Cougar Goodbear of the Lipan-Apache

“How much blood you have that's Native...I hate the question...that irritates me to no end, because it's like you're dissecting someone.”

--Chief Cougar Goodbear

Bio

Cougar Prejean Goodbear (he/him) is Chief of the Canneci N'de Band of Lipan Apache. He was born in Lafayette and currently lives in Carencro, Louisiana. He is a tribal leader and preserver of cultural traditions, including language, music, traditional medicine, and foodways. He attended the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale.

In his Un-Recognized Stories interview, Chief Cougar discusses personal history, issues in identity, and his cultural practice.

Canneci N'de Band of Lipan Apache

The Canneci N'de Band of Lipan Apache (“Poles in a Row Standing” or “Red Mud People”) are descendants of Lipan Apache enslaved and trafficked to Louisiana in 18th and 19th Centuries, particularly a group headed by an ancestor named “Coco” and his group who settled in St. Martin Parish, Louisiana, after gaining freedom. The Lipan Apache in general are from Texas, New Mexico, and the Mexican States of Chihuahua, Nuevo León, Coahuila, and Tamaulipas. There are multiple organized groups of Lipan Apache in Louisiana, including not only the Canneci N'de Band of Lipan Apache but also the Choctaw Apache Tribe of Ebarb.

Blackbird, Leila K. “Entwined Threads of Red and Black: The Hidden History of Indigenous Enslavement in Louisiana, 1699-1824,” M.A. Thesis, University of New Orleans, 2018.
Lee, Dayna Bowker. “From Captives to Kin: Indian Slavery and Changing Social Identities on the Louisiana Colonial Frontier” in Carocci M., Pratt S. (eds) Native American Adoption, Captivity, and Slavery in Changing Contexts (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012).
Tayac, Gabrielle, editor. IndiVisible: African-Native American Lives in the Americas (Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Books, 2009).