Audio Only.

Interviewer(s): S. Kennedy. Dulac, LA.

Affiliation: University of Arizona

I was referred to Mr. Wilbert Billiot by Kirby Verret. Mr. Kirby told me that he thought that Wilbert was one of the first Houma Indian to really move up the chain of command in the oil and gas industry. When I mentioned this to Mr. Wilbert, he chuckled and said not really. When I arrived at his house he was wearing an oil-stained tee-shirt, and said that he was getting ready to work on his car. After the interview, I spent a few minutes with him trying to troubleshoot the problem. He had pulled out a lot of components to get to the water pump, and then he discovered that that was not the problem. It looked like he had a lot of work ahead of him, and I wished him luck.

Wilbert Billiot is a fifty-five year old Houma Indian who has lived in Dulac, LA all of his life. He received a bachelor's degree from the University of New Orleans in petroleum services and petroleum technology. He worked for Unocal Corporation for twenty-seven years as a pumper, and traveled all over the Gulf of Mexico working in the oil field.