MANY WATERS
HOUSE
The Descendants Project headquarters will be located in a renovated 1806 plantation house now called Many Waters.
The Many Waters House was originally located on the Norma and the Lacaz Plantations in St. John the Baptist Parish.
The house was purchased by the Banners in 2004 and moved to their family’s land in Wallace.
Jo and Joy Banner named this historical Creole house Many Waters in connection to their ancestors who traveled by many different bodies of water and settled the area.
The house was also named Many Waters in honor of the Indigenous Chitimacha tribe, whose name translates to “The People of the Many Waters.”
Jo and Joy descend from the inhabitants who once occupied the house. As descendants of the enslaved, Jo and Joy Banner, believe that the plantation house should now be fully dedicated to the true liberation of the descendant community.
THE MANY WATERS HOUSE WILL BE RENOVATED TO INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING:
-
Ancestral Archeology and Burial Ground Research Center — There is no central location currently that collates the burial ground research and necessary archeological data into one accessible place.
-
African American Genealogy Research Center
-
Interpretive Public History Space — The Many Waters house will also contain an interpretive, public, history space that offers explanations, guidance and depicts the history, culture and experience of the descendant community and the deep connection to their ancestors.