Ciwat

Ciwat belongs to the Louisiana country of the Chitimacha, whose ancestral lands extended through the swamps, bayous and rivers of the Atchafalaya Basin and the Mississippi Delta. The Chitimacha knew these waterways closely and used their natural obstacles as defence; their villages were generally large and unfortified. Houses were built from poles, mud and palmetto leaves, with thatched roofs.

Women cultivated many varieties of corn, beans, squash and melons, while men hunted deer, turkey and alligator and caught fish. Cypress dugout canoes carried people and goods through the wetlands, and the largest could hold dozens of passengers. The Chitimacha also used their environment to support a distinct social and ceremonial life, including a matrilineal system of descent and property. Their language was a language isolate, unrelated to neighboring families.

Disease, war and settlement pressure reduced the population sharply after European contact, yet Bayou Teche and the surrounding waterways remained the heart of Chitimacha country.