sustained in the absence of material or physical matters of
place because it is embedded in who they are. They continued to see the world through the lens
of their place, learning and growing along the way.

60

Discussion
This research adds to the existing scholarship exploring place attachment influences on
identity among Louisiana people. Place-based identities and strong place attachment are notably
influenced fundamentally by inherent processes. Being from Louisiana is an innate affinity with
intrinsic placed-based magnetism. This research adds a new viewpoint to the sense of place
scholarship based on Louisiana. A unique bond with place is apparent in those from Louisiana
and it is interwoven throughout their identity. Place attachments to do some extent play a role in
communities advocating for a bottom-up approach to climate change mitigation and adaptation
that allows residents to remain connected to their cultural heritage, generational knowledge, and
the land that they live on. This research sheds light on place attachment in Louisiana and how it
is not a driving factor in immediate change and not a determining factor in relocation decisions
and more situational. As relocated participants still identified with being from Louisiana and
were prideful in being a part of the cultural heritage, place, and community. The meanings
behind place attachment in Louisiana should be used as a tool in mitigation and decision making.
Not as a tool for gauging their decision in response to external factors or explanation for their
resilience.
The people of Louisiana have long been reliant on each other and the symbiotic
relationship they have with the land. Existing research has shown these communities want to be
heard yet are continually steamrolled by those in positions of power. If attachment to place is a
major contributor towards inherent resilience in Louisiana, then it would be contradictory for
those who have moved away to share the same quality of attachment. Yet, those who relocated
are resilient and adapting in their own way while remaining connected to place. The time comes
when people no longer have the capability, power, and ability, to be resilient or survive in place.
61

Those who relocate don’t lose who they are, they grow. Louisiana people do not forget where
they came from.
This research infers place attachment among those from Louisiana can be seen as a
mobile phenomenon grounded by place-based identities. The meaning behind this attachment is
important in inclusive creating change. With a plethora of external factors impacting the people
of Louisiana further research is needed on the mobility of place attachment in the form of placebased identities. In what ways can external factors such as climate change, social-economic
vulnerabilities potentially impact place identity. As well as how external factors will influence
action in terms of staying and fighting for change in one’s place.

Conclusion

To conclude, this research highlights the innate affinity and intrinsic placed-based
magnetism experienced by those from Louisiana as well as the fundamental role place has in
self-definition. This research adds a new viewpoint to the sense of place scholarship that is
focused on Louisiana and helps to understand the identities stemming from one’s attachment to
place. A unique bond with place is apparent in those from Louisiana and it is interwoven
throughout their identity. Place attachments to do some extent play a role in communities
advocating for a seat at the table but is not the major contributor to decision making process
among all residents. A bottom-up approach to climate change mitigation and adaptation is vital
to cultural and community sustainability. An approach that allows residents to remain connected
to their cultural heritage, generational knowledge, and the land that they live on is imperative. If
the dynamic relationship people have with the place, they come from cannot be sustained
communities face disintegration and dissolution of their rooted cultural heritage. This research
62

suggests that place attachment among those who are from Louisiana can be expressed in diverse
ways yet can be sustained when challenged by external factors. In younger generations
attachment to place is an element that can contribute to communities advocating for change or
influence relocation decisions, but it is not a main driver. The decisions to stay, rebuild, or
advocate for change in one’s community can be hindered by social status, race, income, and
ultimately equal opportunity. As shown in this research, those from Louisiana can maintain their
bond with place without still physically living there. When discussing the impacts of land loss,
climate change, social inequities, and economic turmoil that the state faces - decision processes
surrounding relocation, in state or out of state, are more situational in construction.

63

Bibliography
ABC. 2022. “Watch Good Morning America Season 12 Episode 82 Wednesday, Mar 23, 2022 Online.”
ABC. Retrieved May 6, 2022 (https://abc.com/shows/good-morning-america/episode-guide/202203/23-wednesday-mar-23-2022).
Adger, W. Neil, Jon Barnett, F. S. Chapin, and Heidi Ellemor. 2011. “This Must Be the Place:
Underrepresentation of Identity and Meaning in Climate Change Decision-Making.” Global
Environmental Politics 11(2):1–25. doi: 10.1162/GLEP_a_00051.
American Rivers. n.d.-b. “Mississippi River & Tributaries.” Retrieved April 15, 2022
(https://www.americanrivers.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/map-mississippi-river.png).
Anon. 2005. “First Mardi Gras.” Mardi Gras. Retrieved April 17, 2022
(http://mardigras.passchristian.net/first_mardi_gras.htm).
Aune, Kyle T., Dean Gesch, and Genee S. Smith. 2020. “A Spatial Analysis of Climate Gentrification in
Orleans Parish, Louisiana Post-Hurricane Katrina.” Environmental Research 185:109384. doi:
10.1016/j.envres.2020.109384.
Ballard, Mark, and Mike Smith. 2021. “$11.3 Million Dedicated for Lake Charles Housing Program 15
Months after Hurricane Laura | Legislature | Theadvocate.Com.” The Advocate. Retrieved
November 22, 2021
(https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/politics/legislature/article_522fa398-4bea-11ec8e15-7b602594b625.html).
Brinkley, Douglas. 2015. “The Broken Promise of the Levees That Failed New Orleans.” Smithsonian
Magazine. Retrieved May 5, 2022 (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonianinstitution/broken-promise-levees-failed-new-orleans-180956326/).
Britannica. n.d. “Louisiana | History, Map, Population, Cities, & Facts.” Britannica. Retrieved April 5,
2022 (https://www.britannica.com/place/Louisiana-state).
Burley, David. 2010. Losing Ground : Identity and Land Loss in Coastal Louisiana - ProQuest Ebook
Central. University Press of Mississippi.
Burley, David, Traber Davis, Pam Jenkins, and Shirley Laska. 2004. “Losing Ground in Southern
Louisiana.” American Sociological Association 3(2):50.
Burley, David, Pam Jenkins, Shirley Laska, and Traber Davis. 2007. “Place Attachment and
Environmental Change in Coastal Louisiana.” Organization & Environment 20(3):347–66. doi:
10.1177/1086026607305739.
Chute, Nate. 2020. “What Are the Strongest Hurricanes to Hit Louisiana since Katrina?” Lafayette Daily
Advertiser. Retrieved January 21, 2022
(https://www.theadvertiser.com/story/news/2020/08/25/louisiana-hurricanes-hit-louisiana-sincekatrina-ike-rita-harvey/5629414002/).

ix

ClimateCheck. 2021. “Louisiana Top Climate Change Risks: Heat, Storm, Coastal Flood /
ClimateCheck.” Retrieved November 7, 2021 (https://climatecheck.com/louisiana).
Climate Reality Project. 2020. “How the Climate Crisis Is Affecting Louisiana.” Climate Reality.
Retrieved March 5, 2022 (https://www.climaterealityproject.org/blog/how-climate-crisis-affectinglouisiana).
Colten, C. E. 2016. “Environmental Management in Coastal Louisiana: A Historical Review.” Journal of
Coastal Research 33(3):699. doi: 10/f98mb9.
Colten, Craig E., Jessica R. Z. Simms, Audrey A. Grismore, and Scott A. Hemmerling. 2018. “Social
Justice and Mobility in Coastal Louisiana, USA.” Regional Environmental Change 18(2):371–83.
doi: 10.1007/s10113-017-1115-7.
Colten, Craig E. 2019. “Adaptive Transitions: The Long‐Term Perspective on Humans in Changing
Coastal Settings.” Geographical Review 109(3):416–35. doi: 10/gpd99n.
Colten, Craig E. 2020. “Eroding Memories and Erecting Risk on the Amite River - Feature (Peer
Review).” Open Rivers: Rethinking Water, Place & Community (16). doi:
10.24926/2471190X.6812.
Colten, Craig E., Jessica R. Z. Simms, Audrey A. Grismore, and Scott A. Hemmerling. 2018. “Social
Justice and Mobility in Coastal Louisiana, USA.” Regional Environmental Change 18(2):371–83.
doi: 10.1007/s10113-017-1115-7.
Cooke, Benjamin, Simon West, and Wiebren Boonstra. 2016. “Dwelling in the Biosphere: Exploring an
Embodied Human-Environment Connection in Resilience Thinking.” Sustainability Science
11(5):831–43. doi: 10/f3sdmd.
Corthell, E. (1897). The delta of the Mississippi River. National Geographic, 12, 351–354.
Cutter, Susan L., Lindsey Barnes, Melissa Berry, Christopher Burton, Elijah Evans, Eric Tate, and
Jennifer Webb. 2008. “A Place-Based Model for Understanding Community Resilience to Natural
Disasters.” Global Environmental Change 18(4):598–606. doi: 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2008.07.013.
Dayle Wallien. n.d. “Sentinels of the Swamp: Cypress and Tupelo Trees.” Retrieved May 4, 2022
(https://www.nationalforests.org/blog/cypress-and-tupelo-trees).
Dayna Bowker Lee. 2013. “Louisiana Indians In The 21st Century.” Retrieved April 15, 2022
(https://www.louisianafolklife.org/LT/Articles_Essays/nativeams.html).
Devyani, Kar. 2021. “Climate Change Threatens Louisiana’s Future, but the State Is Taking Bold Action
to Increase Its Resilience.” Environmental Defense Fund. Retrieved November 7, 2021
(http://blogs.edf.org/climate411/2021/07/22/climate-change-threatens-louisianas-future-but-thestate-is-taking-bold-action-to-increase-its-resilience/).
DuCros, Faustina M. 2019a. “‘That’s Still Home’: Constructing Second-Generation Place Attachment
and Place Identity via Time Work.” Sociological Quarterly 60(4):677–95. doi:
10.1080/00380253.2019.1580540.
EPA. 2016. “What Climate Change Means for Louisiana.” 2.

x

Experience New Orleans. n.d. “Cajuns and Creoles | Experience New Orleans!” Retrieved May 7, 2022
(https://www.experienceneworleans.com/cajun.html).
FEMA. 2018. “Flood Insurance | FEMA.Gov.” Retrieved May 7, 2022 (https://www.fema.gov/floodinsurance).
Google Maps. n.d. “Louisiana - Google Maps.” Retrieved June 6, 2022
(https://www.google.com/maps/place/Louisiana/@31.297486,93.647574,7z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x8620a454b2118265:0xc955f73281e54703!8m2!3d30.9842977!
4d-91.9623327!5m1!1e4).
Halle Parker. 2021. “Grand Isle’s ‘burrito’ Levee Rebuilt - with a New, 200-Foot-Wide Beach.”
NOLA.Com. Retrieved May 6, 2022 (https://www.nola.com/news/environment/article_c4dafa4855ad-11eb-8cd2-2b7c14b80fe7.html).
Hemmerling, Scott A., Christine A. DeMyers, and Tim J. B. Carruthers. 2022. “Building Resilience
through Collaborative Management of Coastal Protection and Restoration Planning in Plaquemines
Parish, Louisiana, USA.” Sustainability 14(5):2974. doi: 10.3390/su14052974.
Holland, Andrew. 2015. Environmental Threats to Louisiana’s Future: Climate Change. American
Security Project.
Indian Affairs - Office of Governor. 2019. “Indian Affairs | Office of Governor John Bel Edwards.”
Office of Governor John Bel Edwards. Retrieved February 16, 2022
(https://gov.louisiana.gov/page/indian-affairs).
Jesse Brooks and FOX 8. 2022. “Tornadoes Cause Major Damage in Arabi, Lower 9th Ward, and Other
Areas.” Https://Www.Fox8live.Com. Retrieved May 6, 2022
(https://www.fox8live.com/2022/03/23/tornadoes-cause-major-damage-arabi-lower-9th-ward-otherareas/).
Johnson, Ayana Elizabeth, and Katharine K. Wilkinson, eds. 2021. All We Can Save: Truth, Courage,
and Solutions for the Climate Crisis. One World trade paperback edition. New York: One World.
Jonathan Olivier. 2021. “Creole Healers and Herbs – Mother Earth News.” Retrieved April 17, 2022
(https://www.motherearthnews.com/natural-health/creole-healers-herbs-zm0zdj21zols/).
Kemp, Andrew C., Benjamin P. Horton, Jeffrey P. Donnelly, Michael E. Mann, Martin Vermeer, and
Stefan Rahmstorf. 2011. “Climate Related Sea-Level Variations over the Past Two Millennia.”
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 108(27):11017–22. doi:
10.1073/pnas.1015619108.
Knutson, Thomas R., Chung, Maya V., Vecchi, Gabriel, Sun, Jingru, Hsieh, Tsung-Lin, and Smith, Adam
J. P. 2021. Climate Change Is Probably Increasing the Intensity of Tropical Cyclones. Zenodo. doi:
10.5281/ZENODO.4570334.
Laska, Shirley. 2012. “Dimensions of Resiliency: Essential Resiliency, Exceptional Recovery and Scale.”
International Journal of Critical Infrastructures 8(1):47. doi: 10/gn3xqn.
Laska, Shirley, ed. 2020. Louisiana’s Response to Extreme Weather: A Coastal State’s Adaptation
Challenges and Successes. Cham: Springer International Publishing.

xi

Louisiana Department Of Culture Recreation And Tourism. 2014. “Colonial Louisiana.”
MuseumSubAgency-2013-09-18. Retrieved April 16, 2022 (https://DCRT-MAIN/louisiana-statemuseum/online-exhibits/the-cabildo/colonial-louisiana/index).
Louisiana State Museum (last). 2014. “American Indians: The First Families of Louisiana on the Eve of
French Settlement.” MuseumSubAgency-2013-09-18. Retrieved February 9, 2022 (https://DCRTMAIN/louisiana-state-museum/online-exhibits/the-cabildo/american-indians/index).
Louisiana Travel Association. 2019. “About Louisiana Tourism.” Louisiana Travel Association.
Retrieved April 12, 2022 (https://louisianatravelassociation.org/advocate/about-louisiana-tourism).
Lynch, Kevin. 2009. What Time Is This Place? Nachdr. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.
Martin, Melissa, and Denny Culbert. 2020. Mosquito Supper Club: Cajun Recipes from a Disappearing
Bayou. New York: Artisan, a division of Workman Publishing Co., Inc.
Michael Evans. 2018. “Facts About Louisiana Bayous.” Travel Tips - USA Today. Retrieved May 4, 2022
(https://traveltips.usatoday.com/louisiana-bayous-59733.html).
National Geographic Society. 2012. “Bayou.” National Geographic Society. Retrieved April 15, 2022
(http://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/bayou/).
National Hurricane Center. 2020. National Hurricane Center - Tropical Cyclone ReportTROPICAL
STORM CRISTOBAL. NOAA.
National Parks Service. 2021. “American Indians in Louisiana - Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and
Preserve (U.S. National Park Service).” US National Parks Service. Retrieved February 16, 2022
(https://www.nps.gov/jela/learn/historyculture/native-americans-in-louisiana.htm).
National Wildlife Federation. n.d. “Mississippi River Delta.” Retrieved February 16, 2022
(https://www.nwf.org/Educational-Resources/Wildlife-Guide/Wild-Places/Mississippi-River-Delta).
NOAA. 2021. “NWS LIX - Hurricane Ida Event Page.” Retrieved May 6, 2022
(https://www.weather.gov/lix/hurricaneida2021).
NOAA. n.d.-a. “Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale.” Retrieved May 6, 2022
(https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/aboutsshws.php).
NOAA. n.d.-b. “Tropical Cyclone Climatology.” Retrieved May 6, 2022
(https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/climo/).
NOAA State Summaries. 2022. “Louisiana - State Summaries.” State Summaries. Retrieved November 7,
2021 (https://statesummaries.ncics.org/chapter/la/).
NOAA Office for Coastal Management. 2022. “Louisiana.” NOAA Office for Coastal Management.
Retrieved January 21, 2022 (https://coast.noaa.gov/states/louisiana.html).
NOAA US Department of Commerce. 2022 “NWS LIX - March 22, 2022 Metro New Orleans Tornado.”
Retrieved May 6, 2022 (https://www.weather.gov/lix/arabitornado03222022).
Norris, Fran H., Susan P. Stevens, Betty Pfefferbaum, Karen F. Wyche, and Rose L. Pfefferbaum. 2008.
“Community Resilience as a Metaphor, Theory, Set of Capacities, and Strategy for Disaster
Readiness.” American Journal of Community Psychology 41(1–2):127–50. doi: 10.1007/s10464007-9156-6.

xii

Nouri, Niloufar, and Naresh Devineni. 2022. “Examining the Changes in the Spatial Manifestation and
the Rate of Arrival of Large Tornado Outbreaks.” Environmental Research Communications
4(2):021001. doi: 10.1088/2515-7620/ac50c1.
Owens, Maida. 2015. “Louisiana’s Traditional Cultures: An Overview.”
Rajala, Kiandra, Michael G. Sorice, and Valerie A. Thomas. 2020. “The Meaning(s) of Place: Identifying
the Structure of Sense of Place across a Social–Ecological Landscape” edited by E. C. Ellis. People
and Nature 2(3):718–33. doi: 10.1002/pan3.10112.
Raymond, Christopher M., Marketta Kyttä, and Richard Stedman. 2017. “Sense of Place, Fast and Slow:
The Potential Contributions of Affordance Theory to Sense of Place.” Frontiers in Psychology
8:1674. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01674.
Relph, Edward. 2015. “Sense of Place: An Overview.” PLACENESS, PLACE, PLACELESSNESS.
Retrieved February 16, 2022 (https://www.placeness.com/sense-of-place-an-overview/).
Ron Thibodeaux. n.d. “Hurricane Rita.” 64 Parishes. Retrieved May 7, 2022
(https://64parishes.org/entry/hurricane-rita).
Roth, David. 2010. “Louisiana Hurricane History.” National Weather Service 70.
Shane K. Bernard. 2010. “Creoles.” 64 Parishes. Retrieved April 16, 2022
(https://64parishes.org/entry/creoles).
Simms, Jessica R. Z. 2017. “‘Why Would I Live Anyplace Else?’: Resilience, Sense of Place, and
Possibilities of Migration in Coastal Louisiana.” Journal of Coastal Research 332:408–20. doi:
10.2112/JCOASTRES-D-15-00193.1.
Simms, Jessica R. Z. 2021. “Solastalgic Landscapes: Prospects of Relocation in Coastal Louisiana.”
Frontiers in Environmental Science 9:14. doi: 10/gnr833.
Smith, Madelyn, Geoffrey T. Stewart, Meghan Massaua, Deborah Atwood, Michael Lesnick, and Thomas
Hymel. 2020. An Economic Development Strategy for Louisiana’s Coastal Seafood Industry.
State at Risk. 2016. “Louisiana’s Climate Threats | States at Risk.” States at Risk. Retrieved May 25, 2022
(https://statesatrisk.org/louisiana/coastal-flooding).
Theriot, Jason. 2021. “Oil and Gas Industry in Louisiana.” 64 Parishes. Retrieved February 16, 2022
(https://64parishes.org/entry/oil-and-gas-industry-in-louisiana).
U.S. Census Bureau. 2020. “LOUISIANA: 2020 Census.” Retrieved April 15, 2022
(https://www.census.gov/library/stories/state-by-state/louisiana-population-change-between-censusdecade.html).
US Department of Commerce, NOAA. n.d. “NWS LIX - March 22, 2022 Lacombe Tornado.” Retrieved
May 6, 2022 (https://www.weather.gov/lix/lacombetornado03222022).
Wikipedia. 2022. “Houma People.” Wikipedia.
World Vision - From the Field. 2021. “2021 Hurricane Ida: Facts, FAQs, and How to Help.” World
Vision. Retrieved May 6, 2022 (https://www.worldvision.org/disaster-relief-news-stories/2021hurricane-ida-facts).

xiii

Item sets

The Evergreen State College Masters Theses: Environmental Studies

Media

Thesis_MES_2022Sp_HarrellR.pdf