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Mound and House
The indigenous people of the Mississippi and Ohio River Valleys built large communities centered around human-made hills of earthen mounds. The first known contact between Europeans and the Natchez occurred in 1542, when they fought with Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto. The next contact was in 1682, when French explorer Sieur de La Salle arrived in 1682. This contact was peaceful, and soon missionaries and fur traders moved into the area. The Natchez were still building communities centered around mounds when the French began to occupy the area. Although known as Natchez to the French, the people called themselves Theloel.
Much of our current knowledge about the Natchez comes from the records made by Antoine Le Page du Pratz, a Dutchman who lived in the French colony in Louisiana from 1718 until about 1734, and recorded much about Grand Village, the residence of the Natchez Great Sun. The Great Sun was the title of the principal chief of the Natchez tribe, and Natchez society was one of the most complex in North America with a true chief and a royal family.
Grand Village was organized around an open plaza with two flat-topped mounds, about eight feet high, at either end. On one mound was the residence of the Great Sun, and on the other was the Temple, containing the perpetual fire and a platform with the bones of the previous Great Sun..
The Great Sun's home was similar to others in the village (although they were not raised on mounds). Homes were square or rectangular structures with pole framed walls. The roof was formed of bent poles, creating a high, bowed ceiling. The walls were constructed of wattle and daub, and the roofs and walls were covered with grass thatch or cane mats (Nabokov and Easton 1989).
Drawing of typical house in Grand Village (based on Nabokov and Easton 1989).
The temple was similar to the houses, but had a ridged roof with three wooden bird figures on the top. The walls consisted of thick logs, ten feet in height, plastered on the outside with mud.
Temple mound, Grand Village (based on Nabokov and Easton 1989).
The Natchez coexisted with the French in Louisiana, sometimes peacefully, and sometimes in conflict, until 1731, when the French prevailed in a military conflict over the Natchez, and the Great Sun and his people were forced to surrender. Many Natchez people were sold into slavery in the West Indies and the rest dispersed and joined with other tribes in the region.
Sources:
Nabokov, Peter and Robert Easton. Native American Architecture. New York: Oxford UP, 1989.
Oswalt, Wendell H. This Land was Theirs: A Study of Native Americans, Seventh Edition. Mountain View, CA: Mayfield Publishing Company, 2002.
