Washitaw Empire/Nation
The Washitaw Empire/Nation was a Black sovereign citizen group in the mid-1990s that eventually split into several groups and became a wing of the Moorish sovereign citizen movement, an offshoot of the traditional sovereign citizen movement. The group was founded in Louisiana in the mid-1990s by "Empress" Verdiacee "Tiara" Washitaw-Turner Goston El-Bey, and adherents claim to be descended from ancient mound-builders of the Mississippi-Missouri Valley and to "own" the Louisiana Purchase. After the "Empress" retired, the original Washitaw group fell apart and was replaced by a variety of different groups and individuals, all claiming the "Washitaw Nation" mantle.