INDIAN NATIONS, &C.-BOOK I. 
83 
OPPELOUSAS, 
In the Indian language means black head, or black scull.— 
They are aborigines of this district. 
ATTAKAPAS, 
Signifies man-eater. They at present reside with the Caran- 
kouas on an island in the bay of St. Bernard. They have the 
reputation of being to this day anthropophagi. A French writer, 
who published a book on Louisiana in 1713, of the name of Du¬ 
mont, relates a fact of two white men who fell into their haiids^ 
one of whom was killed and eaten, the other made his escape. 
TENSAS, 
Emigrants from the Tensa, and Bayou Boeuf.— TVashas , for¬ 
merly a considerable nation, now extinct, lived near New Or¬ 
leans, and were the first with whom the French became ac¬ 
quainted. 
ARKANSAS, 
South of the Arkansas village, descended from the Osage. 
—The Houmas and Avoyall extinct. 
Indians on the Mississippi , between the Missouri and the Falls 
of St. Anthony. 
AY U WAS, 
Descended from the Missouris, and claim the country west 
of them. Have a village on the riviere des Moines, S. E. side, 
but are generally wandering. 
SAUKEES, 
One hundred and forty leagues above St. Louis. Trade with 
the merchants from Michilimackinac, and St. Louis. Live with 
the Foxes, and may be considered as identified with those peo¬ 
ple. The country which they claim lies principally on the east 
side of the Mississippi. On the west side, they claim the coun¬ 
try of the ancient Missouris by right of conquest, without de¬ 
fining any portion to the Ayuwas. To them may be ascribed the 
destruction of the Piorias, Kaskaskias, Cahokias, Missouris, 
and Illinois. 
