This collaborative research project offers a unique, exploratory methodology for hazards research for a small coastal community, Grand Bayou, Louisiana. This intercultural Native American (Atakapa, Houma) and Cajun community of 125 represents a natural research laboratory well-suited to the study of community sustainability in an area of high coastal vulnerability. The Grand Bayou community is struggling to balance the threat of natural hazards, economic development and community sustainability. It is perched on the edge of survival due to repeated natural disasters, coastal erosion, and economic losses, as well as threats to cultural heritage and social networks. It is only accessible by water, is located in coastal wetlands south of New Orleans, and lies one mile west outside the protection of the Mississippi levee.
Participatory action research (PAR) represents a viable and culturally appropriate research strategy that will: (1) observe and record their efforts; (2) document and understand their heritage orally and visually; (3) assess human, built and natural systems; (4) apply a methodology unique to hazards research that uses a broad based interdisciplinary team. Rapid data collection is imperative due to the precariousness of this community from natural disaster, anticipated deaths among the elders, and migration for economic and physical survival. Small unincorporated and rural communities such as Grand Bayou often lack adequate attention, advocacy and resources in facing, responding to, or recovering from disasters. Grand Bayou represents an appropriate location for inquiry designed to generate knowledge on communities most vulnerable to loss but with a culturally based potential to survive.
