Chitimacha

The Chitimacha ( CHIT-i-mə-shah; or chit-i-MAH-shə) are an Indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands in Louisiana. They are a federally recognized tribe, the Chitimacha Tribe of Louisiana. The Chitimacha have an Indian reservation in St. Mary Parish near Charenton on Bayou Teche. Their reservation is a small part of their precontact territory. They are the only Louisiana tribe who still control some of their original land, where they have long occupied areas of the Atchafalaya Basin, "one of the richest inland estuaries on the continent." In 2011 they numbered about 1100 people. Historically, the Chitimacha spoke the Chitimacha language, a language isolate. The last two fluent speakers died in the 1930s, but the tribe has been working to revitalize the language since the 1990s. They use notes and recordings made by linguist Morris Swadesh around 1930. They have also started immersion classes for children and adults. In 2008 they partnered with Rosetta Stone in a two-year effort to develop software to support learning the language. Each tribal household was given a copy to support use of the language at home. The Chitimacha have used revenues from gambling to promote education and cultural preservation, founding a tribal museum and historic preservation office, and restoration of their language. The Chitimacha are one of four federally recognized tribes in the state.