Alabama-Coushatta

The Alabama-Coushatta Indian Tribe of Texas, Incorporated, occupies a 4,593.7-acre reservation on U.S. Highway 190, seventeen miles east of Livingston in Polk County. In 2005 the names of more than 1,000 Alabama-Coushattas were recorded on the tribal roll, of whom approximately 500 lived on the reservation. Although recognized as two separate tribes, the Alabamas and Coushattas have been closely associated throughout their history. Both are of Muskhogean language stock. Both lived in adjacent areas in what is now Alabama, followed similar migration routes westward after 1763, and settled in the same area of the Big Thicket in Southeast Texas. Culturally, these two tribes have always been one people in spite of minor differences. Their languages are mutually understandable, although some differences occur in individual words. Their closest tie has been that of blood as intermarriage between the tribes has been practiced since earliest times. An early interpretation of Alabama indicated that the name meant "Here we rest." This explanation was generally accepted until T. M. Owen, director of the Alabama State Department of Archives and History, pointed out in 1921 that the name is derived from a combination of words meaning "vegetation gatherers." Coushatta is a popular form of "Koasati," which probably contains the words for "cane," "reed," or "white cane."

Adapted from the official Handbook of Texas, a state encyclopedia developed by the Texas State Historical Association (TSHA). It is an authoritative source of trusted historical records.