swANn.Nl INDIAN IKIKKS Ol'' 11 IK L()\\i;i; MISSISSIPPI \AI,M;V 35 



Slocks williiii :i \ri-y limited arra. which is possil)U' l)iil ralhci' unlikely 

 iiiulcr I lie circiiiii^taiici's. 



The Cliii iiiiaclia m-ciii always (o have constituted one conij)act 

 ]»('<)|)lc. ihc only di\ i^ions hcinji' into vina<jes. A few early nai'ratives 

 (•oii|)le with this tfihe the ^'a^enat(•it(), a name si<;nifvin^ in (Mioctaw 

 ' I>iii' coinitry.' hiil theic is no clew as to what trihe was intended by 

 it. I'ossihiy it refers to the Ojxdonsa or the Atakajja. hut more likely 

 it was used to cover a part of the Chitimacha. In that case, however, 

 (lie disiiiict ion w as prohahjv imposed from without rather than hy the 

 jicopic t lienisel\"es. 



( )!' ilic Ataka])a i)ropei' there were at least three hands, on the Ver- 

 milion. Merinentan, and <"'aleasieti rivers, respectively. It is likely 

 that the small Opeloiisa trihe. near the i)re.sent city of that name, 

 >pokt' a lanaiiaiic l)el()n^in<i- to this stock. Sibley states that they 

 {>ossessed a laiiiiuaii-e "ditl'erent from all others," but understood 

 Atakapa," which shows at least that they could not have been Mus- 

 khoirean, because in that case their trade lan«!:tiage would have been 

 Mobilian, and Sibley would have noted the fact as he has in so many 

 other instances.'' Westward of the Sabine, on the lower Neches and 

 Trinity were a i)e()i)le called by the Spaniards Orcoquisac. That 

 portion of their country about Galveston bay was the scene of the 

 i;d\'entures (»f Simars de Belle-Isle, a Frenchman abandoned by the 

 vessel in w hicli he was making the voyage to Louisiana. After wan- 

 ilvrin«i- abotit for some time aiul Ix'ing on the point of starving, 

 he h'll in with a band of these people, by whom he was held 

 captive until rescued by the Ilasinai and taken to St. Denis at 

 Natchitoches. Later he acted as La Harpe's guide when the latter 

 was sent to examine the feasibility of establishing a French post in 

 that cotnitry, and from his own account i)reserved in Margry and the 

 narrative's of La IIar|)e we have considerable information regarding 

 the life and manners of these Iiulians.'" Ln fortunately, although he 

 declares that he was familiar w ith the language, M. de Belle-Isle has 

 not left us any si)ecimen of it. The fact that these peoj:)le are also 

 called Atakapa may have some significance, but it is very slight. 

 At a later period the Spaniards established a mission among the 

 Orcoquisac, but it was soon given up, and the tribe left in compara- 

 tive obscurity for a long period. This much we do learn, that the 

 Orcoquisac Avere distinct from the Caddoan tribes and in manners 

 and customs reseml)le(l the Atakapa very closely as well as the 

 Karankawa and other people on or near the coast of Texas. All 

 (liat w(> know of their language, however, is the name of the tribe 

 itself; Yegsa, the term which they applied to the Spaniards; and 



" Ann. 9th Cong.. 2d sess., 1086, 1852. 



" Ibid.. 107fi rt .srr/. 



•^ Margry, D6eouvertes, vi, 320-347 ; La Ilarpe, Jour. Hist., 263-276, 1831. 



