The area where the Mississippi River ends at the Gulf of Mexico has been a place of cross-cultural contact for thousands of years. Before Europeans came to the area, it was called Bvlbancha, ‘place of many waters’ or ‘…many tongues,’ reflecting diverse Indigenous communities coming together for trade and cultural exchange. Our institute will be held on the ancestral lands of the Chitimacha, Houma, Tunica, Choctaw, Ishak, and other Indigenous groups.

Heritage sites across the country are facing climate challenges, from wildfires to hurricanes. However, the southern Louisiana region at the mouth of the Mississippi River is uniquely imperiled by sea level rise, storm surges, land subsidence, and ecosystem-use by extractive industries like oil and gas. In Louisiana, undergoing the most dramatic land loss of all U.S. states, cultural landmarks from Indigenous mounds to African American burial grounds to historic are in danger. Building on the expertise and knowledge of Louisiana practitioners and culture bearers, this institute is designed for scholars and humanities professionals who are working on place-based projects in locations with their own climate challenges.

Each day of the institute will include a site visit, talk, and/or tour by a guest expert and structured time for reflection and discussion. The schedule includes pre-reads and multimedia resources associated with each activity. To the extent possible, site visits are completed in the mornings to minimize exposure to the subtropical summer heat of southern Louisiana. Please note that we will be spending nearly one full day on a boat on the Mississippi River.

Some of our key questions include:

• How are histories of dispossession, land and water management, agriculture, militarization, and industry visible and tangible in contemporary Louisiana landscapes and landmarks?

• How might approaches to preservation coincide or conflict with approaches to ecological and environmental care, and with current lives and cultural production?