Native Peoples
Native tribes have lived in this area for over 2,500 years. The oldest evidence dates to 500 BCE from footed pottery shards belonging to people of the Tchefuncte Culture. Hunter-gatherers who enjoyed a diet of fish, clams, and alligator, were known as shell mound builders.
The Acolapissa arrived here in about 1705 and were easily identified by their tattooed bodies and faces. Their name translates as those who listen and see. With the encroachment of European settlers and slave-raiders, the tribe moved west in 1721. Having no immunity against old world diseases, smallpox reduced their numbers by more than half. In 1739, they merged with the Houma.
Choctaws resided near the park from the 1700s to today, although in 1902 many were forced west to Oklahoma. Those that remained traded with settlers but kept true to old customs. They are renowned for elaborate basket weaving and the use of blow guns for hunting. The Choctaw language is part of the Muskogean linguistic family. Castembayuk was their name for the local bayou whose banks were riddled with fleas. Settlers kept the name, Castine Bayou, unaware of its meaning.
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Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Native Americans.
Location. 30° 20.123′ N, 90° 2.561′ W. Marker is in Mandeville, Louisiana, in St. Tammany Parish. Marker is on Fontainebleau State Park Beach Circle, 0.3 miles south of Group Camp Road (Highway 1089), on the right when traveling north. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 62883 LA-1089, Mandeville LA 70471, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 4 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. The Enslaved (approx. 0.2 miles away); Sugar Mill Operation (approx. 0.3 miles away); Fontainebleau Plantation Sugar Mill (approx. 0.3 miles away); Pottery Hill (approx. 1.2 miles away); Battle of Lake Pontchartrain (approx. 1.4 miles away); Our Lady Of The Lake Church (approx. 2.1 miles away); Greater Mandeville Veterans Memorial (approx. 3.4 miles away); Lake Pontchartrain Causeway Bridge (approx. 3.7 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Mandeville.
More about this marker. Marker is on the east side of circle for the Fontainebleau State Park Beach/Bath House road. At the Alligator Boardwalk Trail Head.
The marker is located within the Fontainebleau State Park, and admission is required to enter site. At time of this post, the fee was $3.00 USD per adult.
Credits. This page was last revised on April 23, 2022. It was originally submitted on September 7, 2019, by Cajun Scrambler of Assumption, Louisiana. This page has been viewed 358 times since then and 89 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on September 7, 2019, by Cajun Scrambler of Assumption, Louisiana.
