Coushatta
The Coushatta tribe, also known as the Koasati, Coosawanda, and Shati, is a Native American group primarily located in Louisiana, Texas, and Oklahoma. Their language belongs to the Muskogean family, and their origins are traced back to diverse folklore traditions suggesting migration from the north and Mexico. The tribe first encountered Europeans in 1540 when Hernando de Soto documented their presence in Alabama. Historically, the Coushatta lived in harmony with other Indigenous groups, engaging in trade and cultural exchanges, particularly with the Creek peoples. Their traditional lifestyle involved hunting, fishing, and gathering, with a notable deity, "Isakita immissi," representing a connection to nature and spirituality. The tribe faced significant challenges in the 19th century, including disease and social disruption due to interactions with White settlers, which shifted their clan-based social structure. As of 2021, the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana had approximately 153 members, while the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas boasted around 750 members, with many involved in industries like timber and tourism today. The Coushatta's rich cultural heritage and adaptations to contemporary life reflect their resilience and ongoing community ties.
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Coushatta
Category: Tribe
Culture area: Southeast
Language group: Muskogean
Primary location: Texas, Louisiana
Population size:153 (2017-2021 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates; Coushatta Reservation and Off-Reservation Trust Land, LA) 750 (2017-2021 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates; Alabama-Coushatta Reservation and Off-Reservation Trust Land, TX)
The Coushatta tribe, also known as the Koasati, Coosawanda, and Shati, are now found mainly in Louisiana, Texas, and Oklahoma. Their language is part of the Muskogean language family. Differing folklore traditions place them coming from the north as well as Mexico. The first contact with Europeans occurred in 1540, when Hernando de Soto found the tribe living on Pine Island in the Tennessee River in Alabama. During the eighteenth century, Coushatta villages were connected with one another and with White settlements. The relationships between Indians were usually peaceful, and villages often engaged in athletic competition. The English settlers changed the Coushatta economy by trading cloth, munitions, and alcohol—all new to the Indians—for animal pelts.
The Coushatta lived side-by-side with other Creek peoples in the Southeast culture area. They shared many cultural traditions, including a religion revering “Isakita immissi” or the “Master of Life/Holder of Breath.” The deity was worshiped as “resident of the sky” and linked to sun worship. Many religious rituals and taboos regulated eating and drinking, as the Creeks believed that the consumer would acquire the qualities of the food he ate. Women gathered food and fuel; men hunted with blowgun and bow and arrow and fished with nets and spears. The linking of the Creek people with one another fostered a flourishing trade of goods. Indian traders traveled, offering distant tribes items they could not obtain in their living area.
During the 1790s, the Coushattas retreated from White settlements into Spanish Louisiana. They flourished in Louisiana during the first half of the nineteenth century and pushed into Texas, where they suffered from disease and ultimately united with the Alabamas in one village. There they traded with the White communities and got along quite well. The land they settled had to be conducive to agriculture and on a navigable river. They built huts of wood with bark roofs. Their diet consisted of game, corn, and wild fruit.
Migration and White society had a negative effect on the social organization of the Coushatta. By the mid-1800s, the clan and town had little social meaning. Intermarriage between Coushattas and other tribes, Whites, and African Americans was frowned upon but not uncommon. The family began to assume the traditional functions of the clan and town, including education and responsibility for children until they married.
In the twenty-first century, the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana had about 153 members in 2021, and the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas had about 750 members. There was also an Alabama-Quassarte Tribal Town in Oklahoma, which was considered an affiliate. Its population was estimated to be around 300. Most Coushattas in Texas and Oklahoma earn their living in either the timber or tourism industry.
Bibliography
Martin, Howard N. "Alabama-Coushatta Indians." Handbook of Texas Online. 29 Sept. 2020, www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/alabama-coushatta-indians. Accessed 22 Mar. 2023.
Precht, Jay. "Coushatta Basketry and Identity Politics: The Role of Pine-Needle Baskets in the Federal Recognition of the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana." Ethnohistory, vol. 62, no. 1, 2015, pp. 145–67. doi.org/10.1215/00141801-2821670. Accessed 22 Mar. 2023.
Shuck-Hall, Sheri Marie. Journey to the West: The Alabama and Coushatta Indians. U of Oklahoma P, 2008.
"Tribal History." Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas. www.alabama-coushatta.com/about-us/our-history/. Accessed 22 Mar. 2023.