ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the possibility that certain cultural changes within the Houma tribe of southern Louisiana came about through a history of environmental modification. Several areas of change most connected to the historic change in the Houma's environment are population, settlement patterns, socio-political organization, and economic patterns. The ecological approach attempts to separate cultural values and elements of social organization closely related to the environment from others. The Houma tribe traditionally shared many characteristics with other southeastern tribes, particularly the Choctaw. For example, both languages belonged to the Muskoghean language group. The population of the Houma tribe fluctuated within a specified range during their recorded agricultural era. The original Houma social structure, and its centralized power passed matrilineally, gradually shifted in the late nineteenth century as the tribe adapted its traditional agricultural economy to hunting and gathering. The Houma were traditionally an agricultural people and their ceremonies and technology were related to subsistence activities.
