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Biloxi Indian Tribe History
Biloxi. A name
of uncertain meaning, apparently from the Choctaw language. They call
themselves Taneks haya, 'first people.' A small Siouan tribe
formerly living in south Mississippi, now nearly or quite extinct. The
Biloxi were supposed to belong to the Muskhogean stock until Gatschet
visited the survivors of the tribe in Louisiana in 1886 and found that
many of the words bore strong resemblance to those in Siouan languages, a
determination fully substantiated in 1892 by J. Owen Dorsey. To what
particular group of the Siouan family the tribe is to be assigned has not
been determined; but it is probable that the closest affinity is with
Dorsey's Dhegiha group, socalled. The first direct notice of the Biloxi is
that by Iberville, who found them in 1699 about Biloxi bay, on the gulf
coast of Mississippi, in connection with two, other shall tribes, the
Paskagula and Moctobi, the three together numbering only about 20 cabins
(Margry, Dec., iv, 195, 1880). The Biloxi removed to the west shore of
Mobile bay in 1702. In 1761 Jefferys spoke of them as having been north
east of Cat island, and of their subsequent removal to the north west of
Pearl river Hutchins, in 1784, mentions a Biloxi village on the west side
of the Mississippi, a little below the Paskagula, containing 30 warriors.
According to Sibley (1805) a part of the Biloxi came with some French,
from near Pensacola, about 1763, and settled first in Avoyelles parish,
La., on Red river, whence they "moved higher up to Rapide Bayou, and from
thence to the month of Rigula de Bondieu, a division of Red river, about
40 miles below Natchitoch, where they now live, and are reduced to about
30 in number." Berguin-Duvallon (1806) mentions them as in two villages,
one on Red river, 19 leagues from the Mississippi, the other on a lake
called Avoyelles. He also refers to some as being wanderers on Crocodile
bayou. Schoolcraft said they numbered 55 in 1825. In 1828 (Bul. Soc. Mex.
Geog., 1870) there were 20 families of the tribe on the east bank of
Neches river, Tex. Porter, in 1829 (Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, 111, 596), gave the number as 65 living with the
Caddo, Paskagula, and other small tribes on Red river, near the Texas
frontier, and in 1846 Butler and Lewis found a Biloxi camp on Littler
river, a tributary of the Brazos in Texas, about two days' journey from
the latter stream. After this little was heard of them until 1886.
According to Gatschet there were in that year a few Biloxi among the
Choctaw and Caddo, but he visited only those in Avoyelles parish, La. In
1892 Dorsey found about a dozen of the tribe near Lecompte, Rapides
parish, La., but none remained at Avoyelles. From the terms they used and
information obtained Dorsey concluded that prior to the coming of the
whites the men wore the breechcloth, a belt, leggings, moccasins, and
garters, and wrapped around the body a skin robe. Feather headdresses and
necklaces of bone, and of the bills of a long-legged redbird (flamingo?)
were worn, as also were noserings and earrings. The dwellings of the
people resembled those found among the northern tribes of the same family,
one kind similar to the low tent of the Osage and Winnebago, the other
like the high tent of the Dakota, Omaha, and others. It is said they
formerly made pottery. They made wooden bowls, horn an, bone implements,
and baskets.
Tattooing was practice to a limited extent. Descent was
through the female line, and there was an elaborate system of kinship. The
charge of cannibalism was made against theme by one or two other tribes;
this, however, is probably incorrect. Dorsey recorded the following clan
names:
Itaanyadi
Ontianyadi
Nakhotodhanyadi
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Handbook
of American Indians, 1906
Index of Tribes or Nations
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