ISLE DE JEAN CHARLES

Since 1955, Isle de Jean Charles, the territory of the Isle de Jean Charles Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw (IDJC) tribe, has lost 98 percent of its area due to levee construction, coastal erosion, subsidence, rising seas and hurricane damage. The only access road onto the island, Island Road, is regularly inundated by high tides, storms and king tides. The tribe began organizing for resettlement over two decades ago, and have been called the USA’s first “climate refugees.” This term obscures the challenges the tribe is facing in maintaining autonomy over their resettlement with the United States federal government and Louisiana state government. In 2016, the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) awarded the state of Louisiana a grant to assist the tribe in relocating, an effort that was meant to be led by the IDJC tribe. The state government of Louisiana failed to include the Isle de Jean Charles Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw Tribe in their plan for resettlement off the island, and created a plan that did not allow tribe members to retain the ownership of their homes and land. As a result, the tribe turned down a $48 million federal offer and withdrew from the state’s Isle de Jean Charles resettlement project. The precedent set by the tribe highlights the need to ensure that both communities and land are addressed in plans for managed retreat, and the need for autonomy and self-determination for communities, especially those that have faced hundreds of years of structural racism. 2002 - ongoing
21560 acres
2 feet above sea level