Koasati and Language Practices of the Coushatta Tribe

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Language | Koasati |
Depositor | Stephanie Hasselbacher |
Affiliation | College of William and Mary |
Location | United States |
Deposit ID | 0075 |
Grant ID | IGS0138 |
Funding Body | ELDP |
Collection Status | Collection online |
Summary of the deposit
Koasati is the language of the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana (Muskogean family). It is still spoken fluently by approximately 200 people, many of whom live on or near the Coushatta Reservation outside Elton, Louisiana. This project began as a collaborative documentation and revitalization effort between the Coushatta Heritage Department and The College of William and Mary. Its goals were to transcribe, annotate, and archive historical Koasati materials in a way that is accessible to the Coushatta community, as well as create audio and video documentation of informal language practices that will assist language learners with contemporary, context-dependent Koasati language use.
Group represented
Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana
Language information
Also known as Coushatta, member of the Muskogean family, Koasati is spoken mostly on and around the Coushatta Reservation outside Elton, Louisiana, United States.
Although the target language is Koasati, several varieties of English as spoken in Louisiana are also represented.
Deposit contents
This deposit contains 62 audio files (.wav format) and 22 video files (.mp4 format), with accompanying transcriptions and translations, documenting the Koasati language. The majority of the files are semi-structured interviews, conducted by fluent Koasati speakers and/or the depositor, focusing on language practices, metalinguistic awareness, the history of education in the community, and cultural change on the Coushatta Reservation. Other genres include storytelling, cooking lessons, and casual conversation.
Acknowledgement and citation
To refer to any data from the collection, please cite as follows:
Hasselbacher, Stephanie. 2012. Koasati and Language Practices of the Coushatta Tribe. London: SOAS University of London, Endangered Languages Archive. Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/2196/00-0000-0000-0001-9B26-F. Accessed on [insert date here].