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Pointe aux Chenes. (Point au Chien). A disappearing way of life.

07 June 2010. Pointe aux Chenes, Louisiana.
Fading away. Fisherman Walter Guidry listens and learns as local Pointe aux Chenes Indians take a 40 hour Hazardous waste operation class in order to get certification to work for BP as sub contractors cleaning up oil. The isolated town of Pointe Aux Chenes clings to the little land that remains along the bayous and waterways of southern Louisiana. Oil washes up on the marsh grasses just south of tribal homes. If the grass dies, there is nothing left to hold the land. All of this was solid ground just 100 years ago. Diversion of the mighty Mississippi River diverted sediment from the wetlands and deposited precious land building material deep out at sea. At present, all these fishing grounds are closed. Members of the Pointe aux Chenes Indians, settlers that can trace their roots beyond 5 generations back to France face extinction of their very way of life, their very existence. French cajun is the language of the elders, but is dying out in the children of today. BP's catastrophic oil spill threatens everything, their way of life and the land on which they live. Not recognised by the federal government, the 680 member tribe struggles for funds in a small community that survives only because of fishing and oil extraction in the Gulf of Mexico.
Photo; Charlie Varley/varleypix.com

Filename: 07june10-point aux chenes 100.JPG
Copyright: Charlie Varley www.varleypix.com
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Contained in galleries: 07june10-pointe aux chenes

07 June 2010. Pointe aux Chenes, Louisiana.<br />
Fading away. Fisherman Walter Guidry listens and learns as local Pointe aux Chenes Indians take a 40 hour Hazardous waste operation class in order to get certification to work for BP as sub contractors cleaning up oil. The isolated town of Pointe Aux Chenes clings to the little land that remains along the bayous and waterways of southern Louisiana. Oil washes up on the marsh grasses just south of tribal homes. If the grass dies, there is nothing left to hold the land. All of this was solid ground just 100 years ago. Diversion of the mighty Mississippi River diverted sediment from the wetlands and deposited precious land building material deep out at sea. At present, all these fishing grounds are closed. Members of the Pointe aux Chenes Indians, settlers that can trace their roots beyond 5 generations back to France face extinction of their very way of life, their very existence. French cajun is the language of the elders, but is dying out in the children of today. BP's catastrophic oil spill threatens everything, their way of life and the land on which they live. Not recognised by the federal government, the 680 member tribe struggles for funds in a small community that survives only because of fishing and oil extraction in the Gulf of Mexico.<br />
Photo; Charlie Varley/varleypix.com