Avoyelles Parish
| Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana | |
|---|---|
 Location in the U.S. state of Louisiana |
|
 Louisiana's location in the U.S. |
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| Founded | March 31, 1807 |
| Named for | Avoyel Native Americans |
| Seat | Marksville |
| Largest city | Marksville |
| Area | |
| • Total | 866 sq mi (2,243 km2) |
| • Land | 832 sq mi (2,155 km2) |
| • Water | 33 sq mi (85 km2), 3.8% |
| Population (est.) | |
| • (2015) | 41,103 |
| • Density | 51/sq mi (20/km²) |
| Congressional district | 5th |
| Time zone | Central: UTC-6/-5 |
| Website | www |
Avoyelles (French: Paroisse des Avoyelles) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2010 census, the population was 42,073. The parish seat is Marksville. The parish was created in 1807, with the name deriving from the French name for the historic Avoyel people, one of the local Indian tribes at the time of European encounter.
Today the parish is the base of the federally recognized Tunica-Biloxi Indian Tribe, who have a reservation there. The tribe also has a land-based gambling casino; it is located in Marksville, the parish seat, which is partly within reservation land.
Avoyelles Parish is known for its French-speaking history, with Creole traditions in both music and food, which reflect European, African and Native American influences. While having a distinctive history of immigrants directly from Europe, it is considered the most northern of the 22 "Acadiana"/Creole parishes,(with the parishes to the south settled by exiles from Acadia). They contributed strongly to the development of culture in this area, as did Africans and Native Americans. The parish is noted for its brand of Cajun/Creole Style music and its gumbo, a popular soup in this area with roots in the three major ethnicities noted above.
The area was first settled by Native Americans around 300 BC. Varying indigenous cultures flourished there in the following centuries. Today on the banks of the old Mississippi River channel in Marksville, three large burial mounds have been preserved from the Mississippian culture. A museum and a National Park commemorate this early culture. The Tunica people, with bands extending into the central Mississippi Valley at one time, absorbed the remnant Avoyels nearly two centuries ago. They intermarried with the more numerous Biloxi people. Together, they were federally recognized in 1981 and are known as the Tunica-Biloxi Indian Tribe. They are the largest Native American group in Avoyelles Parish. Descendants of other smaller tribes are also enrolled in this tribe.
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Wikipedia