"When I asked Joel Waltzer what American Indians in the southernmost parts of Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes need most right now, he thought for a moment.

"Well, let's see," he said. "What they need most of all is a little bit of our coast back."

Joel, a lawyer from New Orleans who works with the Point-Au-Chien Indian tribe, fears for the small coastal communities where Indians have lived for hundreds of years.

"Their land is just disappearing," he said.

In 2005, residents were in the path of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Now, they're struggling to recover from Gustav and Ike.

"These folks have had a very difficult time," Joel said. "They're fishermen. They don't have a lot.""

Get the Story:
Sheila Stroup: Tribes need help now, and for future (The New Orleans Times-Picayune 9/18)