Theresa Dardar

Theresa Dardar is a resident of the small community of Pointe-au-Chien in Lafourche  Parish, Louisiana, one of the most fragile coastal areas in the world.  She is a strong local leader advocating for the restoration and protection of not just the ecosystem of the Gulf of Mexico and its coastal areas but also for the people and communities who call coastal Louisiana home.

As a tribal member of the Pointe-au-Chien Indian Tribe, she is a powerful voice for her community, serving as a representative and spokesperson for her tribe at local, state, national and international forums, such as the United Nations’ Human Rights of Indigenous Peoples Conference.  She has participated in the Intertribal Agricultural Network and has represented the Gulf Coast in various capacities.

She works as the Diocesan American Indian liaison at the Pastoral Center (the Catholic Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux) and serves as President of St. Charles the Roch, Kateri Circle, which is a branch of the Tekakwitha Conference.  She is a board member of South Louisiana Wetlands Discovery Center and Go Fish, (a multi-parish alliance of fisher families).  Theresa serves as representative for her tribe at the First Peoples’ Conservation Council meetings.  She is a member of The Grail, (a women’s movement) supporting human rights.  Theresa has been a participant/leader in Church Women United, an ecumenical women’s movement that fights against racial prejudice.

She spends most of her time traveling between political, professional, academic and organizational realms to voice justice concerns for her tribe and for the greater native community. When she does find herself at home, Theresa enjoys cooking special local bayou dishes and being out on the water and shrimping with her husband, Donald.