Omens from the Past, Warnings for the Future

Abstract

Chapter Eight considers the stories told in the process of place-making. It focuses on the history of land loss in the Lafourche Basin via personal accounts of recent storms and land loss and of the hurricanes that destroyed vibrant communities such as Last Island or Chenière Caminada. These are the stories people tell when they create place in Terrebonne-Lafourche; it has been so for generations. The stories are presented in the words of the residents themselves. The chapters shows how these stories invoke both land and language, and a subsequent showcasing of the stories told about language demonstrate that people speak of the disappearance of land and of the language in parallel ways; the disappearance of both has thrown this into sharp relief and demonstrates that place is both physical and aural space made meaningful.