Evening star., 1905-11-11
LEGEND OF LOUISIANA
Lake Ca-ta-ou-la Known to Indians as
the Lake of Sacrifice.


Lake Ca-ta-ou-la, the sacred lake of the
iiuiahs' lies ensconced, as 1t 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. Martinville. The beautv of its
scenery and Its picturesque Iandscanes have
probably no equal in the state It's waters
nave the transparency of crystal and i+s
depth averages from 80 to 100 feet.
Inc word Ca-ta-ou-la means the lake of
sacrlhce The following legend as dra
matte and tragical as the biblical nara tive
or the death of Jephthas daughter. gives
US the origin of that name
Inc Ietlmetchec Indians, being threat
efeei with dire calamity, the nature of
which we know not, their prayermen con-
suited their oracles, and were informed
that TO propritiate the great Manitou and
70 avert the calamity fair maiden of the
tribe was to be sacrificed to the cruel god
and her soul drowned in the placid waters
of Lake Ca-ta-ou-la
The beautiful At-ta-la, the fair daughter
OF the chief, offered herself a willing victim
to propitiate the Great Spirit
Dressed in all the hnery and picturesoue-
ness OF apparel of an Indian princess she
repaired TO the lake in whose waters She
was to find a watery grave followed nv
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 eves
upratsed and hands extended toward the
heavenly mansion of the great Manitou
she offered him her youth and her life
blood as a sacrlfice to propitiate him and
to avert the calamity that threatened her
people.
With radiant smile she then turned to-
ward the shore of the lake where knelt
gently to them. bidding them an eternal
adieu, and plunged into its waters to be
seen no more.
Superstitious 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 rip
pies of the lake, a shadoWy form can he
seen gliding on its waters in a light canoe
with hands extended heavenward, and they
say that all at once utterng wild and
unearthly shrek. the shadowy form plunges
headlonS into the waters and disappears
while the or-Stricken denizens of the
forest answer the shrieks with howls and
lugubrious hootingS.
From that time Lake Ca-ta-ou-la became
the sacred lake of the Indians, and every
year they repaired to this spot to propti-
ate the great Mantou with their offerings
and sacrifices. Into its crystalline waters
they plunged themselves to get cleanSed
of their moral and physical impurities
into its sacred waters they dipped their am
ulets and arrows to avert approaching ca
lamitieS and to protect themselves against
the devices of the evil spirit. He who
could not make this yearly pilgrimage felt
Respondent and unhappy, and his inability
to follow the others in the sanity journey
boded him good.
If while performing his immersion in the
lake one should happen to drown, his men,
ory was execrated and his death was con-
sidered the judgment of the the great Man
itou as an atonement for the crimes com
mitted by him.
The lake is still called Ca-ta-ou-la, the
lake Of sacrifice. but the great Manitou,
like his Indian worshipers, is now thing
of the past.