The Houma (/ˈhoʊmə/) are a historic Native American people of Louisiana on the east side of the Red River of the South.

[2] According to the United Houma Nation Inc., as of 2023[update] they have more than 17,000 enrolled tribal members[1] residing within a six-parish area that encompasses 4,750 square miles (12,300 km2).

Oklahoma shares a similar etymology, as the root humma means "red" in Choctaw and related Western Muskogean languages, including Houma.

[5] They make an infusion of the leaves and root of Cirsium horridulum in whiskey, and use it as an astringent, as well as drink it to clear phlegm from lungs and throat.

[8] Members of the tribe maintained contact with other Choctaw communities after settling in present-day lower Lafourche and Terrebonne parishes.

Later explorers, such as Henri de Tonti and Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville, give a fuller description of the early Houma.

Iberville reported the Houma village to be six to eight miles inland from the east bank of the Mississippi, near the mouth of the Red River.

[citation needed] When Europeans arrived in greater number in the area, they struggled with the language differences among the Native Americans.

They thought each Native American settlement represented a different tribe and made errors in their designations of the peoples as a result.

Named Istrouma or Ete' Uma by those tribes and Baton Rouge by French colonizer Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville, this marker was at a site five miles above Bayou Manchac on the Mississippi's east bank.

One account said they wanted to move closer to their new French allies, concentrated in the New Orleans area, and away from British-allied tribes to the north.

[citation needed] Because of increasing conflicts among the British, French, and Spanish, the Houma migrated south by the beginning of the 19th century to their current locations in Lafourche and Terrebonne parishes.

[citation needed] Having lost Saint-Domingue with the success of the slave revolt establishing Haiti, Napoleon ended his North American ambitions and agreed to sell the Louisiana colony to the United States.

After white Democrats regained power in Louisiana following the Reconstruction era, they passed laws establishing racial segregation.

It was not until 1964 after the Civil Rights Act was passed and ended segregation that Houma children were allowed to attend public schools.

The Pointe-Au-Chien Indian Tribe in southern Louisiana and the Biloxi-Chitimacha Confederation of Muskogee have organized and left the United Houma Nation because of feeling too separated from other peoples.

[15] In 2013 the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs offered proposed rule changes as it was facing continued criticism of its tribal recognition process as being too stringent in view of US historical issues.

The community of Isle de Jean Charles has suffered severe erosion; scientists estimate that the island will be lost by 2030 if no restoration takes place.

Over time, the Houma were encouraged to adopt European-style names; in addition, there was considerable marriage by European men and native women.

Today most Houma have surnames of European origin, such as Billiot, Verdin, Dardar, Naquin, Gregoire, Parfait, Chaisson, Courteau, Solet, Verret, Fitch, Creppel, etc.

In the beginning days of the organization of the tribe, many Native people of other ethnicities thought they had to enroll with the Houma in order to be classified by the state as Indian.