Chitimacha

Chitimacha Indians

Chitimacha Tribe: Perhaps derived from the name of Grand River in the native tongue, which was Sheti, though Gatschet (1883) interprets it through the Choctaw language as meaning “those who have pots.” Chitimacha Connections. The Chitimacha have given their name to a group of languages under the Tunican linguistic stock, including also the Chawasha and Washa. Chitimacha Location. On Grand River, Grand Lake, and the lower course of Bayou La Teche. Chitimacha Villages The earliest French writers couple with this tribe the name of a tribe or supposed tribe called Yakna-Chitto, “Big Earth,” but it is not known whether they … Read more

Chawasha Indians

Chawasha Tribe: Meaning unknown, though possibly “raccoon place (people).” Chawasha Connections. A reference to this tribe and the Washa by Bienville places them in the Chitimacha division of the Tunican linguistic stock. I had erroneously concluded at an earlier period, on slender circumstantial evidence, that they were Muskhogeans. Chawasha Location. On Bayou La Fourche and eastward to the Gulf of Mexico and across the Mississippi. Chawasha History. After the relics of De Soto’s army had escaped to the mouth of the Mississippi River and while their brigantines were riding at anchor there, they were attacked by Indians, some of whom … Read more

Fort Toulouse, the Chitimachas and the Natchez Wars

Another war between England and France began in 1718 – the War of the Quadruple Alliance. The French had succeeded in surrounding the British colonies in North America, except for the boundary with Florida.  France seemed poised to have most of the Southeastern Indians as allies.  These advanced Native American provinces represented the densest indigenous population north of Mexico.  However, the British Navy had destroyed French coastal forts and shipping almost at will.  France might control the coastline, but the British controlled the seas. Fort Toulouse – 1717 Anticipating more wars with Great Britain and desiring closer trade relations with … Read more

Choctaw Indian Research

Choctaw (possibly a corruption of the Spanish chcdu, ‘flat’ or ‘flattened,’ alluding to the custom of these Indians of flattening the head). An important tribe of the Muskhogean stock, formerly occupying middle and south Mississippi, their territory extending, in their most flourishing days, for some distance east of Tombigbee River, probably as far as Dallas County, Ga. Ethnically they belong to the Choctaw branch of the Muskhogean family, which included the Choctaw, Chickasaw, Hunt and their allies, and some small tribes which formerly lived along Yazoo River. Archives, Libraries and Genealogy Societies Societies Oklahoma Historical Society Indian Archives Search the … Read more

Chitimacha Tribe

Chitimacha Indians (Choctaw: chúti’cooking pot’ másha ‘they possess’: `they have cooking vessels’). A tribe, forming the Chitimachan linguistic family, whose earliest known habitat was the shores of Grand Lake, formerly Lake of the Shetimasha, and the banks of Grand River, Louisiana. Some 16 or 18 of the tribe were living on Grand river in 1881, but the majority, about 35, lived at Charenton, on the south side of Bayou Tèche, in St Mary’s parish, about 10 miles from the gulf. The remnant resides in the same district, but the present population is not known. The name of these Indians for … Read more