Searching for Higher Ground: Watershed Migration and Cultural Curation in the Fallout of Disaster*

Abstract

Due to land loss from sea level rise, subsidence, and hurricanes, coastal Louisiana residents face decisions about whether and how to move to live more securely. These (seemingly) biophysical processes are compounded by sociocultural evolution and technological progress, which often make rural people and communities feel devalued. Using these observations as a background, we ask: how do disaster‐related migration strategies correspond to broader migration trends nationally and globally? And, how do local, place‐based cultures influence and permeate these migration decisions and strategies? We rely on 32 interviews with those who are from southeastern Louisiana and are connected to local seafood industries. Using the Intracoastal Canal as a line of risk demarcation, respondents were recruited as either stayers (those residing south of the canal) or migrants (those who moved north of the canal or elsewhere). We find that within both groups, many individuals and/or their family members participate in watershed migration and cultural curation, practices of moving up the bayou toward safer ground and bringing place‐based practices along with this movement. We conclude by highlighting how the non‐linear experiences of migrants are part of larger historical narratives and practices of change, migration, and cultural and physical survival.