The Pascagoula (also Pascoboula, Pacha-Ogoula, Pascagola, Pascaboula, Paskaguna) were an
indigenous group living in coastal
Mississippi 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 term meaning "bread people".
Choctaw native Americans using the name Pascagoula are named after the words for "bread nation". The
Biloxi 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
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 ...
) 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
Mobilian Jargon. Their language is undocumented.
References
External links
Pascagoula Indian Tribe HistoryPascagoula 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.
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Native American tribes in Mississippi
Unclassified languages of North America