424 
chief family names are Byrd, Carter, 
Chestang, Johnson, Jones, Rivers, 
Smith, Sullivan, Terry, and Weaver. 
Baptist and Methodist groups have 
missions among these people. 
19. Mississippi 
The 1930 census reported a total of 
1,458 Indians in Mississippi, and of 
these, 11.2 percent were reported as 
pure-bloods, 75.1 percent as mixed, 
and 13.7 percent were not recorded. 
The figure for illiteracy of those 10 
years old and over was 63.4 percent in 
1930. 
- Choctaws—The Mississippi Indians 
are almost all Choctaws and they are 
scattered through half a dozen coun- 
ties in the central parts of the State. 
The greatest concentration is in 
Neshoba County around Philadelphia, 
but a large number are also found in 
Newton, Jasper, and Jones Counties 
to the south, in Leake and Scott 
Counties to the west, and in Kemper 
County to the east. The Federal In- 
dian Office maintains an agency at 
Philadelphia, Miss., which includes a 
hospital and day school. 
The native speech is employed 
among these people. Mission work 
has been carried on among them by 
the Methodist Episcopal and Roman 
Catholic groups. Cultivation of the 
soil and hunting, along with simple 
craftsmanship, help these Indians to 
make a living. They have been in 
bad straits economically and are 
looked down on by their white neigh- 
bors. It is said that these are the only 
Indians of the south who have been 
compelled as a class to use the Negro 
accommodations in railway, travel. 
20. Loutsiana 
The 1930 census reported 1,536 In- 
dians in Louisiana, of which 11.2 per- 
cent were reported as full-bloods, 75.1 
percent as mixed, and 13.7 percent as 
not recorded. Some 64.5 _ percent 
were recorded as illiterate. The prin- 
cipal groups are the Choctaw, Houma, 
and Chitimacha of the coastal areas, 
ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1948 
the Tunica of the lower Red River, 
the Red Bones of the southwest, and 
the Coushatta, a little to the south- 
west of the Tunica. 
Houma.—These Indians, of very 
mixed blood, number upward of 1,000 
and are increasing rapidly. They are 
located on Bayou Grand Caillou, 
south of the town of Houma, in Terre- 
bonne and La Fourche Parishes. 
They are Roman Catholic, French 
speaking, dwell in palmetto huts and 
on houseboats; the men derive a living 
by fishing and trapping, and the 
women and children work in shrimp- 
canning factories nearby. The family 
names are Billiot, Verdin, Diane or 
Dean, Parfait, Gregoire, and Verret. 
Chitimacha—This group numbers 
some 240 members situated at various 
points in St. Mary’s Parish, just west 
of Terrebonne. Some are settled 
around Charenton and although clas- 
sed as Negroes refuse to attend colored 
schools. ‘They number upward of 100 
and are Roman Catholic in religion. 
They raise corn, sugarcane, and sweet 
potatoes. They speak both English 
and French. Marriage with Negroes 
is forbidden and some claim to be 
full-blood Indians. Two bands, num- 
bering 150 persons in all, live at 
Verdonville, some 10 miles from 
Franklin, and are of mixed blood. 
Tunica.—It is unofficially estimated 
that from 50 to 100 of this tribe, 
greatly mixed in blood, still live in 
Avoyelles, La Salle, Catahoula, and 
Rapides Parishes near the mouth of 
the Red River and the Yazoo. Near 
Marksville, La., there are 40 or 50 of 
these Indians living on a tract of 170 
acres. ‘Their property is not a reser- 
vation and they are not under any 
Federal supervision. They are not 
taxed, however. A few still speak the 
native language. 
Coushatta or Koasati—These people 
number about 250 and live in Allen 
Parish near Kinder, La. They own 
1,050 acres of land. They claim to 
have no Negro blood and attend white 
public schools. There is a Congrega- 
