Grand Bayou, Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana

Grand Bayou is an unincorporated Native American community in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana. The coastal village is home to the Atakapa Ishak Chawasha tribe and is only accessible by water. It has historically been self-sustaining and relies heavily on fishing.^[3]

Grand Bayou, Louisiana
Unincorporated community
Grand Bayou, Louisiana Location within the state of Louisiana Show map of Louisiana Grand Bayou, Louisiana Grand Bayou, Louisiana (the United States) Show map of the United States
Coordinates: 29°30′41″N 89°45′55″W
Country	United States
State	Louisiana
Parish	Plaquemines
Elevation	0 m (0 ft)
Population
• Total	40[1]
Time zone	UTC-6 (CST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (CDT)
GNIS feature ID	535309[2]

The village's population was around 1,000 in the 1940s.^[1] Since then, coastal erosion and disasters such as Hurricane Katrina have drastically impacted the settlement. Grand Bayou received increased attention after the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority's 2017 master plan for coastal restoration included neither aid nor a resettlement plan for the village.^[1][4] This has been partially attributed to the tribal community's lack of federal recognition.^[3][5] In 2024, a 600-acre parcel (240 ha) that includes a sacred mound was given back to the tribe by St. Paul's Episcopal Church of New Orleans.^[6] The church's ownership was discovered when the tribe was working with the Coalition To Restore Coastal Louisiana on shoreline protection. The land had been willed to the church in the 1980s.^[7]