NO. 5 DRAWINGS BY A. De1!ATZ IN LOUISIANA BUSHNELL 



1 



TEMPLE, AND CABIN OF THE CHIEF. ACOLAPISSA. 1732 



Two centuries and more ago, when the French entered Lower 

 Louisiana, many tribes occupied the region near or bordering the 

 Mississippi. The scattered native villages differed in size and im- 

 portance but may not have varied greatly in general appearance. One 

 custom was followed in common for as DuPratz then wrote : "All 

 the people of Louisiana have temples, which are more or less well 

 cared for according to the ability of the nation." Some were quite 

 simple in form and resembled the habitations in the nearby or sur- 

 rounding villages, others were more elaborate and of greater size, and 

 such was the temple which stood in the village of the Acolapissa 

 during the spring of 1732. This settlement was probably a short 

 distance up the Mississippi from the site of the earlier village of the 

 same tribe which was visited by Charlevoix just lO years before when 

 he described it as " the finest in all Louisiana." Three carved and 

 painted figures of birds, probably quite similar to those so clearly 

 shown in the sketch of the Acolapissa temple, are mentioned as having 

 surmounted like structures which had formerly stood in the villages 

 of the Taensa and Natchez. These and other temples in Lower 

 Louisiana served as burial places for the chiefs of the tribes. 



The cabin of the Acolapissa chief, as given in the sketch, was 

 probably a typical habitation of the region and time, but among some 

 tribes rectansfular cabins were also erected. 



