HDV film Interview with Wenceslaus and Denecia Billiot interview part two

Listing past Island residents: Joe Dardar, Bernard Naquin, Inez Dardar, Loren Naquin Dardar, Edis Naquin, Olieus Dardar, Victor, Clement, Frances, Antoinne, Vitar, Manuel, Joe Naquin, Leo, Alfred... maybe 20 houses- now 35 or 40
Hurricanes make people leave- damage houses- destroyed houses on the road side of the bayou
No pirogue anymore, so they need the road- camp owners will still come by boat
In old days, they took people out to Montegut, but now it floods
Last hurricane evacuated to Schriever- 13 feet above sea level- daughter in law worried about flood there- funny
Trees on road from hurricanes in Mississippi
Point aux Chenes in Mississippi- below Ocean Springs- hurricane destroyed houses
Tugboat Captain 20 years- moved rigs, boats, Texas, Mississippi, Alabama
Well on Island- near house- dried up- $20 every few months
Pipelines from gas by head of road for houses- turn off for hurricanes, then back on after
Drilling offshore- inshore drilling got slow- oil too deep- several new wells around Little Calliou- now drilling inshore- deep
Harvey Pelltier, Texaco man- moved big rigs
Timbalier Island- messed it up, dug canals at middle of Island- now washing out sand and disappearing
Dug canal across Jean Charles Bayou for well- shut down well- canal getting bigger now
Oil companies own the land around- Island now only 14 acres wide
Grandson in the Mediterranean Sea doing oil work- in Egypt
Fishing in area- crab, shrimp, fish, sold crabs 15 and 25 cents a bushel- now 5 crabs for $6- 25 & 35 cents a bushel for oysters- now $25-30 a bushel.
$15 a day for fishing back then
Trolling for shrimp- $30 a barrel Grand Isle 12-15 count 1940s- pulled nets by hand
Some made nets by hand- bought in Bayou LaFourche- now some nets outlawed- trammel
Red fish, speckle trout, drum, sheepshead, mullet, and croaker
Weaving- baskets, hats, palmetto- made to sell at pow wows- Denecia learned from her Mother
Wenceslaus dances- gourd dance by people in military at pow wow- only local meetings now
Hope Island residents stick together and stay on the island- Houma and Biloxi Chitimacha
Plans to make people move are backed by people who want to make big camps- move Island residents to a place they don't want to go- not Parish government trying to move them- contractors and land developers trying- Army Corps of Engineers involved with last effort- suggested move to Bourg and Little Calliou area- into area that floods and is swampy
Houses around Robinson Canal area before the camps- regular working people
Built boats- one in Mississippi, one in Point aux Chenes
Built boats designed in his mind- built three. wood expensive now- used to be .25 a foot
1947 bought cypress in LaRose- 35 feet long and 10 feet wide