DESTREHAN — Harry Hurst Middle School teacher Barry Guillot recently authored a swamp-themed counting book titled, “Who Lives in Louisiana Wetlands?”

However, this is no ordinary counting book. It is the first book in the world to be written in English and Niihau, an endangered dialect of the Hawaiian language.

This interesting combination connecting Louisiana and Hawaii is the result of incredible synergies between people, cultures and their environments.

It started with the Mississippi River Delta Institute, a hands-on teacher training sponsored by the Meraux Foundation and Hamline University’s Center for Global Environmental Education. Guillot loves to get to know people and collaborate on projects that educate about the wetlands of Louisiana, so he has been pleased to present at the institute since 2015.
In 2017, CGEE’s Director, Tracy Fredin, invited Guillot to Minnesota to attend CGEE’s Rivers Institute. And who else was attending but six teachers from a school in Kaua’i who were there as part of another project with CGEE? During the institute and the following trip up to the headwaters of the Mississippi at Itasca State Park, Guillot got to know the teachers of Kekula Niihau O Kekaha (KKNOK), a Niihau immersion school.
There were few written resources until the school received a grant to develop materials for the learning of the Niihau language. CGEE seemed a good fit for working with the Kekula Niihau O Kekaha school to create culturally-appropriate learning materials for the K-12 students of the school.
“Tracy had been working with the Kauai educators on a separate project at the same time he was working with our group of educators as part of the Mississippi River Delta Institute and noticed a lot of similarities in our groups,” said Guillot. “He told me he wanted to do a social experiment in mixing our groups to see what would happen. He described it as a ‘gumbo of cultures.’”

The two groups hit it off better than anyone would have expected.

“It is amazing how much our cultures are alike,” Guillot said. “The genuine love of family and food is at the root of it all. They are just a wonderful group of people and we all bonded very quickly.”
Fredin worked with one of the teachers at KKNOK to translate an English language counting book, with Barry’s images of the Louisiana swamps, to Niihau. Barry’s book will have an impact thousands of miles away on the students of KKNOK as they learn to count and learn the language of Niihau.
“When I learned more about the KKNOK book project, I immediately wanted to be a part of it,” said Guillot. “Hawaii’s Kauai Island where the students reside is well regarded as a paradise, but it is an entirely different ecosystem than what we have here. I wanted to share some of the of the beauty of our Louisiana wetlands and the creatures that live here. I have been in a few books, and have had stories published in books, but I have never had my name on the outside of the book as the author.”
“Words cannot express how grateful I am to have met Barry!” said Kekaha school Director Tia Koerte. “I was moved to tears by this book. Barry is a true gem and we are so blessed to have Ohana like him to help us in perpetuating our native language. From the bottom of my heart…MAHALO NUI LOA (THANK YOU VERY MUCH). We are forever grateful!”
Hardback ($22) and paperback ($12) copies of the book “Who Lives in Louisiana Wetlands?” are available for purchase at Wetland Watcher events and through Hurst Middle School. Upon request, Guillot will personalize and sign the books in the Niiahu language. All proceeds from the sales will go to the CGEE book project and the Wetland Watchers project.  

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