HISTORY AND CURRENT STATUS OF THE HOUMA INDIANS

Abstract

Brewton Berry, in Almost White, reports that there are some 200 groups of orphans in the United States. * Among these, those who have some claim to Indian ancestry are known as Indians. M This term is apt, for these peoples have a tenuous racial status. Although socalled Indians are of mixed ancestry, they emphasize their Indian identity. Mulatto groups, on the other hand, consider their own status to be midway between white and Negro. Both Mulatto and so-called Indian groups may be found today in Louisiana, living in separate, isolated social units. In these Indian groups in Louisiana, there has been consistent strong resistance to identification with Negroes. Whites, Indians and Negroes agree that as a result of this resistance the Indian groups are more deprived than Negroes who live in the same areas. The racial status of these people varies from parish to parish, and migration can often overcome the problems of racial identity. The so-called Indians of Louisiana live in settlements which are iso-