Coushatta
The Coushatta (also Koasati, Coosauda or Quassarte ) are a North American Indian people living mainly in the U.S. state of Louisiana.
History
The Coushatta have always been farmers. They grew corn and other crops and supplemented their diet by hunting. From 1763 many Coushatta and related with them and allied Alabama moved from their former tribal areas due to the pressure of the European settlers in the area of today's Texas, where they make up the 1987 federally Recognized Alabama Coushatta Tribe of Texas today. Those Coushatta ( Koasati, Coosauda or Quassarte ) and Alabama, who remained fought as members of the Creek Confederacy (also Muskogee ) against the United States. They lost in 1784 in the Treaty of Fort James Jackson all their land. Most Alabama and Coushatta some accompanied the Muskogee to Oklahoma, where their descendants today as a federally Recognized tribe of Alabama Quassarte Tribal Town live. In the 20th century, they began to cultivate rice on tribal land and breed crayfish. They are also known for their basketry.
Language
The language of the Coushatta belongs to the Muskogean languages and is still spoken, although it is learned in the early 21st century by fewer and fewer young people.
Today's tribes and groups of Coushatta
Today there are three recognized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs ( federally recognized) tribes:
- Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana ( county seat in Allen Parish north of the city in Elton Louisiana, reserve: about 2.77 km ², about 650 tribal members)
- Alabama Coushatta Tribe of Texas (along with the Alabama live about 1,137 tribal members in the 18 km ² reserve near Livingston, Texas)
- Alabama Quassarte Tribal Town (now 350 tribal members live together again with the Alabama in Oklahoma with administrative headquarters in Wetumka )
Film
- Rediscovering America: The Legends and Legacy of Our Past, part 2: Indians Among Us (1992). Produced and directed by Jonathan Donald; written by Roger Kennedy. Discovery Communications, Inc.