History

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Red Shoe's People

A History of the Sovereign Nation of the

Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana

The story of the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana is one of a continuing struggle for survival. Not until 1973 - and then only after laborious efforts by the Coushatta people and the active support from the people and government of Louisiana - did the Coushatta community near Elton, Louisiana, even gain federal recognition of its status as an Indian Tribe. The official decision by the U. S. Department of the Interior officials seemed late in coming to many of the Coushatta Indians who remember the Tribe's long struggle with the white man and his government.

The Tribe's first encounter with non Indians took place in 1540 when a Spanish exploration party led by DeSoto robbed an outlying Coushatta village in the Tennessee River Country of Alabama and kidnapped the chief and other Indian leaders. Threatening to burn their hostages alive if they resisted future robberies, the explorers unwittingly set the stage for future exchanges between the Coushatta Tribes and the white man.

Although coexistence with the Spanish, English and French assumed relatively peaceful proportions and remained mutually beneficial through the seventeenth century, the birth of the United States government launched a period of invasion into Coushatta territory by land hungry settlers intent only on building their own country. The Coushatta's' first major treaty, with the United States came as the infant nation ended her own fight for existence with the Treaty of Paris in 1783. That same year, a subsequent treaty with the State of Georgia at August stripped the Coushatta Tribe of more than 800 square miles of land and initiated a series of treaties, skirmishes, agreements and wars that drove the Tribe from its traditional home in the Tennessee River Country.

The next 200 years took the dwindling and divided Coushatta - or Koastis, as they were then known, along a hardship laden path through Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Texas and Louisiana. Treaty followed treaty, none serving to accomplish more than the removal of additional acreage from the rightful Coushatta owners.

The last blow came with the Creek War of 1813-14. As members of the Creek Confederacy - a loosely formed union of the Muskogee family of tribes - the Coushatta's took part in this violent conflict in which more than 3,000 warriors were annihilated and 22 million acres of Indian lands were ceded. Separated into several small bands and constantly lessening in strength and numbers, the Coushatta continued their search for a land offering peace and dignity.

Late in the eighteenth century, a Coushatta leader known as Red Shoes, "King of the Alabama's and Coosades," led a vanguard of his people to Louisiana. With 80 to 100 Indians in that first band, Red Shoes settled the lower reaches of the Red River in Louisiana. Hundreds more Coushatta's followed Red Shoes and soon the tribe established a new political and social system that preserved its traditional way of life even in the face of more forced relocation within Louisiana.

We Must Not Forget our Past...

For We Have a Colorful History

That Must be Remembered...

For all our Children..,

Indian and Non Indian...

By the beginning of the Civil War in 1861, some 250 tribes people had settled along the Calcasieu River near Kinder. Here the Tribe continued its traditions and enjoyed amicable relations with its neighbors, but this peaceful and prosperous existence also was lost when American settlers took an interest in Coushatta lands. In 1884, most of the remaining Coushatta moved to a site 15 miles east of the Calcasieu River and three miles north of Elton in Allen Parish. Here they purchased vacant land and settled, ending their 200 year search for a homeland. Life was hard for the Coushatta's, but by 1920 individual tribes people had carved out an Indian community that encompassed more than 1,000 acres of farmland, forests, and lush, green swamps.

Federal interest in the Tribe was established earlier in 1898, when the United States placed 160 acres of land in trust for the Tribe. In the 1930's the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) assumed responsibility for aiding in the education of Coushatta children. Later establishing a federal elementary school, grades first through fifth for the Tribe and extending contract medical services to its members.

Recognition of and assistance to the Tribe was short lived, however. In 1953, during the era when the now repudiated "termination" policy was in effect, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) ended its trusteeship of land held by the Coushatta Tribe and discontinued its meager services. This administrative decision was greatly opposed by the Coushatta Tribe during a general meeting of the Tribe. Legally, however, the Coushatta Tribe no longer existed.

Redevelopment of the Coushatta Tribal government began in 1965 with establishment of the Coushatta Indians of Allen Parish, Inc. primarily a business organizations for the sale and production of tribal arts and crafts. By providing an established forum by which the Coushatta leaders could gather to discuss issues, this organization became the first step in the drive toward regaining recognition by the federal government.

Winning recognition as a Tribe from the Louisiana Legislature in 1972, Coushatta leaders continued to work toward the goal of federal agreement. Later that year, federal authorities responded to tribal efforts by providing the Coushatta with contract medical services through the Indian Health Service.

Still working along federal guidelines, tribal leaders in 1973 formed a corporation under provisions of Louisiana law and modeled on the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) requirements. The group, the Coushatta Alliance, Inc., focused its attentions on securing federal recognition, drafting a tribal Constitution and Bylaws and obtaining federal programs to aid the Coushatta people in achieving self-determination. Initial funding for actual development of a tribal government was granted by the Office of Native American Programs, enabling the Coushatta to establish a tribal office manned by the chairman and council of the transitional alliance.

The Coushatta Indian Tribe of Louisiana was officially recognized in June of 1973 by the Secretary of the Interior under provisions of the Wheeler-Howard Act. That single action put an end to the long years of hopelessness and opened a future in which the Coushatta Indians have regained the right to establish their tribal government and control their affairs.

The Tribe finally established its present permanent home in 1975 when 15 acres of land were designated as Coushatta Indian Reservation Land by federal proclamation. Though another Federal Proclamation five years later, nearly 140 acres were reserved as Coushatta Reservation land.

Construction of a new tribal administration complex began in 1977, serving to centralize tribal operations in one location for greater convenience and efficiency. In 1985, the Coushatta Indians elected their first tribal government by popular vote in one of the most important milestones in tribal history.

The next year, the Tribe began agricultural development programs that continued the Coushatta's drive for self-sufficiency. Construction of a new retail development adjacent to the tribal administration complex was completed in 1987.

During the next two years, the Coushatta Tribe saw settlement of its disputed land claims and the establishment of a tribal judicial system. In 1989 the Tribe began a new aqua culture program in which Coushatta members started working their own rice fields and crawfish farms.

The Coushatta Tribe signed a tax compact with the State of Louisiana in 1991 recognizing the reservation as a Sovereign Nation and exempting it from paying state taxes. That same year, the Tribe's retail complex was expanded to include a gift shop and restaurant, and the Coushatta Housing Authority was established.

Early the next year, the Tribe purchased 80 acres of land as a site for cattle production and for the expansion of the Coushatta housing program. That same year, the Coushatta Tribe entered into a construction agreement and management contract with Grand Casino, Inc., to build a gaming and resort complex on tribal land along U.S. Hwy. 165 north of Kinder, Louisiana. Shortly thereafter, the Federal Bureau of Indian Affairs approved the Coushatta - Grand Casino agreement and contract.

Immediately following the Bureau of Indian Affairs approval, the Coushatta Tribe began compact negotiations with the State of Louisiana for approval to construct and operate the gaming and resort complex.

Today the Coushatta Tribe has 685 acres of Reservation land in trust over 650 registered members and approximately 400 members living in the Coushatta community.

Today We Follow the Path of Red Shoes People

So That We May Lead the Way for our Children...

Our Children are Our True Wealth...

Our Children are Our Future...

The Journey Continues...

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