Chaouacha
Total population
Extinct as a tribe
Regions with significant populations
Louisiana
Languages
possibly dialect of Chitimacha
Related ethnic groups
Chitimacha

The Chaouacha (or Chawasha) were an indigenous people of Louisiana, likely related to the Chitimacha, best known in history for being the victims of a massacre in retaliation for the Natchez revolt against French colonists in which they had had no part. When first described, they lived on the east bank of the Mississippi River, just south of New Orleans. In 1699, they were reported to be allied with the Ouacha/Washa and the Opelousa.[1]

In December 1729, following an attack by the Natchez on Fort Rosalie the prior month, colonists feared a widespread Indian rebellion or, even worse, a combined Native American and slave revolt. The governor of Louisiana, Étienne Perier, ordered a force of 80 enslaved Africans under the command of Louis Tixerant, a Company of the Indies warehouse keeper, to massacre the Chaouacha community,[2][3] rewarding the men by freeing them from slavery.[4] At least seven Chaouacha men were killed and a number of women and children were captured and taken to New Orleans. Survivors from the tribe petitioned Perier to release the prisoners, as the tribe was not involved in the Natchez revolt, which he did.[3] The Choctaw, who were allied with the French against the Natchez, objected to Perier's attack on the Chaouacha and encouraged other small tribes in the region to relocate away from the French to lands under Choctaw protection.[5]

Perier reported to his superiors that he had destroyed the Chaouacha, but there is evidence the tribe remained distinct until the late 1700s before assimilating into other tribes.[3] An 1802 mention by French colonist Baudry de Lozières describes them as "Tchaouachas: Reduced to 40 warriors. A wandering indolent and lazy nation, settled near the French in 1712. Corn is the only assistance one can expect of them."[6]

References

  1. ↑ Hunter, Donald G.; Pearson, Charles E.; Reeves, Sally K. (1988). An Archaeological Survey of Golden Ranch Plantation, Lafourche Parish, Louisiana (Report). Baton Rouge, Louisiana: Coastal Environments Inc. p. 31.
  2. ↑ Balvay, Arnaud (2013). "The French and the Natchez: A Failed Encounter". In Englebert, Robert; Teasdale, Guillaume (eds.). French and Indians in the Heart of North America, 1630-1815. East Lansing, Michigan: University of Michigan Press. pp. 138–158. ISBN 978-1-60917-360-9.
  3. 1 2 3 Din, Gilbert C. (1999). Spaniards, Planters, and Slaves: The Spanish Regulation of Slavery in Louisiana, 1763–1803. College Station, Texas: Texas A & M University Press. pp. 15–16. ISBN 0-585-37685-9. OCLC 48139077. Retrieved 2022-07-06.
  4. ↑ Ingersoll, Thomas N. (April 1991). "Free Blacks in a Slave Society: New Orleans, 1718–1812". The William and Mary Quarterly. 48 (2): 177. doi:10.2307/2938067.
  5. ↑ Ellis, Elizabeth N. (2022). The Great Power of Small Nations. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 155. ISBN 9781512823189.
  6. ↑ Swanton, John Reed (1911). Indian Tribes of the Lower Mississippi Valley and Adjacent Coast of the Gulf of Mexico. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 301.
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