Avoyel
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| extinct as a tribe, merged into Tunica-Biloxi[1] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Louisiana | |
| Languages | |
| Avoyel language,
Mobilian trade jargon | |
| Religion | |
| Indigenous religion |
The Avoyel or Avoyelles were a small
The
Name
Also called variously Shi'xkaltī'ni (Stone-Arrow-Point people)[
French explorer Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville misleadingly called the Avoyel petits Taensas in 1699.[5] However, they are a different group than the Natchez–speaking Taensa, whom the French called the grand Taensas.[6]
Language
| Avoyel | |
|---|---|
| Avoyel | |
| (unattested) | |
| Native to | United States |
| Region | Louisiana |
| Ethnicity | Avoyel |
| Extinct | (date missing) |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | None (mis) |
076 | |
| Glottolog | None |
 Avoyel | |
The Avoyel language may have[7] been related to the Natchez language.[8]
Described by some historians as being a Caddoan group,[9] and by others as a Natchez-speaking group of Mary Haas' Gulf hypothesis[3][10] along with the Natchez and Taensa; their true linguistic and ethnic affiliation is somewhat uncertain because no written or spoken version of their language has survived.[citation needed]
History
17th century
At the time of European contact, the Avoyel lived in several villages on the Red River in locations near present-day
Never numerous, the Avoyel numbered 280 in 1698, according to French records. Their population declined markedly after that. The Avoyel likely experienced the same drastic decimation as
18th century
The Avoyel survivors were believed to have been absorbed by marriage into the neighboring Tunica, Ofo, and Biloxi peoples who had moved to the area sometime in the late 1780s or 1790s because of encroachment by Euro-Americans at their previous locations.[9][11][12][13]
19th century
Descendants
Since the 19th century, descendants of the Avoyel people have been part of the Tunica-Biloxi.[1]
Notes
- ^ a b c "General Conclusions" (PDF). Recommendation and summary evidence for proposed finding for Federal acknowledgment of the Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana pursuant to 25 CFR 54. U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs. December 4, 1980. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
- ^ "About the Tunica-Biloxi Tribe". Southern University Law Center. Retrieved 2024-05-23.
- ^ ISBN 978-1332017836.
- ISBN 978-0817312718.
- ^ a b Swanton, Indian Tribes of the Lower Mississippi Valley, p. 17
- ^ Hodge, Frederick Webb (1910). Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico N-Z. Smithsonian Institution Bureau of American Ethnology. pp. 668–69.
- ^ Kaufman, David V. (2014-05-30). The Lower Mississippi Valley as a Language Area (PDF) (PhD). University of Kansas. Retrieved 2023-02-08.
- OCLC 913650946.
- ^ ASIN B009QMIT10.
- ^ ISBN 9780807119631.
- ^ "Tunica Tribe: 1680-Present". KnowLouisiana. Retrieved 2018-01-23.
- ^ "On the Tunica Trail: Marksville". Louisiana Archaeological Survey and Antiquities Commission. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2018-01-23.
- ^ "Tunica Language Project: A collaboration of the Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana and Tulane University". Tulane University. 6 November 2014. Retrieved 2018-01-23.
References
- Swanton, John R. (1911). Indian Tribes of the Lower Mississippi Valley and Adjacent Coast of the Gulf of Mexico. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.