The Atchafalaya National Heritage Area (ANHA) website www.atchafalaya.org offers a wealth of resources for use by students and teachers. Come take a tour of the site and learn all the exciting things ANHA has to offer!

The Video Answers
Watch the video on the first page of the website. What three things did you learn from the video?
Answers will vary.

In addition to English, what 4 other languages are available for the video?
1. French
2. German
3. Japanese
4. Spanish

Right below the video is a wonderful photo gallery with 40 pictures of the Atchafalaya Basin and some of the wildlife found there. Pick three animals of the Basin and research them. Describe the type of animal, bird, reptile, amphibian, its size, color and what it eats:
Answers will vary.

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Home Page Facts

What ethnic group contributed the name to the region? Native American

What does Atchafalaya mean? Long river

Can you name four ethnic groups that live there?
1. European
2. African
3. Caribbean
4. Native American

The Atchafalaya National Heritage Area (ANHA) covers 14 parishes in South Central Louisiana. The best way to define a Heritage Area is that it is a region with significant natural, scenic, cultural, historical, and recreational resources.

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Maps Answers

What is the northernmost big city on the map? Ferriday
Where can you get Tourist Information? Marksville, Bunkie, New Roads
How many birding opportunities are located here? 14
What river is the easternmost boundary of this region? Mississippi
What does WMA stand for? Wildlife Management Area

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Check out the FOOD section under Culture & History and fill in the blanks:

Louisiana's food is UNFORGETTABLE! Over 300 years of the blending of foodways from the diverse groups here produced a distinctive regional cuisine like nowhere else. Gumbo is a perfect example of this cultural blending, or creolization. Gumbo melds African, European, and Native American cultures. Gumbo comes from the African Bantu tribe word for okra, Nkombo. Filé is a gift from Native Americans. If your family has a German influence you are more likely to put potato salad in your gumbo.

Which part of Louisiana cooks their gumbo with;

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Check out the MUSIC section under Culture and History and answer the following true or false:

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Check out the LANGUAGE section under Culture & History.
Match the English words with their Louisiana French translation:

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Look under the NATURAL RESOURCES section of the website. Click on Atchafalaya
Basin and fill in the blanks below:

The Atchafalaya Basin is the national's largest river swamp, containing almost one million acres of bottomland hardwoods, swamps, bayous, and backwater lakes. The basin begins near Simmesport, LA and stretches 140 miles southward to the Gulf of Mexico. Estimates show that close to 22 million pounds of crawfish are commercially harvested annually from the basin. Over the past 10,000 years or more, the Mississippi River has changed its path several times, ranging from the current location and Bayou Teche to today's route past Baton Rouge and New Orleans.

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Look under the NATURAL RESOURCES section of the Home page.
Click Parks & Recreation and look under National Wildlife Refuge.
Compare the Atchafalaya National Wildlife Refuge with the Bayou Tech Wildlife Refuge and the Mandalaya National Wildlife Refuge in the table below:


Note: Bald eagles are no longer on the endangered or threatened species list.

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Did You Know?

A cypress tree exists in the Atchafalaya Basin that is 1,000 years old. Look under NATURAL RESOURCES. In the pull down menu there is a section for Old Growth Cypress. Look for the 1,000 year old tree and fill in the following blanks:

Imagine that Louisiana once had many cypress trees this size. List the local name of the tree The Castle and the parish where it lives Morehouse.

Under OUTDOOR RECREATION there are eight categories. Name them.

• Paddling
• Birding
• Biking
• Camping
• Wetland Tours
• Houseboats & Cabins
• Hunting & Fishing
• Golf

In Education & Tools, under Field Trips there are many wonderful places that you can visit. Can you find the field trip site that:

• Has 35,000 square feet of gallery space? Capital Park Museum
• Is where Governor Huey P. Long lived? Old Governor's Mansion
• Educates people about Juneteenth? Odell Williams Museum of African American History
• Displays a Navy ship that was awarded 12 battle stars in World War II? USS Kidd Veterans Memorial
• Is a park made up of a dozen buildings and offers hands-on activities? Zachary Historic Village
• Houses the archives for Zydeco? Opelousas Museum & Intepretive Center
• Has a reflecting telescope? BREC- LSU-BRAS Highland Road Park Observatory
• Exhibits an Egyptian tomb? Louisiana Art and Science Museum
• Is a three story Greek Revival mansion? Nottoway Plantation
• Highlights the 3,000 men, women, and children who found refuge in Louisiana in the 18th century? Acadian Memorial & African American Museum
• Teaches about the Underground Railroad? River Road African American Museum
• Is in an 1836 building that reflects Baton Rouge's military history? Old Arsenal Museum
• Shows many fields of hot pepper plants, a salt mine, and the plant were they make Tabasco sauce? Jungle Gardens at Avery Island