In the meantime, McIlhenny lawyers were checking the title of the property and found that the sale was illegal as some of the people had title to the land, and the best thing for her to do was to petition the B.I.A. (Bureau of Indian Affairs) to pay her back and take the land in trust for the Indians. The B.I.A. hired a lawyer in Franklin named C.J. Boatner to transact the deal in which he had all the Indians sign the land over to the government, except some were not available at the time. What the ignorant Indians did not know was that this property was not a reserve any more. They were giving title to the land, and were paying taxes on their property. The then Chief who made the deal with Demerest did not have the authority to sign any deal with anyone. So the government took over some private land which is not lawful. This statement is recorded in the courthouse and can be made available anytime. These records are not in Franklin, as Franklin is twenty miles from here.
PREVIOUS PUBLICATIONS ABOUT THE CHITIMACHAS
Hoover, Herbert T. The Chitimacha People. Phoenix: Indian Tribal Series, 1975.
Kniffen, Fred. The Indians of Louisiana. Baton Rouge: Louisiana Bureau of Educational Materials, Statistics and Research, College of Education, Louisiana State University, 1965.
Orso, Ethelyn and E. Charles Plaisance. “Chitimacha Folklore,” Louisiana Folklore Miscellany, vol. III, no. 4 (1975 for 1973), pp. 35-41.
Stouff, Faye. The Chetimachas of Charenton. Booklet published by Lafayette Natural History Museum, 1974.
Stouff, Faye and W. Bradley Twitty. Sacred Chitimacha Indian Beliefs. Pompano Beach, Florida: Twitty and Twitty, Inc., 1971.
Swanton, John R. Indian Tribes of the Lower Mississippi Valley and the Adjacent Coast of the Gulf of Mexico. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institute, Bureau of American Ethnography, Bulletin 43, 1911; Reprinted 1970, Johnson Reprint Corp.
Taylor, Gertrude. “Early History of the Chitimacha,” Attakapas Gazette, vol. XVI, no. 2 (Summer 1981), pp. 65-69.