Pascagoula-Choctaw People.
The Pascagoula were a small tribe of Indians formerly living on the Pascagoula River in southern Mississippi. They were closely connected with the Biloxi but are now extinct as a separate division.
The Choctaw derived their name from the Choctaw, who called them the “bread people.” Canadian naval officer Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville, first documented them, along with his older brother, when they explored the Mississippi River Valley in 1699. At that time, the Indians lived near the Pascagoula River but later moved to the Gulf Coast.
In 1764, the Pascagoula and the Biloxi left the Gulf Coast area and were reported living on the East side of the Mississippi River about ten miles above the Tunica River. Sometime before 1791, they moved up the Red River into Louisiana and, by 1795, had settled near the Biloxi River. Their numbers declined over the years, and those who remained probably joined the Biloxi and Choctaw tribes.
©Kathy Alexander/Legends of America, updated September 2026.
Also See:
Native Americans – First Owners of America
Native American Photo Galleries
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