Apalachee - Modern Descendants

Modern Descendants

In the years after the United States' Louisiana Purchase, the Apalachees in Louisiana faced encroachment by settlers, and discrimination as a non-white minority, particularly severe after the end of the American Civil War. Under the state's binary racial segregation laws passed at the end of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, they were classified as "colored" or "black".

The tribe's descendants in Louisiana, known as the "Talimali Band of Apalachee", still live in Rapides Parish under the guidance of Chief Gilmer Bennett. In 1997 they started the process of seeking federal recognition. Since they have become more public, they have been invited to consult with Florida on the reconstruction at Mission San Luis, invited to pow-wows, and invited to recount Apalachee history at special events.