The Coushatta are a Native American group with the largest population in Louisiana. They have three federally recognized tribes and historically lived in Alabama and Georgia before moving west. The Coushatta language has about 400 speakers, and the tribe owns farms and operates a casino.
The Coushatta, also known as the Koasati or Quassarte, are a Native American group with its largest population in Louisiana. There are three officially federally recognized Coushatta tribes: the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana, the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas, and the Alabama-Quassarte Tribal Town in Oklahoma. Collectively, these tribes have just over 1500 registered members.
Historically, the Coushatta lived in what is now Alabama and Georgia, where they led an agricultural lifestyle supplemented with hunting. Under pressure from European settlers beginning in the 16th century, the Coushatta gradually moved west from their original settlements. In the 17th century, the Coushatta allied with the closely related Alabama tribe and the two joined the Creek Confederacy, a group of Muskogean tribes with villages in present-day Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee.
In the late 19th century, many Coushattas moved further west to Texas and Louisiana. The Coushattas who remained in Alabama were forcibly relocated to Oklahoma following the Indian Removal Act of 19, along with Alabama and other Muskogean speakers. Alabama-Quassarte Tribal Town formed shortly after this migration and became the first federally recognized Coushatta tribe in 1830. Members of Alabama-Quassarte Tribal Town are eligible for dual citizenship with the Muskogee Creek Nation due to the historical relationship between the two tribes.
The Coushattas who moved to Louisiana and Texas are the ancestors of today’s Coushatta tribes in those states. The Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana gained state recognition in 1972, followed by federal recognition a year later. With 650 enrolled members, it is the largest Coushatta tribe. The Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas became a federally recognized tribe in 1987.
The Coushatta language, closely related to Alabama and Mikasuki, two other Muskogee languages, today has about 400 speakers, although few children learn the language. National Science Foundation-funded revitalization efforts are underway for the Coushatta language. The Coushatta tribe of Louisiana owns farms where tribe members grow rice, as their ancestors did, and shrimp. The tribe also operates a casino.
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