Devon Parfait stands in his family home in the Westbank area of New Orleans, surrounded by tribal crafts his grandfather made. “Indigenous wisdom, values, and philosophies can help guide us toward the future,” he says. In other words, “understanding that simple truth that we are all connected.” The young leader is driven to do just that: Unite Indigenous knowledge and Western science to preserve Louisiana’s Gulf coast.
Parfait’s purpose became clear at a young age. He was only twelve when he agreed to be the future chief of his tribe—the Grand Caillou/Dulac Band of Biloxichitimacha-Choctaw—an honor passed down to him by his mentor and chief (now elder chief) Shirell Parfait-Dardar. Now twenty-seven, Parfait serves his people both as chief and as a coastal resilience analyst for the Environmental Defense Fund, working as part of the Mississippi River Delta Coalition.
For Parfait, Louisiana’s rapidly disappearing coastline is personal—his tribe has called the Gulf shores southwest of New Orleans home for centuries. Colonization forced Indigenous communities such as his south, “down the bayou” to these most “undesirable” areas now at the forefront of land loss—every hundred minutes, on average, a football field’s worth of land there becomes submerged. While studying geological sciences at Williams College, Parfait found that no data existed on how land loss had affected Native communities, though the forests his elder chief had played in as a child were all underwater. He has since dedicated his research to obtaining that kind of data and improving the methodology of measuring land loss in the murky bayou waters to better advocate for his community.
Now he uses his dual position to build bridges that will help government agencies and climate organizations work holistically with impacted communities like his. Parfait also participates with climate justice networks such as the Native Youth Climate Adaptation Leadership Congress, which cultivates young Indigenous leaders worldwide, and the Rising Voices Center for Indigenous and Earth Sciences, which connects Indigenous and non-Indigenous scientists, community leaders, and students to address the effects of extreme weather and climate events.
Taking cues from the writer and activist adrienne maree brown’s book Emergent Strategy, Parfait roots his approach to community building in the idea of planting seeds via conversations and watering them over time—because change often doesn’t take place immediately. “I water and plant whatever I can,” he says, “and grow a mental garden.”
Homebase: Marrero, Louisiana
Affiliations: Grand Caillou/Dulac Band of Biloxichitimacha-Choctaw, Environmental Defense Fund
Side Quest: While Parfait has shouldered a lot of responsibility from a young age, he still finds time to unwind, playing video games on his Steam Deck gaming computer and hanging with his family’s cats.
