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The United Houma Nation (UHN), the largest Indian tribe in Louisiana, has launched a GoFundMe account to raise funds to purchase the historic Daigleville School currently owned by the Terrebonne Parish School Board (TPSB). The building is listed on the National Historical Register through the tribe’s efforts.
The Daigleville School, located in Houma, was the only public school in Terrebonne Parish that allowed Indians to achieve a high school education in the 1960s. Before then, public education for American Indians was only offered up to the 8th grade. It was not until 1964 that American Indians were allowed to graduate in Terrebonne through forced integration – 140 years after the school system was established.
In May 2015, the UHN entered into a cooperative service agreement with the school board to steward and restore the Daigleville School building — an agreement that the UHN believes it renewed in May of 2020. According to UHN, TPSB sold the building in February 2021 to a private buyer without notifying the tribe, resulting in the United Houma Nation suing TPSB in federal district court. The lawsuit was dismissed in June — with the judge ruling that the school board has the sole authority to decide whether or not to sell the school building. However, the tribe, through its efforts, forced TPSB to rescind the sale and relist the property, according to UHN.
The United Houma Nation intends to buy the Daigleville School to preserve it so that future generations will never forget its historical significance, the tribe said. The Daigleville School was not only a beacon of safety for Houma Indians but a historical site recognizing the inequality of a “tri-tiered education system practiced” by the school board before being forced to integrate, UHN said.
To learn more about the Daigleville School story and to donate to the United Houma Nation’s GoFundMe account, visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/unitedhoumanation. For information about the recent federal court case, visit https://unitedhoumanation.org/follow-the-case/.
