,,chitimacha ,,notebook ,writings of ,emile ,stouff--,a ,chitimacha ,chief ,edited by ,marcia ,gaudet ,illustration3 ,basket pattern ,lafayette ,natural ,history ,museum and ,planetarium ,lafayette1 ,louisiana #aihf ,illustration3 ,page facsimile ,illustration3 ,page facsimile ,illustration3 ,emile ,stouff1 ,chief of the ,chitimachas ,illustration3 ,chitimacha ,chief ,benjamin ,paul and the ,chitimacha children are pictured with a pirogue near the ,chitimacha reservation in ,charenton4 ,the little girl is ,jane ,bernard ,wilson1 the boy in the center is ,arthur ,darden1 and the boy sitting in the pirogue is ,gabriel ,darden4 7,m4,r4 ,harrington1 #aijh4 ,photo courtesy of ,museum of the ,american ,indian1 ,heye ,foundation7 ,,table ,,of ,,contents ,i4 ,introduction #c ,,ii4 ,the ,chitimacha ,story of ,creation #e ,,iii4 ,history of the ,chitimacha ,indians #aa ,,iv4 ,previous ,publications about the ,chitimachas #ae ,,list ,,of ,,photographs ,i4 ,chitimacha ,chief ,benjamin ,paul with children and canoe facing page #a ,,ii4 ,chitimacha family--,regis ,darden #b ,,iii4 ,chitimacha group--#aijh #d ,,iv4 ,three members of a ,chitimacha family #aj ,illustration3 ,the ,regis ,darden ,chitimacha family4 ,pictured from left to right are ,lucy ,mora ,darden1 ,delphine ,stouff 7in back71 ,adelle ,darden1 ,gaston ,darden1 ,regis ,darden 7in back71 and ,stacy ,darden4 ,adelle ,darden1 wife of ,regis ,darden1 was known as 8,gum ,da,da40 ,lucy ,mora ,darden was the wife of ,gaston ,darden4 ,chitimacha baskets are pictured in front of the group4 ,basket weaving is a traditional craft of the ,chitimacha ,indians4 7,m4,r4 ,harrington1 #aijh4 ,photo courtesy of ,museum of the ,american ,indian1 ,heye ,foundation7 ,,introduction ,emile ,stouff was ,chief of the ,chitimachas of ,charenton1 ,louisiana1 from #aidh to #aifh4 ,after ,chief ,stouff died in #aigh1 his widow1 ,faye ,roger ,stouff1 discovered two notebooks in which he had recorded some of the things about the ,chitimachas that he had learned from oral tradition4 ,the two manuscripts were written in ,emile ,stouff's handwriting4 ,though ,chief ,stouff had no formal education1 ,mrs4 ,stouff1 who is not a ,native ,american1 taught him to read and write after they were married and she came to live with him on the ,chitimacha land4 ,mrs4 ,stouff said that her husband told her he had learned most of the legends1 stories1 and myths that he knew from an aunt who would sit him down and beat him with a cane to make him listen4 ,she would tell him1 8,you've got to learn this40 ,learning the history1 religious beliefs1 legends1 and traditions of the tribe was apparently a very important part of the education and development of the ,chitimachas4 ,there are two separate notebooks with writings by ,emile ,stouff4 ,one begins with the story of creation and deals with the beliefs of the ,chitimachas4 ,the other deals more with the history since the white man came4 ,previous publications about the ,chitimachas have presented parts of the legend about the cypress tree in ,lake ,dauterive and the legend about the little bird of the ,chitimachas4 ,since ,chief ,stouff's version of the history is from the perspective of the ,chitimachas1 it differs somewhat from previously published accounts4 ,this is particularly evident in a comparison of the ,chitimacha account of the murder of ,st4 ,cosme with accounts that rely on ,french historical sources4 ,chief ,stouff's notebooks give an account of the ,chitimacha beliefs and history as they were passed down by oral tradition4 ,he recognized that this tradition would perhaps not be maintained1 and he attempted to record some of his knowledge of the people and their culture4 ,as such1 his writings are of value and interest to anyone who would like to know more about the ,chitimachas4 ,in editing the notebooks1 ,i have made as few changes as possible in order to maintain the style and tone of ,chief ,stouff's writing4 ,the changes from his original manuscript have been mainly to standardize spelling and punctuation for clarity4 ,for example1 ,chief ,stouff spelled ,chitimacha several different ways 7,chetamacha1 ,chetimacha1 ,chitamacha7 in his writing1 and he usually used no punctuation at all4 ,thus1 he was writing just as he would have told these stories orally to the next generation of ,chitimachas4 ,marcia ,gaudet ,illustration3 ,chitimacha ,group with finished ,chitimacha baskets4 ,pictured left to right are ,delphine ,darden ,stouff1 the child--,constance ,marie ,stouff 7died at age #ac71 ,clara ,darden1 and ,octave ,stouff1 ,sr4 ,they are1 respectively1 ,emile ,stouff's mother1 sister1 great-aunt1 and father4 7,m4,r4 ,harrington1 #aijh4 ,photo courtesy of ,museum of the ,american ,indian1 ,heye ,foundation7 ,,manuscript ,,of ,,emile ,,stouff ,last ,chief of the ,chitimachas ,,the ,,story ,,of ,,creation ,in the beginning1 the ,great ,spirit looked at a great mass of water4 ,so he said1 8,there should be something solid for animals with blood40 ,so he called upon the crawfish to dig down and bring up some dirt1 which they did4 ,as they brought up the dirt1 the water receded4 ,the crawfish is still working at it4 ,the ,great ,spirit was pleased4 ,so he took the dirt and made all living things with it4 ,when he ran out of objects1 he said1 8,this is good1 but ,i must make one to control these animals4 ,i will make man40 ,so he chose some good clay and made a clay man1 but it was soft4 8,i shall bake it in the fire from the sun10 he said4 ,so he baked it1 and when he took it out1 it was pale4 ,so he just blew on it and set it aside4 ,then1 the more he looked at it1 the more he was displeased with it4 ,so he said1 8,i will let it live1 but ,i will make another one and leave it longer to darken it40 ,he left it twice as long as before and when he took this one out1 it was black4 ,so he set it aside and said1 8,i shall make another10 and when he baked this one he cut the time in half1 and it came out exactly as he wanted it4 ,so he made three--one white1 one black1 and one red4 ,he named that one pinikan1 meaning ,red4 ,then he saw man needed a helpmate4 8,i made man out of dirt so ,i will take part of man to make his helpmate so they will be as one1 and she will be known as female as she is part of the male40 ,after looking the male over1 he decided to make her out of bone4 ,so he took a rib from the rib case1 right in front of the chest1 leaving a bone dangling4 ,when man woke up1 he saw this female sitting there4 ,he noticed she was built different and beautiful4 ,when he started to her1 he cried1 8,wo ,man10 and they committed the first sin 7as we know it74 ,the man said1 8,you should cover yourself up40 ,the female said1 8,and so should you4 ,i know1 ,i will take the large leaves from this tree and make each a cover40 ,she made the covers and tied them on with a vine known today as the white vine4 ,when they heard the ,great ,spirit coming1 they were ashamed1 and hid from him4 ,so he called for them to 8,come out wherever you are40 ,then the ,great ,spirit asked them1 8,why are you hiding80 ,then the male said1 8,she looked so enticing that ,i went into her without your permission40 ,the ,great ,spirit said1 8,for that you shall go out on the earth and earn your living by the sweat of your brow4 ,if you do not work1 you do not eat1 and you1 woman1 you shall bear his offspring in great pain4 ,i did not intend to have but you two1 but since it is this way1 you will be fruitful and multiply so your seed may be many1 and now that you are smart1 ,i will give you the earth1 but remember you are made of her dirt and you shall return to her4 ,she is your mother4 ,she will feed you and clothe you4 ,she will give you the trees to give you nuts and fruits for you to eat and at seasons for birds to live in1 and fur bearing animals4 ,you will also enjoy its shade4 ,when you are tired1 you may rest on the soft grass that will grow4 ,the tree will have many uses4 ,it will be used to warm you in the winter1 to make rafts to float on the waters1 and it will make your homes for your protection against the cold winter4 ,it will heat you when it is cold4 ,it will cook your food and its fire will be a blessing as the flames leave by small parts into the skies4 ,it will also tell you the direction you must go so you need not ever get lost while you are traveling4 ,the seed you shall plant1 the earth will help them grow so you will have something to eat4 ,she will separate and make streams to harbor the fishes you will eat and for you to drink and bathe4 ,so protect the waters and keep them clean4 ,your life depends on its purity just like the air you breathe4 ,you may have my breath in you1 and if you disobey me1 ,i will withdraw my breath and you will be no more4 ,and through my breath1 ,i will be with you always4 ,when you are sick1 the earth will bear roots and herbs for you to use4 ,i will not inflict any sickness that will not have herbs to cure4 ,i will speak to your medicine man through a coma only and only to this man ,i shall designate the cures4 ,i will speak to him only through a vision4 ,no one else shall see me again1 and this man shall choose someone of his kind and reveal this secret to any man worthy of him4 ,to avoid conflict1 there will be only one in each group to speak to me4 ,his power strength will be as strong as his faith in me4 ,i shall keep the mother earth in my custody so ,i may destroy it any time that you have lost faith in me and disobey my teaching4 ,you will1 at any time ,i choose for you1 return your body to the mother earth1 but if you love me and keep the faith your spirits will go to the ,happy ,hunting ,ground1 where everything will be for your taking1 and you will die no more4 ,but if you do not1 your carcass will remain in mother womb and return to dirt of which you were created4 8,the earth will be for your use4 ,use it in any way you choose4 ,but no one can claim it as their own4 ,it is not to be bought1 sold1 or rented1 because the earth is mine4 ,misuse it1 and you shall repent for any wrong use of the land or its streams4 ,this ,i command you to live by1 so go out in the world that you have made for yourself and be fruitful and multiply40 ,that is the way the ,indians said the ,great ,spirit gave it to the first man1 and it was in practice when the white man came into this country4 ,the ,great ,spirit showed them how to make coverups out of animal skin1 called breachcloths1 and they were happy4 ,now the man who was to do the treating found a certain herb that would put him into a coma1 so he would build a fire and drink a tea made from this herb and dance around this fire chanting until this herb took effect4 ,then he would pass out4 ,while in this stage1 he would communicate with the ,great ,spirit which would tell him what to do or what to use or whatever his desire was4 ,someone asked the medicine man to describe the ,great ,spirit since he claims he saw him4 ,the medicine man said he would be hard to describe since he has no shape1 and yet he has many shapes4 8,the way ,i saw him is like a heavy mist4 ,he had no eyes1 yet he saw everything4 ,he has no ears1 yet he hears everything1 even the unspoken word within you4 ,he has no mouth1 yet he speaks4 ,you have heard him speak to you within your head1 something to not do that is wrong1 or he will say do do that that is good4 ,he is watching you always4 ,you cannot hide from his sight no matter where you are or what you are doing40 ,now the ,indians had no ,hell1 no ,devil4 ,they thought that returning to dirt and not going to the ,happy ,hunting ,ground was the worst thing that could happen to them4 ,it was their code1 not religion4 ,they lived by sort of ,moses' law--an eye for an eye1 a tooth for a tooth4 ,their chief and councilmen would decide4 ,now the white man says that they found them worshipping the moon or some stars4 ,true1 they knew he was up there somewhere1 so some would think he was the man in the moon1 and thought he was some bright star4 ,they did not know4 ,nonetheless1 they knew that there was a power stronger than them4 ,they could feel him in their mind4 ,they did not teach fear to their children like they would go to hell4 ,they taught them bravery1 to fear no one4 ,as long as they obeyed the ,great ,spirit1 they would be content4 ,a long time ago1 no definite date1 came among the ,chitimacha a strange1 fair complected man who spoke their language1 which amazed the ,indians4 ,he was very smart4 ,the ,indians said he knew everything4 ,he taught them to make better crops by using fish byproducts and even fish by their plants1 and it would make them grow healthy and strong4 ,he helped them to substitute herbs when one was not available at different seasons4 ,then came one day1 he told the ,indians it was time for him to leave the ,chitimacha and go do his father's work4 ,he picked out a cypress tree and climbed to the top4 ,then he told the ,chitimachas1 8,whenever you need rain for your crops1 come and wet this tree and it will rain according to your needs40 ,and until this day1 it works4 ,it has been proven by many1 many people1 white and black4 ,all over ,south ,louisiana1 people know about it and believe in it strongly4 ,that is how the ,indians were blessed by the ,great ,spirit4 ,he gives and he takes4 ,the ,chitimacha did not think it feasible to ask the ,great ,spirit for anything4 ,all they taught their children was how to thank him for all the good things they got from him4 ,if something went wrong along the way1 you just checked the past--you have done something to displease the ,great ,spirit4 ,it has always been and still is until today4 ,so the ,indians would punish themselves to try and please the ,great ,spirit4 ,now the ,indian has been ridiculed for talking to the ,great ,spirit which is an ,indian belief4 ,the white prophets of old spoke to their gods4 ,why should it be unreasonable for an ,indian to do the same under the ,great ,spirit8 ,guidance as afore stated1 the ,chitimacha do not believe ,adam and ,eve naked in the ,garden of ,eden ate an apple2 however1 the white man says so1 so the ,indians do not deny it1 since they had to accept the white ,god1 which is the same ,supreme ,being with different names4 ,they are both sacred to the ,chitimacha4 ,since the ,indians could not read or write1 all this was handed down mouth to mouth4 ,so many things might be left out and some could have been added4 ,we do not know for sure1 yet some of your strongest and oldest organizations do not have anything written and are still going strong4 ,we do know that the ,indians did not preach religion4 ,they live it4 ,they have a ceremonial for everything1 and it was all done with respect to the ,great ,spirit4 ,their dances1 their chanting was somewhat like your unknown tongue of today1 and it was always done around a fire because we believe that fire has life4 ,if you watch a fire1 you will notice part of the flame leaves the fire and goes up to carry the message to the ,great ,spirit1 thanking him for a good harvest1 good hunt1 a good fish catch1 and many other things4 ,the council would meet and decide what punishment should be for a wrongdoer1 such as if one committed murder and they decided he should die also1 the chief would tell him4 ,so having no jail1 he would be free until his time came4 ,time was measured by the moon4 ,the council would decide how many moons he had left4 ,then the criminal would return to meet his execution and if he did not return1 his mother or father or brother or his son would have to pay for his crime1 someone very close to him4 ,now in the killing of one in a brawl1 the living was not punished by death4 ,he had to see that the family of the deceased was fed and clothed until all were capable of taking care of themselves4 ,if he had only enough for one family1 he had to do without1 so the dead man's family would not suffer hunger4 ,now if a squaw committed adultery1 she was punished by cutting the tip of her nose4 ,she would be forever marked as an unfaithful squaw4 ,there is no punishment known today for the man4 ,once an ,indian had an eye sore the medicine man could not cure4 ,so he had to go into a coma and seek the aid of the ,great ,spirit4 ,after the preparation that the ,great ,spirit had instructed them to do1 he passed out1 so to speak4 ,the ,great ,spirit told him where to find the herb that would cure any sore eye4 ,it seems that the chief's little girl had died and was buried4 ,the ,great ,spirit told him to go to the grave of this little girl1 and he will find a small vine growing from her eye4 ,use that vine and leaves1 and make an eye wash with it4 ,he did and the eyes were cured 7and we were still using it till we were forbidden by the medical association to use any herb71 and many herbs were found1 like moner1 and until today only one of the tribe knows the herbs that were used since the beginning1 which will not be revealed to anyone4 ,the ,indians of today do not meet the standard that the ,great ,spirit set1 nor will they follow the ritual that goes with it1 so it will die out just like the other things the white man deprived the ,indians of1 their way of living4 ,the chief duty was to see that everyone had something to eat before he would eat4 ,if some did not have any through no fault of their own1 everyone had to share what they had with the one that had none4 ,these were the unwritten laws that the ,chitimacha lived by4 ,as far as this writer knows that is the way it was related a long time ago4 7,i make no excuse for adding some or leaving some of it out4 ,as time goes on1 perhaps some more will come to mind4 ,if so1 it will be added to this brief resume of the one and only ,great ,spirit as the ,indians knew him before the white man came47 ,the ,indians knew how to make rain without the rain tree and how to make the north wind blow to dry up the weather when necessary4 ,i have seen it work time after time4 ,it is a secret given by the ,great ,spirit for their use1 but they were warned never to abuse it nor use it to harm your fellow men4 ,but such rituals cannot and will not be revealed to the ,indians of today4 ,they are too well integrated with the white man and his ways4 ,it may not work for them1 so let it die out like so many rituals have4 ,like an old ,indian chief once said1 8,the campfire is dying out1 the hunt is almost over40 ,but what will happen to the songs and the folklore8 ,they will soon die out also4 ,everything an ,indian does is done in a circle because all things are round4 ,the moon1 the stars1 the sun1 the sky1 the world is round4 ,so he must also do everything in a circle4 ,the sun rises and circles overhead until it disappears and returns to do the same thing again4 ,so does the moon4 ,the stars do the same thing4 ,their homes were built in circles4 ,their lives were lived in a circle from birth to death to birth after death4 ,the extremely beautiful creation of the ,chitimacha ,indians is amazingly similar to the ,biblical ,genesis4 ,the animal was created before man4 ,so in this ,divine ,origin1 they have a certain proximity to the ,great ,spirit himself which serves the same function as revealed scriptures in other religions4 ,there are intermediators or links between man and the ,great ,spirit4 ,the ,great ,spirit comes to the ,indian vision involving animal forms4 ,one old ,indian1 the last we know of1 received his spiritual power from visions of a wolf and when he died in the house where an ,indian still lives1 a pack of wolves came and ran around the house several times and then left never to return as far as we know4 ,we as ,indians have lost the communication with the ,great ,spirit4 ,then we still have a very small bird that lives with the ,indians1 and it peeps things ,indians understand4 ,it tells when someone is coming1 when it is going to rain1 and many other things only an ,indian understands4 ,no ,indian was allowed to harm this little bird4 ,indians see signs from all the wild animals--have some trait--an ,indian notices them very close1 thinking they are the love of the ,great ,spirit4 ,since he created them first1 we regard all created beings as sacred and important for everything4 ,this is the way it was told to me many years ago4 ,so be it4 ,illustration3 ,three members of a ,chitimacha family4 ,pictured left to right are ,felicia ,mora ,darden1 ,ernest ,jack ,darden1 and ,emma ,darden ,bernard4 7,m4,r4 ,harrington1 #aijh4 ,photo courtesy of ,museum of the ,american ,indian1 ,heye ,foundation7 ,,history ,,of ,,the ,,chitimacha ,,indians ,i will try to write here what ,i know of the ,chitimacha ,indians as ,i know it and what ,i heard from the old people4 ,the tribe once lived on ,grand ,lake from ,bayou ,portage1 as that is where the ,sacred tree now stands1 to the shell beach here in ,charenton4 ,that is where they were living when one day a large boat came up from where the sun rises4 ,it stopped out in the lake a distance from shore4 ,the ,indians were amazed at its size and stood on shore looking when some men came ashore to see about coming ashore4 ,since they did not speak the same language1 they were chased back to their ship4 7,they were ,spanish47 ,next day they decided to come ashore by force1 but the night before the chief consulted the medicine man to find out what should he do4 ,the medicine man took some kind of herbs and burnt them and gathered the ashes and told the chief if he would spread the ashes on the shore line1 not one would put the foot on land4 ,so it was done by the chief4 ,they tried1 but the warriors held them off as the chief stood on the shell knolls with the ashes in hand throwing bits in the air4 ,they ,spaniards were so badly defeated1 they went off in their ship4 ,the ,chitimacha1 thinking they had chased them off for good1 forgot about them and again were enjoying life like it was4 ,not too many moons later1 the ,spaniards came back to the ,indians on ,bayou de ,chittamach 7known now as ,bayou ,lafourche7 and gathered the ,houma ,indian which they had defeated and enslaved to fight the ,chitimachas4 ,somehow they came up ,bayou ,teche and attacked from that side4 ,while they were fighting the ,houma ,indians1 the ,spaniards came and landed on the lake side1 which is known now as the ,shell ,beach and attacked from that side4 ,the ,chitimacha did not have a chance4 ,thousands were killed and wounded and nothing to eat4 ,we had to give up4 ,the enemy told the few remaining ,chitimachas1 8,this is what we will give you4 ,you may remain here on this bayou and live4 ,no harm will come to you1 but any ,indian caught in the woods or lakeshore will be shot on sight40 ,this parcel of land we now hold is the very same place that they were talking about4 ,we have no record of what happened to the ,houmas that survived the war4 ,perhaps the ,spaniards took them home or they remained here and intermixed with us4 ,i do not know4 ,hunting along the ,bayou ,teche was not so very good1 so the ,indians had to eat whatever they could find such as acorns1 wild fruit1 and some grass was edible until they could grow some vegetables4 ,then life became more bearable4 ,now that is the way ,i heard1 true or not4 ,i do know that the ,houma ,indians were hated by all the old ,indians as late as the twenties4 ,few ,houma ,indians came over and were not received by the old ,indians with the exception of two women4 ,i will cover them later4 ,after the ,spaniards settled1 they had their first governor by the name of ,galvez4 ,the year #agfc1 ,galvez signed a treaty with the ,chitimachas for living so peaceful4 ,he granted them #aajj acres of land on both sides of ,bayou ,teche4 ,there is no record ,i can find how they built the town of ,charenton in the middle of the grant4 ,the older ,indians did not say what happened from then to the time when ,spain sold out to ,france4 ,when the ,frenchmen came over1 they started to take over the land that was donated to the ,chitimachas which they claimed the ,french had bought it all from ,spain4 ,the treaty was no more good4 ,then the ,french started killing ,indians4 ,the ,indians tried to fight back1 but were no match for ,frenchmen who nearly wiped out the ,indians4 ,they killed them like animals1 slaughtered1 murdered until a few that remained gave up4 ,so the ,french took them and made slaves out of them1 those able to work in the fields4 ,the women were made servants1 the young ones taken by the ,french as concubines4 ,they were forced to lay with the men1 as young as ten years old4 ,there were more men than there were ,indian women1 so one ,indian woman would satisfy the lust of five or six ,frenchmen4 ,then half breeds were born to the ,indian women4 ,some of us still have ,french names4 ,there were only about fifty ,indians escaped to ,plaquemine1 ,weeks ,island1 and all about4 ,some of them came back here and lived pretty peaceful with the ,french4 ,they populated well4 ,by that time the ,frenchmen decided that the ,indian worship of the ,great ,spirit was wrong4 ,they must forget their way of living and live like the ,frenchmen4 ,so they sent a missionary among the ,indians to teach them their invisible ,god4 ,the ,indians1 ready to believe anything to help their plight1 believed what this man was saying4 ,his name was ,st4 ,cosmos4 ,he was so pleased with his work1 he talked the ,chief into letting him take some ,indians to meet the ,general to show him how they had accepted the white ,god4 ,so the ,chief consented to let them go4 ,he took six of the ,indian braves and left4 ,it was not known where the ,french army was located4 ,anyhow1 when they got there the soldiers killed all the ,indians4 ,the priest was outdone1 so to speak1 so he returned to the reservation4 ,when the ,chief asked where were his men1 the priest told him they were all dead1 shot by the ,french army4 ,the chief was so very angry1 he ordered the priest killed and brought back to the ,french4 ,so be it4 ,when the ,french woke up the next morning1 there was the dead priest4 ,that is when all hell broke loose4 ,the ,french hunted the ,chitimachas down and killed everyone in sight4 ,some ,chitimachas ran and hid all over the woods4 ,some went to what is now ,weeks ,island1 some got to ,plaquemine4 ,there were about fifty ,chitimachas remaining on the same land that is now the reservation4 ,at that time1 ,o',reilly was governor of ,louisiana4 ,he issued a proclamation that the ,indians could live there as long as they remained peaceful and that they were on their own and that parcel of land would show as a body of water on the map of ,louisiana4 ,this map can be found in the archive of the state ,capitol today4 ,now about that time1 ,negro slaves were brought into the ,south4 ,the white plantation owners brought black slaves and began to let the ,indians go as they were not too good at work4 ,so the free ,indians had no place to go but back to the ,indian reserve with their half breed ,french and ,indian4 ,it was assumed that is how the ,chitimachas got their names until today4 ,some of the ones that had escaped started to come back and some did not4 ,some remained in ,plaquemine where some of them still show the ,indian trace4 ,of course1 they are whites today4 ,and that is how we of today are descendants of that bunch of ,indians4 ,there is no record of how many there were4 ,we are a small tribe today4 ,now there is not much said about the ,chief4 ,it seems like they lived without a chief until the late #agjj's when one ,chief1 ,soulier ,rouge1 seems like he acquired a pair of red shoes4 ,somehow the ,french started calling him ,soulier ,rouge4 ,his first name was ,eugene4 ,nothing was said about his reign4 ,only when he died1 his squaw took over 7,euginie7 and that is when the land started to disappear4 ,she seems to be one of those ,indians that lick white man's boots just to be with them4 ,it is recorded that she sold ,rose ,pecot #faj acres for #i4jj per acre and a man by the name of ,alex ,frere #fdj acres of land4 ,the record shows that some of the money was divided among some ,indians at #dj4jj4 ,that is the way it was recorded in the ,court ,house4 ,the names on the record do not jive with any name of the now ,chitimachas4 ,somebody gave her an old ,mexican silver crown for a large acreage1 but we cannot find out where1 but we have the crown4 ,and it is recorded that in #ahag they leased #faj acres of #ii years4 ,that was #afh years ago4 ,it is also recorded that land was sold the same year it was leased--which the sale is no good4 ,now my lawyer told me that after the lease expires it cannot be re-leased by the same party4 ,but we ,chitimachas are a nation of people that are afraid to venture as we may make the whites mad1 and we seem as we do not want that4 ,we have the money to regain that property1 but we do not trust lawyers in this vicinity as we think they would work for the white instead of the ,indians1 which was proven in the period of #aijc to #aiaj4 ,one white lawyer named ,george ,demerest and one civil engineer named ,fusilier contacted the ,indians stating that 7the agreement with7 ,soulier ,rouge and ,alex ,dardenne was illegal as they could not read or write1 that they could gain all that land back for the ,chitimachas4 7,i think ,john ,paul might have been ,chief then47 ,the ,indians had no money1 so it was agreed that ,demerest would work for part of the land4 ,it would not cost the ,indians one penny4 ,so ,i guess the tribe1 thinking that the land was lost anyhow1 so whatever they got back would be okay4 ,so it was agreed that ,demerest would get #d_/i of the land for the ,indians4 ,the legal papers were drawn and signed by both parties4 ,so ,demerest took to court in ,franklin4 ,as to be expected1 he lost the case4 ,so the ,indians must have been a little outdone1 but they figured the case was closed4 ,but they had signed to give ,george ,demerest #d_/i of the land1 win or lose4 ,so ,demerest took all of ,georgetown4 ,fusilier surveyed the land and found that it was three acres short of #d_/i1 so he came over and started to measure three acres on ,uncle ,regis' land4 ,he was stopped by a shotgun pointing at his head and ordered to get off4 ,so he did1 and they thought that was the end of it4 ,i can remember that incident4 ,they would laugh when they said ,regis was going to shoot ,fusilier4 ,but what they did not know was that ,demerest took out a lien on the land4 ,the ,indians ignored the judgement until #aiaf1 when ,demerest foreclosed on the land1 which by now included all of the ,chitimacha's land4 ,the lien was to be sold on the courthouse steps4 ,now ,tante ,mi,mi was ,chief ,ben ,paul's wife4 ,she was in cahoots with one ,sarah ,mc,ilhenny at ,avery ,island in a basket trade4 ,miss ,sarah would buy all the baskets the ,chitimacha women would make4 ,the basket makers gathered at ,tante ,mi,mi's and decided to write to ,miss ,sarah and ask her help4 ,being a very rich woman1 they were sure that she would help4 ,she did not say she would or would not4 ,she sent her lawyer to ,franklin to pay off the mortgage1 and there was no sale4 ,the land belonged to ,avery ,island4 ,miss ,sarah then made arrangements with ,chief ,ben ,paul to rent the land to some farmers and pay her back1 as she did not want the land4 ,she only wanted her money back4 ,so this was done4 ,the chief let some ,negro farmers work on share as they had no money to pay rental4 ,come harvest time1 the ,chief had a barn full of corn and sweet potatoes and no market4 ,the stuff just stayed there and rotted4 ,he sold some4 ,up to #aiah1 he had sold and paid back #fjj4jj1 more or less4 ,in the meantime1 ,mc,ilhenny lawyers were checking the title of the property and found that the sale was illegal as some of the people had title to the land1 and the best thing for her to do was to petition the ,b4,i4,a4 7,bureau of ,indian ,affairs7 to pay her back and take the land in trust for the ,indians4 ,the ,b4,i4,a4 hired a lawyer in ,franklin named ,c4,j4 ,boatner to transact the deal in which he had all the ,indians sign the land over to the government1 except some were not available at the time4 ,what the ignorant ,indians did not know was that this property was not a reserve any more4 ,they were giving title to the land1 and were paying taxes on their property4 ,the then ,chief who made the deal with ,demerest did not have the authority to sign any deal with anyone4 ,so the government took over some private land which is not lawful4 ,this statement is recorded in the courthouse and can be made available anytime4 ,these records are not in ,franklin1 as ,franklin is twenty miles from here4 ,,previous ,,publications ,,about ,,the ,,chitimachas ,hoover1 ,herbert ,t4 ,the ,chitimacha ,people4 ,phoenix3 ,indian ,tribal ,series1 #aige4 ,kniffen1 ,fred4 ,the ,indians of ,louisiana4 ,baton ,rouge3 ,louisiana ,bureau of ,educational ,materials1 ,statistics and ,research1 ,college of ,education1 ,louisiana ,state ,university1 #aife4 ,orso1 ,ethelyn and ,e4 ,charles ,plaisance4 8,chitimacha ,folklore10 ,louisiana ,folklore ,miscellany1 vol4 ,,iii1 no4 #d 7#aige for #aigc71 pp4 #ce-da4 ,stouff1 ,faye4 ,the ,chetimachas of ,charenton4 ,booklet published by ,lafayette ,natural ,history ,museum1 #aigd4 ,stouff1 ,faye and ,w4 ,bradley ,twitty4 ,sacred ,chitimacha ,indian ,beliefs4 ,pompano ,beach1 ,florida3 ,twitty and ,twitty1 ,inc41 #aiga4 ,swanton1 ,john ,r4 ,indian ,tribes of the ,lower ,mississippi ,valley and the ,adjacent ,coast of the ,gulf of ,mexico4 ,washington1 ,d4,c43 ,smithsonian ,institute1 ,bureau of ,american ,ethnography1 ,bulletin #dc1 #aiaa2 ,reprinted #aigj1 ,johnson ,reprint ,corp4 ,taylor1 ,gertrude4 8,early ,history of the ,chitimacha10 ,attakapas ,gazette1 vol4 ,,xvi1 no4 #b 7,summer #aiha71 pp4 #fe-fi4 ,transcriber's ,notes --,silently corrected a few typos4 --,retained publication information from the printed edition3 this e,book is public-domain in the country of publication4 --,in the text versions only1 text in italics is delimited by underscores4