美国国家公共电台 NPR--Climate change threatens Pointe-au-Chien Indian Tribe's cultural sites

Climate change threatens Pointe-au-Chien Indian Tribe's cultural sites

Transcript¹

A coastal² Louisiana tribe is creating reefs from discarded oyster³ shells to help preserve their land and cultural sites, and address sea level rise and erosion caused by climate change.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Climate change is impacting different regions in different ways, and communities across the country are finding ways to respond and mitigate⁴ the damage caused. For one Louisiana tribe, sea-level rise and erosion threaten their cultural sites. In response, the tribe is using discarded oyster shells to build reefs. WWNO's Halle Parker reports from New Orleans.

HALLE PARKER, BYLINE⁵: Growing up, Lori Stewart remembers shrimping, crabbing⁷ and fishing were a way to be with her family. And now she has kids of her own.

LORI STEWART: I didn't see it as a teaching lesson as a kid, but now as an adult, I know that, you know, that was a teaching lesson. It taught me how to live off the land.

PARKER: Living off the land for the Pointe-au-Chien Indian Tribe is getting harder and harder as more of south Louisiana's coastline is lost to the Gulf⁸ of Mexico. Stewart says sea-level rise and erosion threaten earthen mounds¹⁰ built by her ancestors. Some might have held houses or been used for ceremonies. Some are old cemeteries¹¹, deepening their importance.

STEWART: This is where our ancestors grew up. This is where they're buried.

PARKER: That's why Stewart and her tribe are working to protect them. Recently, volunteers with a local nonprofit traveled down to the southern tip of Terrebonne Parish to help with a unique solution.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Today, we will be building our fifth recycled oyster reef since the program started in 2014.

PARKER: Gloved up and ready to go, volunteers with the Coalition¹² to Restore Coastal Louisiana form several human chains, leading from giant 2-ton bags of oysters¹³ to boats captained by tribe members.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Remember - you got to put these ones in there, too.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: Little ones.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Oh, no, that's...

PARKER: Once the boats are piled high with smaller 40-pound sacks of oyster shell, they putter off down Bayou Pointe-au-Chien to Bernard's Mound⁹, or as Donald Dardar from the tribe says in French...

DONALD DARDAR: La butte a Bernard - that's what it was always called.

PARKER: Once there, the group unloads, stacking and splashing the sacks of shell near the mound's edge. When it's done, the reef will stretch about 300 feet along Bernard's Mound and some others nearby, using around 150 tons of oyster shell. Dardar hopes it will succeed in keeping the mound here, despite the state's land-loss crisis.

DARDAR: If we don't try and protect them, our next generation might not even see this. And we could talk about it, but, you know, it's not going to be there to show.

PARKER: These reefs are known as living shorelines. They act as a barrier against erosion, helping¹⁴ to keep the land in place using materials from nature, says Darrah Bach, the coalition's Oyster Shell Recycling Program coordinator¹⁵.

DARRAH BACH: The beauty of this project is it's self-sustaining. We're creating an ecosystem¹⁶ that hopefully will last for a very long time, if not forever, you could say. You know, it's often said that oyster reefs can outpace sea-level rise. So as the water rises in the Gulf, the reefs will grow upwards¹⁷ as well.

PARKER: The nonprofit collects shells from any willing New Orleans restaurant, then disinfects and recycles them for the community reefs. Not only does it preserve the land, but Bach says it creates new habitat underwater, too. They've seen it in action at their first Pointe-au-Chien reef around another eroding¹⁸ Indian mound. The area swarmed¹⁹ with marine²⁰ life when Bach last went out, despite taking a hit from Hurricane Ida last year.

BACH: We had live oysters growing from spat²¹ to sack size. We had mussels, crabs²², barnacles, Gobi fish, shrimp⁶ - all sorts of little critters enjoying the reef habitat.

PARKER: The coalition expects to finish the new reef by the end of next year and will keep building more. The tribe is also looking for more ways to slow the loss of land around them. Dardar says the reefs won't be enough.

DARDAR: We're washing away. And if nothing is done, for sure, we're going to just keep washing away.

PARKER: The tribe hopes this is just a start toward protecting their heritage and keeping the tribe's culture and identity alive.

For NPR News, I'm Halle Parker in Pointe-au-Chien, La.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

3 oyster   

n.牡蛎；沉默寡言的人

参考例句：

• I enjoy eating oyster; it's really delicious.我喜欢吃牡蛎，它味道真美。
• I find I fairly like eating when he finally persuades me to taste the oyster.当他最后说服我尝尝牡蛎时，我发现我相当喜欢吃。

4 mitigate   

vt.（使）减轻，（使）缓和

参考例句：

• The government is trying to mitigate the effects of inflation.政府正试图缓和通货膨胀的影响。
• Governments should endeavour to mitigate distress.政府应努力缓解贫困问题。

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 shrimp   

n.虾，小虾；矮小的人

参考例句：

• When the shrimp farm is built it will block the stream.一旦养虾场建起来，将会截断这条河流。
• When it comes to seafood,I like shrimp the best.说到海鲜，我最喜欢虾。

7 crabbing   

v.捕蟹( crab的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• We ought not to begin by crabbing everything. 我们不应当一开始就对一切事情采取吹毛求疵的态度。 来自辞典例句
• The boss is always crabbing about my work. 老板对我的工作总是横挑鼻子竖挑眼。 来自辞典例句

8 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

9 mound   

n.土墩，堤，小山；v.筑堤，用土堆防卫

参考例句：

• The explorers climbed a mound to survey the land around them.勘探者爬上土丘去勘测周围的土地。
• The mound can be used as our screen.这个土丘可做我们的掩蔽物。

10 mounds   

土堆，土丘( mound的名词复数 )； 一大堆

参考例句：

• We had mounds of tasteless rice. 我们有成堆成堆的淡而无味的米饭。
• Ah! and there's the cemetery' - cemetery, he must have meant. 'You see the mounds? 啊，这就是同墓，”——我想他要说的一定是公墓，“看到那些土墩了吗？

11 cemeteries   

n.（非教堂的）墓地，公墓( cemetery的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• It's morbid to dwell on cemeteries and such like. 不厌其烦地谈论墓地以及诸如此类的事是一种病态。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• In other districts the proximity of cemeteries seemed to aggravate the disease. 在其它地区里，邻近墓地的地方，时疫大概都要严重些。 来自辞典例句

12 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

13 oysters   

牡蛎( oyster的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We don't have oysters tonight, but the crayfish are very good. 我们今晚没有牡蛎供应。但小龙虾是非常好。
• She carried a piping hot grill of oysters and bacon. 她端出一盘滚烫的烤牡蛎和咸肉。

14 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

15 coordinator   

n.协调人

参考例句：

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。
• How am I supposed to find the client-relations coordinator? 我怎么才能找到客户关系协调员的办公室？

16 ecosystem   

n.生态系统

参考例句：

• This destroyed the ecosystem of the island.这样破坏了岛上的生态系统。
• We all have an interest in maintaining the integrity of the ecosystem.维持生态系统的完整是我们共同的利益。

17 upwards   

adv.向上，在更高处...以上

参考例句：

• The trend of prices is still upwards.物价的趋向是仍在上涨。
• The smoke rose straight upwards.烟一直向上升。

18 eroding   

侵蚀，腐蚀( erode的现在分词 )； 逐渐毁坏，削弱，损害

参考例句：

• The coast is slowly eroding. 海岸正慢慢地被侵蚀。
• Another new development is eroding the age-old stereotype of the male warrior. 另一个新现象是，久已形成的男人皆武士的形象正逐渐消失。

19 swarmed   

密集( swarm的过去式和过去分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去

参考例句：

• When the bell rang, the children swarmed out of the school. 铃声一响，孩子们蜂拥而出离开了学校。
• When the rain started the crowd swarmed back into the hotel. 雨一开始下，人群就蜂拥回了旅社。

20 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

21 spat   

n.口角，掌击；v.发出呼噜呼噜声

参考例句：

• Her parents always have spats.她的父母经常有些小的口角。
• There is only a spat between the brother and sister.那只是兄妹间的小吵小闹。

22 crabs   

n.蟹( crab的名词复数 )；阴虱寄生病；蟹肉v.捕蟹( crab的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• As we walked along the seashore we saw lots of tiny crabs. 我们在海岸上散步时看到很多小蟹。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The fish and crabs scavenge for decaying tissue. 鱼和蟹搜寻腐烂的组织为食。 来自《简明英汉词典》