Our radio visitor today from the Jazz Festival food community is a trio of ladies from the Houma Native American Nation, from down on the bayou long before the Cajun were there, let alone oil and gas companies. The Houma tribe has been part of the Jazz Festival for many years. They make Indian fry bread, Houma tacos, and corn macque choux. That's a French translation from a Native-American word, and although it's closely associated with Cajun eats, it really is an Indian dish.
I don't know much about the Houma or the other Native American tribes. But I did have a question from my listeners that has been unanswered for a long time. Why doesn't anyone eat the clams in Lake Pontchartrain, where millions of the bivalves line the bottom. I've heard that evidence has been found that indicates the Indians ate clams. Large piles of the shells are a giveaway. But one of the Houma ladies say that the clams were used not for food, but as foundations for their sacred burial mounds. A big pile of clam shells makes a good, solid foundation for anything that is desired to stay put for a long time.
