Centenary College of Louisiana - Yoncopin Yearbook (Shreveport, LA)

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INDIAN LORE Louisiana is rich in folk lore. No other state can point to a more glorious past or to a more romantic history. The flags of Spain and of France once flew over her territory: the pages of her history are rich with names of valorous men. The state itself is the open stage on which great dramas have heen played. The beauty of cy- press and of pine forests has formed the background; the men of many nations have acted the roles. Greater than the records of any war, more vital than the account of any industrial or commercial progress is the glorious but half unknown treasure of Louisiana tradition. It is for us who love the state to make the story known. It is for us who have seen the beauty of her sunsets and the splendor of her dawns and the clear unclouded skies above her forests 1 to learn and to appreciate her history. We must awaken in our hearts a love for the spiritual beauty as well as the natural beauty of our state. There is no other chapter in the history of Louisiana that holds more interest and more color than that which tells the story of the Indian. Everywhere in the L ' nited States recently, there has been an awakened appreciation for the civilization and the accomplishment of the Red Man. Everywhere there has been an effort made to undo the ruthless destruction wrought by the white man and to excavate from the ruins of the Indian race the true story of its greatness. Louisiana is especially wealthy in Indian tradition. There is a veritable store house of legends and tales which should interest every native of the South. It is our purpose in the Centenary Yoncopin of 1926 to dedicate our efforts to an appreciation of this part of our history, and it is our hope that we may arouse in others the spirit of interest and admiration which has attracted us to this theme. The people of Northern Louisiana should find especial interest in the Caddo Indians. Not only are they an unusual, an almost unique tribe, but they were very important in the history of Shreveport. The Caddo Indians were a quiet, pastoral, peaceful tribe. They lacked whollv the nomadic disposition and hunling instincts of most Indian nations. They were content to settle in one place, to cultivate and enjoy that land until a scarcity of water or other urgent causes impelled them to go on. Either the Caddo tribe lacked the fanciful imagination of most Red Men or they were particularly secretive, for they have failed to pass down to us any great collection of romantic stories. They do not lack interest, however, even though this failure to hand down tra- ditions has led some to the belief that the Caddos were not a full-blooded Indian tribe. The body of the last chief of the Caddo nation was washed up in 1888 at Stony Point. About the head and arms there were bands and bracelets of silver which led one to speculation concerning their origin. Were there silversmiths among these Indians or were the ornaments purchased from the Spanish? The Caddo language is known from the vocabulary and the speech of the survivors, the Natchitoches and the Yatosi. These tribes were their relatives and, according to one writer, Caddo was the lamuia e of trade. [26]