Cenla Org

The Alexandria Farmers Market acknowledges our relationship with the land and waters of our region. The Red River watershed connects us to the Atchafalaya delta. Indigenous peoples continue in these lands since time immemorial as evidenced by the knowledge embedded in earthworks in our landscape.

Louisiana’s historic tribes include the Caddo, Chitimacha, Ishak (Atakapa), Houma, Natchez, and Tunica. By the late 1700s, many more tribes entered the region including the Biloxi, Ofo, Choctaw, and Apalachee. During this period, many tribes combined.
In addition to the Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana located in Marksville, today’s Louisiana Federally recognized tribal nations include the Jena Band of Choctaw to the north, the Coushatta Tribe to the southwest, and Chitmacha to the south. Nearby state-recognized communities include the Clifton Choctaw to the west, the Adai and Choctaw-Apache communities to the northwest, and the United Houma Nation and associated tribal communities to the South. Native peoples still maintain connections and relationships of care for these lands today.

As an active first step toward decolonization, we encourage you to learn more about the Native Nations whose homelands this market resides on as well as the  Indigenous homelands on which you live and work. We also invite you to deepen your relationship with the living lands and waters of this region.

It is our commitment to further education about land and traditional foodways which our present communities have syncretized. Through deeper understanding of these histories we affirm support for access to foods and food sovereignty for our First Peoples.
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Resources:
https://gov.louisiana.gov/page/indian-affairs