The Tunica people are a group of linguistically and culturally related
Native American tribes in the
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...
Valley, which include the Tunica (also spelled Tonica, Tonnica, and Thonnica); the
Yazoo; the
Koroa
The Koroa were one of the groups of indigenous people who lived in the Mississippi Valley prior to the European settlement of the region. They lived in the northwest of present-day Mississippi in the Yazoo River basin.
Language
The Koroa are bel ...
(Akoroa, Courouais);
[ and possibly the Tioux. They first encountered Europeans in 1541 – members of the ]Hernando de Soto
Hernando de Soto (; ; 1500 – 21 May, 1542) was a Spanish explorer and '' conquistador'' who was involved in expeditions in Nicaragua and the Yucatan Peninsula. He played an important role in Francisco Pizarro's conquest of the Inca Empire ...
expedition.
The Tunica language
The Tunica or Luhchi Yoroni (or Tonica, or less common form Yuron) language is a language isolate that was spoken in the Central and Lower Mississippi Valley in the United States by Native American Tunica peoples. There are no native speakers o ...
is an isolate
Isolate may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Isolate'' (film), a 2013 Australian film
* ''Isolate'' (Circus Maximus album), 2007
* ''Isolate'' (Gary Numan album), 1992
Language
* Isolating language, with near-unity morpheme/word ...
.
Over the next centuries, under pressure from hostile neighbors, the Tunica migrated south from the Central Mississippi Valley to the Lower Mississippi Valley. Eventually they moved westward and settled around present-day Marksville, Louisiana
Marksville is a small city in and the parish seat of Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana, Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 5,702 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, an increase of 165 over the 2000 tabulation of 5, ...
.
Since the early 19th century, they have intermarried with the Biloxi tribe
The Biloxi tribe are Native Americans of the Siouan language family. They call themselves by the autonym ''Tanêks(a)'' in Siouan Biloxi language. When first encountered by Europeans in 1699, the Biloxi inhabited an area near the coast of the Gu ...
, an unrelated Siouan
Siouan or Siouan–Catawban is a language family of North America that is located primarily in the Great Plains, Ohio and Mississippi valleys and southeastern North America with a few other languages in the east.
Name
Authors who call the enti ...
-speaking people from the vicinity of Biloxi, Mississippi
Biloxi ( ; ) is a city in and one of two county seats of Harrison County, Mississippi, United States (the other being the adjacent city of Gulfport). The 2010 United States Census recorded the population as 44,054 and in 2019 the estimated popu ...
and shared land. Remnant peoples from other small tribes also merged with them. In 1981 they were federally recognized and now call themselves the Tunica-Biloxi Indian Tribe
The Tunica-Biloxi Indian Tribe, ( tun, Yoroniku-Halayihku) formerly known as the Tunica-Biloxi Indian Tribe of Louisiana, is a federally recognized tribe of primarily Tunica and Biloxi people, located in east central Louisiana. Descendants of Of ...
; they have a reservation in Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana
Avoyelles (french: Paroisse des Avoyelles) is a parish located in central eastern Louisiana on the
Red River where it effectively becomes the Atchafalaya River and meets the Mississippi River. As of the 2010 census, the population was 42,07 ...
.[
]
Prehistory
By the Middle Mississippian period, local Late Woodland
In the classification of archaeological cultures of North America, the Woodland period of North American pre-Columbian cultures spanned a period from roughly 1000 BCE to European contact in the eastern part of North America, with some archaeolog ...
peoples in the Central Mississippi Valley had developed or adopted a full Mississippian lifestyle, with intensive maize
Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maÃz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...
agriculture, hierarchical political structures, mussel
Mussel () is the common name used for members of several families of bivalve molluscs, from saltwater and Freshwater bivalve, freshwater habitats. These groups have in common a shell whose outline is elongated and asymmetrical compared with other ...
shell-tempered pottery
Mississippian culture pottery is the ceramic tradition of the Mississippian culture (800 to 1600 CE) found as artifacts in archaeological sites in the American Midwest and Southeast. It is often characterized by the adoption and use of riverine ( ...
and participation in the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex
The Southeastern Ceremonial Complex (formerly the Southern Cult), aka S.E.C.C., is the name given to the regional stylistic similarity of artifacts, iconography, ceremonies, and mythology of the Mississippian culture. It coincided with their ado ...
(SECC). At this time the settlement patterns were a mix of dispersed settlements, farmsteads and villages. Over the next centuries, settlement patterns changed to a pattern of more centralized towns, with defensive palisade
A palisade, sometimes called a stakewall or a paling, is typically a fence or defensive wall made from iron or wooden stakes, or tree trunks, and used as a defensive structure or enclosure. Palisades can form a stockade.
Etymology
''Palisade' ...
s and ditches, indicating a state of endemic warfare
__NOTOC__
Ritual warfare (sometimes called endemic warfare) is a state of continual or frequent warfare, such as is found in some tribal societies (but is not limited to tribal societies).
Description
Ritual fighting (or ritual battle or ritual ...
had developed between local competing polities. Material culture, such as pottery styles and mortuary practices, began to diverge at this point.
The archaeological
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...
evidence suggests that the Mississippi valley was home to several competing paramount chief
A paramount chief is the English-language designation for the highest-level political leader in a regional or local polity or country administered politically with a chief-based system. This term is used occasionally in anthropological and arch ...
doms, with supporting vassal state
A vassal state is any state that has a mutual obligation to a superior state or empire, in a status similar to that of a vassal in the feudal system in medieval Europe. Vassal states were common among the empires of the Near East, dating back to ...
s, all belonging to the same overall culture. The groups in the area are defined by archaeologists as archaeological phases, based on differentiation in these material cultures. They include the Menard
Menard may refer to:
Places
Canada
*Menard River, a tributary of the Wawagosic River in Quebec, Canada
United States
* Menard County, Illinois
** Menard, Illinois
* Menard County, Texas
** Menard, Texas
* Menard–Hodges site, archaeological s ...
, Tipton
Tipton is an industrial town in the West Midlands in England with a population of around 38,777 at the 2011 UK Census. It is located northwest of Birmingham.
Tipton was once one of the most heavily industrialised towns in the Black Country, w ...
, Belle Meade-Walls, Parkin and Nodena phases. In the immediate vicinity of the future city of Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...
, two phases seem to have been paramount chiefdoms: Parkin and Nodena. The other phases were possible vassal states or allies in their competition for local supremacy.
The Parkin phase is centered on the Parkin site, a palisaded village at the confluence
In geography, a confluence (also: ''conflux'') occurs where two or more flowing bodies of water join to form a single channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main stem); o ...
of the St. Francis and Tyronza rivers. The large village was likely located at the confluence of the two rivers because the site enabled residents to control transportation and trade on the waterways.
The Nodena phase is believed to have been centered on the Bradley Site
Bradley is an English surname derived from a place name meaning "broad wood" or "broad meadow" in Old English.
Like many English surnames Bradley can also be used as a given name and as such has become popular.
It is also an Anglicisation of t ...
(3 Ct 7) and its nearby cluster of towns and villages. It is named for the Nodena site, located east of Wilson, Arkansas in Mississippi County on a meander
A meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves in the channel of a river or other watercourse. It is produced as a watercourse erodes the sediments of an outer, concave bank ( cut bank) and deposits sediments on an inner, convex bank ...
bend of the Mississippi River. Scholars believe that because of pottery and mortuary similarities, the Belle Mead and Walls phase peoples were allies or vassals of the Nodena polity. The Parkin polity, defined by different mortuary practices and pottery, was competing.
Protohistoric period
Spanish contact
In the spring of 1541 Hernando de Soto
Hernando de Soto (; ; 1500 – 21 May, 1542) was a Spanish explorer and '' conquistador'' who was involved in expeditions in Nicaragua and the Yucatan Peninsula. He played an important role in Francisco Pizarro's conquest of the Inca Empire ...
and his army approached the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, coming upon the Province of Quizquiz (pronounced "keys-keys"). These people spoke a dialect
The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of Linguistics, linguistic phenomena:
One usage refers to a variety (linguisti ...
of the Tunican language. At that time, these related groups covered a large region extending along both sides of the Mississippi River in present-day Mississippi
Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...
and Arkansas
Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...
.
Upon crossing the river, the expedition came upon the Province of Aquixo, and from there on to the Province of Casqui. The province had a long-standing feud with the Province of Pacaha, described by its participants as having lasted for generations. The Spaniards were impressed with the peoples of this region, its many towns, abundant agriculture and fine quality of the people. The settlements of this area are described thus by the admiring Spaniards:
The expedition later visited the Province of Quigate, the Province of Coligua and Palisema. The chief of Palisema sent the expedition on to the land of the Cayas, where they found the town of Tanico. Linguistic analysis
In the study of language, description or descriptive linguistics is the work of objectively analyzing and describing how language is actually used (or how it was used in the past) by a speech community. François & Ponsonnet (2013).
All acad ...
in the 1930s by John Swanton
John Reed Swanton (February 19, 1873 – May 2, 1958) was an American anthropologist, folklorist, and linguist who worked with Native American peoples throughout the United States. Swanton achieved recognition in the fields of ethnology and ethn ...
and in the 1980s by Robert L. Rankin point to the Koroa
The Koroa were one of the groups of indigenous people who lived in the Mississippi Valley prior to the European settlement of the region. They lived in the northwest of present-day Mississippi in the Yazoo River basin.
Language
The Koroa are bel ...
tribe as likely to have been the Coligua.
Archaeologists believe the location for the Province of Coligua may be the Greenbriar phase on the White River at the edge of the Ozark Highlands. Europeans also called the settlement Tanico, which is another name later applied to the Tunica, also making its identification as a Tunican group secure. The Tanico were salt-makers and salt-traders, procuring the salt from the sands of a stream that fed into the River of the Cayas (later identified as the Arkansas River
The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. It generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's source basin lies in the western United Stat ...
). The people would scoop the sand in baskets, and run water through it, making a brine
Brine is a high-concentration solution of salt (NaCl) in water (H2O). In diverse contexts, ''brine'' may refer to the salt solutions ranging from about 3.5% (a typical concentration of seawater, on the lower end of that of solutions used for br ...
. The brine was strained and left to dry in shallow bowls, where the dried salt was later scraped off.[
Scholars have evaluated the three surviving Soto narratives for topography, linguistics and cultural traits, combined with the results of archaeological excavations and analysis. Most archaeologists and ]ethnohistorian
Ethnohistory is the study of cultures and indigenous peoples customs by examining historical records as well as other sources of information on their lives and history. It is also the study of the history of various ethnic groups that may or may n ...
s believe the following can be identified as equivalent sites: they are paired by archaeological phase and Soto references:
Menard phase = Anilco, Walls phase = Quizquiz, Belle Meade phase = Aquixo, Parkin phase = Casqui, and Nodena phase = Pacaha.[
The description of the ongoing war between the Casqui and Pacaha matches interpretations of the archaeological record, as do distances and topography mentioned in the narratives. Words recorded by the narratives at Pacaha, such as ''mochila'', ''macanoche'', and ''caloosa'', match Tunica linguistic characteristics evaluated by ]Mary Haas
Mary Rosamond Haas (January 23, 1910 – May 17, 1996) was an American linguist who specialized in North American Indian languages, Thai, and historical linguistics. She served as president of the Linguistic Society of America. She was elected ...
in the 1940s. It is now theorized that the peoples of the Central Mississippi Valley, from Pacaha in the north to the Provinces of Anilco and Utiangüe in the south on the Arkansas River, were all Tunican.[
]
French contact
It was another 150 years before another European group recorded the Tunica. In 1699 when encountered by the LaSource expedition (coming downriver from Canada), the Tunica were a modest-sized tribe numbering only a few hundred warriors, with about 900 people in total. While the Spanish had been in their territory only for a short time, their encounter had devastating effects. The accidental introduction of Eurasian infectious diseases
An infection is the invasion of tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmissible disease or communicable dise ...
, such as smallpox, ravaged the native populations, who had no acquired immunity
Immunity may refer to:
Medicine
* Immunity (medical), resistance of an organism to infection or disease
* ''Immunity'' (journal), a scientific journal published by Cell Press
Biology
* Immune system
Engineering
* Radiofrequence immunity desc ...
. In addition, the expedition had played off local political rivalries, causing more conflict.[
By the time the French arrived, the Central Mississippi Valley was sparsely occupied by the ]Quapaw
The Quapaw ( ; or Arkansas and Ugahxpa) people are a tribe of Native Americans that coalesced in what is known as the Midwest and Ohio Valley of the present-day United States. The Dhegiha Siouan-speaking tribe historically migrated from the Ohi ...
, a Dhegiha Siouan
The Dhegihan languages are a group of Siouan languages that include Kansa– Osage, Omaha–Ponca, and Quapaw. Their historical region included parts of the Ohio and Mississippi River Valleys, the Great Plains, and southeastern North America. ...
-speaking people hostile to the Tunica. In the intervening century and a half since the de Soto Expedition, the Tunica and Koroa had relocated further south to the mouth of the Yazoo River
The Yazoo River is a river in the U.S. states of Louisiana and Mississippi. It is considered by some to mark the southern boundary of what is called the Mississippi Delta, a broad floodplain that was cultivated for cotton plantations before the ...
in west central Mississippi.[
]
Historic period
Mouth of the Yazoo 1682–1706
The French established a mission among the Tunica around the year 1700, on the Yazoo River
The Yazoo River is a river in the U.S. states of Louisiana and Mississippi. It is considered by some to mark the southern boundary of what is called the Mississippi Delta, a broad floodplain that was cultivated for cotton plantations before the ...
near the Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...
in the present-day state of Mississippi
Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...
. Archaeological evidence suggests that the Tunica had recently migrated to the region from eastern Arkansas
Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...
, in the late 17th century. Father Antoine Davion
Antoine Davion was originally from Saint-Omer in Artois, France. He served in various churches on the Île d'Orléans in Québec before departing for the Mississippi River in 1698 to help establish missions among the indigenous peoples. He would s ...
was assigned as the missionary for the Tunica, as well as for the smaller tribes of the Koroa
The Koroa were one of the groups of indigenous people who lived in the Mississippi Valley prior to the European settlement of the region. They lived in the northwest of present-day Mississippi in the Yazoo River basin.
Language
The Koroa are bel ...
, the Yazoo, and Couspe (or Houspe) tribes. Unlike the northern tribes with which the French were familiar, the Tunica (and the nearby Taensa
The Taensa (also Taënsas, Tensas, Tensaw, and ''Grands Taensas'' in French) were a Native American people whose settlements at the time of European contact in the late 17th century were located in present-day Tensas Parish, Louisiana. The mean ...
and Natchez Natchez may refer to:
Places
* Natchez, Alabama, United States
* Natchez, Indiana, United States
* Natchez, Louisiana, United States
* Natchez, Mississippi, a city in southwestern Mississippi, United States
* Grand Village of the Natchez, a site o ...
) had a complex religion
Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...
. They had built temple
A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...
s, created cult image
In the practice of religion, a cult image is a human-made object that is venerated or worshipped for the deity, spirit or daemon that it embodies or represents. In several traditions, including the ancient religions of Egypt, Greece and Rome ...
s, and had a priest
A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...
class. The Tunica, Taensa, and Natchez retained chiefdom
A chiefdom is a form of hierarchical political organization in non-industrial societies usually based on kinship, and in which formal leadership is monopolized by the legitimate senior members of select families or 'houses'. These elites form a ...
characteristics, such as a complex religion and, in the case of the Natchez, use and maintenance of platform mound
Platform may refer to:
Technology
* Computing platform, a framework on which applications may be run
* Platform game, a genre of video games
* Car platform, a set of components shared by several vehicle models
* Weapons platform, a system or ...
s, after they had disappeared elsewhere.
Several characteristics linked the Tunica to groups encountered by de Soto: their emphasis on agriculture; cultivation by men rather than women (as de Soto noted when describing Quizquiz); trade; and manufacture and distribution of salt, a valuable item to both native and Europeans. The trade in salt was an ancient profession among the Tunica, as evidenced by de Soto's noting salt production when visiting the village of Tanico. Salt was extremely important in the trade between the French and the various Caddoan groups in northwestern Louisiana and southwestern Arkansas. Scholars believe the Tunica were middlemen in the movement of salt from the Caddoan areas to the French.
Angola 1706–1731
By the early 18th century, Chickasaw
The Chickasaw ( ) are an indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands. Their traditional territory was in the Southeastern United States of Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee as well in southwestern Kentucky. Their language is classified as ...
raided the Indian tribes along the lower Mississippi River to capture people for the Indian slave trade
Slavery among Native Americans in the United States includes slavery by and slavery of Native Americans roughly within what is currently the United States of America.
Tribal territories and the slave trade ranged over present-day borders. ...
in South Carolina
)''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no)
, anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind"
, Former = Province of South Carolina
, seat = Columbia
, LargestCity = Charleston
, LargestMetro = ...
. They took an estimated 1,000 to 2,000 captives from the Tunica, Taensa, and Quapaw tribes during this period.
By 1706 the Tunica decided to move again. With their enemies the Natchez Natchez may refer to:
Places
* Natchez, Alabama, United States
* Natchez, Indiana, United States
* Natchez, Louisiana, United States
* Natchez, Mississippi, a city in southwestern Mississippi, United States
* Grand Village of the Natchez, a site o ...
to their immediate south, they decided to move further, across the Mississippi and south to its confluence
In geography, a confluence (also: ''conflux'') occurs where two or more flowing bodies of water join to form a single channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main stem); o ...
with the Red River, the next major river junction. This location enabled them to keep control of their salt trade, as the Red River also connected to their salt source in the Caddo
The Caddo people comprise the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma, a federally recognized tribe headquartered in Binger, Oklahoma. They speak the Caddo language.
The Caddo Confederacy was a network of Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands, wh ...
an areas. They established a loose collection of hamlets and villages at their new home in present-day Angola, Louisiana.
In the early 20th century, Angola was developed as the site of the Louisiana State Penitentiary
The Louisiana State Penitentiary (known as Angola, and nicknamed the "Alcatraz of the South", "The Angola Plantation" and "The Farm"Sutton, Keith "Catfish".Out There: Angola angling. ''ESPN Outdoors''. May 31, 2006. Retrieved on August 25, 2010. ...
. In 1967, a corrections officer at the Louisiana State Penitentiary discovered the remains of a small hamlet at this site. The archeological site is now known as the Bloodhound Site.
During the 1710s and 1720s, war broke out four times between the French and the Natchez. The French called these the First Natchez War (1716), the Second Natchez War (1722), the Third Natchez War (1723), and the Natchez Rebellion of 1729. The last was the most widespread war; the Natchez attacked and killed many of the French in Natchez territory; in retaliation, the French gained the Choctaw
The Choctaw (in the Choctaw language, Chahta) are a Native American people originally based in the Southeastern Woodlands, in what is now Alabama and Mississippi. Their Choctaw language is a Western Muskogean language. Today, Choctaw people are ...
as allies, eventually defeating the Natchez people. Of those who survived, thousands were sold into slavery and sent to the Caribbean, where the French had plantations on Saint-Domingue and Guadeloupe.
In November 1729 the French commander Sieur de Chépart ordered the Natchez to vacate one of their villages so that he could use its land for a new tobacco
Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...
plantation
A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...
. The chiefs of the village sent emissaries to potential allies, including the Yazoo, Koroa, Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...
, Chickasaw
The Chickasaw ( ) are an indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands. Their traditional territory was in the Southeastern United States of Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee as well in southwestern Kentucky. Their language is classified as ...
, and Choctaw
The Choctaw (in the Choctaw language, Chahta) are a Native American people originally based in the Southeastern Woodlands, in what is now Alabama and Mississippi. Their Choctaw language is a Western Muskogean language. Today, Choctaw people are ...
. They also sent messages to the African slaves of nearby French plantations, inviting them to join the Natchez in rising up against the French. In November 1729, the Natchez attacked. Before the day was over, they destroyed the entire French colony at Natchez, including Fort Rosalie
Fort Rosalie was built by the French in 1716 within the territory of the Natchez Native Americans and it was part of the French colonial empire in the present-day city of Natchez, Mississippi.
Early history
As part of the peace terms tha ...
. Over 200 colonists, mostly French men, were killed and more than 300 women, children, and slaves were taken captive. War continued until January 1731, when the French captured a Natchez fort on the west side of the Mississippi River. Between 75 and 250 Natchez warriors escaped and found refuge among the Chickasaw. The young Great Sun and about 100 of his followers were captured, subsequently enslaved, and shipped to work French plantations in the Caribbean
The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...
.
The Natchez Rebellion expanded into a larger regional conflict with many repercussions. The Yazoo and Koroa Indians had allied with the Natchez and suffered their fate. The Tunica were initially reluctant to fight on either side.[ In June 1730 the Head Chief of the Tunica, ''Cahura-Joligo'', agreed to let a small party of Natchez refugees settle near his village, with the provision that they should do so unarmed. He received thirty Natchez warriors into his village, after disarming them.
A few days later, the last chief of the Natchez arrived at the Tunica village with a hundred men, and an unknown number of women and children. They also concealed Chickasaw and Koroa in the canebrake around the village. ''Cahura-Joligo'' informed them that he could not receive them unless they gave up their arms. They replied that this was their intention, but asked if they could keep them awhile longer so their women did not get the impression that their unarmed men were prisoners. He consented to their request and proceeded to distribute food to his new guests. A celebratory dance was held till after midnight, when the Tunica retired to their cabins, thinking that the Natchez would do the same. The Natchez, Chicasaw and Koroa, attacked their hosts in their cabins, and killed all they managed to surprise while asleep. ''Cahura-Joligo'' killed four Natchez during the fighting, but was eventually killed along with twelve of his warriors. His war-chief ''Brides les Boeufs'' (Buffalo Tamer), with a dozen of his warriors, repulsed the attack and retook the Head Chief's cabin. He rallied his remaining warriors and, after fighting for five days and nights without interruption, regained control of the village. Twenty Tunica were killed and as many wounded in the fighting. They had killed 33 Natchez warriors and took three prisoners. Later they burned them in ritual punishment for the attack.][
]
Trudeau Landing 1731–1764
After the attack and plundering of their village at Angola, in 1731 the Tunica moved a few miles away to the Trudeau site in West Feliciana Parish
West Feliciana Parish (French: ''Paroisse de Feliciana Ouest''; Spanish: ''Parroquia de West Feliciana'') is a civil parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. At the 2010 census, the population was 15,625, and 15,310 at the 2020 census. ...
. The Tunica continued to prosper, practicing their vocation as traders and middlemen. They expanded on a relatively new business as horse traders. For at least a decade, the French had become dependent on the Tunica for supplying the valuable animals.
Because of the expense of shipping horses from France, the French found it cheaper to buy them in La Louisiane from the Tunica. They acquired the horses through a native trade network
Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market.
An early form of trade, barter, saw the direct excha ...
which had its origin in the Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
colony of Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
.[ The Tunica stayed at this location into the 1760s, when the French ]ceded
The act of cession is the assignment of property to another entity. In international law it commonly refers to land transferred by treaty. Ballentine's Law Dictionary defines cession as "a surrender; a giving up; a relinquishment of jurisdictio ...
control to the Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
following the French defeat by the English in the Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754†...
.
Proof of the tribe's prosperity during these years was revealed in the 1960s when the Trudeau site was discovered and excavated. Large amounts of European trade goods, including beads, porcelain, muskets, kettles and other items, as well as locally produced pottery in the Tunica tribal style, were buried as grave goods
Grave goods, in archaeology and anthropology, are the items buried along with the body.
They are usually personal possessions, supplies to smooth the deceased's journey into the afterlife or offerings to the gods. Grave goods may be classed as a ...
at the site. What has been called the "Trudeau Treasure
Trudeau is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
*Trudeau family, a notable Canadian family known in politics, business and film, including:
**Charles-Émile Trudeau (1887–1935), Canadian businessman and father of Pierre Trudeau
* ...
" was the greatest amount of European trade goods found at any Native American site of this period.
The tribe's warriors and their allies attacked a British flotilla that came up the Mississippi River from New Orleans on March 15, 1764 at a bend in the river at Davion's Bluff.
Pointe Coupee 1764 to the early 1790s
In 1764, the Tunica moved south of the Trudeau Landing site to just outside the French settlement at ''Pointe Coupée''.[ (Due to shifting of the Mississippi River, this area has eroded and the settlement was lost.) Other Native tribes had also settled in the area, including the Offagoula, ]Pascagoula
The Pascagoula (also Pascoboula, Pacha-Ogoula, Pascagola, Pascaboula, Paskaguna) were an indigenous group living in coastal Mississippi on the Pascagoula River.
The name ''Pascagoula'' is a Mobilian Jargon term meaning "bread people". Choctaw ...
and the Siouan-speaking Biloxi
Biloxi ( ; ) is a city in and one of two county seats of Harrison County, Mississippi, United States (the other being the adjacent city of Gulfport). The 2010 United States Census recorded the population as 44,054 and in 2019 the estimated popu ...
. The latter came to have a long-term relationship with the Tunica. (After years of intermarriage, in 1981 the tribes gained federal recognition as the Tunica-Biloxi Nation of Louisiana.)
The Tunica began to rely more on hunting for their sustenance than farming, and often worked for Europeans as hunters or guides. During the late 18th century, numerous Anglo-American settlers entered the region from the American Southeast. The Tunica had become acculturated to European ways, although they still tattooed themselves and practiced some of their native religious customs. Their Head Chief during these years was ''Lattanash'', with the elder ''Brides les Boefs'' continuing as the War Chief. The Ofo, ''Perruquier'', was the spokesman for his tribe. By this time, his people had largely assimilated into the Tunica. With the British in charge of the Western Florida colony east of the Mississippi River, and the Spanish in control of Louisiana, it was a volatile time politically for the area.
Both groups vied for the allegiance of the Tunica, with the Spanish usually winning. In 1779 Governor Galvez led a force that included Tunica and other tribes to take the British-held town of Baton Rouge
Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana
Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-sma ...
. It is the last recorded military campaign in which the Tunica are documented.[
By sometime in the late 1780s or 1790s, the Tunica had decided to move again, probably because of the large influx of Anglo-Americans.][ They moved west to a site on the Red River occupied by the ]Avoyel
The Avoyel or Avoyelles were a small Native American tribe who at the time of European contact inhabited land near the mouth of the Red River at its confluence with the Atchafalaya River near present-day Marksville, Louisiana. Also called variou ...
s, where they were subsequently granted land by the Spanish. Other tribes also settled in the area, such as the Ofo, and Biloxi. In 1794 a Sephardic Jewish immigrant
Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...
from Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...
, Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
, named Marco Litche (the French recorded him as Marc Eliche), established a trading post
A trading post, trading station, or trading house, also known as a factory, is an establishment or settlement where goods and services could be traded.
Typically the location of the trading post would allow people from one geographic area to tr ...
in the area. The settlement he founded became known as Marksville. It was noted on Louisiana maps as of 1809, after the United States acquired the territory by the Louisiana Purchase
The Louisiana Purchase (french: Vente de la Louisiane, translation=Sale of Louisiana) was the acquisition of the territory of Louisiana by the United States from the French First Republic in 1803. In return for fifteen million dollars, or app ...
.
Marksville to the present
When the Tunica settled at what became Marksville, the Red River was still an important avenue of trade. By the late 19th century, railroads
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...
surpassed the rivers as the main means of transportation, and the Marksville area became a quiet backwater. Many small and peaceful tribes such as the Tunica were forgotten. The more bellicose tribes in the west took the attention of the United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
as it expanded into their territories. The only U.S. Government mention of the Tunica from 1803 to 1938 was made in 1806 by an Indian Commissioner for Louisiana, who remarked that the Tunica numbered only about 25 men, lived in Avoyelles Parish
Avoyelles (french: Paroisse des Avoyelles) is a parish located in central eastern Louisiana on the
Red River where it effectively becomes the Atchafalaya River and meets the Mississippi River. As of the 2010 census, the population was 42,07 ...
and made their livings by occasionally hiring out as boatmen.[ Documents from the early 19th century record a second Tunica village with its own chief, located on Bayou Rouge, during the Tunica's early years in Avoyelles Parish.][ Some Tunica moved west to ]Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
and Oklahoma
Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...
, where they were absorbed by other Native groups.[
Although the Tunica were prosperous at this time, eventually problems with their white neighbors would take its toll. The ]Indian Removal Act of 1830
The Indian Removal Act was signed into law on May 28, 1830, by United States President Andrew Jackson. The law, as described by Congress, provided "for an exchange of lands with the Indians residing in any of the states or territories, and for ...
, signed by President Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...
, forced all of the major tribes east of the Mississippi River to be removed from their lands and relocated to reservations west of the river, or leave their tribes and accept US citizenship. This resulted in the infamous Trail of Tears
The Trail of Tears was an ethnic cleansing and forced displacement of approximately 60,000 people of the "Five Civilized Tribes" between 1830 and 1850 by the United States government. As part of the Indian removal, members of the Cherokee, ...
for many of the Southeast natives, including the Five Civilized Tribes
The term Five Civilized Tribes was applied by European Americans in the colonial and early federal period in the history of the United States to the five major Native American nations in the Southeast—the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek ...
. Although the Tunica were not removed to Indian Territory, all Native Americans were under pressure. In 1841 the Tunica chief ''Melancon'' attempted to pull up fence posts fraudulently erected on Tunica land by an American trying to steal tribal land. The man, a local leader of the "Indian Patrol", shot Chief Melancon in the head in full view of other Tunica. He was not prosecuted by local authorities and succeeded in stealing the land from the Tunica.[
After the Chief's death, the tribe kept the identity of the next chief a close secret for many years to avoid notice by unscrupulous neighbors. The Tunica became subsistence farmers, with some hunting and fishing to support themselves. Others turned to ]sharecropping
Sharecropping is a legal arrangement with regard to agricultural land in which a landowner allows a tenant to use the land in return for a share of the crops produced on that land.
Sharecropping has a long history and there are a wide range ...
on their white neighbors' lands. No longer prosperous, they managed to eke out a living through the 19th century. In the 1870s their chief, ''Volsin Chiki,'' helped reunite the tribe. He also encouraged revival of ancient tribal ceremonies, such as the Corn Feast.[
As the 20th century dawned, the Tunica continued. They had managed to retain possession of the majority of their land, because it was held and worked in common by the whole tribe. Some still spoke the Tunica language, and their reinvigorated tribal ceremonies were practiced. Gradually, the Tunica merged with and absorbed other local groups (the Ofo, ]Avoyel
The Avoyel or Avoyelles were a small Native American tribe who at the time of European contact inhabited land near the mouth of the Red River at its confluence with the Atchafalaya River near present-day Marksville, Louisiana. Also called variou ...
, and Biloxi). The Tunica-Biloxi finally achieved federal recognition in 1981. They have maintained their tribal government, and the chieftainship existed up to the mid-1970s.
Modern tribe
The modern "Tunica-Biloxi Indian Tribe" live in Mississippi
Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...
and east central Louisiana
Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...
. The modern tribe is composed of Tunica, Biloxi
Biloxi ( ; ) is a city in and one of two county seats of Harrison County, Mississippi, United States (the other being the adjacent city of Gulfport). The 2010 United States Census recorded the population as 44,054 and in 2019 the estimated popu ...
(a Siouan
Siouan or Siouan–Catawban is a language family of North America that is located primarily in the Great Plains, Ohio and Mississippi valleys and southeastern North America with a few other languages in the east.
Name
Authors who call the enti ...
speaking people from the Gulf coast), Ofo (also a Siouan people), Avoyel
The Avoyel or Avoyelles were a small Native American tribe who at the time of European contact inhabited land near the mouth of the Red River at its confluence with the Atchafalaya River near present-day Marksville, Louisiana. Also called variou ...
(a Natchezan people), Mississippi Choctaw
The Choctaw (in the Choctaw language, Chahta) are a Native American people originally based in the Southeastern Woodlands, in what is now Alabama and Mississippi. Their Choctaw language is a Western Muskogean language. Today, Choctaw people are ...
(formerly Muskogean speaking),[ European and African ancestry.][ Many live on the Tunica-Biloxi Indian Reservation in central ]Avoyelles Parish
Avoyelles (french: Paroisse des Avoyelles) is a parish located in central eastern Louisiana on the
Red River where it effectively becomes the Atchafalaya River and meets the Mississippi River. As of the 2010 census, the population was 42,07 ...
, just south of the city of Marksville, Louisiana
Marksville is a small city in and the parish seat of Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana, Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 5,702 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, an increase of 165 over the 2000 tabulation of 5, ...
. A part of the city extends onto reservation land. The reservation has a land area of .
They operate Louisiana's first land-based casino, Paragon Casino Resort
Paragon may refer to:
Places
*Paragon, Indiana, a town in the United States
* Paragon, Nebraska, former community in the United States
* The Paragon, Bath, a Georgian street in the Walcot area of Bath
* The Paragon, Blackheath, London, built by ...
, opened in Marksville in June 1994. The tribe operates the casino to generate revenues to members, as well as to use some of their earnings for other economic development. It has also used these funds to fight for Native American rights. The 2000 census notes that 648 persons self-identified as Tunica.
Tribal government consists of an elected tribal council and tribal chairman. They maintain their own police force, health services, education department, housing authority, and court system. The tribal chairman since 1978 was Earl J. Barbry, Sr. The current Chairman of the Tribal Council is Marshall Pierite.
Tunica Treasure
In the 1960s a treasure hunter named Leonard Charrier began searching for artifacts at the Trudeau Landing site in West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana
West Feliciana Parish (French: ''Paroisse de Feliciana Ouest''; Spanish: ''Parroquia de West Feliciana'') is a civil parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. At the 2010 census, the population was 15,625, and 15,310 at the 2020 census. ...
. The Tunica, who felt he had stolen tribal heirlooms and desecrated the graves of their ancestors, were outraged. In the 1970s the site was excavated by archaeologists, who uncovered pottery, European trade goods and other artifacts deposited as grave goods by the Tunica from 1731 to 1764, when they occupied the site.
With help from the State of Louisiana, the tribe filed a lawsuit for the title to the artifacts, which has become known as the "Tunica Treasure". It took a decade to be worked through the courts, but the ruling became a landmark in American Indian history. It helped to lay the groundwork for new federal legislation, the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act
The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), Pub. L. 101-601, 25 U.S.C. 3001 et seq., 104 Stat. 3048, is a United States federal law enacted on November 16, 1990.
The Act requires federal agencies and institutions tha ...
, passed in 1990. Because the artifacts had already been separated from the original burials, the tribe decided to build a museum to house them. Members of the tribe were trained as conservators In certain areas of England, Conservators are statutory bodies which manage areas of countryside for the use of the public.
Establishment, Role and Powers
Conservators are bodies corporate generally established, and granted their powers, by a ...
to repair damage by the centuries underground, and storage and handling during the ten-year court battle.
From 1991 to 199 the Tunica had the museum designed in the shape of the ancient platform mounds
Platform may refer to:
Technology
* Computing platform, a framework on which applications may be run
* Platform game, a genre of video games
* Car platform, a set of components shared by several vehicle models
* Weapons platform, a system or ...
of their people to house the Treasure. The earthen structure took the symbolic place of the original burial underground. That building was later closed and the collection was moved to a new building that houses a museum exhibit hall, conservation and restoration laboratory, facilities for the tribal community, and tribal government offices.
Federal recognition
The tribe began formal efforts to be recognized by the federal government in the 1940s under Chief Eli Barbry, who led a group to Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
[ Federal recognition would have entitled the tribe to benefit from social programs under the ]Indian Reorganization Act of 1934
The Indian Reorganization Act (IRA) of June 18, 1934, or the Wheeler–Howard Act, was U.S. federal legislation that dealt with the status of American Indians in the United States. It was the centerpiece of what has been often called the "Indian ...
. A succession of chiefs, including Chief Horace Pierite Sr, worked at the task. The Tunica Treasure was considered part of the proof of the historical continuity of the tribe. They were recognized by the United States government in 1981 as the Tunica-Biloxi Indians of Louisiana. The formally recognized name of the tribe is the Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana.
Tunica language
The Tunica (or Tonica, or less common form Yuron) language is a language isolate
Language isolates are languages that cannot be classified into larger language families. Korean and Basque are two of the most common examples. Other language isolates include Ainu in Asia, Sandawe in Africa, and Haida in North America. The num ...
. The last known native speaker of Tunica, Sesostrie Youchigant, died in 1948. Linguist Mary Haas
Mary Rosamond Haas (January 23, 1910 – May 17, 1996) was an American linguist who specialized in North American Indian languages, Thai, and historical linguistics. She served as president of the Linguistic Society of America. She was elected ...
worked with Youchigant in the 1930s to describe what he remembered of the language, and the description was published in ''A Grammar of the Tunica Language'' in 1941, followed by ''Tunica Texts'' in 1950 and ''Tunica Dictionary'' in 1953. The Tunica tribe lived close to the Ofo and Avoyeles tribes, but communication between the three was only possible through the use of the Mobilian Jargon
Mobilian Jargon (also Mobilian trade language, Mobilian Trade Jargon, Chickasaw–Choctaw trade language, Yamá) was a pidgin used as a lingua franca among Native American groups living along the Gulf of Mexico around the time of European settlem ...
or French.[ Haas, Mary R. ''Tunica''. New York: J.J. Augustin Publisher, 1940.] Most modern Tunica speak English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
, with a few older members speaking French as a first language. Tunica is taught in weekly language classes, immersion programs, and a youth summer camp.
See also
*
* Biloxi tribe
The Biloxi tribe are Native Americans of the Siouan language family. They call themselves by the autonym ''Tanêks(a)'' in Siouan Biloxi language. When first encountered by Europeans in 1699, the Biloxi inhabited an area near the coast of the Gu ...
* Biloxi language
Biloxi was a Siouan language, which was once spoken by the Biloxi tribe in present-day Mississippi, Louisiana, and southeastern Texas.
History
The Biloxi tribe first encountered Europeans in 1699, along the Pascagoula River. By the mid-1 ...
References
Tunica-Biloxi Reservation, Louisiana
United States Census Bureau
External links
Tunica-Biloxi History
The Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tunica People
Middle Mississippian culture
Native American history of Louisiana
Native American history of Mississippi
Native American tribes in Louisiana
Native American tribes in Mississippi