The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1905-11-16
THE LAKE OF SACRIFICE.
Louisiana Body of Water About
Which There Is an Indian
Legend.

the Indians, lies ensconced, as II were,
In the deep solitude Of the forest
which skirts the Attakapas prairie on
the east side of the Teche at about
nine miles from the town of st. Mar
tinville. The beauty of it's scenery
and its picturesque landscapes have
probably no equal In the state, says
the New Orleans States. Its waters
have the transparency of crystal. and
It's depth averages from 80 to 100
feet.
The word Ca-ta-ou-la means the lake
Of sacrifice. The following legend, as
dramatic and tragical as the Biblical
narrative of the death Of Jephthah's 9
daughter. gives us the origin Of that
name.
The Tetimetchec Indians. being
threatened with dire calamity, the ma
ture of which we know not, their
prayermen consulted their oracles, and
we're informed that to propitiate the
great Manitou and to avert the calami.
ty a fair maiden OF the tribe was to
be sacrificed to the cruel god and her
soul drowned in the placid waters Of
Lake Ca.te-ou.la.
The beautiful At-ta-la, the fair
daughter OF the chief, offered herself
as willing victim to propitiate the
Great Spirit
Dressed in all the fnery and pic
turesqueness OF apparel of an Indian
princess, she repaired to the lake in
uhoua xyotoro aho xvaa IN And a uot nv %
grave, followed by the weeping maid
ems and the stern warriors of the
tribe.
She glided in her light canoe on the
waters of the lake until she had
reached the middle of the stream, and
with her eyes upraised and hands ex-
tended toward the heavenly mansion
OF the great Manitou. she offered him
her youth and her life blood as a
sacrifice to propitiate him and 20
avert the calamity that threatened her
people.
With radiant smile she then turned
toward the shore of the lake where
knelt the weeping maldens. She waved
her hand gently to them. bidding them
an eternal adieu, and plunged into its
waters. to be seen no more.
Supersititous persons assert that
even to this day in times OF great
calamity and misfortune. when the
moon spans the sky and shines serene
in the high heavens, streaking with
silvery fringe the gentle ripples OF
the lake, a shadowy form is seen gid
ing on It's waters In a light canoe. with
hands extended heavenward, and they
say that all at once, uttering wild
and unearthly shrek, the shadowy
form plunges headlong into the waters
and disappears. while the terror-strlck.
en- denizens Of the forest answer the
shrieks with howls and lugubrious hoot-
ings.
From that time Lake Ca-ta-ou-la be
came the sacred lake of the Indians
and every year they repaired to this
spot to propitiate the great Manltou
with their offerings and sacrifices. Into
its crystalline waters they plunged
themselves to get cleansed Of their
moral and physical impurities; into i:s
sacred waters they dipped their anu
let's and arrows to avert approaching
calamities and TO protect themselves
against the devices OF the I'll spirit
He who could not make tnis yearly
pilgrimage felt respondent and un'
happy, and his inability to follow the
others In the sanity journey boded
bim no good.
~ while nerforning his immersion
in the lake one should happen ti
drown, his memory was execrated, and
his death was considered the Judg'
ment OF the great Manitou as an atone
ment for the crimes committed b,
him.
The lake is still called Ca-ta-ou-la
the lake Of sacrifice, but the grea'
Manltou, like his Indian worshipers
is now q thing of the past.