Indigenous peoples of Louisiana

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The state of Louisiana is home to four federally recognized Native American tribes, the Chitimacha, the Coushatta, the Jena Band of Choctaw Indians, and the Tunica-Biloxi. [1]

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indian Territory</span> Historic sovereign territory set aside for Native American nations, 1834–1907

Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the United States government for the relocation of Native Americans who held original Indian title to their land as an independent nation-state. The concept of an Indian territory was an outcome of the U.S. federal government's 18th- and 19th-century policy of Indian removal. After the American Civil War (1861–1865), the policy of the U.S. government was one of assimilation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana</span> Parish in Louisiana, United States

Avoyelles is a parish located in central eastern Louisiana on the Red River where it effectively becomes the Atchafalaya River and meets the Mississippi River. As of the 2020 census, the population was 39,693. The parish seat is Marksville. The parish was created in 1807, with the name deriving from the French name for the historic Avoyel people, one of the local Indian tribes at the time of European encounter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mardi Gras Indians</span> African-American carnival organizations in New Orleans

Mardi Gras Indians are African American carnival revelers in New Orleans, Louisiana, who dress up for Mardi Gras in suits influenced by the cultural practices of Native Americans, West Africans, and Afro-Caribbeans. The music, dance, and regalia from these cultures created the Mardi Gras Indian tradition during the era of slavery in Louisiana that continues today. This cultural tradition is a part of the African and African diaspora decorative aesthetic, and is an African-American art form.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caddo</span> Southeastern Native American tribe

The Caddo people comprise the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma, a federally recognized tribe headquartered in Binger, Oklahoma. They speak the Caddo language.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chitimacha</span> Indian tribe in Louisiana, United States

The Chitimacha are an Indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands in Louisiana. They are a federally recognized tribe, the Chitimacha Tribe of Louisiana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tunica-Biloxi</span> Native American tribe from Mississippi and Louisiana

The Tunica-Biloxi Indian Tribe, formerly known as the Tunica-Biloxi Indian Tribe of Louisiana, is a federally recognized tribe of primarily Tunica and Biloxi people, located in east central Louisiana. Descendants of Ofo (Siouan-speakers), Avoyel, and Choctaw are also enrolled in the tribe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Atakapa</span> Former Native American tribe from Gulf of Mexico

The Atakapa or Atacapa were an Indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands, who spoke the Atakapa language and historically lived along the Gulf of Mexico in what is now Texas and Louisiana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adai people</span> Extinct Native American people from Louisiana and Texas

The Adai were a Native American people of northwestern Louisiana and northeastern Texas. They were an Indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands and part of the Caddo Confederacy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Houma people</span> Native American tribe located in Louisiana, United States

The Houma are a historic Native American people of Louisiana on the east side of the Red River of the South. The United Houma Nation, who identify as descendants of the Houma people, have been recognized by the state as a tribe since 1972, but are not recognized by the federal government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands</span> Indigenous groups in the US

Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands, Southeastern cultures, or Southeast Indians are an ethnographic classification for Native Americans who have traditionally inhabited the area now part of the Southeastern United States and the northeastern border of Mexico, that share common cultural traits. This classification is a part of the Eastern Woodlands. The concept of a southeastern cultural region was developed by anthropologists, beginning with Otis Mason and Franz Boas in 1887. The boundaries of the region are defined more by shared cultural traits than by geographic distinctions. Because the cultures gradually instead of abruptly shift into Plains, Prairie, or Northeastern Woodlands cultures, scholars do not always agree on the exact limits of the Southeastern Woodland culture region. Shawnee, Powhatan, Waco, Tawakoni, Tonkawa, Karankawa, Quapaw, and Mosopelea are usually seen as marginally southeastern and their traditional lands represent the borders of the cultural region.

State-recognized tribes in the United States are organizations that identify as Native American tribes or heritage groups that do not meet the criteria for federally recognized Indian tribes but have been recognized by a process established under assorted state government laws for varying purposes or by governor's executive orders. State recognition does not dictate whether or not they are recognized as Native American tribes by continually existing tribal nations.

The Avoyel or Avoyelles were a small Native American tribe who at the time of European contact inhabited land near the mouth of the Red River at its confluence with the Atchafalaya River near present-day Marksville, Louisiana. The Avoyel are a member of the federally recognized Native American tribe and sovereign nation of the Tunica Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coushatta</span> Native American people

The Coushatta are a Muskogean-speaking Native American people now living primarily in the U.S. states of Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas.

The Mosopelea, or Ofo, were a Siouan-speaking Native American people who historically lived near the upper Ohio River. In reaction to Iroquois Confederacy invasions to take control of hunting grounds in the late 17th century, they moved south to the lower Mississippi River. They finally settled in central Louisiana, where they assimilated with the Tunica and the Siouan-speaking Biloxi. They spoke the Ofo language, generally classified as a Siouan language.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana</span> Indian tribe in Louisiana, United States

The Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana is one of three federally recognized tribes of Koasati people. They are located in Allen and Jefferson Davis Parishes, Louisiana. The tribe hosts an annual pow wow during the second weekend in June.

The Natchitoches are a Native American tribe from Louisiana and Texas. They organized themselves in one of the three Caddo-speaking confederacies along with the Hasinai, and Kadohadacho.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jena Band of Choctaw Indians</span> Ethnic group

The Jena Band of Choctaw Indians are one of three federally recognized Choctaw tribes in the United States. They are based in La Salle, Catahoula, and Grant parishes in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The Jena Band received federal recognition in 1995 and has a reservation in Grant Parish. Their headquarters are in Jena, Louisiana. Tribal membership totals 327.

The Alabama–Quassarte Tribal Town is both a federally recognized Native American tribe and a traditional township of Muskogean-speaking Alabama and Coushatta peoples. Their traditional languages include Alabama, Koasati, and Mvskoke. As of 2014, the tribe includes 369 enrolled members, who live within the state of Oklahoma as well as Texas, Louisiana, and Arizona.

The Ouachita were a Native American tribe who lived in northeastern Louisiana along the Ouachita River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tunica people</span> Native American tribes, Mississippi valley

The Tunica people are a group of linguistically and culturally related Native American tribes in the Mississippi River Valley, which include the Tunica ; the Yazoo; the Koroa ; and possibly the Tioux. They first encountered Europeans in 1541 – members of the Hernando de Soto expedition.

References

  1. "American Indians in Louisiana".

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