Basket Diplomacy: Leadership, Alliance-Building, and Resilience Among the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana, 1884-1984

351 Pages·2020·11.588 MB·English

by  Denise Bates

Basket Diplomacy

B A S K E T
D I P L O M A C Y
Leadership, Alliance- Building, and
Resilience among the Coushatta Tribe
of Louisiana, 1884– 1984
Denise E. Bates
Epilogue by David Sickey
University of Nebraska Press Lincoln
© 2020 by the Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska
All rights reserved
Library of Congress Control Number: 2019015628
Set in Adobe Text by Laura Ebbeka.
Designed by N. Putens.
Contents
List of Illustrations vii
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction xiii
Chapter 1. “Don’t Forget Your Gumbo Bowl”:
Building a Life at Bayou Blue 1
Chapter 2. Refusing to Be Overlooked: Tribal Leadership and
the Introduction of Federal Indian Services, 1913– 1951 31
Chapter 3. Abandoned, Not Terminated:
The Aftermath and Response to the Unilateral Withdrawal of
Federal Services, 1951– 1962 65
Chapter 4. Poor but Not Hopeless: Relentless Advocacy Efforts
and the Opening of the First Tribal Enterprise, 1962– 1969 97
Chapter 5. An Unusual Road to Recognition:
Uncovering Administrative Oversights and Drawing Louisiana
into Indian Affairs, 1969– 1973 125
Chapter 6. Controlling the Conversation: Reshaping the
Narrative and Building a Tribal Nation, 1973– 1984 163
Epilogue, by Chairman David Sickey 207
Appendix 211
Notes 217
Bibliography 285
Index 303

Illustrations
Maps
1. Stages of Coushatta migration xvi
2. Coushatta homesteads, 1880– 1920 19
Photos
1. Emily and Bruce Abbey sell baskets near Elton 8
2. John Abbey with horse 12
3. Sissy Poncho Abbey poses with baskets on her porch 13
4. Davis Sickey with Lizzie Robinson and
Anna John Thompson 21
5. Coushattas gather by the Indian Church 28
6. Jackson Langley 37
7. Coushatta children with teacher, Mr. L.L. Simmons,
in front of school 43
8. Jeff Abbey 58
9. Chief Jeff Abbey, Bel Abbey, and Sen. Dudley J. LeBlanc 61
10. Loris Abbott Langley and her children 100
11. Solomon Battise, Adeline Battise, and Lycia John 117
12. Ernest and Ena Mae Sickey with sons 123
13. Ernest Sickey collecting a basket from Maggie Langley 136
14. Ernest Sickey, Barbara Langley, and Louisiana
senator J. Bennett Johnston 154
15. Solomon Battise, Ernest Sickey, and Elton mayor
Millie LaFleur 175
16. Darlene Langley Dunnehoo with son, Shane Robinson 176
17. Coushatta children gathered for an Easter egg hunt 194
18. Raising the tribal seal on the Coushatta Cultural Center 197
Acknowledgments
Writing this book was a humbling and profound experience. I could never
have written it without the support of numerous colleagues, friends,
and family. Primary among those supporters is the Coushatta Tribe
of Louisiana, which has shown me (and my family) great warmth and
hospitality over the years. Being invited to write the tribe’s history was
a gift that has genuinely enriched me as a historian and as a person.
I’m grateful to all of the Coushattas, as well as their friends and allies,
who shared their insights and time as I collected hundreds of hours of
interviews, piecing together a story that could have never been told
through archival evidence alone.
I would particularly like to thank Ernest Sickey for his time and ded-
ication to this project. He was a true collaborator, and I have enjoyed
every moment we spent together, whether it was visiting over a meal
or traveling in a car trying to navigate the heavy rains of a Louisiana
storm. In spite of his retirement from tribal leadership, his deep com-
mitment to the developmental success of southern tribal nations keeps
him engaged in any new happenings in Indian country and always ready
to assist those who may benefit from his experience and wisdom. It’s
truly inspiring. Next, I would like to express my gratitude to Chairman
David Sickey, whose support and contributions to this book have greatly
enriched it. His leadership is a credit to his tribe and to the legacy he
inherited. I consider myself fortunate to have witnessed some of the
outcomes of his efforts firsthand and look forward to seeing what is on
the horizon for the Coushatta people. I also would like to thank Bert-
ney Langley, Linda Langley, and Marianna Luquette of the Coushatta
Heritage Department, without whose assistance this book would not
have been possible. I owe them a debt for consistently going the extra
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