Misconceptions

• Despite their current organization as one tribe, the Alabamas and Coushattas were initially two separate tribes, though culturally similar. By the 1700s both tribes were living adjacent to one another near the Alabama River, intermarrying and speaking the same Muskhogean language. The Alabamas and Coushattas migrated together to Texas and under the 1934 Indian Reorganization Act were officially united as the Alabama-Coushatta Indian tribe.
  
  

History of

• The Alabama-Coushatta had aligned themselves with the French in Alabama, but after the French and Indian War ended in 1763 the English took control of the territory. As a result, the Alabama-Coushatta and other Indian tribes began to move west. By the 1780s the Alabama-Coushatta reached the Big Thicket region of east Texas and began to establish villages. The Big Thicket was an ideal habitation for the Alabama-Coushatta, with plentiful game and vegetation. It also served as a natural impediment to future settlers.
  For decades the Alabama-Coushatta lived in relative peace and prosperity in east Texas, even earning a grant of over 1,000 acres for a reservation by the Texas government in 1853. However, in the post-Civil War era the Alabama-Coushatta tribe suffered neglect by the United States government, in part due to white settlers distrust of Indians in general. During this time the Alabama-Coushatta culture and heritage steadily declined, but in the 1880s the arrival of the railroad to Polk County, missionaries to the reservation, and the help of a white lawyer from Livingston vastly improved the state of affairs on the Alabama-Coushatta reservation. Today the Alabama-Coushatta reservation prospers, keeping rich traditions and culture intact.
  
  

Features

• Alabama-Coushatta villages normally consisted of several neighborhoods of cabins grouped throughout their territory. Each family had enough land around their cabin to grow crops, but the Alabama-Coushatta were also skilled hunters, fishermen, and gatherers.
  Despite preferring to maintain peace with their neighbors, the Alabama-Coushatta could be fierce, formidable opponents when called to protect their lands from invasion. While in Alabama, the Alabama-Coushatta effectively defended their lands from the Choctaw for centuries, and in Texas the tribe was able to defeat the aggressive Comanche in a raid on their villages.
  
  

Significance

• The state of Alabama and the Alabama River were named after the Alabama-Coushatta Indians by European settlers to the regions, thus cementing the important role the tribe played in the history of the area. In Texas the Alabama-Coushatta cut vast networks of trails out of the woods to facilitate movement between their villages. These same trails were used by traders and settlers to the region for decades.
  
  

Evolution

• The Alabama-Coushatta as a tribe are distinctive in that they, after suffering much cultural deterioration during the mid-1800s, were able to regain their tribal identity and today operate a thriving reservation governed by their tribal council. Unlike certain other Native American tribes of Texas, the Alabama-Coushatta welcomed missionaries to their reservation in the 1880s. These missionaries, in addition to introducing the Alabama-Coushatta to Christianity, began to formally educate the people of the tribe, helping to improve the Alabama-Coushatta standard of living and ability to qualify for well-paying employment. The Alabama-Coushatta began to regain their former pride and independent spirit in the early 1900s, forming their own school district, sending tribal members to fight in World War II, and officially earning the right to vote. Today the Alabama-Coushatta are a shining example of the enduring nature of the Native American spirit and of its role in American history.