Tunica-Biloxi - History

History

By the Middle Mississippian period, local Late Woodland peoples in the Central Mississippi Valley had developed or adopted a Mississippian lifestyle, with maize agriculture, hierarchial political structures, mussel shell-tempered pottery and participation in the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex (SECC). The archaeological evidence suggests that the valley was home to several competing paramount chiefdoms, with supporting vassal states. The groups in the area are defined by archaeologists as archaeological phases and include the Menard, Tipton, Belle Meade-Walls, Parkin and Nodena phases.

In the spring of 1541 Hernando de Soto and his army approached the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, coming upon the Province of Quizquiz (pronounced "keys-key"). These people spoke a dialect of the Tunica language. At that time these related groups covered a large region extending along both sides of the Mississippi River in present-day Mississippi and Arkansas, as the expedition would soon learn.

Evaluations of the three surviving de Soto narratives for topography, linguistics and cultural traits, combined with archaeological excavations and analysis have left most archaeologists and ethnohistorians comfortable identifying the Menard, Walls, Belle Meade, Parkin and Nodena phases as the provinces of Anilco, Quiquiz, Aquixo, Casqui and Pacaha, respectively

It was 150 years before another European group records the Tunica. In 1699 when encountered by the LaSource expedition ( coming downriver from Canada ), the Tunica were a modest tribe numbering only a few hundred warriors. By the time the French arrived, the Central Mississippi Valley was sparsely occupied by the Quapaw, who were significant allies to them and aided their successful settlement.

The French established a mission among the Tunica around 1700, on the Yazoo River. Father Antoine Davion was assigned as the missionary for the Tunica, as well as the smaller tribes of the Koroas, the Yazoo, and Couspe (or Houspe) tribes. The Tunica were skilled traders and entrepreneurs, especially in the manufacture and distribution of salt, a valuable item to both native and Europeans. Salt was extremely important in the trade between the French and the various Caddoan groups in northwestern Louisiana and southwestern Arkansas. It is thought that the Tunica were the middlemen in the movement of salt from the Caddoan areas to the French.

By the early 18th century, the tribes along the lower Mississippi River were a target of Chickasaw raids for the English slave trade in South Carolina. By 1706 the Tunica decided to move. With their enemies the Natchez to their immediate south, they moved to the Mississippi side of the Mississippi and Red River confluence. This allowed them to keep control of their salt trade, as the Red River also connected to their salt source in the Caddoan areas. They established a loose collection of hamlets and villages at their new home in Angola, Louisiana. The archeological remains of a small hamlet from this time period was rediscovered in 1976 by an inmate of Angola. It is known as the Bloodhound Site.

During the 1710s and 1720s, war periodically broke out between the French and the Natchez. The last uprising in 1729 — the Natchez Massacre — was the largest; the Natchez killed most of the French at the village of Natchez and Fort Rosalie. When the French retaliated with the aid of Indian allies, they killed or captured most of the Natchez.

In 1729 the chiefs of the village sent emissaries to potential allies, including the Yazoo, Koroa, Illinois, Chickasaw, and Choctaw. The Natchez Rebellion or Natchez War expanded into a larger regional conflict with many repercussions. 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, provided they were unarmed. A few days later, the 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. He consented and then distributed food to his new guests. A dance was held that night. After the dance and when the village had gone to sleep, the Natchez, Chicasaw and Koroa attacked their hosts. The chief killed four Natchez during the fighting, but was killed along with twelve of his warriors. His war-chief Brides les Boeufs (Buffalo Tamer) repulsed the attack. He rallied the warriors, and after fighting for five days and nights, regained control of the village. Twenty Tunica were killed and as many wounded in the fighting. They had also managed to kill thirty-three of the Natchez warriors.

After the attack at Angola, in 1731 the Tunica moved a few miles away to the Trudeau site. Over the years, they buried as grave goods 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. When discovered in the 20th century, these artifacts attested to the extensive trade with Europeans, as well as the wealth of the Tunica. They stayed at this location into the 1760s, when the French ceded control to the Spanish following the Seven Years' War.

In 1764 the Tunica moved fifteen miles south of the Trudeau Landing site to just outside the French settlement at Pointe Coupée. Other tribes had also settled in the area, including the Offagoula, Pascagoula and Biloxi. The latter came to have a close relationship with the Tunica people. During this time, numerous Anglo-American settlers migrated into the region. The Tunica had become acculturated to European ways, although they still tattooed themselves and practiced some of their native religious customs. With the British in charge of the Western Florida colony at this time, and the Spanish in control of Louisiana, politics were volatile in the area. In 1779 Governor Galvez led a force which included Tunica and other tribes to take the British-held town of Baton Rouge. This was the last military campaign for which the Tunica were recorded.

By sometime in the late 1780s or 1790s, the Tunica moved again, probably because of the large influx of Anglo-Americans. They moved west to a site on the Red River named Avoyelles. In 1794 an Italian named Marco Litche (anglicized as Marc Eliche) established a trading post in the area. The European-American settlement he founded became known as Marksville and was noted on Louisiana maps as of 1809.

Marksville was a good location then for a trading post, as the Red River was still an important avenue of trade. But the time was one of change for the area. France reacquired the area in 1796, but sold it to the fledgling United States as part of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. As the century progressed, railroads surpassed the rivers as main avenues of trade and transportation, and the Marksville area became a quiet backwater.

The only U.S. government mention of the Tunica from 1803 to 1938 was made in 1806 by an Indian Commissioner for Louisiana. He noted that the Tunica only numbered about 25 men, lived in Avoyelles Parish, and made their livings by occasionally hiring out as boatmen. Although the Tunica were prosperous at this time, eventually problems with their white neighbors would take its toll. The Tunica became subsistence farmers, with some hunting and fishing to support themselves. Others turned to sharecropping on their white neighbors' land. As the 20th century dawned, the Tunica talked about their ancient heritage. They had managed to retain possession of the majority of their land, some still spoke the Tunica language, and their traditional tribal ceremonies were still being practiced.