Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Fall 2008 - (Page 53)

THE HISTORIC NEW ORLEANS COLLECTION Indian Encampment, Louisiana, circa 1860, by François Bernard. trade position because of their strong agricultural history, familiarity with the geography of the Bayou St. John/New Orleans area, excellent relations with French politicians, and ideal position on transportation routes. Even if this were the only way the Houma had distinguished themselves in colonial Louisiana’s history, it would be enough to forever signal their importance. Simply put, without them and other local tribes, New Orleans would not have survived. Nor was this lost on Bienville, who noted how the Houma and a handful of other local In Louisiana’s colonial history, all forms of food, but particularly corn, played a vital role in parleys between European powers and the Houma, one of the staunchest allies of both the F and Spanish. rench tribes kept the colonists alive through succeeding famines, not only supplying the city but also allowing soldiers to quarter in villages for extended periods. Though their cosseted chickens were not for sale under any circumstances, the tribe had no qualms providing large quantities of maize and beans, as well as generous shipments of venison and wild fowl. The Houma shipped large amounts of cereals, fish, game and medicinal herbs to the French Market and other shops of the Crescent City and in return enjoyed the benefits of trade. In 1739 the Houma supplied French troops ascending the river with dozens of barrels of corn and other vegetables, and as late as the 1870s the Houma and other tribes people sold herbs, roots, and berries in New Orleans markets. To a certain extent, growing tribal immersion in the new economy drew them away from ceremonial giving which had characterized political relations in the past, but the end result was much the same in that trade goods could then be redistributed to the tribe. Though the Houma seemed to have become an integral part of French colonial culture, the tribe’s status changed in the mid 1700s due to European immigration. One thing which had most benefited the Houma in their dealings with the French was their geographic position; living upriver from New Orleans, the nation not only supplied the city’s food needs but also buffered New Orleans from possible enemies, be those enemies unfriendly tribes or the English. This started to change with the arrival of German colonists in the 1720s — people very good at growing crops for sale downriver — but really sped up in the following decades. Acadians settled along the Mississippi in the 1760s and established a settlement at the junction of the Mississippi and Bayou Lafourche in Fall 2008/LOUISIANA CULTURAL VISTAS 53 MARKET ECONOMY

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Fall 2008

Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Fall 2008 Contents Friends Editor’s Column Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities New Orleans Immortelle The Historic New Orleans Collection Highland-Fairfield: The Historic Heart of Shreveport The Ogden Museum of Southern Art Perils of the Mississippi River Louisiana Foodways Harvest of Life King Oliver: The Forgotten King of Jazz Louisiana Architecture Jazz Notes Louisiana State Museum Eye of the Storm Louisiana Association of Museums Soul Resin Bookstand Sound Advice Forum

Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Fall 2008

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