Choctaw-Apache Tribe of Ebarb

The Choctaw-Apache Tribe of Ebarb is a state-recognized tribe and nonprofit organization in Louisiana. The members of the tribe are the descendants of Choctaw and Lipan Apache people and are required to prove lineal descent as part of their state-approved membership process. The tribe is based in the towns of Zwolle, Louisiana and Ebarb, Louisiana (powwow grounds), both of which are in Sabine Parish, Louisiana, where the group have lived since the early 18th century.

History
Louisiana Indian Agent Dr. Sibley reported to the U.S. Congress that the Choctaw-Apache Community of Ebarb began in the early 18th century, after the Spanish founded Nuestra Señora del Pilar de Los Adaes Presidio, a fort in the area defended by Mestizo and Spanish soldiers. Dr. Sibley reported they married or had unions with local Caddo, Adai, and formerly enslaved Lipan Apache women living in the area. As the State's Indian Agent, Dr. Sibley offered refuge to these Indians allowing them to settle and remain in Louisiana. Dr. Sibley's reports are on record at the Smithsonian Institution and Library of Congress. When the Spanish dissolved the fort in 1773 and ordered the soldiers to return to San Antonio, many remained behind with their families. They settled in the area of Zwolle and Ebarb.

Following the Louisiana Purchase by the United States in 1803, bands of Choctaw began moving into this area in search of new hunting grounds. Additional Choctaw were moved into the area by US Indian Agent John Sibley. Twenty-one Choctaw families were listed in the 1870 Census for the area.

In the 20th century, the people mostly worked in the timber and oil industries. They lived along the east bank of the Sabine River until the states of Texas and Louisiana created a project to dam it for flood control and electricity generation. The states claimed 180,000 acres of the ancestral land to create the Toledo Bend Reservoir. The people in the area were forced to move.

Language
The tribe historically spoke a dialect of Spanish dating from the establishment of Los Adaes. Due to the community's history, their dialect is derived from rural Mexican Spanish of the late 18th century, and bears little resemblance to Isleño Spanish. A similar dialect has been spoken around Moral, west of Nacogdoches, on the other side of the Toledo Bend Reservoir, which also derives from the Los Adaes settlement. This dialect is very endangered; as of the 1980s, there were no more than 50 fluent speakers on either side of the Sabine River.

Membership
In 2008, the group reported they had 2,300 members living in the area and additional members in other regions.

Organization
The group formed a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in 1977, with the mission "to assist tribe members and obtain federal recognition. Continued to work on member documentation needed for federal recognition."

State-recognition
Louisiana state-recognized the Choctaw-Apache Community of Ebarb by legislative action in 1978 (also reported as 1977).

Louisiana House Bill 660 established the Native American Commission in 2018 to promote Native American culture and identify needs facing that community. One member from each of the 15 recognized tribes serves on the commission. The tribe's Chief, Thomas N. Rivers, serves on the board as the Chairman of the Native American Commission for the State of Louisiana.

Petition for federal recognition
On March 22, 1978, John W. Procell sent the Choctaw-Apache Community of Ebarb's letter of intent to petition for federal recognition to the US Department of the Interior. Raymond L. Ebarb sent the petition for federal recognition in 1978; however, they do not have a petition in process.

Activities
The group hosts a biannual powwow in mid-April and November in Noble, Louisiana.