Opelousa
Native American people near Opelousas, Louisiana, United States
The Opelousa (also Appalousa) were an Indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands in Louisiana, and an inland band of the Atakapa (Ishāk). They are associated with the Eastern (Hiyékiti) Atakapa dialect. Historically they inhabited the prairies around present day Opelousas, Louisiana. In the American Reovlution War they allied with Spanish Governor Bernardo de Gálvez along with other regional Atakapa warriors, and later operated cattle ranches. Although 19th century census practices obscured their identity, Opelousa descendants merged into the regional Louisiana creole population.
Territory
Michel De Birotte, who lived in Louisiana from 1690 to 1734 and spent 40 years living among the Indians, wrote the Appalousa lived just west of two small lakes. This description is thought to apply to Leonard Swamp (east of present-day Opelousas). During the period, this was the westernmost channel of the Mississippi River. Due to mineral deposits and the great number of leaves covering the bottom, the lake waters appeared black. The Appalousa who hunted and fished in the lake found their legs became stained black from these waters.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Opelousa” as native American people near Opelousas, Louisiana, United States. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 18, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2062219. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1690 and 1734.
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This entry incorporates text from “Opelousa” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.