Native Waters: A Chitamacha Recollection

FUNDING FOR THIS PROGRAM HAS BEEN PROVIDED BY THE FOUNDATION FOR EXCELLENCE IN LOUISIANA PUBLIC BROADCASTING, AND NATIVE AMERICAN PUBLIC TELECOMMUNICATIONS THROUGH THE CORPORATION FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING.

[ MAN SPEAKING NATIVE AMERICAN LANGUAGE ] Man: I FISH WHERE INDIAN WARRIORS ONCE STALKED HARDWOOD OAK FORESTS AND PADDLED DUGOUTS THROUGH STANDS OF RED CYPRESS OLDER THAN THE CATHEDRALS OF EUROPE, WHERE ENORMOUS PYRAMIDAL MOUNDS ROSE FROM CLAMSHELL ISLANDS OFF THE COAST OF WHAT WOULD BECOME LOUISIANA.

FOUR CENTURIES AGO, WITHIN SIGHT OF WHERE I CAST MY LINE, A CHIEF STOOD AND JABBED THE BUTT OF HIS SPEAR INTO THE HARD-PACKED BEACH OF WHITE CLAMSHELL AND HE FORBADE THE CONQUISTADORS TO COME ASHORE.

THAT CHIEF'S NAME IS FORGOTTEN.

HE CONFRONTED A FUTURE NONE OF HIS FOREFATHERS COULD HAVE IMAGINED, BUT SOME PROPHESIED -- THEIR DREAMS WARNED THEM OF THE CHANGE TO COME.

I NAVIGATE NATIVE WATERS IN A SMALL WOODEN BOAT, NOT UNLIKE THOSE MY FATHER BUILT BEFORE I WAS BORN.

HE WAS THE LAST CHIEF OF THE CHITIMACHA, A NAME THAT MEANS "PEOPLE OF THE MANY WATERS."

ALONG WITH MY GRANDMOTHER, HE PASSED ON TO ME THE TRADITIONS OF OUR TRIBE.

THERE ARE THINGS THAT SHOULD NOT BE FORGOTTEN, AND I AM AMONG THOSE WHO REMEMBER.

BUT OF ALL THE THINGS MY FATHER GAVE ME, PERHAPS WHAT WILL FOLLOW ME WITH THE MOST DEVOTION UNTIL THE END OF MY DAYS IS THE LOVE OF FISHING.

I WAS RAISED IN A WOODEN BOAT.

TO ME, WOODEN BOATS ARE THE CONTACT OR THE CONDUIT BETWEEN MYSELF AND THE WATER.

YOU CAN'T GET THAT KIND OF ORGANIC ENERGY FROM A FIBERGLASS OR FROM AN ALUMINUM BOAT.

FROM A SPIRITUAL AND RELIGIOUS SENSE, THIS PLACE, IT'S MY CATHEDRAL, IT'S MY TEMPLE.

THE ATCHAFALAYA BASIN IS THE ANCESTRAL HOME OF MY PEOPLE.

IT'S OVER 800,000 ACRES OF WILD COUNTRY, THE LARGEST RIVER SWAMP IN NORTH AMERICA -- BIGGER THAN THE EVERGLADES.

BUT THIS FRAGILE WETLAND IS VANISHING, AND THE QUESTION IS WHETHER THE CHITIMACHA CAN SURVIVE WITHOUT OUR NATIVE WATERS.

OUT THERE, I FEEL CLOSER TO MY CREATOR -- I GUESS "NEARER MY GOD TO THEE," AS THE SONG GOES -- THAN ANYWHERE ELSE IN THE WORLD.

WE GO THERE TO FISH, BUT I THINK FISHING IS AN EXCUSE TO BE THERE.

IF I DIDN'T FISH, I'D BE THERE ANYWAY.

AS A CHITIMACHA, I AM A FISHERMAN DESCENDED FROM A NATION OF FISHERMEN.

FISHING HERE IN THE WILDNESS OF THE ATCHAFALAYA BASIN IN SOUTH LOUISIANA, MY LINE CONNECTS ME WITH EIGHT MILLENNIA OF ANCESTORS AND STORIES.

I FISH WHERE A BOY NAMED USTUPU WAS CURSED BY BAD MEDICINE, DOOMED TO CHASE HIS SIX GREAT HUNTING DOGS ACROSS THE HEAVENS FOR ETERNITY, WHERE AN OLD COUPLE WAS TURNED INTO BEARS, WHERE THE DEVIL NEKA SAMA REACHES OUT FROM THE FIRE TO SNATCH CHILDREN INTO THE HEARTH.

I FISH WHERE THREE DOZEN VILLAGES AND 30,000 WARRIORS THRIVED FOR 80 CENTURIES.

FOR ME, FISHING IS HOOKING INTO THE INVISIBLE STRENGTH HIDDEN IN THESE WATERS.

IT IS STRUGGLING WITH AN IRRESISTIBLE FORCE PULLING BACK AND RUSHING AWAY, TOWING ME WITH IT -- AT LEAST IN SPIRIT -- ACROSS NOT ONLY AN EXPANSE OF WATER, BUT A CORRIDOR OF TIME.

I'VE BEEN PURSUING THAT FORCE MOST OF MY LIFE.

MOSS IS USED FOR A LOT OF THINGS... Woman: THERE'S NO WAY TO SEPARATE THE PAST AND THE PRESENT IN THE CHITIMACHA WORLD.

AND THE WAY THE CONNECTION HAS BEEN MAINTAINED, THAT LINK TO THE PAST, IS THROUGH THE ORAL TRADITION.

IT CONVEYS BITS OF INFORMATION THAT YOU CAN'T PICK UP IN OTHER PLACES, BECAUSE EACH STORYTELLER PERSONALIZES THAT STORY IN A WAY THAT GIVES IT A LITTLE BIT MORE LIFE AND A LITTLE BIT MORE MEANING.

AND THE STORIES THEN PASS DOWN THROUGH THE GENERATIONS AND ARE EMBELLISHED AND ADDED TO AND KEPT IN FAMILIES AND IN COMMUNITIES.

Stouff: I COME FROM A LONG LINE OF STORYTELLERS.

I MEAN, OBVIOUSLY, WE HAD NO WRITTEN LANGUAGE, SO ORAL TRADITION WAS THE WAY THAT INFORMATION AND KNOWLEDGE AND SPIRITUAL VALUES WERE PASSED DOWN FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION.

AND EVEN IN MODERN TIMES, MY PARENTS AND MY GRANDPARENTS WERE ALL STORYTELLERS.

THEY MOVED ALL OVER THE SOUTHEAST DURING THE POWWOW SEASON, TELLING THEIR STORIES, TELLING ABOUT CHITIMACHA.

I THINK THAT, YOU KNOW, OF THE FIVE BROTHERS THAT MOVED AWAY FROM HERE THAT WERE MY GRANDFATHER'S GENERATION, ONLY HE CAME BACK.

AND I THINK THAT ONE OF THE REASONS HE CAME BACK WAS TO BECOME THE CHIEF, TO BECOME THE STORYTELLER.

AND I GUESS, BY DEFAULT, THROUGH MY CAREER AS A JOURNALIST AND A WRITER, AFTER HE WAS GONE, WITHOUT EVEN REALLY REALIZING IT, I STARTED WRITING ABOUT MY PEOPLE BECAUSE I FELT THERE WAS AN ABSENCE THERE.

Woman: THE CHITIMACHA REMEMBER THEIR HISTORY COLLECTIVELY -- AS A GROUP.

THINGS THAT WERE IMPORTANT TO THE TRIBE -- STORIES, TRADITIONS -- WERE CARRIED ON IN TRIBAL FAMILIES.

AND WE HAD CERTAIN FAMILIES THAT WERE MAYBE THE BASKET WEAVERS.

WE HAD MEDICINE PEOPLE.

THAT SORT OF STRUCTURE CARRIED ON EVEN TO OUR PRESENT DAY.

Stouff: YOU KNOW WHEN I WRITE A STORY OR TELL A STORY BETWEEN MYSELF AND THE LISTENER, IT BRINGS THE EVENTS AND THE PEOPLE AND THE TIME WHEN THAT STORY TOOK PLACE TO LIFE AGAIN.

BUT IN MY MIND, I'M BRINGING IT, I'M RESURRECTING IT.

I CAN ALMOST FEEL THE PRESENCE OF THE FAMILY MEMBERS AND CHIEF SOULIER ROUGE AND THE GREAT WARRIORS.

I CAN FEEL THEIR PRESENCE A LOT.

[ THUNDER RUMBLES ] THIS IS HOW MY WORLD BEGINS.

THE CREATOR OF ALL THINGS MOVED IN THUNDER ACROSS A GREAT SPHERE OF WATER AND KNEW THAT PERFECTION WAS THE SOLE PROPRIETORSHIP OF GODS, SO HE FORMED THE LAND.

HE DID THIS BY COMMANDING CRAWFISH TO SWIM DOWN BELOW THE WATERS, AND DOING WHAT CRAWFISH STILL DOES TODAY, BRING UP MUD INTO A MOUND LIKE A VOLCANO'S THROAT, MORE AND MORE, UNTIL THE MUD PIERCED THE SURFACE AND DRIED UNDER THE SUN.

THE EDGE OF THE SEA LAPS AT THE MARGINS OF CRAWFISH'S LABOR, SIFTING IT AWAY.

BUT RIVERS MOVE THE EARTH FROM HERE TO THERE, DUMPING IT BACK INTO THE FLOOD PLAINS AND BASINS.

LAKES COLLECT AND PERSIST, POOLS OF GRACE TO REMIND THOSE WHO LIVE TOO FAR AWAY FROM THE SEA OF WHAT LIES BEYOND.

THERE ARE ONLY THREE THINGS THAT REMAIN CONSTANT IN MY LIFE -- CRAWFISH CONTINUES TO BUILD THE LAND, WATER CONTINUES TO CONFRONT IT, AND THE INFINITE JOURNEY BETWEEN THE TWO.

Lee: THE ANCESTRAL TERRITORY OF THE CHITIMACHA COVERED MOST OF THE LOUISIANA COASTLINE AND WAS BOUNDED BY THE LAKES AND RIVERS.

IT STRETCHED FROM THE ATCHAFALAYA BASIN TO EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER, AND IT WAS DEMARCATED AND BOUNDED BY FOUR SACRED TREES.

LOUISIANA WAS RICH WITH NATIVE PEOPLE WHEN EUROPEANS GOT HERE.

VERY COMPLEX CULTURES, NOT ALL THE SAME, BUT OF ALL THE INDIAN PEOPLE, ALL THE NATIVE PEOPLE WHO WERE IN LOUISIANA AT THE TIME OF FIRST CONTACT, THE CHITIMACHA ARE THE ONLY NATION THAT REMAIN ON ANY PART OF THEIR ANCESTRAL HOMELAND.

Stouff: THEY CAME FROM NATCHEZ, MY FATHER'S PEOPLE.

THERE WAS SOME SORT OF RIFT, SOME MANNER OF DIVISION.

THEY TOUCHED A BRAND TO THE ETERNAL FLAME THAT BURNED FOR SO LONG AT GRAND VILLAGE, AND MOVED SOUTH, CARRYING THE FLAME WITH THEM -- TO BE ATTENDED NIGHT AND DAY, NEVER ALLOWING IT TO EXPIRE, FOR THAT WOULD MEAN THE END OF ALL THINGS.

Lee: ACCORDING TO TRADITIONAL HISTORY, THE CHITIMACHA CAME TO THE COASTLINE FROM THE NORTHWEST AND ORIGINATED AROUND WHERE NATCHEZ, MISSISSIPPI, IS NOW.

AND THAT'S WHERE THE NATCHI PEOPLE WERE.

AND THE NATCHI PEOPLE AND THE CHITIMACHA WERE VERY CLOSE RELATIVES.

THEY PARTICIPATED TOGETHER CEREMONIALLY.

THEY INTERMARRIED.

AND THEY CONTINUED TO DO THIS AND TO FORM A KIND OF A COHESIVE UNIT MADE UP OF TWO SEPARATE PARTS UNTIL THE 1730s, WHEN THE NATCHI WERE DESTROYED BY THE FRENCH AS A NATION.

Stouff: WHEN THEY CAME HERE, THEY FOUND THE ONLY GRACEFUL, POETIC BALANCE OF WATER AND LAND IN ALL OF CREATION -- THESE MAJESTIC SWAMPS AND MARSHES, THE TOWERING SALT DOMES AND GREAT SHELL REEFS, THE RIVERS SLICING COURSES THROUGH THE EARTH, THE ABUNDANCE, THE SAFETY.

THEY LOOKED UPON THAT GREAT LAKE, NAMED IT, AND THEY FOREVERMORE BECAME SHETI IMASHA, PEOPLE OF THE MANY WATERS.

BEFORE THE LEVEE WAS BUILT, THIS GIGANTIC SERIES OF LAKES FED BY THE ATCHAFALAYA RIVER, WAS, TO ME, LIKE THE GREAT LAKES OF LOUISIANA.

IT WAS JUST HUGE.

IT WAS A SERIES OF LAKES, YOU KNOW, A HUNDRED MILES LONG, 15, 20 MILES WIDE IN SPOTS, AND VERY DEEP -- VERY DEEP, BECAUSE THE RIVER KEPT IT SCOURED OUT.

AFTER THE FLOOD OF 1927, PEOPLE WERE SO AFRAID OF LOSING THEIR PROPERTY AGAIN.

AND BASED ON THE SCIENCE OF THE TIME, THEY THOUGHT THAT THE ATCHAFALAYA BASIN LEVEE WAS THE BEST ANSWER TO PROTECTING HOMES AND PROPERTY.

AND YOU CAN'T FAULT PEOPLE FOR THAT, BECAUSE THEY WERE WORKING WITH THE BEST INFORMATION THEY COULD AT THE TIME.

BUT THE RESULT OF THAT LEVEE WAS THAT IT RESTRICTED THE FLOW OF THE ATCHAFALAYA.

EARLY MORNINGS WITH A BAMBOO FLY ROD AND A MIST OVER THE SURFACE, I CAN ALMOST SEE BACK TO WHEN THERE WAS NOTHING HERE BUT CHITIMACHA.

IN THE PALMETTO PATCHES GROWING FROM THE BLEACHED, BONE-WHITE SHELL HARD-PACK OF THE VILLAGES AND HUNTING CAMPS AND CEREMONIAL GROUNDS, BLACK-HAIRED AND DARK-SKINNED CHILDREN PEEK FROM BEHIND THE VEIL OF THE GREAT SADNESS INTO A WORLD THEY CANNOT RECOGNIZE.

THEIR GRANDCHILDREN BEAR STRANGE-SOUNDING NAMES, SPEAK AN UNKNOWN TONGUE, AND ATTEND CHURCHES OF BRICK AND MORTAR RATHER THAN OPEN AIR AND WATER ALWAYS NEARBY.

WHEN I WAS A YOUNGER MAN -- ACTUALLY, A CHILD -- MY FATHER USED TO TAKE ME TO PLACES LIKE THIS TO HUNT FOR POT SHARDS, LITTLE PIECES OF POTTERY, LIKE THAT ONE.

THE CHITIMACHA WOULD BREAK THEIR POTTERY EVERY YEAR AND MAKE NEW ONES BECAUSE IT WAS TABOO TO PUT NEW FOOD OR NEW GAME INTO OLD POTTERY.

SOMETIMES, WE'D WADE, AND WE'D FIND PIECES WITH THE THUMBPRINTS OF THE MAKERS STILL INSIDE OF THE CLAY AFTER IT WAS FIRED.

SOMETIMES, WE'D FIND DESIGNS, LIKE, INCISED AND SOMETIMES WITH PAINT.

AND IT WAS JUST AN AMAZING EXPERIENCE TO STILL FIND IT TODAY.

"CHITIMACHA" LITERALLY MEANS "PEOPLE OF THE MANY WATERS."

AND THE AREA OF THOSE WATERS STRETCHED ACROSS ABOUT A THIRD OF LOUISIANA.

THAT INCLUDED THIS AREA, WHICH WAS ACTUALLY SORT OF THE CAPITAL OF THE ENTIRE NATION.

THE CHARENTON AREA, THE BEACH AREA, AND THE RELIGIOUS CENTER OF THE NATION WAS HERE.

WE WERE A PEACEFUL PEOPLE.

HE HAD DOZENS OF VILLAGES, TENS OF THOUSANDS OF MEMBERS.

THE CHITIMACHA WERE PROBABLY THE MOST POWERFUL TRIBE IN SOUTHERN LOUISIANA AT THE TIME.

Lee: IN THE WINTER, THEY WOULD HAVE HUNTED THINGS LIKE BEAR AND DEER, LARGE MAMMALS.

IN THE SUMMER, THEY GATHERED SEEDS, BERRIES, AND OTHER PLANT RESOURCES.

AND IN THE FALL, THEY GATHERED THINGS LIKE PECANS AND HICKORY AND OTHER NUTS THAT COULD BE STORED.

AQUATIC RESOURCES WERE VERY IMPORTANT TO THE CHITIMACHA.

THEY HAD AN INTIMATE RELATIONSHIP WITH THE COAST, AND EXPLOITED COASTAL RESOURCES AND FRESHWATER RESOURCES.

THE RESOURCES WERE VAST AND ABUNDANT.

Stouff: MY DAD SAID THIS PLACE WAS EDEN.

EVERYTHING THE CHITIMACHA WANTED, ANYTHING THEY COULD POSSIBLY NEED IN THIS ENVIRONMENT, IT WAS ALL RIGHT HERE.

IT WAS AT THIS PLACE, ACTUALLY, THIS WAS A MASSIVE VILLAGE SITE.

A HUGE PLACE.

IT WAS PROBABLY TEEMING WITH WARRIORS AND WOMEN AND CHILDREN.

IT WAS HERE THAT THE CONQUISTADORS LANDED, AS LOCAL TRADITION HAS IT.

AND THE CHITIMACHAS TOLD THEM THAT THEY COULDN'T COME ASHORE.

AND NA TA, I LIKE TO THINK OF HIM AS THE BRAVE WARRIOR WHO PROBABLY STOOD ON THESE SHORES AND JABBED THE BUTT OF HIS SPEAR INTO THE GROUND.

AND HE LOOKED OUT AT THESE PEOPLE WITH THESE HUGE SAILS AND THESE SHINY HELMETS AND THESE STRANGE BEARDS.

AND HE TOLD THEM "DON'T COME ASHORE."

AND THE SPANIARDS TRIED TO COME WITH GUNS AND SWORDS, AND WE BEAT THEM BACK.

BUT THAT WAS THE BEGINNING.

THAT WAS FIRST CONTACT.

THAT WAS THE BEGINNING OF THE DEMISE -- WHAT WE CALL THE GREAT SADNESS -- THAT MOMENT OF EUROPEAN CONTACT WHEN EVERYTHING WOULD CHANGE IN WAYS THAT WE COULDN'T HAVE FORESEEN -- AND LED TO ALMOST THE VIRTUAL EXTINCTION OF THE CHITIMACHA PEOPLE.

Lee: WE HAVE NO WRITTEN EVIDENCE THAT THE CHITIMACHA EVER WERE ENCOUNTERED BY SPANISH CONQUISTADORS, BUT WHEN HERNANDO DE SOTO'S EXPEDITION CAME DOWN TO THE LOWER REACHES OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER, THEY WERE ATTACKED BY A GROUP OF INDIANS USING AN ATLATL.

AND AN ATLATL IS A TOOL THAT PROPELS AN ARROW OR A SHAFT WITH A GREATER VELOCITY AND A GREATER DISTANCE THAN CAN JUST BE ACHIEVED BY THROWING THAT SHAFT.

AND THE CHITIMACHA, WE KNOW, WERE THE LAST OF THE NATIONS TO USE THE ATLATL.

AND ALSO, IN THE CHITIMACHA TRADITIONAL HISTORY, THERE ARE MANY STORIES ABOUT SPANISH CONQUISTADORS COMING UP BAYOU TECHE AND TRYING TO TAKE CAPTIVES.

AND WE DO KNOW ALSO THAT THERE WERE OTHER EXPEDITIONS THAT TOUCHED ALONG THE COASTLINE OF LOUISIANA IN THE 16th CENTURY.

AND SO IT'S ENTIRELY POSSIBLE, AND NOT JUST POSSIBLE, BUT PLAUSIBLE, THAT THE CHITIMACHA, WHO WERE IN CONTROL OF THE ENTIRE COAST WERE ENCOUNTERED BY SPANISH PEOPLE.

Stouff: I BELIEVE THAT MUCH OF THE CONFLICT THROUGH THE YEARS BETWEEN NATIVES AND NON-INDIANS ARISES FROM A BASIC DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE WAY THEY VIEW THE WORLD AND THE WAY WE VIEW IT.

SOMEBODY ONCE SAID TO ME THAT AS AN INDIAN, WE SEE THINGS THAT OTHER PEOPLE DON'T SEE.

WE SEE WHAT'S BEHIND THINGS, WHAT'S THROUGH THINGS.

MANY AGES AGO, AFTER THE ONSET OF THE GREAT SADNESS THAT BEGAN ON THIS CONTINENT FIVE CENTURIES AGO, THE CHITIMACHA FAMILY WAS SEARCHING FOR FOOD WHEN A WHITE DEER APPEARED NEAR THEM.

THOUGH IT WAS FORBIDDEN TO HARM SUCH AN ANIMAL, THEIR HUNTING GROUNDS HAD DIMINISHED GREATLY, AND THEY KILLED, COOKED, AND ATE IT.

AFTER THEIR HUNGER WAS SATIATED, THE OLD PEOPLE SAY EACH MEMBER OF THE FAMILY STOOD UP, AS IF IN A TRANCE, AND WALKED DELIBERATELY INTO THE LAKE, NEVER TO BE HEARD FROM AGAIN -- AT LEAST NOT IN THEIR HUMAN FORM.

YET IT IS SAID AMONG MY PEOPLE THAT THEY SOMETIMES EMERGE FROM THE LAKE AS BALLS OF FIRE, PENANCE FOR THEIR CRIME BEING ETERNITY IN SUCH FORM.

THIS IS A VERY OLD STORY.

MY FRIENDS AND I WOULD CAMP ACROSS THE LAKE FROM HERE.

AND MANY, MANY, MANY TIMES, WE WOULD ACTUALLY SEE FOUR OR FIVE BALLS OF LIGHT OVER THIS PLACE, OVER THIS SPOT.

AND WE NEVER COULD EXPLAIN IT.

IN MY EARLY 20s, WE CAMPED OUT HERE.

ONE NIGHT, PITCH BLACK, WE WERE WATCHING THE LIGHTS AND, SUDDENLY, THIS VOICE RANG OUT.

IT WAS ALMOST AN ANIMALISTIC GROWL.

AND IT WAS AN OLD -- WE JUMPED OUT OF OUR SKIN.

IT WAS AN OLD FISHERMAN.

AND HE LOOKED OUT.

WE ASKED HIM ABOUT THE LIGHTS.

AND HE LOOKED OUT ACROSS THE LAKE AT PEACH COULEE, AND HE SAID SOMETHING THAT I'LL NEVER FORGET.

HE SAID, "IT'S THIN THERE."

HE SAID, "IT'S THIN."

I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT HE MEANT AT THE TIME, BUT I THINK I DO NOW.

THERE ARE PLACES WHERE THE BOUNDARIES BETWEEN THIS WORLD AND THE NEXT, THE SEPARATIONS OF THE SEEN AND THE UNSEEN ARE NOT SO SUBSTANTIAL.

PEACH COULEE IN THE ATCHAFALAYA BASIN IS ONE OF THE THIN PLACES.

AND NOW AND THEN, THE COMFORTABLE LINES WE DEPEND ON TO ORGANIZE AND MAKE SAFE OUR WORLD BEND, CONVERGE, AND OVERLAP.

I BELIEVE THAT THERE'S PLACES ON THIS LAKE AND PLACES ELSEWHERE WHERE THERE'S POWER.

THERE'S POWER THAT WE CAN'T SENSE IN OUR CITIES AND ON OUR STREETS AND IN OUR HOMES.

AND THAT'S THE POWER OF THE EARTH AND THE POWER OF OUR ANCESTORS.

[ CHIRPING ] MY FATHER AND I MOST OFTEN FISHED AT ONE OF THOSE THIN PLACES WHERE THIS POWER PERSISTS.

WE CALLED IT THE POND LILY WORSHIP PLACE.

THE POND LILY WORSHIP HOUSE WAS THE CENTRAL RELIGIOUS SITE OF THE ENTIRE CHITIMACHA NATION.

IN THE DAYS WHEN THE NATION WAS STRONG, PEOPLE WOULD COME, FROM MY UNDERSTANDING, ALL OVER -- FROM ALL OVER THE NATION, AND GATHER HERE AT LEAST ONCE A YEAR, PROBABLY MORE.

IT IS IN THIN PLACES, LIKE THE POND LILY WORSHIP PLACE, THAT THE POWER AND MYSTERY OF AN UNSEEN WORLD OVERLAPS WITH THIS ONE, BUT FOR MODERN INDIANS, BALANCING BETWEEN TWO WORLDS IS OFTEN A STRUGGLE.

FOR MANY, MANY, MANY YEARS OF MY LIFE, I TURNED MY BACK ON THAT HERITAGE BECAUSE I COULDN'T RECONCILE THE TWO.

I COULDN'T UNDERSTAND THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BEING CHITIMACHA AND BEING NOT CHITIMACHA.

AND IT WAS NEAR THE END OF MY FATHER'S LIFE THAT I DID FINALLY UNDERSTAND THAT -- WITH HIS HELP.

AND TO HIS BENEFIT, HE WASN'T A PUSHER.

HE WAS...

THE TYPE OF MAN THAT LET ME JUST FIND MY WAY ON MY OWN.

WHEN I FINALLY CAME AROUND AGAIN AND REALIZED THAT THIS WAS WHO I WAS AND THERE WAS NO USE FIGHTING IT, THEN THOSE STORIES CAME BACK TO ME.

BAYOU TECHE, MY FATHER'S PEOPLE SAID, WAS CREATED MANY GENERATIONS AGO WHEN A HUGE SNAKE ATTACKED THE CHITIMACHA NATION.

IT WAS SO LARGE, ITS TAIL WAS AT PORT BARRE, LOUISIANA, AND ITS HEAD NEAR MORGAN CITY AT THE JUNCTION WITH THE ATCHAFALAYA RIVER.

MANY WARRIORS TRIED TO DESTROY IT.

MANY DIED.

IT TOOK A MASSIVE EFFORT OF ALL THE TRIBE'S STRONGEST MEN TO SLAY THE GREAT SERPENT.

ITS GREAT BODY LAY THERE AND DECOMPOSED, AND WATER SOUGHT OUT THE SPOT WHERE IT HAD COMPRESSED THE EARTH IN ITS DEATH THROES, FORMING A SMALL CHANNEL.

MY FATHER'S PEOPLE CALLED IT "TECHE" MEANING "SNAKE."

YOU KNOW, THE GEOLOGISTS AND THE HYDROLOGISTS TELL US THAT THIS WAS FORMERLY A CHANNEL OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.

AND ITS FLOOD PLAIN CREATED THIS RIDGE WE'RE STANDING ON AND CREATED ALL THESE FORESTS.

AND I HAVE NO PROBLEM WITH THAT.

I THINK THAT THE SPIRITUAL DOESN'T PRECLUDE THE SCIENTIFIC OR VICE VERSA.

THE TWO ARE NOT MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE.

IT IS THE INABILITY TO BELIEVE WHICH ASTOUNDS ME SOMETIMES, AS I WALK ALONG THE WATER'S EDGE, WATCHING SMALL BREAM STRIKE AT BUGS AND CHASE MINNOWS.

THE ATCHAFALAYA BASIN IS A PLACE WHERE THE BOUNDARIES BETWEEN WATER AND LAND MERGE AND THE TWO CONSTANTLY CONTEST WITH EACH OTHER.

THE CHITIMACHA PEOPLE HAVE LIVED AT THE WATER'S EDGE FOR UNCOUNTED GENERATIONS.

BUT, TODAY, OUR NATIVE WATERS ARE UNDER THREAT.

THE LEVEE STRANGLED OUR ANCESTRAL LAKE INTO A GASPING, LETHARGIC WEB OF CHANNELS.

LATER, THE OIL INDUSTRY WOULD ARRIVE WITH STEEL RIGS AND HARD HATS, CUT PIPELINE AND CREW BOAT CHANNELS, BREAKING THE MARSH INTO DYING SEGMENTS.

SANDBARS DISSECT THE BASIN, INFESTED WITH CHINESE TALLOW AND OTHER NON-INDIGENOUS SPECIES.

THIS IS LAKE FAUSSE POINTE.

THIS IS THE ANCESTRAL HOME FOR THE CHITIMACHA PEOPLE.

AT ONE POINT, THIS LAKE RAN 8- TO 10-FOOT DEEP.

BUT THE LEVEE JUST DISSECTED IT AFTER THE FLOOD OF 1927.

IT WAS A FLOOD PROTECTION MEASURE.

AND NOW IT'S MAYBE, YOU KNOW, 2 1/2, 3 FEET, 4 FEET AT THE VERY DEEPEST IN A FEW SPOTS.

IT'S SLOWLY SILTING IN.

WHEN WE LOSE A LAKE LIKE THIS, WE'RE NOT ONLY LOSING AN ENVIRONMENTAL PLACE OR AN ECOLOGICAL SYSTEM.

WE'RE ALSO LOSING A CULTURAL LEGACY.

Walden: IT IS A CHALLENGE FOR THE CHITIMACHA TO MAINTAIN OUR CONNECTION WITH THE WATER.

MANY OF US HAVE GROWN UP OUR ENTIRE LIVES BEING OUT ON THE WATER, HUNTING, FISHING, ENJOYING TIME WITH FAMILY.

AND THE CONDITION OF THE WATERS IN THE AREA HAS CHANGED DRAMATICALLY, EVEN IN MY LIFETIME.

Stouff: WITH OVER 1,000 MEMBERS ON THE ROLLS, THE TRIBE RESIDES ON A MORE THAN 500-ACRE RESERVATION AT THE EDGE OF THE ATCHAFALAYA BASIN.

ONCE A NATION OF FISHERMEN, VIRTUALLY NONE OF THE TRIBE MAKES A LIVING ANYMORE FROM OUR NATIVE WATERS.

Lee: IT DEFINITELY CAUSES AN ALTERATION IN TRADITIONAL LIFESTYLES BECAUSE PEOPLE HAVE TO GO AWAY FROM THE COMMUNITY TO WORK IN LARGE PART.

AND SO THERE'S A DISCONNECT.

WHEREAS PEOPLE USED TO LIVE TOGETHER IN FAMILY GROUPS AND COMMUNITY GROUPS, NOW THEY STILL ARE CONNECTED AND THEY STILL COME TOGETHER, BUT IT'S NOT THAT DAILY INTERACTION THAT HAS BEEN SO IMPORTANT IN THE PAST.

Stouff: YOU KNOW, MY GRANDPARENTS... MY GRANDFATHER AND HIS BROTHERS HAD TO LEAVE HERE FOR OPPORTUNITY AND TO GET AWAY FROM OPPRESSION.

AND THEY SPREAD OUT ACROSS THE UNITED STATES.

IN THOSE DAYS, AN INDIAN COULDN'T GET HIRED IN TOWN.

IN THOSE DAYS, THERE WAS REALLY NOT MUCH FOR THEM TO DO TO MAKE A LIVING.

ALL THAT'S CHANGED NOW.

Lee: IT'S A CHALLENGE TO BE TWO THINGS AT ONE TIME.

IT'S A CHALLENGE FOR ALL PEOPLE TO MAINTAIN A SENSE OF TRADITION, AND YET PARTICIPATE IN A WORLD THAT'S BASICALLY DOMINATED BY A TRADITION THAT'S NOT YOUR OWN.

AND IT'S A DELICATE BALANCE TO FIND THAT WAY OF LIVING IN WHICH YOU ARE ABLE TO EMBRACE WHAT MAKES YOU YOURSELF, IN THIS CASE CHITIMACHA PEOPLE, AND TO EMBRACE THAT AND TO PASS THAT FORWARD IN YOUR FAMILY AND IN YOUR COMMUNITY GROUP.

AND IT'S A HUGE RESPONSIBILITY.

IT'S NOT ONE THAT'S TAKEN LIGHTLY.

Man: IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DAY, THAT'S THE WAY TO GO.

Stouff: AND I LEARNED TO BECOME A MEMBER OF BOTH COMMUNITIES.

IT HASN'T ALWAYS BEEN EASY.

I THINK THE CHALLENGE FOR THE MODERN INDIAN WHO MUST EXIST BEYOND THE RESERVATION IS TO BRING THOSE TWO WORLDS TOGETHER AND KEEP BOTH OF THEM SEPARATE, BUT KEEP BOTH OF THEM SACRED.

AND IT'S A CHALLENGE.

IT'S A CHALLENGE TO RECONCILE THE TWO.

WHAT WERE THE LIGHTS ON THE LAKE?

WELL, IT WAS JUST A SORT OF A BALL OF FIRE.

THE BALL THERE WOULD BE BOUNCING ON THE WATER AND JUST SHOOT UP IN THE AIR.

Walden: I JUST WANT TO ENCOURAGE OTHER COMMUNITIES TO GRAB ON TO WHATEVER'S LEFT AND USE THOSE MEMORIES, USE THOSE RESOURCES, USE YOUR ELDERS.

AND EVEN IF IT'S ONE PERSON, TAKE IT ON AS A CHARGE ON THEIR OWN, JUST HANG ON.

AND MAYBE IN YEARS TO COME, THINGS WILL TURN AROUND.

Stouff: THE CHITIMACHA ARE FORTUNATE COMPARED TO MANY TRIBES.

STILL, I AM LEFT TO WONDER ABOUT THE FUTURE FOR THE PEOPLE OF THE MANY WATERS, IF THOSE WATERS ARE DISAPPEARING.

WHAT WE'RE HAVING IS AN ENVIRONMENTAL NIGHTMARE THAT IS AFFECTING ALL OF THE BASIN AND AFFECTING ALL OF LOUISIANA.

BUT FOR THE CHITIMACHA, THIS AGAIN IS LITERALLY WHAT WE TOOK OUR NAME FROM, AND IT'S VANISHING.

IT'S VANISHING RIGHT UNDER OUR FEET, AND IT'S VANISHING RIGHT UNDER OUR BOATS.

AND THE LAND IS GOING AWAY DUE TO EROSION, THE LAKE IS SILTING IN.

AND, EVENTUALLY, YOU KNOW, THE CYPRESS TREES ARE ALMOST ALL GONE.

SOMEONE TOLD ME ONCE THAT WHEN YOU STOP BELIEVING IN SOMETHING, IT CEASES TO EXIST.

THE POWER THAT'S IN THIS OLD LAND AND THE POWER THAT'S IN THIS OLD LAKE, NOT MANY PEOPLE BELIEVE IN IT ANYMORE -- AND IT'S GOING AWAY.

IF NO ONE BELIEVES IN THESE THINGS ANYMORE, IT'S GONE.

OUT OF THE REACH OF MEMORY, THE ATCHAFALAYA BASIN HAS ALWAYS BEEN AT THE CENTER OF OUR IDENTITY AS CHITIMACHA.

THESE NATIVE WATERS ARE THE VERY SOURCE OF OUR STORY.

ON THAT PERSONAL LEVEL, ON THAT INDIGENOUS LEVEL, IT'S A PLACE WHERE I KNOW THAT MY ANCESTORS HAVE BEEN HERE AND WALKED THESE SHORES AND FISHED THESE SAME WATERS.

THEY THREW OUT NETS HERE.

THEY BUILT MOUNDS HERE.

IT'S A CONNECTION WITH THE PAST THAT A LOT OF PEOPLE DON'T HAVE ANYMORE.

YOU HAVE TO BELIEVE IN PLACES LIKE THIS.

YOU HAVE TO KEEP THEM IN YOUR HEART.

AND YOU HAVE TO KEEP THEM THERE OR THEY'RE NOT GOING TO EXIST ANYMORE.

BLACK ELK SAID THAT SOMETIMES DREAMS ARE WISER THAN WAKING.

AND THIS IS ALL A DREAM TO ME.

IT'S A DREAM FROM A THOUSAND YEARS AGO.

AND I JUST THINK I'M LUCKY TO BE ABLE TO EXPERIENCE IT WHILE I'M STILL AWAKE.

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