VALDOSTA STATE MAGAZINE 87 The mystery followed him as he returned to school five years later to pursue a doctorate, and he eventually came to the conclusion that it had something to do with religion, which caused him to dig deep into the internal aspects of why Native Americans think the way they think. This line of research led him into ethnogenesis, or how an ethnic group is formed, Native American identity, and how religion and other factors affect that identity. Haggard’s association with the Pascagoula River Tribe came about in 2012 when he reconnected with childhood friend Sam Dart, a tribe member, at their 30-year high school reunion in Warner Robins, Georgia. At this point, the tribe had been working off and on toward recognition since 1994 but had not gotten far. They needed a historian to help them make sense of their past and navigate the formidable web of requirements from the Bureau of Indian Affairs. They also needed an unbiased party to come in and tell just the facts to validate their story. Dart made the request, and Haggard said he would look into it. He embarked on that mission in January of 2013 — a mission he describes as the hardest thing he has ever done in his life. Research from Haggard and tribal members shows that the Pascagoula River Tribe descended from the historic Pascagoula Indians, a tribe that archaeological evidence places as far back as 200 A.D. In the early 1700s, three women from the tribe intermarried with Frenchmen, a common custom that was meant to create connections between Native Americans and encroaching explorers. Most of the tribe headed west in 1763, some settling in Texas while others went to Oklahoma. A small remnant stayed behind in Mississippi and multiplied throughout the 19th and 20th centuries as a couple of Choctaw and Creek people, as well as a number of white men, married into the tribe. This resulted in the Pascagoula River Tribe, a people that has survived encroachments from the French, then British, then Spanish, then Americans. Today the tribe is highly assimilated. They do not have a reservation. They mainly live throughout six counties in southeastern Mississippi with lifestyles similar to many southern Americans. “You’re not going to see people dancing with feathers and all that kind of stuff,” Haggard said. “They are what I would call Christian Indians. They were Christianized probably from the very beginning when they were married into the French.” Faith, Ealy said, is still a key part of the tribe’s DNA, as is survival and the ability to “hide in plain sight.” Agriculture and working the land is also a staple, along with a deep sense of community and family. The interracial marriages throughout time have produced a tribe that is visually diverse. VALDOSTA STATE MAGAZINE 87