The Sioux were made up up of very many tribes, each divided into smaller bands headed by several chiefs and elders.

In Lakota there are many words used for a chief or leader:

• itanchan
• wichasha itanchan
• nacha
• wichasha watapi
• wakichunzA
• blotahunka

95% of North American tribes are Matriarchal. The head of the tribes are the Clan Mothers. The Chiefs are the leaders in warfare.

An Igloo.

Real Answer:

Inuit do not have ice shelters. They have regular houses. Before that, they had houses made of sod.

History

The Houma Indians had been driven to the most isolated swamplands on this continent to find a place where they could independently maintain their Indian ways of life, language, medicine, arts, traditions and ceremonies. It would be hard for one to imagine the struggles the Houmas would face and be forced to endure in the years to follow before gaining state and federal recognition.

The first written, historical mention of the Houmas occurred in 1682, when French explorer LaSalle noted a Houma village on the east bank of the Mississippi River opposite the Red River, near what is now West Feliciana Parish, LA. The total population of the tribe was estimated at between six hundred and seven hundred members at the time of the first encounter. By the beginning of the eighteenth century, about half the tribe died of disease introduced through contact with the Europeans.

The boundary line marker of the Houmas and the Bayougoulas Indians who lived to the south, was a tall red pole, topped with a bear head and several fish heads. This marked the hunting grounds for the two tribes. When the French first saw it, they referred to it as "le Baton Rouge".

The Houmas had many ways to obtain his food. The men were hunters and used the blow gun, made of local cane reeds, for small game such as turkey and rabbit. Darts were also made of bamboo. He became quite skilled with this weapon.

For larger game, he used the bow and arrow, and the spear. Arrow points and spearheads were made from shell, also of stone and flint which were traded from the Indians to the north. Tomahawks were made of shell and stone. Sharp shells were used as knives, as were flint and sharp stones.

The Houmas worked community fields, sometime several acres in size. Here they would grow such crops as a melon, pumpkin, beans, and several varieties of corn. The women did the planting. To break up soil, she fashioned a hoe in the ground with a stick, dropped in a seed and covered it over by hand. At harvest time she gathered the crops and stored them in community bins. These were built on stilts about 12 feet high and were kept highly polished to keep the rats away.

The Houmas spoke the Muskhogean language. Their language was used by most of the tribes in south Louisiana because it was easier to speak. As the white man came in, they adopted the French tongue and eventually English.

The red crawfish was the war emblem of the Houmas, although they were not warlike people. It helped identify them from other tribes.

As far as we know, the dugout pirogue was the only kind of boat the Houma used. Before advent of the steel ax, the Indian felled a cypress tree by fire. He then made another fire to eat through the other end. Still another fire was kept going in the middle to eat away at the insides until the desired width and depth was achieved.

Because of conflicts with the Tunica Indians and colonial tensions between the French and English, the Houmas began migrating south. By the late eighteenth century, the Houmas had settled in what is now Terrebonne Parish. They gradually occupied the bayou marshlands from Dularge in Terrebonne Parish to Golden Meadow in Lafourche Parish. Some took up farming, and many others took up hunting, trapping, and fishing in their struggle to survive. Many of their descendants continue in these occupations today, living in or near the same places where their ancestors lived. Houmas have traditionally maintained close kinship and friendships, and are tied to members in other areas through their extended families.

The children of the Houma tribe from the isolated rural areas of south Louisiana were educationally under-served for over two centuries. During the first half of the twentieth century, and well into the 1960's the Houmas were still struggling for the right to have their own schools. Denied admission to public schools, many remained largely uneducated until 1963, when they received access to public school on an equal basis. The tribe however continues to feel the wounds of their long educational neglect.

Throughout the struggles over land, education and trapping rights both the tribe and friendly whites appealed to the federal government for help. The Bureau of Indian Affairs has however continued to ignore its responsibility to this Indian people. Its failure to acknowledge the Houmas continues to cripple the tribe by excluding it from the full range of federal services to which it is entitled. The United Houma Nation, Inc., the governing body of today's Houma's compiled a petition for the federal recognition of the tribe. The tribe awaits the decision of the tribe's petition for federal recognition.

Time Line

1682 Lasalle notes existence of Houma tribe at intersection of Mississippi River and Red River.

1685 Tonti records first European-Houma contact

1699 Houma tribe visited by Iberville

1706 Large numbers of Houmas perish in Tunica massacre. Segment of Houma tribe moves south from Angola area.

1718 Houmas negotiate peace between Chitimacha and the French.

1723 Tunica and Natchez tribes seek peace with the Houmas.

1763 Peace Treaty of Parish places Houmas hunting grounds under control of the English and villages in Spanish territory.

1765 Houma and Alabama warriors raid the British fort Bute, at Manchac, during the waning days of the Pontiac rebellion.

1766 Houma tribe moves south from Donaldsonville.

1774 Mississippi east bank Houma village is sold to Conway and Latil.

1800 Houmas begin to move to present location in Terrebonne and Lafourche Parish.

1803 U.S. buys large tract of land from France: the Louisiana Purchase Daniel Clark reports only 60 Houmas remaining above New Orleans.

1806 John Sibley reports to the U.S. Secretary of State that Houmas "scarcely exist as a nation."

1811 Author H.M. Brackenridge writes that Houmas "extinct".

Houma Chiefs (including Louis Savage) meet with W.C.C. Claiborne, governor of the Louisiana Territory, to formalize relations with the United States.

1814 Houma tribe files land claim with U.S. government.

1821 John J. Audubon mentions presence of Houmas in Southern Louisiana.

1832 The death of Louis Savage, famous Houma Chief and maternal uncle of Rosalie Courteaux.

1834 The town of Houma, Louisiana is founded, named after the Houma Indian village in the vicinity.

1840 The Houmas southern migration was at an end.

1859 Rosalie Courteaux purchases "large amount" of land for Houma tribe.

1870-80's Houma spread west from Lafourche Parish and Terrebonne Parish to St. Mary Parish.

1883 The death of Rosalie Courteaux heroine and matriarch of the Houma People.

The seven principal Houma settlements at the beginning of the twentieth century were: DuLarge, Dulac, Montegut, Point Barre, Point au Chene, Isle jean Charles, Grand Bois and Golden Meadow.

1907 John Swanton "re-discovers" the Houmas.

1918 Henry Billiot loses his court challenge to enter his children in public school. This was the first, recorded, formal assault by the tribe on the Terrebonne parish School System.

1920 Houma tribe begins to seek federal recognition.

1931-40 Houma tribe contacted and "studied" by Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) officials and anthropologist Nash, Underhill, Meyer, and Speck.

1932 Protestant education mission schools open for Indian students in Terrebonne at Dulac, DuLarge, and Pointe-aux-Chene.

1935 The dedication service for Clanton Chapel in Dulac, "the only Indian church in Louisiana" at the time.

1940-48 Parochial and public elementary schools open for Indian students in Terrebonne Parish

Late 1950's Houmas are allowed to attend Indian schools up to the seventh grade.

1960 Stoutenburgh lists Houmas as "extinct".

1963 Houma children admitted to public schools.

1963 Frank Naquin, the community leader in Golden Meadow, sends Helen Gindrat and Delores Terrebonne to the American Indian conference in Chicago. This event would become the catalyst for the modern political movements in the Houma community.

1972 Houma Tribes, Inc. is established at Golden Meadow in Lafourche Parish.

1974 Houma Alliance, Inc. is established at Dulac in Terrebonne Parish. First Title V Indian Education program is funded in Lafourche & Terrebonne parish.

1975 Houma tribe joins with other Indian tribes of Louisiana to form the Inter-tribal Council.

1975 - present United Houma Nation administers grants & job training programs in association with Inter-tribal Council.

1979 First formal meeting of the United Houma nation Tribal council after the merger of the Houma Tribe and the Houma Alliance.

1985 United Houma Nation files petition for federal recognition.

1986 United Houma Nation under the leadership of Chairman Kirby Verret and Vice-Chairwoman Helen Gindrat

1990 Tribal roll books closed. Only newborns can be registered.

1991 BIA places United Houma Nation on active status.

1992 Laura Billiot elected Chairwoman of United Houma Nation.

1993 Tribal enrollment numbers 17,000.

1994 United Houma Nation receives negative proposed findings.

1996 United Houma Nation files rebuttal to negative proposed findings.

1997-present United Houma Nation under the leadership of Brenda Dardar Robichaux, Chairwoman and Michael Dardar, Vice-Chairman.

1999 The Houma Tribal Council meets with a delegation of French Senators. Principal chief Brenda Dardar Robichaux is presented with a medal from the French Government, becoming the first "Medal Chief" since the colonial period.

1996-present United Houma Nation awaits its final determination from the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

She found a way to make peace with the newly arrived Europeans.

MORE The story we know is not true. Actually the colonist landed in an area of 14,000 Native Americans and in the worse land in the area. Powhatan pretty much left them alone. I think he figured that they would die from the bad water and disease . He was fairly right. Within 6 months there were only 34 men left alive of the 104 who came. It wasn't until after his death that the brother of Powhatan attacked the colony. The story about Smith is also not true. He did NOT save Jamestown. He was only there a very few months and he lied about his contribution to the settlement in a book he wrote several years later. He also made up the story about Pocahontas and she died young so couldn't refute his story. The man who did save Jamestown was the husband of Pocahontas and gave tobacco seeds to the colony. That was John Rolfe.