 Many were formerly part of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, but have been excluded since the late 20th century by new membership rules that require proving Native American descent from historic documents.Until the mid-1760s, maroon colonies lined the shores of Lake Borgne, just downriver of New Orleans, Louisiana.These fugitive enslaved people controlled many of the canals and back-country passages from Lake Pontchartrain to the Gulf, including the Rigolets.