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HOUMA, La. (WGNO) — The United Houma Nation (UHN) has created a GoFundMe account in an effort to purchase a historic building.

On Monday, the Tribe announced it would attempt to buy the historic Daigleville School. The building, currently owned by the Terrebonne Parish School Board, is listed on the National Historical Register.

In the 1960s, the school was the only public school in Terrebonne Parish that allowed Native Americans to attend high school. Prior to forced integration in 1964, public schooling for American Indians was only offered up to 8th grade.

In May 2015, the Tribe and the TPSB entered into an agreement to manage and restore the Daigleville School building. The UHN believes the agreement was renewed in 2020, however, the Tribe reports the school board sold the building in February 2021 to an independent buyer without notifying the tribe. As a result, a lawsuit was later filed in federal court.

The court case was dismissed, but legal efforts by the UHN required the TPSB and buyer to overturn the sale and re-list the property.

The UHN reported that it intends to preserve the building, including its history of both serving as a beacon of safety for Houma Native Americans and recognizing the inequality of a tri-tiered education system in Terrebonne prior to being forced to integrate.