The Choctaw-Apache Community of Ebarb, also known as the Choctaw-Apache Tribe of Ebarb, is a state-recognized tribe and nonprofit organization in Louisiana.^[2] The community describes themselves as the descendants of Choctaw and Lipan Apache people^[3][4] and is primarily based in the town of Zwolle, Louisiana, with powwow grounds in Ebarb, Louisiana, both of which are in Sabine Parish, Louisiana, where the group say they have lived since the early 18th century.^[5][3]

They are not federally recognized as a Native American tribe.^[2][3][4]

History

The group writes that the Choctaw-Apache Community of Ebarb began in the early 18th century, after the Spanish founded Nuestra Señora del Pilar de Los Adaes Presidio, a fort in the area defended by Mestizo and Spanish soldiers. They say they married or had unions with local Caddo, Adai, and formerly enslaved Lipan Apache women living in the area.^[4][3]When the Spanish dissolved the fort in 1773 and ordered the soldiers to return to San Antonio, many remained behind with their families. They settled in the area of Zwolle and Ebarb.^[3][6]

Following the Louisiana Purchase by the United States in 1803, bands of Choctaw began moving into this area in search of new hunting grounds.^[3] Additional Choctaw were moved into the area by US Indian Agent John Sibley.^[7][4] Twenty-one Choctaw families were listed in the 1870 Census for the area.^[7]

In the 20th century, the people mostly worked in the timber and oil industries. They lived along the east bank of the Sabine River until the states of Texas and Louisiana created a project to dam it for flood control and power generation. The states claimed 180,000 acres of the ancestral land to create the Toledo Bend Reservoir. The people in the area were forced to move.^[8][9]

Language

The Ebarb community says they historically spoke a dialect of Spanish dating from the establishment of Los Adaes.^[10] 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.^[11] 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.^[12]

Membership

In 2008, the group reported they had 2,300 members living in the area and additional members in other regions.^[7]

Organization

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

Louisiana state-recognized the Choctaw-Apache Community of Ebarb by legislative action in 1978 (also reported as 1977).^[7][3]

Petition for federal recognition

On March 22, 1978, John W. Procell sent the Choctaw-Apache Community of Ebarb's letter of intent to petition for federal recognition to the US Department of the Interior.^[13] Raymond L. Ebarb sent the petition for federal recognition in 1978;^[14] however, they do not have a petition in process.^[15]

Activities

The group hosts an annual powwow in mid-April in Noble, Louisiana.^[16]

Further reading

• 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

External links

• Official website