The Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana (

Coushatta The Coushatta () are a Muskogean-speaking Native Americans in the United States, Native American people now living primarily in the United States, U.S. states of Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas. When the Coushatta first encountered Europeans, the ...

: ''Kowassaatiha'') is one of three

federally recognized tribe A federally recognized tribe is a Native American tribe recognized by the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs as holding a government-to-government relationship with the US federal government. In the United States, the Native American tribe ...

s of

Koasati people The Coushatta () are a Muskogean-speaking Native American people now living primarily in the U.S. states of Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas. When the Coushatta first encountered Europeans, their Coushatta homelands where in present-day Tennessee ...

. They are located in

Allen Allen, Allen's or Allens may refer to: Buildings * Allen Arena, an indoor arena at Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee * Allen Center, a skyscraper complex in downtown Houston, Texas * Allen Fieldhouse, an indoor sports arena on the Univ ...

and Jefferson Davis Parishes,

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

. The tribe hosts an annual

pow wow A powwow (also pow wow or pow-wow) is a gathering with dances held by many Native American and First Nations communities. Inaugurated in 1923, powwows today are an opportunity for Indigenous people to socialize, dance, sing, and honor their ...

during the second weekend in June.

Reservation

The Coushatta Indian Reservation is located on 154-acres in

Allen Parish, Louisiana Allen Parish () is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 22,750. The parish seat is Oberlin and the largest city is Oakdale. Allen Parish is in southwestern Louisiana, southwest of Alexan ...

. Approximately 400 people lived on the reservation in the 1990s. The reservation has a tribal police department, fire department, and court house. There is also a tribal medical facility, fitness center, and event center.

Language

The

Koasati language Koasati (also Coushatta) is a Native American language of Muskogean origin. The language is spoken by the Coushatta people, most of whom live in Allen Parish north of the town of Elton, Louisiana, though a smaller number share a reservation ...

is part of the Apalachee-Alabama-Koasati branch of the

Muskogean languages Muskogean ( ; also Muskhogean) is a language family spoken in the Southeastern United States. Members of the family are Indigenous Languages of the Americas. Typologically, Muskogean languages are highly synthetic and agglutinative. One documen ...

. An estimated 200 people spoke the language in 2000, most of whom lived in Louisiana. Historically, the language was spoken exclusively among tribal members and was never written down. In 2007, along with

McNeese State University McNeese State University is a public university in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Founded in 1939 as Lake Charles Junior College, it was renamed McNeese Junior College after John McNeese, an early local educator. The present name was adopted in 1970. M ...

, the tribe received a

National Science Foundation The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) is an Independent agencies of the United States government#Examples of independent agencies, independent agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that su ...

(NSF) grant for documenting endangered language (DEL); this provided necessary resources to document and preserve the Koasati language.

Government

The Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana is headquartered in

Elton, Louisiana Elton is a town in Jefferson Davis Parish, Louisiana, Jefferson Davis Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 992 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, down from 1,128 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. It is par ...

. The tribe is a sovereign nation and is governed by a democratically elected five-member council. The current administration is as follows: * Chairman: Jonathan Cernek * Vice–Chair: Crystal Williams * Secretary-Treasurer: Kristian Poncho * Council Member: Kevin Sickey * Council Member: Loretta Williams.

F. A. Little, Jr. Frank Alan "Pappy" Little Jr. (October 26, 1936 – March 31, 2024) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana. Education and career Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Little rec ...

(Louisiana Coushatta, 1936–2024), a U.S. District Judge for the Western District of Louisiana, served as chief judge for the tribe for nine years.

Economic development

The tribe owns and operates the Coushatta Casino Resort in

Kinder, Louisiana Kinder is a small town in Allen Parish, Louisiana, in the United States. The population was 2,477 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. The Lieutenant Douglas B. Fournet Memorial Park, an American Legion enterprise, was dedicated on Ju ...

. The casino is home to the Koasati Pines golf course. The casino operates multiple restaurants and hotels, and is the largest casino resort in the state. The casino employs over 2300 local residents, and it was the second largest employer in Southwest Louisiana in 2018.

Notable tribal members

Santiago X Santiago X is an Indigenous American multidisciplinary artist and architect working in land art, architecture, new media, and hip hop music. Born in Phoenix, Arizona in 1982, he is an enrolled citizen of the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana (Koasati) a ...

, multidisplinary artist, architect

Notes

References

* * Pritzker, Barry M. ''A Native American Encyclopedia: History, Culture, and Peoples''. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000.

External links

Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana
official website {{DEFAULTSORT:Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana Koasati Federally recognized tribes in the United States Native American tribes in Louisiana American Indian reservations in Louisiana Allen Parish, Louisiana Jefferson Davis Parish, Louisiana