 Alabama-Coushatta boy planting Christmas trees in Texas | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana 910 enrolled citizens Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas 380 enrolled | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| United States (Louisiana,Texas,Oklahoma) | |
| Languages | |
| English,Spanish,French,Koasati language | |
| Religion | |
| Christianity | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Alabama, otherMuscogee peoples |
TheCoushatta (Koasati:Koasati,Kowassaati orKowassa:ti) are aMuskogean-speakingNative American people now living primarily in theU.S. states ofLouisiana,Oklahoma, andTexas.
When the Coushatta first encountered Europeans, their Coushatta homelands where in present-dayTennessee,Georgia, andAlabama. They have long been closely allied and intermarried with theAlabama people, also members of theCreek Confederacy. TheKoasati language is related to theAlabama language and mutually intelligible with theMikasuki language.[1]
Under pressure fromEuropean colonization after 1763 and theFrench defeat in theSeven Years' War, the Coushatta began to move west intoMississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, which were then underSpanish rule. They settled in these areas by the early 19th century. Some of the Coushatta and Alabama were removed west toIndian Territory (now Oklahoma) in the 1830s underIndian Removal, together with otherMuscogee peoples.
Today, Coushatta people are enrolled in threefederally recognized tribes:
TheKoasati language is part of theApalachee-Alabama-Koasati branch of theMuskogean languages. An estimated 200 people spoke the language in 2000, most of whom lived in Louisiana. The language is written in theLatin script.[2]
The Coushatta were historically farmers, growing a variety ofmaize, beans, and squash, and supplementing their diet by hunting game and fish. They are known for their skill atbasketry. Nearly all the Spanish expeditions (including the 1539-1543Hernando de Soto Expedition) into the interior ofSpanish Florida recorded encountering the original town of the tribe.[3] It was believed to be located in theTennessee River Valley. The Spanish referred to the people asCoste, with their nearby neighbors being theChiaha,Chiska,Yuchi, Tasquiqui, and Tali.
In the 17th and 18th centuries, avoiding the encroachment by European settlers, the Coushatta migrated west into present-dayAlabama. Along the way they established their town atNickajack (Ani-Kusati-yi, or Koasati-place, inCherokee) in the currentMarion County, Tennessee. Later they founded a major settlement at the north end of Long Island, which is bisected by the present-day Tennessee–Alabama state line.
By the time of theAmerican Revolution, the Coushatta had moved many miles down theTennessee River where their town is recorded as Coosada. In the 18th century, some of the Coushatta joined the emerging Muscogee (Creek) Confederacy, where they became a part of the "Upper Creeks". They were closely related to the Alabama Indians and often intermarried with them. Coushatta and Alabama who stayed in Alabama were part of the 1830s forcible removal toIndian Territory west of the Mississippi River. Today their descendants form the federally recognizedAlabama-Quassarte Tribal Town inWetumka, Oklahoma.
Some of the Coushatta tribe split from the Creek Confederacy and went to South Louisiana. Their descendants today make up the federally recognizedCoushatta Tribe of Louisiana.
Notable chiefs among the Coushatta-Alabama were Long King and his successor Colita (1838–1852). They led their people to settle in present-dayPolk County, Texas, in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Colita's village was founded before the European-American settlement ofLivingston, Texas.[4] Descendants of these peoples form the federally recognizedAlabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas and have areservation near Livingston.
TheAlabama-Quassarte Tribal Town in Wetumka, Oklahoma, achieved federal recognition in 1939, following passage of the 1936Oklahoma Indian Welfare Act. Its people were descendants of a community that had moved as a group from their town in Alabama to Indian Territory in the 1830s. They settled together and maintained their tribal town identity. In addition, its people have dual citizenship in the federally recognizedMuscogee (Creek) Nation, representing descendants of the broader Creek Confederacy. It has anenrolled population of 380.
In 1972, theCoushatta Tribe of Louisiana achievedstate-recognition as a tribe. A year later it gainedfederal recognition. The tribe has acquired 685 acres (2.77 km2) of reservation near its historical 18th and 19th-century homeland. This land is held in trust on the tribe's behalf by theUnited States Department of the Interior.[5]
In the 20th century, the Coushatta people in Louisiana began cultivating rice andcrawfish on tribally owned farms on the reservation, where most of the current population resides. An estimated 200 people of the tribe still speak theCoushatta language. In the early 21st century, fewer young people are learning it, so the tribe is working on language preservation.
Since the late 20th century and the rise in Indianself-determination, many Native American tribes have developed a new source of revenue by establishinggaming casino on their reservations which are sovereign territories. States, which had begun their own gaming operations and regulated private ones, and the federal government have passed legislation to control Indian gaming, which must conform to what exists by state law. While such revenues are not taxable by the states, tribes often negotiate agreements with the states to share some portion of income, in recognition of their reliance on state infrastructure and other assets. In the 1990s, the Coushatta of Louisiana hired the lobbyistJack Abramoff to assist in establishing a casino on their reservation. They were victims of hismanipulations, as he charged them high fees but did not work on their behalf to gain federal or state approval of such development. He was ultimately prosecuted for his actions.
Since then, Louisiana Coushatta have established gaming on its reservation. It also has state tax–free sales of certain items to raise revenues.
TheAlabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas achieved federal recognition in 1987. The nation acquired a 4,600-acre (19 km2) reservation nearLivingston, Texas, its homeland since settling in this area in the early 19th century. It has 1,100 enrolled citizens.
A decoction of the leaves ofsweet everlasting (Pseudognaphalium obtusifolium) is used for fevers. The Coushatta have historically bathed those with fevers with it.[6]
