The original inhabitants of Louisiana were Native
Americans who lived here long before the Europeans set foot on the land that
became known as Louisiana. There were
several tribes of Native Americans including the Bayougoula, Acolapissa,
Choctaw, Chitimacha, Natchez, Chickasaw, Houma, and Tunica-Biloxi who hunted
and farmed in the marsh grass of the prairies and lived along the rivers and
bayous.
In her excavations in the French Quarter, archaeologist
Shannon Dawdy discovered pottery from the 17th century, which indicates that
the “site known as New Orleans was occupied by Native Americas at least five
hundred years ago. One group had an encampment on the very spot where the
French cleared the river cane to set out a regular grid of streets—now called
the Vieux Carré, or
French Quarter” (Rees, p. 273).
Therefore, I definitely think that the Native Americans
should be included as one of the cultures to be celebrated in the exhibition,
especially since they influenced several other cultures that settled in their
lands after the Europeans came to the state.
On Saturday, November 21, I went to the 49th Annual
Louisiana Indian Heritage Association Pow Pow in Gonzales that celebrates the
Native American cultures in Louisiana and their continued contributions to the
state.
Sources
Rees, Mark A. and Ian W. Brown, eds. (2010). Archaeology of Louisiana. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press.
