Due to mineral deposits and the great number of leaves covering the bottom, the lake waters appeared black.

From American State Papers, a member of the Appalousa and Atakapa region in 1814, said that both tribes had villages on the north and south parts of the bayou.

[1] The Appalousa are referred to as also the Lopelousas and Oqué-Loussas by Antoine-Simon Le Page du Pratz, an 18th-century French historian and ethnographer, but it is still debated if these are all the same tribe.

Du Pratz said that this tribe resided on lakeshores that had a black appearance due to the leaves that covered the bottoms of the lakes.

[2] This is also debated as other historians and explorers have stated that the people of the tribe would paint their legs black to contrast with their lighter skin.

[3] An 1890 history of southwest Louisiana reported, "Mr. Alfred Louaillier states that within his recollection there were more Indians to be seen in the streets of Opelousas than there are negroes at the present days.

This history also emphasized its profitability and economics which led French traders to establish the city of Opelousas in 1740.

In the early 20th century, anthropologists John R. Swanton and Frederick W. Hodge tentatively classified the Opelousa language as Atakapa.

Had relations with the Atakapas, Chitimacha, and Avoyel tribes of the surrounding region and acted as a middleman between them in trade.

As the latter refused to trade flints that they had an abundance of, some Avoyels were captured and according to some, they were eaten, although it is unknown and debated whether acts of cannibalism occurred in the Appalousa or Atakapa tribes.