According to anthropologists there have been people in Louisiana for at least 12,000 years. They probably migrated from the northern United States in search of game as more and more of the northern areas fell under sheets of advancing ice. Louisiana was much cooler and the plant-life very different from modern times. These early men hunted bison, mastodon, camels, and horses with simple spears made by attaching a sharpened rock flake to the end of a spear. They were the true pioneers of this sta

The large animals gradually became extinct as the glaciers melted, the climate grew warmer, and the plant life changed. The native Louisianians were forced by necessity to hunt smaller animals and to supplement their diet with shellfish. The people of the Archaic Period moved from place to place leaving behind huge mounds of discarded shells which eventually increased the elevation of area and reduced flooding. During this period they developed such tools as spear—throwers, knives, scrapers, dri

In northeastern Louisiana, near Epps, is an ancient village site called Poverty Point. It contains a unique bird effigy mound and a large geometrical village. Houses of palmetto were built on ridges of earth arranged in an octagon east of the 600 foot long and 70 foot high bird mound. Since they did not have clay pottery, food was cooked by placing it in an earthen pit lined with hot baked clay balls. Tools, called micro-flints, were made from stone slivers to open shellfish, nuts, and seeds. Th

In coastal Louisiana much of the old Archaic tradition of shellfish gathering, augmented by hunting, continued long after the Poverty Point culture was 1,000 years old. About 200 BC crude pottery was added to the basic Archaic Culture on the coast and around Lake Ponchartrain. They continued to eat shellfish, supplemented with small game and wild plants. They lived on shell middens in circular houses made from poles and thatch....

The development of agriculture during this period freed the early Louisianians from daily hunting and food gathering which allowed them time for more religious and recreational activities. They began making fine pottery and flint projectile points for ceremonial and burial purposes rather than for purely utilitarian uses. They continued building earthen mounds and added rather elaborate burial practices by placing the deceased in the mound with pottery and recreational items such as chunkey ston

This was basically a continuation of the Marksville Period. Mound building became more advanced with a shift toward large flat topped pyramidal mounds as foundations for temples. These were probably used for sacred and ceremonial activities. The burial mounds continued to be built in conical shapes. Agriculture improvements included clearing fields by slashing the trees and burning them in the fields to provide fertilizer for crops. Bows and arrows were used for the first time which increased th

Maize agriculture was important during this period. Villages were located on bluffs and terraces near large streams and rivers to utilize the rich alluvial bottom land for farming and water for the villagers. Rectangular shaped houses were built by digging trenches 12-18 inches wide and as deep. Poles 6 inches or smaller were set upright in the trench and earth was packed around them until the trench was filled. Sometimes rocks or horizontal logs were laid in the trench to brace the upright pole

Trade routes with other Indians in the Southwest and Mexico increased and cultural diffusion was extensive. Trade with the first Europeans began during the 16th century. After 1,000 years the elaborate burial practices from the Tchefuncte Period were revived and expanded into a “Cult of the Dead”. Great burial mounds were built to contain the dead and their burial artifacts. Many wooden forms of men and animals covered with hammered copper, pottery shaped as human or animal heads, and pottery de

It is not known how many Indians lived in Louisiana, however, archaeological evidence, as well as written accounts by early Spanish and French explorers indicate there were large numbers. From the northern farmlands of the Caddo and Tunica to the southern swamps and bayous of the Chitimacha; from the southwestern prairie of the Atakapa to the eastern hills and rivers of the Natchez and the Muskhogee (Houma) were many tribes who adapted their culture, their lives, and their economy to available p

This large group of Indians occupied the prairies of southwestern Louisiana from Bayou Teche to the Sabine River and from Opelousas to the coastal marshes. They were a semi-settled, partially agricultural people occupying a number of favorable villages along waterways; the lower coast of the Calcasieu and around the shores of Calcasieu Lake, lower Mermentau, Grand Lake, along Bayou Plaquemine, along the Vermillion near the present site of Abbeville and a site near the present town of Opelousas.

The Chitimacha are the only Louisiana Indians known to currently live in the vicinity of their ancestral homelands. It is evident they were one of the largest tribes in Louisiana. Their large population was probably the result of a favorable environment which provided an abundant food supply of plants, animals and marine life without the necessity of extensive hunting or fishing expeditions, or the necessity to periodically abandon their village sites for lack of food. The men did the hunting an

The Choctaw were the second largest tribe in the Southeastern United States. They were excellent farmers who lived in permanent towns in the territory which is now Southern Mississippi and Southeastern Alabama. Although they were non-nomadic they developed and maintained extensive trade routes with other tribes as far away as Canada. Some of our modern road and highway routes follow those established by this tribe. The women did most of the farm work, fetched the water and cut firewood. They spu

The Coushatta occupied many villages in their Alabama homeland. They lived in towns and farmed the surrounding lands. The tribe was divided into clans. Each clan was allotted specific fields and a portion of their crops were collected for the public granary to protect against poor harvests, war emergencies and to feed the needy and hungry travelers. The clans elected their best orator as chief who in turn appointed a town chief and war chief for each town. In the center of the town was a square

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

The name Caddo is applied collectively to an important group of approximately 25 tribes forming 3 or more confederated groups of Kadohadacho covering the present states of Arkansas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma. Their culture was considerably different from those of other Louisiana tribes. They allied themselves with the plains cultures and unlike the other tribes of the state, who were afraid of horses, the Caddo readily accepted and utilized them for hunting buffalo and other game. The Caddo was ve

Tradition and early records indicate this tribe lived in the northwestern Mississippi and neighboring parts of Arkansas. By 1682 they had concentrated on Yazoo River a few miles above its mouth, though parties were scattered throughout northeastern Louisiana to boil salt which they traded. They had a village on the Ouachita as late as 1687. In 1706, fearing attacks by the Chickasaw and other Indians allied to the English, the Tunica abandoned their villages and moved to the Houma town site oppos

The Inter-Tribal Council of Louisiana, Inc., is a non-profit organization which was formed as an effort in Indian self-determination, i.e., Indians governing Indian programs. It is presently composed of four of the states’ tribes: Jena Band of Choctaws, Jena; Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana, Inc., Elton; Chitimacha Tribe of Louisiana, Inc., Charenton; and the Houma Alliance, Inc., Dulac. It was incorporated in May, 1975, and began administering an Employment and Training Program funded under the Co