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For The Houma Nation 'Language Is The Carrier Of History'

Michael Darda and Hali Dardar agree that when the land of southern Louisiana begins to erode into the Gulf, the Houma people will have to move, but that doesn't mean they have to let go of their culture.
StoryCorps
Michael Darda and Hali Dardar agree that when the land of southern Louisiana begins to erode into the Gulf, the Houma people will have to move, but that doesn't mean they have to let go of their culture.

StoryCorps collects the voices of our time. Recently, Hali and Michael Dardar interviewed each other, but don’t be fooled by their common name — they’re not related. Before coming to StoryCorps, they’d only exchanged emails and phone calls about the Houma Language Project, an oral history project for the Houma Native American community.

Both Hali and Michael are interested in Houma languages, particularly Houma-French: a unique French dialect that’s thought to be mixed with cadences attributed to the Houma.

Michael Dardar is a published historian who writes under the name T. MayheartDardar; he says, "the Houma community that will be here in 50 years will be determined by the choices we make now." HaliDardar leads the Houma Language Project in New Orleans and thinks the Houma will best be served as "a self-sustaining society [that's] able to learn from each other's experience."

Click the link below to hear an excerpt of the Houma’s aboriginal language.

vupd.mp3
"Up and Down," performed by Valentine Dardar of Golden Meadow, Louisiana. Recorded by Greg Bowman in the late 1970's.

StoryCorps is a national initiative to record and collect stories of everyday people. 

Thomas Walsh is an independent radio producer and audio engineer who lives in New Orleans. You'll see him around town recording music, podcasts, short films, live events and radio features. He's practically glued to his headphones. A movie geek to his core, he's seen every film listed on the American Film Institute's 100 Years...100 Movies and would love to talk to you about them.

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