Coushatta

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(Redirected from
Koasati
)
For the town in Louisiana, see Coushatta, Louisiana. For the Better Call Saul episode, see Coushatta (Better Call Saul).
Coushatta
Alabama-Coushatta boy planting Christmas trees in Texas
Total population
Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana
910 enrolled citizens

Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas

1,000 enrolled

Muscogee peoples

The Coushatta (

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

When the Coushatta first encountered Europeans, their Coushatta homelands where in present-day

Creek Confederacy. The Koasati language is related to the Alabama language and mutually intelligible to Mikasuki language.[1]

Under pressure from

Muscogee peoples
.

Today, Coushatta people are enrolled in three

federally recognized tribes
:

Language

The

Apalachee-Alabama-Koasati branch of the Muskogean languages. An estimated 200 people spoke the language in 2000, most of whom lived in Louisiana. The language is written in the Latin script.[2]

History

Further information: List of sites and peoples visited by the Hernando de Soto Expedition

The Coushatta were historically farmers, growing a variety of

Chiska, Yuchi
, Tasquiqui, and Tali.

In the 17th and 18th centuries, avoiding the encroachment by European settlers, the Coushatta migrated west into present-day Alabama. Along the way they established their town at Nickajack (Ani-Kusati-yi, or Koasati-place, in Cherokee) in the current Marion 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 the

Alabama-Quassarte Tribal Town in Wetumka, Oklahoma

Some of the Coushatta tribe split from the Creek Confederacy and went to South Louisiana. Their descendants today make up the federally recognized Coushatta 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-day

Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas and have a reservation
near Livingston.

Ethnobotany

A decoction of the leaves of

sweet everlasting (Pseudognaphalium obtusifolium) is used for fevers. The Coushatta have historically bathed those with fevers with it.[5]

20th century to present

The

Muscogee (Creek) Nation, representing descendants of the broader Creek Confederacy. It has an enrolled
population of 380.

In 1972, the

state-recognition as a tribe. A year later it gained federal 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 the United States Department of the Interior.[6]

In the 20th century, the Coushatta people in Louisiana began cultivating rice and

crawfish on tribally owned farms on the reservation, where most of the current population resides. An estimated 200 people of the tribe still speak the Coushatta 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 Indian self-determination, many Native American tribes have developed a new source of revenue by establishing gaming 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 lobbyist Jack Abramoff to assist in establishing a casino on their reservation. They were victims of his manipulations, 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.

The

Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas achieved federal recognition in 1987. The nation acquired a 4,600-acre (19 km2) reservation near Livingston, Texas
, its homeland since settling in this area in the early 19th century. It has 1,100 enrolled citizens.

References

  1. ^ "Koasati (Kowassaati)". Omniglot. 28 November 2022. Retrieved 25 April 2024.
  2. ^ "Koasati", Ethnologue. Retrieved 27 May 2013.
  3. Hudson, Charles M.
    (1997). Knights of Spain, Warriors of the Sun. University of Georgia Press.
  4. ^ "Alabama-Coushatta Indians", Texas Handbook Online
  5. ^ Taylor, Linda Averill. (1940) Plants Used As Curatives by Certain Southeastern Tribes. Cambridge, MA. Botanical Museum of Harvard University (p. 61)
  6. ^ Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana Archived 2007-07-10 at the Wayback Machine, accessed 25 Apr 2010

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Koasati.
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