We invite you to join us in tending to this special place in the months and years to come!
Nanih Bvlbancha was built on the Lafitte Greenway between January and March 2024 with community members actively involved in the build process - hauling soil, clay, oyster shells, bagasse, and driftwood to the site, shoveling and stomping to compress the earthen materials into a mound shape. Intertribal community members embedded prayers, gifts, offerings, dances, and even a Houma language dictionary into its layers.
We wove palmetto mats for erosion control, and drew “love letters'' to the mound, using paints made of native plant, clay and ochre pigments! We envision Nanih Bvlbancha as a neutral ground where we honor our Ancestors and yours, their stories and your stories as well, their unbelievable ingenuity and the ingenuity in each of us! We’ve gathered soils from along the Mississippi watershed, from all across this continent, and from other continents. We added those gifts of soil into our mound to honor the distant lands of many cultures and many peoples who call Bvlbancha | New Orleans home. We honor the powerful life force that is the Mississippi River, as she carries silt from other places to form the precious land we stand on, the nutrient rich soil that grows our food, and the water that nourishes the many beings of this place.
Our Nanih calls attention to the lands and other mounds we are losing in South Louisiana, and the urgent need to protect coastal and tribal communities, marking the four directions, calling us into a balanced way of being, recognizing that the health of our world, and ourselves, depends on that balance. We welcome these teachings in these precarious times. Nanih Bvlbancha reclaims a place for Indigenous peoples in the heart of Bvlbancha and honors, not only our ancestral histories, but also, our contemporary realities. It anchors us in relationship, reciprocity, respect for all beings, and inspires opportunities to gather as a culturally diverse community, educate in traditional ways that involve active participation, care and tend in more sustainable ways for our native plants, play ancient Southeastern ball games, and more! We invite you to be a part of Nanih Bvlbancha.
Join us Saturday, April 6 from 10am–3pm to engage with the space, its myriad stories, Indigenous crafts, food, and games. Prospect New Orleans extends a warm invitation to everyone to witness this transformative project, which bridges past, present, and future, celebrating the collective memory and ongoing narrative of our vibrant city.
For further details, please visit www.nanihbvlbancha.net and www.prospectneworleans.org.
As the final chapter of this iteration of the Artists of Public Memory commission, Nanih Bvlbancha not only commemorates the historical significance of earthen mounds but also reignites a sacred space for dialogue, remembrance, and cultural exchange. This project embodies the spirit of rewilding, community, gathering/togetherness, education, and ingenuity/thrivance, offering a platform for traditional and contemporary expressions of identity and belonging.
FOR MORE INFORMATION,
PLEASE VISIT: WWW.NANIHBVLBANCHA.NET AND WWW.PROSPECTNEWORLEANS.ORG
FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM: @NANIHBVLBANCHA, @PROSPECTNOLA, @NOLAGULF
Watershed Stories : Nanih Histories and Futures
Nanih Bvlbancha + Mounds of the Mississippi w/ Dr. Tammy Greer & Monique Verdin
A collaboration of the Neighborhood Story Project & Bvlbancha Liberation Radio. Supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Mellon Foundation, the University of New Orleans and the Gulf South Open School. Music by John DePriest. Special thanks to the University of New Orleans Justice Studies Program, and to PhD student Amanda Mester.
Ancient Architecture of the Mississippi
A collaboration of the Neighborhood Story Project & Bvlbancha Liberation Radio. Supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Mellon Foundation, the University of New Orleans and the Gulf South Open School. Music by John DePriest. Special thanks to the University of New Orleans Justice Studies Program, and to PhD student Amanda Mester.
Nanih Bvlbancha image taken during Spring Equinox 2024 : Anthroposonic Remote Sensing
Image courtesy of Brandon Keller
Artist of Public Memory
Prospect New Orleans
Artists of Public Memory is a new public art commission that invites Louisiana artists to share their visions of how monuments and collective memories can appear and function in our landscape, society, and public space. This initiative marks the first time Prospect has invited Louisiana-based curators and cultural organizations to nominate artists for a public art commission. Distinct from Prospect.6, which is scheduled to open in Fall 2024, Artists of Public Memory represents a key part of Prospect’s commitment to having a broader presence in New Orleans that extends beyond the parameters of the triennial exhibition.