_Houma_—
The Houmas were accomplished farmers who lived in towns or villages and
farmed the surrounding lands. Certain unique cultural traits indicate
they may have migrated to Louisiana centuries ago from a homeland
somewhere in South America. It is evident they had some contacts,
directly or indirectly, with other Indian cultures in Mexico and South
America. Several varieties of squash and pumpkin native to the Indian
south of the equator were part of the Houma agriculture. Also, grew
peas, beans, and other vegetables. They relied heavily on their maize
crop but also grew several varieties of peas and beans in addition to
squash and pumpkins.
Another indication of ties with South America is their composite type
grooved blow-gun. It was made in two pieces and tightly bound with sinew
or fiber cord. Although this type of blow-gun was very common among
South American tribes it is quite different from the cane blow-guns used
by other Southeastern tribes of the United States.
When anyone in their village fell ill two wise men were summoned to the
cabin to chase evil spirits away by singing. Their cabins were perfectly
square structures made with pole frames covered with a plaster of mud
and Spanish moss. There were no openings in the house except for a very
small door 2 X 4 feet or less. There were no smoke holes for their
fireplaces either. After the house was plastered woven cane mats were
attached to the walls inside and out. These mats were then covered with
bunches of tall grass canes. Such a structure would last 20 years
without repairing.
A red crawfish was recognized as their war symbol. War parties were led
by women as well as men. One woman was so fierce and respected, she
occupied first place on the council of Houma villages. Women could also
serve as chief.
French explorer, LaSalle, first encountered the Houma in 1682 in the
area now known as Wilkinson County, Mississippi and West Feliciana
Parish, Louisiana near Angola. This was the first known contact with
Europeans. When the French returned to the area in 1700 half of the
Houma tribe had died of abdominal flu.
In 1706 the Houma and Tunica formed an alliance to strengthen themselves
against the Chickasaw and their British allies. Three years later the
Tunicans turned on their allies and many Houma were massacred in the
ensuing battle. Those who survived, fled southward and settled briefly
on the Mississippi River near Donaldsonville.
During much of the 1700’s they migrated from place to place searching
for a suitable location, free from pressures of other groups, where they
could resume their agricultural economy. As their tribe decreased they
united with other tribes and pursued hunting, fishing, and trapping to
feed and clothe their shrinking group. With other tribes joining and
merging with the Houma their cultures and customs were interchanged and
blended until the tribes were indistinguishable from one another. Only
the various chiefs attempted to maintain their tribal identities.
From 1820-1840 the Houma migrated farther and farther south until they
reached the Gulf of Mexico and settled along the bayous and swamps in
Terrebonne and Lafourche Parishes. They shared this territory with the
French Acadians and gradually adopted the French language and Catholic
religion.
Although they formerly had the skills to weave finely decorated cane
baskets similar to Chitimachan baskets, this skill was lost and replaced
with palmetto, cypress and cane weaving and moss mat making. Many of the
men are skilled wood carvers.
By 1940 they supported themselves almost exclusively by trapping
muskrats and raccoons in the coastal marshes, by fishing with nets for
shrimp and other fish in season, gathering oysters, and in a small part
hiring out to cane and rice growers in the lower parishes. Thus their
traditional agricultural economy evolved into a hunting and fishing one
on the coastal fringes.
Today tribal members are concentrated primarily in Terrebonne, Lafourche
and Jefferson Parishes with the majority located in Terrebonne Parish.
They have historically held the concept of each community retaining a
large measure of autonomy, existing separately and possessing different
outlooks and goals. With such tradition it is not surprising that two
distinctly separate tribal governments currently exist. The Houma Tribe
Inc., domiciled in Golden Meadow in Lafourche Parish serves Lafourche,
St. Bernard, St. Tammy, Orleans, Plaquemine, Jefferson and Terrebonne
Parishes while the Houma Alliance Inc., is domiciled in Dulac, in
Terrebonne Parish.
The Houma Alliance, Inc. was a founding member of the Inter-Tribal
Council.
_Acotapissa_—
In 1699 this tribe was living on the Pearl River about 11 miles from its
mouth. It is said to occupy 6 villages and the Tangipahoa occupied one
which had formerly constituted a 7th.
In 1702 or 1705 they moved to Bayou Castine on the North shore of Lake
Pontchartrain, six months later the Natchitoches, whose crops had been
ruined, were settled beside them by the commanders of the Mississippi
fort.
In 1718 they moved to the Mississippi River and settled 35 miles above
New Orleans on the east bank. In that year a Frenchman described their
village and said the chief’s house was 36 feet in diameter. Six feet
more than that of the Natchez Great Sun.
A little higher up the river they had a small village, then abandoned.
In their old town was a temple which they rebuilt after they moved to
the Mississippi River.
This tribe, the Bayogoula and Houma who had settled nearby were
gradually becoming amalgamated. The Bayogoula and the Acotapissa seem to
have combined first and then united with the Houma.
_Bayogoula_—
When the colony of Louisiana was founded in 1699, this tribe was living
on the west bank of the Mississippi River about 5 miles below Plaquemine
at a place which still bears their name. The Mugulasha tribe was then
living with them.
The Bayogoula were at war with the Houma. When the Mugulasha became too
friendly with the Houmas, the Bayogoula attacked their fellow villagers,
destroyed a considerable number and drove the rest away. They then
invited the Acotapissa and Tiou to take their places. In 1706 the
Taensa, who had abandoned their towns on Lake St. Joseph, settled in the
Bayogoula as they had attacked the Mugulasha. The survivors were given a
place to settle near the French fort on the Mississippi River. By 1725
they had moved above New Orleans. In 1739 they were living between the
Acotapissa and the Houma and had partially become fused with them. Their
subsequent history is given with the Houma.
_Mugulasha_—
This tribe was living at a site a few miles above the present site of
New Orleans on the opposite side of the river when LaSalle first
encountered them in 1682. In 1699 they shared a village with the
Bayogoula north of their former settlement. Between 1682 and 1699 the
Mugulasha and the Quinipissa joined together. The chief of the
Quinipissa in 1682, when the French first entered the territory, also
served as the chief of the Mugulasha in 1699. In May, 1700 they were
attacked by their fellow villagers, the Bayogoula, and were almost
completely destroyed. Survivors probably united with the Bayogoula or
Houma.
_Okelousa_—
In 1541 the Spaniards described them as a tribe “of more than ninety
villagers not subject to anyone, with a very warlike people and much
dreaded”, occupying a fertile land.
In 1682 they appear as allies of the Houma in the destruction of a
Tangipahoa village on the east bank of the Mississippi River. They were
a wandering people living west of the river on two little lakes to the
west of and above Point Coupee.
By the 18th century they were a small tribe living west of the lower
course of the Mississippi River. They evidently joined the Houma tribe
and ceased to exist as a distinct group.
_Quinipissa_—
This tribe was found by LaSalle in 1682 a _few miles above the present
site of New Orleans_, but on the _opposite side_ of the river. The
people received him with flights of arrows, and on his return used
peacemaking overtures as a mask for a treacherous but futile attack upon
his force. Four years later, Tonti made peace with this tribe. In 1699
Iberville hunted for them in vain, but later learned that they were
identical with the Mugulasha, then living with the Bayogoula about 20
leagues above their former settlement. According to Sauvolle, however,
the Quinipissa were not identical with the Mugulasha, but had united
with them. In any case, there can be no doubt that the _chief of the
Quinipissa in 1682 and 1686 was the same man as the chief of the
Mugulasha in 1699_.
In May, 1700, shortly after Iberville had visited them for the second
time, the Mugulasha were attacked and almost completely destroyed by
their fellow townsmen, the Bayogoula. The destruction was not as
complete probably as the French writers would have us believe, but we do
not hear of either Mugulasha or Quinipissa afterward, and the remnant
must have united with the Bayogoula or Houma, the latter having been
their allies.
_Tangipahoa_—
A tribe _probably related to the Acotapissa_ and perhaps originally a
part of them, whose home at the end of the 17th century was on an
_affluent of Lake Pontchartrain_ which still bears their name. Some may
at one time have moved to the Mississippi, Sioucie. LaSalle in 1682,
found, on the east side of the river, 2 leagues below the Quinipissa
settlement, a town recently destroyed and partly burned by enemies,
which some said was named “Tangibao”, though others called it
“Maheonala” or “Mahehoualaima”. The remnants of this tribe probably
united or reunited with the Acotapissa and eventually merged with the
Houmas.