Opelousa

Opelousa Indians

Opelousa Tribe: Probably from Mobilian and Choctaw Aba lusa, “black above,” and meaning “black headed” or “black haired.” Opelousa Connections. No words of the Opelousa language have survived, but the greater number of the earlier references to them speak as if they were allied with the Atakapa, and it is probable that they belonged to the Atakapan group of tribes. Opelousa Location. In the neighborhood of the present Opelousas. Opelousa History. The Opelousa seem to have been mentioned first by Bienville in an unpublished report on the Indians of the Mississippi and Gulf regions. They were few in numbers and … Read more

Opelousa Tribe

Opelousa Indians (probably ‘black above’, i. e. ‘black hair’ or ‘black skull’). A small tribe formerly living in south Louisiana. It is probable that they were identical with the Onquilouzas of La Harps, spoken of in 1699 as allied with the Washa and Chaouacha, wandering near the seacoasts, and numbering with those two tribes 200 men. This would indicate a more southerly position than that in which they are afterward found, and Du Pratz, whose information applies to the years between 1718 and 1730, locates the Oqué-Loussas, evidently the same people, westward and above Pointe Coupée, rather too far to … Read more