Avogel - About the Tribe

Avogel Tribe

About the tribe

This site is about the AVOGEL tribe of Louisiana.

Avoyelles Parish in Louisiana was named for our tribe. The name AVOGEL was given to us by our allies, the Nachi. "Avo" means "flint" in their language, and "gel" means "people". We have been known by other names in other languages as well: "TASAnNNUKOGOULA" from the Biloxi language, "OKLA TASAnNNUK" by the Choctaws and Chickasaws, and "LITTLE TAENSA" from a misunderstanding of who we were by Iberville 1699-1700.

It must be remembered that the "art of spelling" had not yet been invented by the Europeans when they arrived here and that is why in many instances with the same author, we sometimes see the same name spelled different ways. Because of our friendship and close ties to the Nachi, we still call ourselves the "AVOGEL!"

Since the time of the French occupation, the spelling has been changed to "Avoyel" because the "g" sound in the name was difficult for them to pronounce. They also, already had a word "avoyel" for a poisonous snake, with which they were familiar and therefore used this more familiar spelling to refer to our people.

THE AVOGEL TRIBE OF LOUISIANA

"The Flint People"

Even though the Roman alphabet does not contain a character to represent the "g" sound of the Nachi or of our language, we still use it in the name. The letter "y" in the Roman alphabet usually has a long "e" sound or the German "ya" sound. The long "e" sound is frequently represented by the letter "i" in modern English, and other European languages. The "ya" structure does not exist in our language at all!

We were given the name "The Flint People" because we traded flint to the other tribes in Louisiana and later to the Europeans for their muskets. The flints we traded came from Arkansas since very little stone is found in Louisiana. We would trade either the raw flint or flint items. We also traded horses and cattle, which we obtained in New Spain, to the French and other tribes. Because of our trading practices we were known throughout Southeastern North America.

Today, some authors claim that we no longer exist and have been absorbed by other tribes. While it is true that over the centuries, our numbers have declined due to intermarriages, first with other tribes, and then with other immigrants; we are still a united people, we DO still exist as a tribe, and we have NEVER formed a confederation or conglomeration with any other tribe or tribes. We are simply the "AVOGEL" as we always have been!

This site is an attempt to tell you who we are and from where we have come. We hope our stories (which have been handed down from generation to generation) will entertain and help you to understand us as a people. We are proud of our heritage and are proud to count ourselves among the "American People!"

Today, at the beginning of the 21" century, we number 238 people. We have been in hiding for a long time due to the excesses that have been visited on the indigenous people of the Americas. We are coming out of hiding at this time because we feel that it may be safe enough to let others know of our presence.