SUMMARYHouma schooling held back until 1963–66, and federal recognition still denied (Terrebonne Parish, 1963–1994) [Connections: Gulf, Louisiana, Texas & Mexico, Nov 5, 2026]
RECORDHouma in Terrebonne Parish were segregated until the 1963 ruling in Naquin v. Terrebonne Parish School Board. A desegregation order was signed on April 28, 1966. The BIA's 1994 proposed finding (Ada Deer) went against the United Houma Nation, citing no evidence of descent from a historical tribe. The same BIA summary notes that most ancestral settlements were identified as "Indian" in federal censuses. The UHN petition (#056) is still active, and the state recognized the Houma in 1977
PATTERNThe state treated Houma as non-white for school purposes, while the federal government said they weren't proven to be "Indian."
LENS (WW9)Too Indian for the white school, not Indian enough for Washington: the paper trap
DISPUTEDThe BIA finding is contested (see Campisi and Sterna, "Another View on 'Ethnogenesis of the New Houma Indians'," Ethnohistory 51:4, 2004)