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Choctaw-Apache Tribe of Ebarb

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Choctaw-Apache
Tribe of Ebarb[1]
Named afterChoctaw people, Apache people, Ebarb, Louisiana
Typestate-recognized tribe, nonprofit organization
EIN 72-0875349[1]
Legal statusschool, charity[1]
PurposeB82: Scholarships, Student Financial Aid Services[1]
Location
Membership11,200 (2022)
Chairman
Thomas N. Rivers[1]
Revenue$10,211[1] (2018)
Expenses$14,001[1] (2018)
Fundinggrants, contributions[1]
Staff3[1] (2018)
Websitechoctawapachetribeebarb.org

The Choctaw-Apache Tribe of Ebarb is a state-recognized tribe and nonprofit organization in Louisiana.[2] The members of the Tribe are descendants of Choctaw and Lipan Apache people[3][4] and are required to prove lineal descent as part of their state-approved membership process.[5] Their office is based in Zwolle, Louisiana, while their Powwow Grounds are in Ebarb, Louisiana. Both locations are in Sabine Parish, Louisiana, where the Choctaw-Apache community has lived since the early 18th century.[6][3]

History

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In 1721, the Spanish built the presidio or outpost, Nuestra Señora del Pilar de Los Adaes.[3][7] Los Adaes served as the capital of the Spanish province of Tejas from 1729 to 1770.[8] Located about 15 miles from Natchitoches, it was established as the easternmost outpost to prevent the French from encroaching on Spanish territory.[3] [8][9]: 134  For approximately 50 years, the French and others engaged in illicit trading through Los Adaes of horses, cattle, and Lipan Apache (known as Connechi) slaves.[7][10] During the final decade of French rule, the majority of enslaved Indigenous people at Natchitoches were Lipan Apache.[9]: 143  Nuestra Señora del Pilar was defended by Mestizo and Spanish soldiers who married local Indigenous women, including those of the Caddo and Adai tribes, as well as formerly enslaved Lipan Apache.[3] When the Spanish dissolved the fort in 1773 and ordered the soldiers to return to San Antonio, many chose to stay behind with their families along East Texas, while others moved to areas between the fort and the Sabine River, establishing communities near what is now Zwolle and Ebarb.[3][10]

In the mid-1700s, some Choctaw migrated into present-day Louisiana looking for new hunting grounds.[11] Shortly after the United States purchase of the Louisiana Territory in 1803, Dr. John Sibley, "the first Indian Agent with jurisdiction over the New Orleans territory",[12] provided refuge to North Louisiana Choctaw in Natchitoches[13] and resettled a few Choctaw families west of Los Adaes on land for farming and raising stock.[14][15][16]: 192  Dr. Sibley's reports are on record at the Smithsonian Institution and Library of Congress.[17] [4][3] During the Mexican War for Independence (1810-1821),[18] many Lipan Apache who supported the revolution fled the conflict and moved to the east side of the Sabine River to join their recently enslaved relatives. Additionally, the Choctaw-Apache, west of the Sabine, sought refuge with their kin on the east side during the 1839 Cordova Rebellion and the Texas Cherokee Wars. As the community settled the land, some of its members registered land claims to property in Bayou Scie, Sabine Parish.[11][16]: 192  In the 1870 Census, twenty-one Choctaw families were recorded along the eastern bank of the Sabine River.[15] Then, in 1881, sixty-two Choctaw-Apache families were documented nearby in Bayou Scie during a Catholic population census.[19] Throughout the 1800s, however, Anglo-American settlement in Louisiana was encouraged, encroaching on the territory occupied by the Choctaw-Apache people. The construction of a railroad depot in 1898 established the town of Zwolle, which promoted new industries like timber and further encouraged White settlement.[16]: 192–193 

Into the 20th century, the Choctaw-Apache community near Zwolle transitioned from farming, hunting, and ranching to wage labor in the timber industry.[16]: 192–193  They lived along the east bank of the Sabine River until the states of Texas and Louisiana created a project in the 1960s to dam it for flood control and electricity generation. The states claimed 180,000 acres of the ancestral land to build the Toledo Bend Reservoir, completed in 1968. The people in the area were forced to move.[20][21][16]: 196–197 

Language

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Main article: Sabine River Spanish

The Tribe historically spoke a dialect of Spanish dating from the establishment of Los Adaes.[22] Due to the community's history, their dialect is derived from rural Mexican Spanish of the late 18th century, and bears little resemblance to Isleño Spanish.[23] A similar dialect has been spoken around Moral, west of Nacogdoches, on the other side of the Toledo Bend Reservoir, 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.[24]

Membership

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In 2008, the group reported they had 2,300 members living in the area and additional members in other regions.[15]

Organization

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The group formed a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in 1977, with the mission "to assist tribe members and obtain federal recognition. Continued to work on member documentation needed for federal recognition."[1]

State-recognition

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In 1978, Louisiana officially recognized (state-recognized) the Choctaw-Apache Community of Ebarb through legislative action, House Concurrent Resolution 2.[3][25]

Louisiana House Bill 660 established the Native American Commission in 2018 to promote Native American culture and identify the needs facing that community. One member from each of the 15 recognized tribes serves on the commission.[26] The Tribe's Chief, Thomas N. Rivers, serves on the board as the Chairman of the Native American Commission for the State of Louisiana.[27]

Petition for federal recognition

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On March 22, 1978, John W. Procell submitted a letter of intent to the U.S. Department of the Interior, petitioning for federal recognition on behalf of the Choctaw-Apache Community of Ebarb, as per the Federal Acknowledgment Process (FAP) outlined in the 1978 regulation 25 C.F.R. Part 54.[28] In the same year, Raymond L. Ebarb sent the petition for federal recognition;[29] however, in July 2023, there was no active petition process with the Bureau of Indian Affairs.[30] As of 2024, the Tribe continues to seek federal recognition.[11] The Federally Recognized Indian Tribe List Act (108 Stat. 4791, 4792) of 1994 establishes three ways for a Native American group to gain federal acknowledgment: (1) through the administrative procedures (FAP) outlined in 25 C.F.R. Part 83, (2) by an Act of Congress, or (3) through a decision issued by a United States court.[31]

Activities

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The group hosts a biannual powwow in mid-April and November in Noble, Louisiana.[32][33]

Further reading

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  • Abernathy, Francis (1976). "The Spanish on the Moral". The Bicentennial Commemorative History of Nacogdoches. Nacogdoches: Nacogdoches Jaycees. pp. 21–33.
  • Kniffen, Fred B.; Gregory, Hiram F.; Stokes, George A. (1987). The Historic Indian Tribes of Louisiana. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press. pp. 303–305. ISBN 978-0-8071-1963-1.
  • Lipski, John M. (1987). "El dialecto español de Río Sabinas: vestigios del español mexicano en Luisiana y Texas". Nueva Revista de Filología Hispánica (in Spanish). 35 (1): 111–28. doi:10.24201/nrfh.v35i1.624. JSTOR 40298730.
  • Lipski, John M. (2008). Varieties of Spanish in the United States. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press. ISBN 9781589012134.

Notes

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Choctaw-Apache Community of Ebarb". Cause IQ. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
  2. ^ "State Recognized Tribes". National Conference of State Legislatures. Archived from the original on 25 October 2022. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Lee, Dayna Bowker. "Louisiana Indians In The 21st Century". Folklife in Louisiana: Louisiana's Living Traditions. Retrieved 2014-07-24.
  4. ^ a b Kniffen, Gregory & Stokes 1987, pp. 303–305.
  5. ^ "Choctaw-Apache Tribe Enrollment". Choctaw Apache Tribe of Ebarb. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
  6. ^ Prime, John. "Choctaw Apache food heritage preserved". Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  7. ^ a b McCorkle, Jr., James (March 1, 1995). "Los Adaes". Texas State Historical Association. Archived from the original on September 21, 2020. Retrieved 2024-12-08.
  8. ^ a b "Los Adaes". texasbeyondhistory.net. Archived from the original on July 11, 2007. Retrieved 2024-12-08.
  9. ^ a b Burton, H. Sophie; Smith, F. Todd (2011). "Slavery in the Colonial Louisiana Backcountry: Natchitoches, 1714-1803". Louisiana History: The Journal of the Louisiana Historical Association. 52 (2). ISSN 0024-6816.
  10. ^ a b "Legacy of Los Adaes". Texas Beyond History. Retrieved 2014-07-24.
  11. ^ a b c Caldwell, Robert (September 6, 2024). "Choctaw-Apache Tribe of Ebarb". 64 Parishes. Retrieved 2024-12-11.
  12. ^ Bosse, Tom (photographer) (2017-07-26). "Photo: Dr. John Sibley Marker". Historical Marker Database. Retrieved 2024-12-21.
  13. ^ Kniffen, Gregory & Stokes 1987, p. 94.
  14. ^ Kniffen, Gregory & Stokes 1987, p. 303.
  15. ^ a b c Welborn, Vickie (15 December 2008). "Choctaw-Apache Tribe Growing". OurTown. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
  16. ^ a b c d e Caldwell, Robert B. (2020). "Persistence on the Edge: The Choctaw-Apache Community of Ebarb". Native South. 13 (1) – via Project MUSE.
  17. ^ Sibley, John; Abel, Annie (1922). Indian Notes and Monographs: A report from Natchitoches in 1807. Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation. ISBN 9781508913740.
  18. ^ de la Teja, esús "Frank" (August 8, 2018). "Mexican War of Independence". Texas State Historical Association. Archived from the original on September 23, 2020. Retrieved 2024-12-09.
  19. ^ Kniffen, Gregory & Stokes 1987, p. 254.
  20. ^ Teal, Rolonda (October 2011). "Displaced Residents of the Sabine River". Stephen F. Austin State University. Archived from the original on 11 January 2022. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
  21. ^ Hendrix, Lindsey (24 November 2020). "Advancing A 'Strong Healing Heritage' In Nursing Education". Texas A&M Today. Archived from the original on 6 April 2022. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
  22. ^ Lipski 2008, pp. 216–217.
  23. ^ Lipski 2008, p. 216.
  24. ^ Lipski 2008, pp. 214–215.
  25. ^ "Volume One 1978 Official Journal of the Proceedings of the Senate of the State of Louisiana". lasc.libguides.com. 1978. p. 149. Retrieved 2024-12-13.
  26. ^ Jiminez, Gabby (2023). "Louisiana tribal task force can't agree on recognition rules". Louisiana Illuminator. Retrieved 5 April 2024.
  27. ^ "Louisiana Office of Indian Affairs". State of Louisiana. 2023. Retrieved 6 April 2024.
  28. ^ "List of Petitions by States (as of November 12, 2013)" (PDF). US Department of the Interior. p. 24. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
  29. ^ Lovett (December 27, 1978). "Forty Indian Groups Petition For Federal Status 1As Tribes". Office of Federal Acknowledgment. US Dept. of the Interior, Indian Affairs. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
  30. ^ "Petitions in Process as of Tue Jul 25, 2023". Office of Federal Acknowledgment. US Dept. of the Interior, Indian Affairs. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
  31. ^ "How is federal recognition status conferred? | Indian Affairs". www.bia.gov. November 8, 2017. Retrieved 2024-12-13.
  32. ^ "Choctaw Apache Tribe of EBARB, 28th Annual Pow Wow". Powwows.com. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
  33. ^ "Choctaw Apache Tribal Pow-Wow". ExploreLouisiana.com. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
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