Natchez

Taensa Indians

Taensa Tribe: Meaning unknown, but the name is evidently derived from that of one of the tribe’s constituent towns. Taensa Connections. They were one of the three known tribes of the Natchez division of the Muskhogean stock. Taensa Location. At the western end of Lake St. Joseph, in Tensas Parish. (See also Alabama.) Taensa Villages The only list of Taensa villages preserved was obtained by Iberville through the medium of the Mobilian trade language and it is uncertain how much of each name is a Mobilian translation. In four of them we recognize the Mobilian word for people, okla. These … Read more

Avoyel Indians

Avoyel Tribe: The name signifies probably “people of the rocks,” referring to flint and very likely applied because they were middlemen in supplying the Gulf coast tribes with flint. Also called: Little Taensa, so-called from their relationship to the Taensa. Tassenocogoula, name in the Mobilian trade language, meaning “flint people.” Avoyel Connections. The testimony of early writers and circumstantial evidence render it almost certain that the Avoyel spoke a dialect of the Natchez group of the Muskhogean linguistic family. Avoyel Location. In the neighborhood of the present Marksville, La. Avoyel History. The Avoyel are mentioned first by Iberville in the … Read more

Grigra Tribe

Grigra Indians, Grigras. A French nickname and the only known name of a small tribe all ready incorporated with the Natchez confederacy in 1720; it was applied because of the frequent occurrences of grigra in their language and ethnic relations, but unless affiliated with the Tonica, the tribe was evidently distinct from every other, since, as indicated by the sound grigra, their language possessed an r.

Fort Toulouse, the Chitimachas and the Natchez Wars

Another war between England and France began in 1718 – the War of the Quadruple Alliance. The French had succeeded in surrounding the British colonies in North America, except for the boundary with Florida.  France seemed poised to have most of the Southeastern Indians as allies.  These advanced Native American provinces represented the densest indigenous population north of Mexico.  However, the British Navy had destroyed French coastal forts and shipping almost at will.  France might control the coastline, but the British controlled the seas. Fort Toulouse – 1717 Anticipating more wars with Great Britain and desiring closer trade relations with … Read more

Natchez Tribe

Natchez Indians. A well-known tribe that formerly lived on and about St. Catherine’s Creek, east and south of the present city of Natchez, Mississippi. The name, belongings to a single town, was extended to the tribe and entire group of towns, which included also peoples of alien blood who had been conquered by the Natchez or had taken refuge with them. Iberville, on his ascent of the Mississippi in 1699, names, in the Choctaw language, the following 8 towns, exclusive of Natchez proper: Achougoulas, Cogoucoula, Ousagoncoula, Pochougoula, Thoucoue, Tougoulas, Yatanocas, and Ymacachas. Of these, Tougoulas and perhaps Thoucoue are the … Read more

Taensa Tribe

Taensa Indians. A tribe related in language and customs to the Natchez, from whom they must have separated shortly before the beginning of the historic period. There is reason to think that part of the Taensa were encountered by De Soto in 1540, but the first mention of them under their proper name is by La Salle and his companions, who visited them in 1682 on their way to the mouth of the Mississippi. They were then living on Lake St Joseph, an ox-bow cut-off of the Mississippi in the present Tensas Parish, Louisiana. Tonti stopped at their villages in … Read more

Naktche Indian Tribe

Of the Lower Mississippi tribes the most powerful and populous was that of the Naktche, settled at the beginning of the eighteenth century in nine villages on and about St. Catherine creek

Natchez Indian Tribe

The Natchez having been made the subject of a special study by the writer, no extended notice need be given here. Their earliest known home was on St. Catharines Creek, Mississippi, close to the present city which bears their name. After Louisiana was colonized by the French the latter established a post among them, which was in a very flourishing condition when, in the year 1729, it was suddenly cut off by a native uprising. Subsequently the French attacked these Indians, killed many, captured some, whom they sent to Santo Domingo as slaves, and forced the rest to abandon their … Read more

Iroquois Ceremonies

Among the Iroquois, and, indeed, all the stationary tribes, there was an incredible number of mystic ceremonies, extravagant, puerile, and often disgusting, designed for the cure of the sick or for the general weal of the community. Most of their observances seem originally to have been dictated by dreams, and transmitted as a sacred heritage from generation to generation. They consisted in an endless variety of dances, masquerading, and nondescript orgies; and a scrupulous adherence to all the traditional forms was held to be of the last moment, as the slightest failure in this respect might entail serious calamities. Dreams … Read more

Natchez Indian Bands, Gens and Clans

Many tribes have sub-tribes, bands, gens, clans and phratry.  Often very little information is known or they no longer exist.  We have included them here to provide more information about the tribes. Grigras. A French nickname and the only known name of a small tribe already incorporated with the Natchez confederacy in 1720; it was applied because of the frequent occurrence of grigra in their language. There is uncertainty in regard to the language and ethnic relations, but unless affiliated with the Tonica, the tribe was evidently distinct from every other, since, as indicated by the sound grigra, their language … Read more