Family Names
Many Houma Indians have the family name Billiot. This is usually pronounced by family members as "Be-Yo" . It is sometimes spelled as Beo to reflect this. English speakers have historically had a difficult time pronouncing the name Billiot correctly, even according to English rules of pronunciation. The most common English pronunciation is but is popular with younger populations.
The name origin is recounted in several popular theories. It may be a French adaptation or transliteration of a Houma word, from the French colonial period. The family name Billot or Billaut was a well-established name for Canadian settlers during the French-Colonial era; one or more French Canadians may have traded along the Mississippi and settled in Louisiana with a Houma woman. He may have given his surname to their children, leading to the propagation of the name Billot as a Métisfamily name. The surname Billiot is prevalent in eastern France, along the German border; it is related to the German name Billiad, meaning "sword carrier". The Houma encountered German speakers during their migration south, when they passed the communities that would eventually establish Hahnville and other ethnically German areas.
In lower Terrebonne and surrounding parishes, names of Métis families include Courteaux, Dardar, Naquin, Verrett, Verdin, Gregoire, Solet, Soulet, Parfait, and Dion. Francis and Fitch are also common. These are common names of Houma families around the "bayou country". These have been difficult for Anglo-Americans to pronounce or read. English-only policies in the state that forbade the teaching of either French or Houma deprived some Houma of being able to correctly read or write their own family names.
Today the Louisiana constitution guarantees residents the right to learn, teach, speak, read and write in both French and Houma. In the 1980s, the tribe led a language revival effort in which Houma children are instructed in their native language; many such students showed significant improvement in educational progress. Some of these Houma students have become distinguished as university graduates: linguists, scientists, musicians, Linux programmers, animators.
Read more about this topic: Houma People
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