Newport daily independent., 1906-01-18
THE LAKE OF SACRIFICE!
Louisiana Body of Water About Which There Is an Indian
 Legend.

Lake Ca-ta-ou-is, the sacred lake of she Indians, lies ensconeed, as 1t were, m 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 tinVilis. The beauty of its scenery and It's picturesque landscapes have probably no equal in the state, saya the New Orleans States. It's waters nave the transparency of crystal. and lts depth averages from 90 to 100 feet.
 The word Ca-ta-ou-la means the lake Of sacrifice. The following legend, as dramatic and tragtcal as the Biblical narrative of the death of JsDhthAa's daughter, gives us the origin of that name.
 The Tetimetchec Indiana, being threatened with dire calamity, the na- ture of which we know not, their prayermen consulted their oracles, and were informed that to propitiats ths | great Manitou and to avert the calaml- i ty 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.
 i The beautiful At-ta-ls, the fair daughter of the chief, offered herself as willing victim to propitiate the Great Spirit.
 Dressed In all the fnery and pic- -aresqueness of apparel of an Indian princess, she repaired to the lake in whose waters she was to find watery 1 grave, followed by the weeping maid ems and the stern warriors of the tribe.
 .. rhs gIidsd in her light canoe on tho | waters of theslake until she had reached the middle f the stream, and with her eyes upraised and hands ex- tended toward the heavenly mansion ot the great Manitou, she offered him her youth and her life blood as a sacrifice to propitiate him and to avert the calamity that threatened her people.
 With radiant smile she then turned toward the shore of the lake whers knelt the weeping maidsns. 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 tho moon spans the sky and shines serene in the high heavens, streaking with silvery fringe the gentle nipples of l the lake, a shadowy form is seen glid- ing on it's waters in light canoe, with hands extended heavenward, and they say that all at once, uttering . wild and unearthly shriek, the shadowy form plunges headlong into the watere and disappears, while the terror-strick- en denizens of the forest answer the shrieks with howls and lugubrious boot 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 Manitou with their offerings and sacrifices Into its crystalline waters they plunged themselves to get cleansed of their moral and physical impurities; into 1ts sacred waters they dipped their amu- lets and arrows to avert approaching calamities and to protect themselves against the devices of the evil spirit He who could not make this yearly rilerimage felt Respondent and uu- happy. and his inability to follow the others in the saintly journey boded blm no good.
 If while performing his immersion in the lake one should happen to drown, his memory was execrated, and his death was considered the judg- n.ent of the great Manitou as an atone- ment for the crimes committed 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.