All about the ancient tribes
The Houma people lived in villages of single-family houses and small cornfields. Houma homes were made of plaster and rivercane walls, with thatched roofs. Here are some pictures of Native American houses like the ones Houma Indians used. Today, Houmas live in modern houses and apartment buildings, just like you.
The Houma tribe was an offshoot of the Choctaw nation. Though they spoke a dialect of the Choctaw language and shared most of their culture with their Choctaw relatives, they were politically independent.
The 6 Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy Mohawk. The Mohawk, or Kanien’kehá:ka (“People of the Flint”), were the easternmost people of the early Iroquois Confederacy. Oneida. For most of the historic era, the Oneida lived in a single village near Lake Oneida in north-central New York state. Onondaga. Cayuga. Seneca. Tuscarora.
The Louisiana Indians are the inheritors of ancient traditions. They consist of Alabama, Koasati ( Coushatta ), Choctaw (four groups: Jena, Bayou LaCombe, Clifton, and an urban group in East Baton Rouge Parish), Chitimacha, Houma, and Tunica-Biloxi.
What language do the Houmas speak? Most Houma people speak French as their first language. Many also speak English. In the past, Houma Indians spoke their own Houma language, which most linguists consider to be a dialect of Choctaw.
Houma was named after the Native American tribe who settled here, the Houmas Indians. The word houma or ouma means “red” in the tribe’s language, which referred to the sun or possibly to their war emblem, the crawfish.
Native American pottery development is said to have spread from Mesoamerica up to Mogollon, Hohokam, and Anasazi. While the techniques across the regions were fairly similar, it was in decoration and design that the Native American tribes ‘ pottery differed.
The original inhabitants of the land that New Orleans sits on were the Chitimacha, with the Atakapa, Caddo, Choctaw, Houma, Natchez, and Tunica inhabiting other areas throughout what is now Louisiana.
The Houma were granted land by the 1790s on Bayou Terrebonne under the Spanish colonial administration, which had prohibited Indian slavery in 1764. They were never removed to a reservation and, as a small tribe, were overlooked by the federal government during the Indian Removal period of the 1830s.
Today, there are over five million Native Americans in the United States, 78% of whom live outside reservations: California, Arizona and Oklahoma have the largest populations of Native Americans in the United States.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs uses a blood quantum definition—generally one-fourth Native American blood —and/or tribal membership to recognize an individual as Native American. However, each tribe has its own set of requirements—generally including a blood quantum—for membership (enrollment) of individuals.
Allen, South Dakota, on the Pine Ridge Reservation, has the lowest per capita income in the country. Extreme poverty rates on the ten largest reservations.
Reservation | Location | Extreme Poverty Rate |
---|---|---|
Standing Rock Indian Reservation | South Dakota and North Dakota | 16.6 |
Prehistoric Archaeology in Louisiana Overview. Paleoindian Period 11,500–8000 BCE (Pre-Clovis, Clovis, San Patrice Cultures) Early Paleoindian 11,500–9500 BCE (Pre-Clovis Culture) Middle Paleoindian 9500–8800 BCE (Clovis Culture) Late Paleoindian 8800–8000 BCE (San Patrice Culture) Archaic Period 8000–800 BCE (San Patrice, Evans, Poverty Point Cultures)
Historically, Louisianians of Acadian descent were also considered to be Louisiana Creoles, although Cajun and Creole are often portrayed as separate identities today. Most Cajuns are of French descent. Cajuns.
Total population | |
---|---|
United States: 928,313 | |
Louisiana | 815,259 |
Texas | 546,354 |
Languages |
The term “Five Civilized Tribes” derives from the colonial and early federal period in the history of the United States. It refers to five Native American nations—the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek (Muscogee), and Seminole. The population currently living in Oklahoma are referred to as the Five Tribes of Oklahoma.