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LOUISIANA RECORD

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Terrebonne Parish School Board sold precious Native American icon behind Houma Tribe's back, lawsuit says

Federal Court
Houma

Daigleville School | unitedhoumanation.org

NEW ORLEANS - A Louisiana Native American tribe sued the Terrebonne Parish School Board, school board superintendent Philip Martin, school board president Gregory Harding and Walter Guidry of Montegut for allegedly wrongfully selling protected property, according to documents filed March 2 in New Orleans federal court.

The plaintiff is United Houma Nation, Inc, an indigenous group that has an ongoing Cooperative Endeavor Agreement with the defendant to steward the former all-indigenous Daigleville School in Houma. The school is of significant importance to Houma history and culture, the tribe said in the suit, representing the nation's struggle for education and battle with segregation. 

The building is on the National Register of Historic Places. 

According to the suit, the Terrebonne Parish School Board defendants sold the school to defendant Walter Guidry without notifying the plaintiff or offering the tribe the chance to purchase the school. The defendants are accused of hauling precious documents and school items out of the Houma school to put in the trash. 

United Houma Nation asks the court to declare the sale invalid and unconstitutional, citing charges of breach of contract and wrongful eviction. 

The plaintiff is represented by the Law Offices of Michael J. Billiot LLC of Houma. 

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