Daigleville Served As First Public High School for American Indians in Terrebonne Parish.
NEW ORLEANS, LA – The United Houma Nation (UHN), the largest Indian tribe in Louisiana, has launched a GoFundMe account to raise funds in order to purchase the historic Daigleville School that is currently owned by the Terrebonne Parish School Board (TPSB). The building is listed on the National Historical Register through the tribe’s efforts.
The Daigleville School, located Houma, Louisiana, was the only public school in Terrebonne Parish that allowed Indians to achieve a high school education in the 1960s. Before that time, public education for American Indians was only offered up to the 8th grade. It was not until 1964 that American Indians were allowed to graduate in Terrebonne through forced integration – 140 years after the school system was established.
In May 2015, the UHN entered into a Cooperative Service Agreement with the TPSB to steward and restore the Daigleville School building…an agreement that the UHN believes it renewed in May of 2020. The TPSB sold the building in February 2021 to a private buyer without notifying the tribe. As a result, the tribe sued the TPSB in federal district court. That court case was dismissed, but the UHN through its legal efforts forced the TPSB and the buyer to rescind the sale and re-list the property.
The UHN intends to buy the Daigleville School to preserve it so that future generations will never forget its historical significance. The Daigleville School was not only a beacon of safety for Houma Indians, but a historical site recognizing the inequality of a tri-tiered education system practiced by the TPSB prior to being forced to integrate.
To learn more about the Daigleville School story and to donate to the United Houma Nation’s GoFundMe account, visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/unitedhoumanation. For information about the recent federal court case, visit https://unitedhoumanation.org/follow-the-case/.
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Mrs. Davis is the founder, publisher and executive editor of the only Native American wholly owned and operated national tribal business publication, Native Business Magazine, and the producer of the annual and nationally attended Native Business Summit.
Mrs. Davis is also president of Davis Strategy Group has over 23 years of service to Indian Country and as an entrepreneur she has successfully established, operated, managed and grown several businesses in multiple sectors. She is equal parts a strategic visionary and behind-the-scenes implementor, essential in guiding and overseeing every process of brand development, business expansion, nation-to-nation relationship building and more.
She was named in 2009 as one of the first recipients of the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development’s, “40 Under 40” award which recognizes up and coming community and business leaders from across Indian Country.
