RED SHOE TRIBE
Nonprofit Charitable 501(c)(3) Organization for the Assistance of the Original Koasati People
Preserving the Traditions of the Red Shoe Tribe
The Red Shoe Tribe of the “Original Koasati People” shares a very rich and notable lineage. This heritage includes such great historical figures as Chief Red Shoe, Sehoy Marchand, and Chief John Abbot, as well as all the generations of unsung Native American heroes of our tribal past.
In the 1780s-1790s, a fragment of the Koasati Tribe under the leadership of Red Shoe began selective migration to Spanish Louisiana and the Red River area. The land in the area of the Red River was not fertile, which forced several of the Koasati tribesmen to migrate to Indian Settlements throughout Spanish Louisiana, this occurred in early 1809.
The “Indian Village” site was to become the largest of the Koasati communities in the early 1850s. Texas Coushatta communities were abandoned, and they were welcomed to the “Indian Village” site, following the outbreak of an epidemic in Texas.
In the 1880s and 90s, several of the original Koasati tribesmen remained at the “Indian Village” site, Philip’s Bluff, Hickory Flats, and the surrounding areas, while the remaining tribesmen moved to Bayou Blue, outside of Elton, Louisiana.
There remains a large population of the original Koasati tribesmen families that still resides in or around Indian Village and Hickory Flats to the present day.
The Red Shoe Tribe of the “Original Koasati People” shares a very rich and notable lineage. This heritage includes such great historical figures as Chief Red Shoe, Sehoy Marchand, and Chief John Abbot.
In the 1780s-1790s, a fragment of the Koasati, under the leadership of Red Shoe, began selective migration into Spanish Louisiana and the Red River area. The land was not fertile, which forced some to migrate to Indian settlements throughout Spanish Louisiana, Bayou Boeuf being one of these out from Opelousas. After being burned out at Bayou Boeuf in 1794, a band of the Koasati chose a site along the Calcasieu River, near the present-day town of Kinder, Louisiana. Settling on the Bluff of the Calcasieu in 1794-1809, the Indian Village site was to become the largest of the Koasati communities in the early 1850s. There remains a large population of the original Koasati tribesmen’s families that still reside in or around Indian Village and Hickory Flats today.