The New Orleans bulletin. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1874-1876, 1875-08-10

have just gathered the curious information we
now desire to inpart about what remains of
| the Choctaw Nation in Louisiana-thelr
language, their habits. and their most striking
peculiarities.
| Of all the great and powerful tribes whose
warriors once roamed over the entire region
comprised between. the Mississippi and Tom
| bigbee rivers, and even crossed the former
river and penetrated as far as the limits OF
Texas and the interior of Arkansas, there re-
manned about $4,000 in 1910. Since then
their numbers have dwindled down to about
| 900, who dwell at Bayou Lacombe and in the
| vacinity of Ami,e, Covington, Bay 81. Louis,
| and other places on the lake shore Father
Rouquette tells us there is a settlement of
about 300 at Lake Charles, Calcasieu parish,
and we know of a few who still linger in va
rious parishes of the interior. Their largest
settlements across the lake are at Bayou La
combe and Bay st. Louis, there being between
$50 and 200 at each place.
Every settlement whether large or small,
has chief who is elected for life, unless re-
moved by vote of the tribe or clan over
which he exercises authority. The chief of
the Bayou Lacombe settlement is young
Chahta called Mahotabe (He-who-says- go
and-kill.) He is only % years old, and has
q very intelligent face indicative of great
force and energy of character. to the posses
sion of which qualities he owes his present
position. He is a convert to the Catholic
Church, and will shortly be married to an
Indian maiden OF the same faith by Father
Rouquette.
The good fathers eyes flashed and his
voice trembled with emotion when he told US
the sad story of the many wrongs which have
been inflicted upon these poor people by un-
principled white men, who, not satisfied with
robbing them of their lands, have done all in
their power to brutalize them. He has no
doubt that their ancestors had attained a
high state of civilization before the discovery
of America, and he speaks of their Ian
guage-of which we shall have more to say in
a subsequent article-as one Of wonderful
fexibiIity for the expression of the incest
shades of thought, and possessing in a greater
degree than the Greek or German language
the power of forming compound words. The
converts belong entirely to the new genera
ton, the old men obstinately adhering to that
vague Deism which is common to SO many
Indian Nations, and having no form of wor-
ship, although they formerly kept every year
several grand festivals, the only one, strange
to say, which they now celebrate being the an
nual festival in commemoration of the dead.
The appropriation of their hunting grounds
and the destruction of game have driven
them to rude kind Of husbandry, and upon
the corn and potatoes they raise, and the
money they make by wood-cutting they barely
keep themselves from starving. The men are
proud, intelligent and generally peaceable,
except when under the influence of liquor,
and all those who have lived among them
bear witness to the chastity of the Chahta
women. Father Rouquette has done and is
still doing everything in his power to instruct
them, not only in the doctrines of his Church,
but also in the various branches of elementary
knowledge. He has a small Chapel or "Her-
mitage" at Bayou Lacombe, which he visits
from time to time, preaching to them in their
own language, and ministering to their
spiritual wants.
Although the kind-hearted Chahta- Ina
never said word to US about it, we could
not help wondering that these poor people
should be SO com pletely overlooked by the
generous and charitable people among whom
they dwell Why is there not society for
improving the condition, material as well as
moral, of these last representatives of the
former owners of the land we live in? The
Indian is certainly far more interesting
being than the Negro, and yet our Federal
Government spent thousands of millions for
the benefit of the latter, and abandons the
former to the kind nursing of thieving Indian
agents and to the tender mercies OF Pail.
Sheridan
II some benevolent citizens should take the
initiative in this matter, they would rescue
nearly a thousand poor, harmless Indians
who were born and reared around US from
total humiliation, and with but an insignit-
cant fraction of the money which is expended
on distant and often mythical Heathens,
thousand human beings could be brought
under the influences of Christianity and of
modern civilization.
But we are afraid that in spite of the satire
of Dickens. there will always be an unlimited
number of male and female Jellybys whose
time is too much taken up with the concerns
of distant Borrioboola Ghas to pay any atten-
ton to the wants of their unfortunate neigh
bors, m on and brethren though they can not
but be acknowledged to be
In our next article we shall give some in
teresting particulars about the Chahta Ian
guage, illustrating the same by examples fur
nished to us from his ample stores by our
good friend, Chahta-I Ina.