Hey Marcie and Ric. Of course, the Ouachita or Washita were a legitimate tribe of Arkansas. They are believed to have been Siouans, who adopted Muskogean traditions and also built mounds. The Ouachita Mountains in Arkansas and Oklahoma are named after them. The remnants of the Washita are believed to have joined either the Cherokees or the Creeks, during the early 1800s. The problem with saying who is legitimate Native American and who isn't, is the fact of racial mixing. Many, many people are of mixed Native American and African and/or European heritage. Over six hundred thousand Native Americans in the Southeast were abducted into slavery. Undoubted many intermarried with their African colleagues. Some cults pick up on this demographic fact and create fantasy histories. There was a similar cult in Georgia, which originally claimed to be Natchez. I was invited to speak to their Thanksgiving - Native American Heritage Month celebration. Most of the people attending were visibly part Muskogean. Small Natchez villages were founded in 1730 in Pine Log, GA and Pine Log, NC - in the mountains about 180 miles from where these psuedo-Natchez established their "reservation." They couldn't be part Natchez. These people did have substantial Creek heritage . . . but they didn't want to hear that. Richard T.