Coushatta
The Coushatta (Koasati: Koasati, Kowassaati or Kowassa:ti) are a Muskogean-speaking Native American people now living primarily in the U.S. states of Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas.
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana 910 enrolled members Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas 380 enrolled | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| United States (Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma) | |
| Languages | |
| English, Spanish, French, Koasati language | |
| Religion | |
| Christianity | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Alabama, other Muscogee peoples |
When first encountered by Europeans, they lived in the territory of present-day Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama. They were historically closely allied and intermarried with the Alabama people, also members of the Creek Confederacy. Their languages are closely related and mutually intelligible.
Under pressure from Anglo-American colonial settlement after 1763 and the French defeat in the Seven Years' War, they began to move west into Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas, which were then under Spanish rule. They became settled in these areas by the early 19th century. Some of the Coushatta and Alabama people were removed west to Indian Territory (now Oklahoma) in the 1830s under Indian Removal, together with other Muscogee (Creek) peoples.
Today, Coushatta people are enrolled in three federally recognized tribes: