Telling a Better Story: Indigenous Interpretation

Vermilionville Living History Museum began their project, “Telling a Better Story: Indigenous Interpretation,” with a goal to improve the careful and accurate representation of the history and culture of the Native American peoples on whose unceded land their museum now sits.

A land acknowledgement marker was installed which states:

"Vermilionville sits on the unceded lands of the Ishak People. And we would like to express our gratitude to elders past, present, and future of the dozens of other First Nations whose ancestral or current lands are within the boundaries of modern-day Louisiana, including the Chitimacha, the Coushatta, the Opelousa, the Choctaw, the Avogel, the Biloxi, and all other Indigenous people who lived and live where we now stand.

These lands continue to carry their stories and struggles for recognition, survival, and identity, and we are grateful for - and committed to - the opportunity to collaborate with the local Indigenous communities in the sharing of their culture and their ongoing struggle for sovereignty."

The marker, placed at the forefront of the welcome center not only helps to inform guests, but also to remind those that work on this property that they were not the first here and that they have a responsibility and commitment to further share the Indigenous story.

Additionally, the museum constructed a ramada-style open shelter, following closely to descriptions made from some of the first colonizers and explorers in this area, and confirmed further with some of the museum’s Indigenous partners and tribal communities.

A section of the property has been tilled over, treated/balanced/improved, and planted with native seeds for river cane and prairie plants that will provide examples of important plants for healing, ritual, tools, and decoration.

Finally, a permanent exhibit was installed in the museum lobby that informs guests about the many Indigenous sites that have been discovered within just a few hundred yards of Vermilionville. One of the sites is purported by the Atakapas-Ishak to have been the largest settlement of their people. Another nearby site acted as a major trade hub and distribution point for 30 miles around it. These are sites that have little or no markers at all that tell their story. Guests are now able to learn not only that there were deep and established traditions, families, settlements, and culture long before the arrival of European colonizers and explorers, but also that so much of this history has been all but lost.