Israel and the Coushatta: one miracle that deserves another

In 2008, David Sickey of the Sovereign Nation of the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana was glued to the media coverage of Israel’s sixtieth anniversary. As a result, by the end of that year, the Coushatta would become the first Native American tribe to establish a formal relationship with Israel, hosting an affirmation of friendship event with Israeli consular officials and issuing a proclamation that May 14 would be “Stakayoop Yanihta Yisrael,” or “the day to honor Israel.”

These days, the Coushatta are the exclusive American distributor of Aya Natural, an Israeli startup skincare company, and Sickey recently participated in the Southwest Louisiana Economic Development Alliance’s trade mission to Israel, led by Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu. Though ties between the Coushatta and the State of Israel have taken on an economic tone, the partnership is ultimately rooted in a shared appreciation for and commitment to nationhood, sovereignty and self-determination.

‘When I came to the tribe with my idea to establish relations, they took an interest because the Coushatta value sovereignty and nationhood much like the Jewish people, and autonomy is something to be embraced’

“When I came to the tribe with my idea to establish relations, they took an interest because the Coushatta value sovereignty and nationhood much like the Jewish people, and autonomy is something to be embraced,” recalled Sickey, who currently serves as vice-chairman of the tribe governing council. “We decided to explore ways of reaching out to Israel to celebrate their independence and recognize that achievement.”

Though the Coushatta do practice Christianity, Sickey said that religion was not a factor in his attraction to Israel.

Historical parallels between the Coushatta and Jewish experiences were also a crucial push factor. Originally encountered by Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto in the sixteenth century, the tribe was forced to relocate from present-day Georgia and Alabama to southwestern Louisiana due to pressure from colonial settlements. Their reservation sits on 685 acres of prairie and forests in the heart of oil and gas country neighboring Acadiana. The federal government officially recognized the Coushatta in 1973, and today the members of the tribe’s seven remaining clans number 879.

“When we first pitched the idea to the council, the issue was what do the Coushatta and the nation of Israel have in common, but once we began to look into it, we found similar stories about the plight of Native Americans and the Jewish people, the search for homelands, banishment from our homelands, adversity and persecution,” Sickey explained. “We both also have modern-day challenges of security and land rights.”

Sickey even identifies with the ethos of Labor Zionism.

“Both the Coushatta Tribe and the Jewish people have carved prosperous nations out of the wilderness,” he said. “Look at how much both we and Israel have achieved in a relatively short amount of time.”

“Speaking of similarities,” he continued, “The Jewish people and the Coushatta, we still speak our ancient language fluently.”

When former Consul of Israel Asher Yarden received an initial inquiry from the Coushatta at the Israeli Consulate in Houston, he was quite perplexed.

“I thought, ‘What the heck is this all about’, and I had no clue what to expect. But when I looked into it I understood that it was something that would only bring good to both the Coushatta and the State of Israel,” Yarden said. “My visit to the Coushatta for the affirmation event was very emotional, and I would even call it a life-changing experience. It was a highlight, if not the highlight, of my twenty-five-year career with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.”

After becoming autonomous, the Coushatta continued to carve a nation out of the wilderness by claiming a stake in the gaming industry. The Coushatta Casino Resort, a luxury facility featuring 100,000 square feet of gaming that employs over 2,600 people, opened in 1995 in Kinder, Louisiana, and has brought the tribe enormous economic success.

In the twenty-first century, though, the Coushatta are looking to diversify their economic portfolio beyond gaming. A friendship with Israel, it seemed, would be the ideal place to start.

In 2009, the tribe took a small delegation to Israel to explore various sectors that could also be developed at home. Aya Natural, a Druze company that produces olive oil-based lotions, creams and moisturizers in the Galilee, was low-risk and had low overhead.

“Aya looked like it fit into the overall picture as far as what we wanted to do with diversification,” Sickey explained. “The Druze were also very hospitable and welcoming, and it reminded me of Native American culture.”

The Aya venture has been very successful so far and, according to Sickey, the Coushatta are “currently contemplating a fish production facility that would utilize Israeli technology,” to be located on tribal lands. One potential hot spot in particular, of course, is the oil and gas industry.

“If Louisiana companies partner with Israel, we can offer peripheral support to those companies located around Coushatta lands,” Sickey said. “Tribal lands, for example, could offer light to medium manufacturing facilities for producing components for the industry, and they could also offer warehousing.”

So what has Sickey gotten out of his trips to Israel?

“The impression I get is that it’s a very dynamic nation, and it makes sense for the tribe to partner with a very robust nation and the only democracy in the region,” he said. “Every nation has its own internal concerns, and I’m confident they will resolve their issues.”

Sickey’s vision for the relationship also includes forays into cultural exchange. He says he would like to send a delegation of Coushatta youth to Israel to spend a week or two learning about the history and culture of the Jewish people and engaging with Israeli Jewish youth.

‘I want our youth to be able to dispel the myths about Israel’

“I want our youth to be able to dispel the myths about Israel,” he explained. “They would also be tasked with educating Israeli youth about Native American culture, and we found that there’s quite a bit of interest in Native Americans in Israel.”

The Coushatta are also exploring relationships with Louisiana Jewish Federations.

“We have contacts in the New Orleans Jewish community, but we don’t have a formal relationship with them,” Sickey said. “We hope to strengthen our ties with the federation there and with others across the state.”

So far, the overall reaction from the tribe to the Coushatta-Israel partnership has been positive. Rhonda Barbre, secretary of the tribe’s economic development committee and the casino’s associate relations coordinator, says she has enjoyed developing a relationship with Israel.

“It’s been very nice getting to know them and learning about their culture, and finding out that there are other people in other countries who have gone through the same thing,” she said.

Older members of the Coushatta tribe, on the other hand, have been slow in coming around.

“I can understand that people like my grandparents and great-grandparents are very grounded in their own history, and I see people that are the same way because they don’t live out in the world and remain in their own culture,” Barbre added. “They’re not easily opened up to ideas like this, but I think that the Christianity aspect makes it easier.”

Whether or not the younger generations will choose to maintain the relationship is another question. Though Sickey cites some interest among Coushatta youth, twenty-six-year old Shana Harmon is less confident about her demographic.

“I have no personal connection to Israel,” she said. “As far as the tribal members in my age group, I haven’t heard any feedback at all. Aya is popular, but other than that there’s been no response.”

Still, the unique relationship is rather miraculous.

“It’s almost a miracle I’m sitting here in the twenty-first century despite our struggles, despite the fact that a lot of Native American tribes were wiped out by disease. But the Coushatta are thriving,” Sickey said. “And it’s almost a miracle that Israel exists today, so this is something pretty special.”