8. Mermentau


48 x 72 in | Mermentau



    From Arrow points and place names are reminders of Attakapas  “Only scattered arrow points and a handful of place names are left to testify to the Attakapas Indian occupation of what is today Acadia Parish.

Arrowpoints can be found here and there at the places where the Attakapas once lived. Place names which have survived include the names of the streams that once flowed past Attakapas villages: Mermentau, corrupted from Nementou; Plaquemine Brûlée (Plaquemine meaning "persimmon" in the Indian language): Bayou Nezpiqué, named for an Indian with a tattooed nose; Bayou Queue de Tortue, believed to have been named for Chief Celestine La Tortue of the Attakapas nation.”


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            From Did You Know? by Robert T. “Robby” Barousse, Acadia Parish Clerk of Court and Ex-Officio Recorder of mortgages and conveyances
“Incorporated in 1899, the village is located on the Mermentau River. Jean Castex, a French merchant, was one of the first to settle the area. The chief of the Attakpas Indians living in this area was called Nementou (the French spelling according to the Indian pronunciation). Referring to the river as Nementou flowering to the open mer (French for sea) led to the popular usage Mermentau.”
Source: “How Our Communities Got Their Names” – Acadia Parish Library




48 x 72 in. | Nementou



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