My Family Tree and Native History

The Tauriac family has both French and Native-American ancestry. We are based mostly out of South-Central Louisiana area. The true history of my family is currently still hidden in shadows. Some argue we are pure Atakapa natives, others argue we are all French, and some even have the nerve to not claim either one! lol... I myself clearly understand we are Native- American, and I also understand the TAURIAC name came from the era of French soldiers making Native women their wives. Several years ago there was a book made on the Tauriac's tracing our ancestry back to a certain "Jean Pierre Tauriac" of the 1700s. Jean Pierre was a Captain in the Military and at current time is considered the One who put us all on the map. In my research, I have found lists of Tauriacs' that were here before him, back to the 1600s. Time will tell if we can connect the dots back that far, I do plan to investigate that era further. Our connection to the Atakapa-Ishak tribe is based on the areas of Louisiana the tribe dominated, which goes from Opelousas to St. Martinville to Franklin, and even west out to Lake Charles area. These areas have heavy relation to our families original locations. About ten years ago I was living in New Orleans and decided to see what the Main Library had to offer on Native Americans, to my surprise, I found two books on Atakapa natives. One book listed surnames that were associated with the Atakapa tribe, most of these names were my relatives: Boutte, Derouen, Broussard, Nelson. The other book had an awesome image of a man standing on a porch who looked just like my great grandfather (Tauriac). Between the two books, it was like I had found Gold! I would hope, that with the growing list of names signing up to have the State finally recognize us  as a Louisiana tribe that is still very much alive and not extinct as some foolish writers have claimed, my family members who are on the fence decide to recognize their true heritage. I know its hard for some to grasp the fact that the old days that forced our ancestors into hiding out in other communities and pose as non-native because "the natives were being killed off" is over with and gone. It's 2013 and time open up to the truth. I remember as a kid of receiving a phone call from France, I picked up the phone and a lady asked if this was the Tauriac's residence and could she speak to the head of the household. This call was associated with Michel Tauriac of France, he came to Louisiana to help tie the gaps and ancestry of Louisiana Tauriacs' to France. Unfortunately he spoke with my uncle, who spoke for the family (being the eldest) and told Michel we had no relation to them!  To this day I do not understand why he said that, Michel Tauriac is a famous writer in France, and it seems his son Francois Tauriac is also making a name for himself. Once I'm established in the Architectural field, I plan to pay them a visit in France and remind them I was the little boy who answered their call. I mention most of this to show there is a clear denial in my family that stems from hard-headed ways or just a lack of research that could have made sense to any of them. I did my best with the resources I had to make up a direct link tree from my name back 4 generations on my fathers side. My mothers side is extremely difficult to understand, even though I really glad and proud my Mom chose me to hold onto the tintype photo featured in my other blog, of my great great grandmother. If nothing else, you can't argue with the image and her family that she is clearly Native-American.

ATAKAP-ISHAK