When Brenda Dardar-Robichaux was elected Principal Chief of the United Houma Nation in 2002, her main goal was to unite her tribe—the largest in Louisiana with more than 17,000 people scattered over six bayou parishes—to create more cohesion among the Houma people. She’s been remarkably successful, but it’s been a constant struggle—not the least because of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Robichaux has always believed in the power of education to make change. Robichaux’s parents weren’t allowed to attend school with white students and their own schools only went up to 6th or 7th grade. Years later, Robichaux was among the first non-white students to integrate Louisiana’s public schools. She faced tremendous hostility and vowed as she grew older to make sure other children wouldn’t have to question their worth as she had.
Robichaux didn’t waste any time. Shortly after graduating from high school, she started working for the Lafourche Parish School Board, where she developed—and still runs—an education program for Houma children. It’s had a huge impact on the community—both in preserving Houma culture and in raising academic performance.
“For me our culture is the essence of who we are. I think the key to our future is making sure that our children have the self-confidence, the tools, the support system they need, to earn their degrees. And when they come back and work in the community … it makes me so proud.”
But nothing could have prepared the Houma for the devastation caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.
“In Plaquemines Parish, there was not a home left standing … floodwaters everywhere, boats on the levees. Our people had nothing to come home to. It was almost unbearable.”
In total, more than 6,000 Houma lost their homes.
That’s when Robichaux founded the United Houma Nation Relief Fund. Immediately after Katrina, she mobilized the resources of her tribe to begin searching for missing members and to meet people’s basic needs. Donations—food, water, household goods and new clothes—poured in. Volunteers from across the country did, too. Her home was a relief center for over a year, and she learned to cook for dozens of people—jambalaya and red beans and rice.
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