= Chitimachas, Gallatin in Trans. and Coll. Am. Antiq. Soc., II, 114,
117, 1836. Prichard, Phys. Hist. Mankind, V, 407, 1847.
= Chetimachas, Gallatin in Trans. and Coll. Am. Antiq. Soc., II, 306,
1836. Gallatin in Trans. Am. Eth. Soc., II, pt. 1, xcix, 1848. Latham,
Nat. Hist. Man, 341, 1850. Gallatin in Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, III,
402, 1853.
= Chetimacha, Latham in Proc. Philolog. Soc. Lond., II, 31-50, 1846.
Latham, Opuscula, 293, 1860.
= Chetemachas, Gallatin in Trans. Am. Eth. Soc., II, pt. 1, 77, 1848
(same as Chitimachas).
= Shetimasha, Gatschet, Creek Mig. Legend, I, 44, 1884. Gatschet in
Science, 414, April 29, 1887.
Derivation: From Choctaw words tchúti, “cooking vessels,” másha, “they
possess,” (Gatschet).
This family was based upon the language of the tribe of the same name,
“formerly living in the vicinity of Lake Barataria, and still existing
(1836) in lower Louisiana.”
Du Pratz asserted that the Taensa and Chitimacha were kindred tribes of
the Na’htchi. A vocabulary of the Shetimasha, however, revealed to
Gallatin no traces of such affinity. He considered both to represent
distinct families, a conclusion subsequent investigations have
sustained.
In 1881 Mr. Gatschet visited the remnants of this tribe in Louisiana. He
found about fifty individuals, a portion of whom lived on Grand River,
but the larger part in Charenton, St. Mary’s Parish. The tribal
organization was abandoned in 1879 on the death of their chief.