For over 170 years, it has been the historical homeland and burial ground of the state-recognized tribe of the Isle de Jean Charles Band of Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw Indians.

[2] In 1955, Isle de Jean Charles consisted of over 22,000 acres (8,900 ha) and has since lost about 98% of its land due to saltwater intrusion, and subsidence.

[7] In the 1830s, the Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw tribe's ancestors moved to Isle de Jean Charles to escape the Indian Removal Act and the Trail of Tears.

The increase of sea level rise due to climate change in the past century has hastened the erosion process for coastal islands such as Isle de Jean Charles.

Man made disturbances such as dams and levees as well as the dredging of canals for shipping and oil pipelines all eroded the marshland to almost bare nothingness.

[10][14] In the early 2000s, only 25 families remained on the island, and the Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw's Chief Albert Naquin began tireless efforts to relocate the entire community to save the tribe's culture and traditions.

The impact of climate change increasing sea level rise and land subsidence in this island have hastened the urgency of Isle de Jean Charles' erosion.

Before the Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw's tribe's victory, an award-winning documentary, Can't Stop The Water, was filmed in 2013 about the community's on-going environmental hardships.

[15] Due to lack of government support for flood mitigation and land restoration, the Isle de Jean Charles Tribal Council decided they needed action and assistance for relocation of their whole community.

The USACE hired architects for the relocation proposal, with the idea of maintaining a cohesive community to be consistent with the tribe's federal recognition process.

But when it came time to vote, the majority of people from Isle de Jean Charles did not want to relocate due to their culture's close ties to the land.

The tribe would encounter a great loss of local knowledge and a gain of mental stress of being constantly fighting for their land and traditional lifestyle.

On January 25, 2016, the State of Louisiana received $48 million from the Department of Housing and Urban Development to put towards the Isle de Jean Charles resettlement, as part of the National Disaster Resilience Competition (NDRC).

[20] Oil and gas production corporations largely influence the coastal communities of Southern Louisiana, with around 90% of land in Terrebonne Parish belonging to non-local manufacturing companies.