The Yazoo were a

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to confli ...

of the Native American

Tunica people The Tunica people are a group of linguistically and culturally related Native American tribes in the Mississippi River Valley, which include the Tunica (also spelled Tonica, Tonnica, and Thonnica); the Yazoo; the Koroa (Akoroa, Courouais); and ...

historically located along the lower course 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 th ...

in an area now known as the Mississippi Delta. They were closely related to other Tunica-language-speaking peoples, especially the Tunica,

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 ...

, and possibly the Tioux. Nothing is definitely known about their language, believed to be related to Tunica, a language isolate. The tribe was documented by French explorers and missionaries. In 1699 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 ...

, of the Quebec Seminary of Foreign Missions in New France (Canada), established a

mission Mission (from Latin ''missio'' "the act of sending out") may refer to: Organised activities Religion *Christian mission, an organized effort to spread Christianity *Mission (LDS Church), an administrative area of The Church of Jesus Christ of ...

among the Tunica. He also reached out to allied tribes, such as the

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 ...

. At this time, the Yazoo, like the

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 classif ...

, were under the influence of the English traders from Carolina on the Atlantic coast. In 1702 the Yazoo aided the

in killing the French priest Nicholas Foucault and his three companions. The seminary temporarily withdrew Fr Antoine from the area. In 1718 the French established a fort near the village of St. Pierre to command the river. In 1722 the young Jesuit priest Jean Rouel was given the Yazoo mission near the French post. He worked there until the outbreak of the

Natchez revolt The Natchez revolt, or the Natchez massacre, was an attack by the Natchez Native American people on French colonists near present-day Natchez, Mississippi, on November 29, 1729. The Natchez and French had lived alongside each other in the ...

in 1729. At that time, the Yazoo and Koroa joined with 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 ...

in attacking the French colonists, in an attempt to drive them out of the region altogether. On November 29, 1729, the Natchez attacked

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 that ...

, killing more than 200 people, including the Jesuit priest Paul Du Poisson. They carried off as captives most of the French women and children, and their African slaves. On learning of the event, the Yazoo and Koroa, on December 11, 1729, waylaid and killed Rouel and his black slave. The next day they attacked the neighboring post, killing the whole garrison. The tribes buried Rouel's body. His bell and some books were afterward recovered and restored to the French 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 Oh ...

. Another priest, Stephen Doutreleau, was attacked on January 1, 1730, but was able to escape. The Natchez War was a disaster for French settlements in Louisiana; the colonists withdrew in retreat to

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

. It was also a disaster for the Natchez and Yazoo. The French allied with the Choctaw for retaliation and achieved overwhelming defeat of the Natchez and Yazoo. They sold survivors into

slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

on Caribbean plantations. The Chickasaw captured many other Yazoo men and sold them into slavery to Carolina-based traders.Gibson, Arrell M. "The Indians of Mississippi", in McLemore, Richard Aubrey, ed. ''A History of Mississippi'' (Hattiesburg: University and College Press of Mississippi, 1973) vol 1, p. 76 This ended the Yazoo as a tribe; their survivors intermarried with the Chickasaw, Africans, and other peoples.

In fiction

John Grisham John Ray Grisham Jr. (; born February 8, 1955 in Jonesboro, Arkansas) is an American novelist, lawyer and former member of the 7th district of the Mississippi House of Representatives, known for his popular legal thrillers. According to the Ame ...

's story "Casino", included in the short-story collection ''Ford County'' (2009), turns on a shady businessman 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 ...

gathering several dozen people with purported Yazoo ancestry to seek tribal status. He gains Federal recognition for them as a Native American tribe, which would enable them to use their land to develop a gaming

casino A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertai ...

Notable people

* Moncacht Apé was an explorer who, in the late 1600s or early 1700s, may have made the first recorded round trip transcontinental journey across North America.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yazoo Tribe Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands Native American tribes in Mississippi Pre-statehood history of Mississippi Extinct Native American peoples