The Choctaw-Apache Community of Ebarb, also known as the Choctaw-Apache Tribe of Ebarb, is a

state-recognized tribe State-recognized tribes in the United States are organizations that identify as Native American tribes or heritage groups that do not meet the criteria for federally recognized Indian tribes but have been recognized by a process established under ...

and

nonprofit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

. The community describes themselves as the descendants of

Choctaw The Choctaw (in the Choctaw language, Chahta) are a Native American people originally based in the Southeastern Woodlands, in what is now Alabama and Mississippi. Their Choctaw language is a Western Muskogean language. Today, Choctaw people are ...

and

Lipan Apache Lipan Apache are a band of Apache, a Southern Athabaskan Indigenous people, who have lived in the Southwest and Southern Plains for centuries. At the time of European and African contact, they lived in New Mexico, Colorado, Oklahoma, Texas, and ...

people and is primarily based in the town of

Zwolle, Louisiana Zwolle ( ) is a small town in Sabine Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 1,759 at the 2010 census, down from 1,783 in 2000. It was named after Zwolle, a Dutch city in Overijssel. History The first inhabitants of the bowl-shap ...

, with pow-wow grounds in

Ebarb, Louisiana Ebarb is an unincorporated community in Sabine Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is located along Louisiana Highway 482, west of Zwolle and east of the Toledo Bend Reservoir. The American Indian community has a multicultural heritage with st ...

, both of which are in

Sabine Parish, Louisiana Sabine Parish ( French: ''Paroisse de la Sabine'') is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2010 census, the population was 24,233. The seat of the parish is Many. Sabine was one of five parishes created in as many weeks ...

, where the group say they have lived since the early 1700s. They are not

federally recognized This is a list of federally recognized tribes in the contiguous United States of America. There are also federally recognized Alaska Native tribes. , 574 Indian tribes were legally recognized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) of the United ...

as a

Native American tribe In the United States, an American Indian tribe, Native American tribe, Alaska Native village, tribal nation, or similar concept is any extant or historical clan, tribe, band, nation, or other group or community of Native Americans in the Unit ...

History

The group writes that the Choctaw-Apache Community of Ebarb began in the early 1700s, after the Spanish founded Nuestra Señora del Pilar de Los Adaes Presidio, a fort in the area defended by

Mestizo (; ; fem. ) is a term used for racial classification to refer to a person of mixed Ethnic groups in Europe, European and Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous American ancestry. In certain regions such as Latin America, it may also r ...

and

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

soldiers. They say they married or had unions with local

Caddo The Caddo people comprise the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma, a federally recognized tribe headquartered in Binger, Oklahoma. They speak the Caddo language. The Caddo Confederacy was a network of Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands, wh ...

, Adai, and formerly enslaved

women living in the area.When the Spanish dissolved the fort in 1773 and ordered the soldiers to return to

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= U.S. state, State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , s ...

, many remained behind with their families. They settled in the area of Zwolle and Ebarb. Following the

Louisiana Purchase The Louisiana Purchase (french: Vente de la Louisiane, translation=Sale of Louisiana) was the acquisition of the territory of Louisiana by the United States from the French First Republic in 1803. In return for fifteen million dollars, or app ...

by the United States in 1803, bands of

began moving into this area in search of new hunting grounds. Additional Choctaw were moved into the area by US Indian Agent John Sibley. Twenty-one Choctaw families were listed in the 1870 Census for the area. In the 20th century, the people mostly worked in the timber and oil industries. They lived along the east bank of the Sabine River until the states of Texas and Louisiana created a project to dam it for flood control and power generation. The states claimed 180,000 acres of the ancestral land to create the

Toledo Bend Reservoir Toledo Bend Reservoir is a reservoir on the Sabine River between Texas and Louisiana. The lake has an area of 185,000 acres (749 km2), the largest man-made body of water partially in both Louisiana and Texas, the largest in the South, and ...

. The people in the area were forced to move.

Language

The Ebarb community has traditionally spoken a dialect of Spanish dating from the establishment of Los Adaes. Due to the community's history, their dialect is derived from rural

Mexican Spanish Mexican Spanish ( es, español mexicano) is the variety of Dialect, dialects and Sociolect, sociolects of the Spanish language spoken in Mexican territory. Mexico has the largest number of Spanish speakers, with more than twice as many as in a ...

of the late 18th century, and bears little resemblance to

Isleño Spanish Isleño Spanish ( Spanish: , french: espagnol islingue) is a dialect of the Spanish language spoken by the descendants of Canary Islanders who settled in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana, United States, during the late 18th century. It has been grea ...

. A similar dialect has been spoken around Moral, west of

Nacogdoches Nacogdoches ( ) is a small city in East Texas and the county seat of Nacogdoches County, Texas, United States. The 2020 U.S. census recorded the city's population at 32,147. Nacogdoches is a sister city of the smaller, similarly named Natchitoch ...

, on the other side of the

, which also derives from the Los Adaes settlement. This dialect is very endangered; as of the 1980s, there were no more than 50 fluent speakers on either side of the Sabine River.

Membership

In 2008 the group reports they had 2,300 enrolled members living in the area, and additional members in other regions.

Organization

The group formed a

501(c)(3) nonprofit organization A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of the 29 types of 50 ...

in 1977, with the mission "to assist tribe members and obtain federal recognition. Continued to work on member documentation needed for federal recognition."

State-recognition

The Choctaw-Apache Community of Ebarb received state recognition as a tribe by the state of Louisiana in 1978 by legislative action (also reported as 1977).

Letter of intent to petition for federal recognition

In 1978, John W. Procell wrote the Choctaw-Apache Community of Ebarb's letter of intent to petition for federal recognition to the

US Department of the Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government headquartered at the Main Interior Building, located at 1849 C Street NW in Washington, D.C. It is responsible for the mana ...

; however, the organization has not yet submitted a completed petition for federal recognition.

Activities

The group hosts an annual powwow in mid-April in

Noble, Louisiana Noble is a village in Sabine Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 259 at the 2000 census. Geography Noble is located at (31.690237, -93.682087). According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 1.0 ...

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Choctaw-Apache Tribe Of Ebarb 1977 establishments in Louisiana Choctaw heritage groups Cultural organizations based in Louisiana Non-profit organizations based in Louisiana Native American tribes in Louisiana State-recognized tribes in the United States