Support federal recognition for the United Houma Nation!
Cory Connolly
Hi all,
I'm emailing to share a petition to support federal recognition for the United Houma Nation - a Native American tribe in Southern Louisiana. More information on the effort is included in the email below.
As I mentioned to some of you, I went to visit the Houma in December to learn about their struggle with the BP oil spill and climate change as well as their fight for federal recognition. I really loved my time down there and met some incredible people, but the impacts of climate change on their community are real and urgent. 5 years ago this week the BP oil spill devestated the gulf coast and today (4/23) the Houma Nation is making a major email/social media push to get signatures for their petition for federal recognition. Federal recognition will help them deal with the impacts of climate change (present and future) that the community faces. Some friends/colleagues are currently in Louisiana working hard to support the Houma's fight for federal recognition and they have helped by sharing some template emails and social media posts below to help make it easy for people to spread the word once they have signed the petition. Please find all of this (email, facebook posts, twitter posts) below. If you can sign this petition (Sign the petition!) and help share the information below with your personal/professional networks, I'd really appreciate it.
Thanks in advance!
Cory
Sample Email #1
“How do you maintain a sense of your culture and community when the very land is disappearing underneath you?” Lanor Curole, United Houma Nation
Support federal recognition for the United Houma Nation! Sign the petition!
Five years ago this week, the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill off the coast of Louisiana decimated the fisheries of the Gulf Coast and devastated the livelihoods of the people who live there – including the 17,000-member United Houma Nation, a tribe native to southern Louisiana. But when the tribe sought money for damages from BP, they were denied because the tribe is not officially recognized by the U.S. government.
The Houma are literally watching their land disappear. Southern Louisiana loses the equivalent of a football field of land each hour. The oil industry, which has dredged channels and laid tens of thousands of miles of pipeline crisscrossing the marshes, admits responsibility for more than a third of Louisiana’s wetland loss.
The coastal location of the Houma’s tribal communities puts them at the center of pipeline and drilling interests in the Gulf Coast – yet they cannot contribute to decision-making about land use and environmental restoration. Federal recognition would promote self-determination of the Houma people and strengthens their fight for land sovereignty.
Sample Facebook posts:
http://is.gd/r64wEM Five years ago, the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill off the coast of Louisiana devastated the livelihood of the United Houma Nation, a tribe native to southern Louisiana. BP refused to pay damages to the tribe because they are not officially recognized by the U.S. government. Sign and share this petition in support of federal recognition for the Houma!
http://is.gd/r64wEM Southern Louisiana’s United Houma Nation is on the frontlines of climate change. Faced with rising sea levels, oil industry pollution, and increasingly severe storms, the Houma are demanding federal recognition to regain more control over decisions around their land and resources. Sign and share this petition in support!
http://is.gd/r64wEM The United Houma Nation of southern Louisiana has been struggling for more than 30 years for official recognition from the U.S. government. Sign and share this petition to stand with the Houma in their fight for justice!
http://is.gd/r64wEM The United Houma Nation in southern Louisiana is at the center of pipeline and drilling interests in the Gulf Coast. But without being officially recognized by the U.S. government, they cannot contribute to decision-making around land use and environmental restoration. Sign and share this petition in support of land sovereignty and federal recognition for the United Houma Nation!
Sample Tweets:
Stand with the United Houma Nation tribe in their fight to be officially recognized by the federal government. #GulfSouthRising is.gd/r64wEM
5 yrs after BP spill, Houma Nation still can’t reap damages w/o federal recognition. Sign petition! #GulfSouthRising is.gd/r64wEM
5 years after BP spill, stand with indigenous communities of the Gulf Coast in their fight for justice! #bp5 #GulfSouthRising is.gd/r64wEM
Stand with the United Houma Nation - frontline community fighting climate change, seeking federal recognition. #GulfSouthRising is.gd/r64wEM
Climate Justice Now! Support United Houma Nation, Gulf Coast tribe on the frontlines of climate change. #GulfSouthRising is.gd/r64wEM
Support sovereignty and self-determination for the Gulf Coast’s United Houma Nation! Sign and share petition! #GulfSouthRising is.gd/r64wEM
5 years after the BP spill, United Houma Nation still seeking justice! Sign the petition! #bp5 #GulfSouthRising is.gd/r64wEM
@SecretaryJewell, support federal recognition for the Gulf Coast’s United Houma Nation! #GulfSouthRising is.gd/r64wEM
Support indigenous United Houma Nation fighting for control of their land and resources! Sign the petition! #GulfSouthRising is.gd/r64wEM