Although they function autonomously, the Jena Band of Choctaw continue to maintain a close relationship with their parent tribe, the Mississippi Band in Philadelphia, Mississippi and continue to speak their native language. In 1974 they incorporated as a non-profit organization and are currently preparing for federal recognition as a separate tribe from the Mississippi Band. They are basically rural people, but maintain a community at Jena, Louisiana on Highway 167, approximately 46 miles northeast of Alexandria. The Jena Band of Choctaws are a founding member of the Inter-Tribal Council. COUSHATTA The Coushatta occupied many villages in their Alabama homeland. They lived in towns and farmed the surrounding lands. The tribe was divided into clans. Each clan was allotted specific fields and a portion of their crops were collected for the public granary to protect against poor harvests, war emergencies and to feed the needy and hungry travelers. The clans elected their best orator as chief who in turn appointed a town chief and war chief for each town. In the center of the town was a square where the tribal leaders met to discuss the religious, political and economic affairs. The Coushatta were primarily farmers who supplemented their crops of maize, peas, beans, squashes, pumpkins, melons, potatoes, and rice by hunting, fishing and trading with other tribes. They were accomplished archers and were reluctant to accept the use of guns. They also used their bows and arrows for fishing or they used blow guns, hook and lines, spears, traps and handnets. In 1540 a Spanish exploration party led by DeSoto robbed an outlying Coushatta village, kidnapping the chief and other leaders. They threatened to burn their hostages alive unless the tribe agreed to give future explorers whatever they wanted. Co-existence with the Spanish and French assumed relatively peaceful proportions and was mutually beneficial until the end of the Revolutionary War when land seeking settlers pushed farther and farther into Coushatta territory. The years were marked by a continuing struggle over land, warfare, broken treaties, migration away from white settlements and a dwindling Coushatta population. The final blow came when 3,000 warriors were killed and 22 million acres of Indian land lost in the Creek War of 1813-1814. The Coushatta migrated through Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas in their search for unclaimed land where they could re-establish their peaceful agricultural way of life.