Acolapissa.
An indefinite group, of Choctaw lineage, formerly living on Lake
Ponchartrain, about the coast lagoons, and on the Mississippi, in
Louisiana. Early French writers derived the name from the Choctaw káklo
pisa, 'those who listen and see.'
Allen Wright, governor of
the Choctaw nation, suggests okla pima, 'those who look out for
people'; that is, watchmen, guardians, spies, which probably refers to
their position, where they could observe entrance into or departure from
the lake and river. The name appears to have been made by early author; to
include several tribes, the Bayogoula, Mugniasha, and others. According to
Iberville the Acolapissa had 7 towns; but one of their villages was
occupied by the Tangiboa, who appear to have been a different tribe. The
Acolapissa are said to have suffered severely from an epidemic about 1700,
and Iberville says they united with the Mugulasha; if so, they must have
been included in those massacred by the Bayogoula, but this is rendered
doubtful by the statement of Penicaut (French Hist. Coll. La., n.s.i, 144,
1869) that in 1718 the Colapissa, who inhabited the north shore of Lake
Ponchartrain, removed to the Mississippi and settled 13 leagues above New
Orleans.
Source: Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico, Frederick Webb Hodge,
1906, Bureau of Ethnology, Government Printing Office.
Online Publication: The manuscript was scanned and
then ocr'd. Minimal editing has been done, and readers can and should expect
some errors in the textual output.
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