Indian Affairs

The Office of Indian Affairs seeks to enhance the individual and collective communities of indigenous people in Louisiana by serving as a resource and referral agent for Louisiana Native Americans and tribes seeking assistance navigating local, state, and national policies. The Office of Indian Affairs also serves as a pass through to provide funding to various local entities in Avoyelles Parish for infrastructure and awards scholarships to Native American students.

Click here for a full list of Louisiana's federally and state recognized tribes.

Office of Indian Affairs Native American Commission

The commission’s purpose is to advise the Governor's Office of Indian Affairs regarding issues pertaining to Native Americans, identify the needs and concerns of the Native Americans in Louisiana, establish criteria for state tribe recognition and recommend criteria to the Governor's Office of Indian Affairs and the legislature for adoption and implementation, review applications for the Office of Indian Affairs Scholarship and recommend scholarship awardees to the Governor's Office of Indian Affairs, promote Native American culture, awareness, and education across the state, promote Native American Heritage Month in Louisiana and conduct a comprehensive review of all state departments and agencies to identify obstacles to the effective delivery of governmental services by all service providers at all levels of government to Native Americans, propose methods for removing those obstacles, and submit such proposals to the appropriate governmental entity or entities.

2022-2024 Native American Commission Officers:
Interim Chairman: Chairman Thomas Rivers, Choctaw-Apache Tribe of Ebarb

Office of Indian Affairs Scholarship

With assistance from the Louisiana Indian Educational Association, the Office of Indian Affairs annually provides awards to Native American students from Louisiana tribes to attend a college or higher education institution of their choice. The awards are funded through proceeds received from the renewal and sale of special prestige license plates for motor vehicles representing Native American culture in accordance with RS 47:463:78. Recipients are selected based on academic and financial need.

Click here for the Fall 2023 Scholarship Application. The deadline is October 31, 2023.

Click here for additional information on how to obtain the American Indian special plate.

Constituent Services

The Office of Indian Affairs serves as a resource for individual constituent and agency inquiries regarding a myriad of issues facing Louisiana Native Americans including sovereignty of federal tribes, connecting state agencies, federal agencies and individuals with tribes, custody issues relating to Native American children, as well as directing Native Americans to appropriate state agencies as needed.

Isle de Jean Charles Resettlement Grant

The Isle de Jean Charles Resettlement Grant is a $48 million dollar grant awarded from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to Louisiana through the Office of Community Development-Disaster Recovery Unit. The goal of the grant is to successfully resettle the residents of Isle de Jean Charles located on Louisiana’s coastline as well as serve as a model resettlement resiliency project for the nation. This area, Isle de Jean Charles, is projected to be completely taken over by water in the next sixty years due to land loss and climate change.

Regional Map

Region 3:

Bayou Lafourche Band – Lafourche Parish
Chitimacha Tribe – St. Mary Parish
Grand Caillou/Dulac Band – Terrebonne Parish
Jean Charles Choctaw Nation – Terrebonne Parish
Pointe-au-Chien Indian Tribe – Terrebonne Parishe
United Houma Nation – Terrebonne, Lafourche, Jefferson, St. Mary, Plaquemines, and St. Bernard.
Parish

Region 5: