People often take the names of rivers and bayous for granted but some of them — Bayou Teche, for example — have a long and interesting history behind their names. That’s why James Ledbetter asked the question: How did Bayou Teche get its name?
Ledbetter lives in Georgia but grew up in New Iberia. He always had an interest in Native American history and his advisory role in the Boy Scouts of America gave him the opportunity to research and reenact Native American dances.
“I grew up in New Iberia on the banks of the Bayou Teche,” Ledbetter said, “I wanted to learn a little more about New Iberia and the Native Americans.”
The "Teche" in Bayou Teche is the Chitimacha word for snake. The river goes by Qukx Caad in Sitimaxa, the language spoken by Chitimacha, or Snake Bayou, said Kim Walden, Tribal Historic Preservation Officer.
While it's not certain where the name comes from, the most common theory is that it is derived from the the Legend of the Bayou Teche, part of the oral history of the Chitimacha after they settled near the bayou. The tribal tale describes a massive snake that attacked the Chitimacha villages, Walden said. It took tribesman many years to finally kill the snake. As it writhed around, it would eventually settle and decompose, leaving a depression in the ground that filled with water and became the bayou, explaining the Teche's winding and snaking path.
Bayou Teche begins near Port Barre in St. Landry Parish where it draws water from Bayou Courtableau. It flows southward for 125 miles until it meets the Lower Atchafalaya River at Patterson.
It was the Mississippi River's main course when it developed a delta, or triangle shaped land caused by sediment, about 2,800 to 4,500 years ago. As deposits of silt and sediment caused the Mississippi to change its course, Bayou Teche was left behind.
For Native Americans and early settlers, Bayou Teche was the primary means for transportation in the area.
The Chitimacha tribe, which has existed in South Louisiana since 500 A.D., created permanent settlements along the route of Bayou Teche. The riverways were integral to the lives of the Chitimacha; in fact, the name Sitimaxa stands for “people of many waters.”
The Legend of the Bayou Teche was passed down orally through generations. As far as Walden knows, the first written accounts of the legend can be traced to old newspapers in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
Life for the tribe was stable until French colonizers came to the Louisiana region in 1700s, Walden said. Disease, slavery and conflict with the Spanish and French shrank the population of the tribe dramatically.
“The tribe went from the most powerful tribe in the Gulf region…to almost non-existent,” Walden said.
In the 1930s, after levees were built along the Atachafalaya River, Bayou Teche and the rice farms located along the bayou suffered a drastic reduction in fresh water. Between 1976 and 1982, the United States Army Corps of Engineers built a pumping station at Krotz Springs to pump water from the Atchafalaya River into Bayou Courtableau to feed Bayou Teche.
Bayou Teche was added to the National Water Trail System in 2015 as the 17th water trail in the country and the first in Louisiana. This system is a network of water trails that organizers hope will be catalysts for protecting and restoring the health of local waterways and surrounding lands.
The Chitimacha legend is still taught today along with the Sitimaxa language, Walden said. Their Yaamahana, or child development center, and Chitimacha Tribal School are places where their children can learn the vast history of the tribe.
A tribal museum in Charenton documents the history of the tribe’s people and is open anyone who wishes to learn the intricate and intriguing story of the Chitimacha people.
“Legends like the Legend of the Bayou Teche are important to the tribe because they are tied to the belief system and give us information on the Chitimacha’s world view. They provide explanations for things that the Chitimacha encountered and observed happening in their environment,” Walden said.
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