The Pascagoula (also Pascoboula, Pacha-Ogoula, Pascagola, Pascaboula, Paskaguna) were an

indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention *Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band *Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...

group living in coastal

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

on the

Pascagoula River The Pascagoula River is a river, about 80 miles (130 km) long, in southeastern Mississippi in the United States. The river drains an area of about 8,800 square miles (23,000 km²) and flows into Mississippi Sound of the Gulf of Mexic ...

. The name ''Pascagoula'' is a

Mobilian Jargon Mobilian Jargon (also Mobilian trade language, Mobilian Trade Jargon, Chickasaw–Choctaw trade language, Yamá) was a pidgin used as a lingua franca among Native American groups living along the Gulf of Mexico around the time of European settlem ...

term meaning "bread people". Choctaw native Americans using the name Pascagoula are named after the words for "bread nation". The

Biloxi Biloxi ( ; ) is a city in and one of two county seats of Harrison County, Mississippi, United States (the other being the adjacent city of Gulfport). The 2010 United States Census recorded the population as 44,054 and in 2019 the estimated popu ...

called them ''Pascoboula''.

History

Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville (16 July 1661 – 9 July 1706) or Sieur d'Iberville was a French soldier, explorer, colonial administrator, and trader. He is noted for founding the colony of Louisiana in New France. He was born in Montreal to French ...

encountered the tribe in 1699 and was impressed by the beauty of Pascagoula women. According to local Euro-American legend, the peace-loving tribe walked single file into the Singing River (now known as the

) because the local Biloxi tribe were planning to attack. Anola, a Biloxi "

princess Princess is a regal rank and the feminine equivalent of prince (from Latin '' princeps'', meaning principal citizen). Most often, the term has been used for the consort of a prince, or for the daughter of a king or prince. Princess as a subs ...

", eloped with the Pascagoula chief Altama, although she was engaged to a Biloxi chieftain. Anola's angry would-be husband led his soldiers into battle with the Pascagoula. Outnumbered and fearing enslavement by the Biloxi, the tribe joined hands and walked into the river singing a death song. The river became known as the "Singing River" because of this death song, which reportedly can still be heard at night.

Language

John Sibley reported that they spoke their own language which was different from neighboring languages in addition to

. Their language is undocumented.

References

External links

Pascagoula Indian Tribe History

Pascagoula Indians

Bibliography

* Goddard, Ives (2005). The indigenous languages of the Southeast. ''Anthropological Linguistics. 47'' (1): 1–60. * Higginbotham, Jay (Trans., Ed.). (1969). ''The journal of Sauvole''. Mobile: Colonial Books. * McWilliams, Richebourg G. (Ed., Trans.). (1981). ''Iberville's gulf journals''. University: University of Alabama Press. * Le Page du Pratz, Antoine Simon. (1758). ''Histoire de la Louisiana'' (Vols. 1-3). Paris: De Bure. * Sibley, John. (1806). Historical sketches of the several Indian tribes in Louisiana, south of the Arkansas River, and between the Mississippi and River Grand. In T. Jefferson (Ed.), ''Message from the President of the United States communicating the discoveries made in exploring the Missouri, Red River, and Washita'' (pp. 48–62). New York: G. F. Hopkins. {{authority control Native American tribes in Mississippi Unclassified languages of North America