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information pertaining to cont. jetween the Tunica and the French?an interaction of two different worlds which played a key role in the course of events ending in French control of the Mississippi Valley.
The Tunica are relative newcomers to Louisiana. They enter the historical record in 1541 at which time DeSoto and his army of Spanish conquistadors found them some 250 miles to the north near Friars Point, MS. Narratives left by survivors of the DeSoto entrada refer to a powerful province called Quizquiz which archaeologists have been able to link with the Tunica.
The people of Quizquiz belonged to a cultural group known as ?Mississippian? which represents perhaps the zenith of cultural development for native North American Indians. DeSoto and his tattered band of Spaniards were extremely impressed by Quizquiz and wisely elected not to test its inhabitants on the field of battle.
A century and a half later, in 1699, the French missionary LaSource found the Tunica settled in villages along the lower Yazoo River just above the modern-day town of Vicksburg. A member of LaSource?s group, Father Davion, remained with the tribe to establish a mission which endured for about 20 years. Brief accounts left by Davion and other French missionaries and historians provide the primary documentary information on the Tunica.
The year 1706 marks an important event in Tunica history, the migration to Louisiana. French accounts imply that pressure from the Chickasaw, Alibamu, and other groups allied with the English was the main motive for the move. Indian alliances, it should be noted, were vital to European powers vying for control of the Mississippi Valley. Throughout the power struggle, the Tunica remained steadfastly loyal to the French.
The 1706 exodus brough the Tunica to one of the most beautiful parts of Lousiana. They settled in the lush uplands overlooking the Mississippi Valley which to this day have been known as the ?Tunica Hills? and have attracted the attention of such famous naturalists as Sir Charles Lyell, William Bartram and John James Audubon. Two of the Tunica villages occupied during this period have been located on the property of the State penal farm at Angola, LA. The original Angola Farm site was excavated in 1934 by James A. Ford, then Louisiana State University archaeologist.
The other site, Bloodhound Hill, currently is being investigated by a joint team headed by the author and Dr. Jeffrey P. Brain of Harvard University. The angola research fleshes out the sketchy accounts left by Father Davion and others, and an early episode in Louisiana history soon can be rewritten with new understanding.
There is documentary evidence that the French and the Tunica became increas-
ingly interdependent during the A? a Farm years from 1706 to 1731. After visiting the Tunica in December, 1721, Father Charlevoix, the historian of New France, wrote the following words about the Tunica chief:
He loves our nation, and has no cause to repent of the services he has rendered it. He trades with the French, whom he supplies with horses and fowls, and he understands his trade very well. He has learned to hoard up money, and he is reckoned very rich.
Salt was another vital commodity supplied by the Tunica. Among the services rendered to France, the Tunica allied with the French in 1729 against their old enemy, the Natchez, to begin the great war that eventually led to the downfall of that pre-eminent Indian nation. What the Tunica received in return is documented admirably by archaeological finds at Angola Farm: flintlock muskets, brass bells, glass beads, iron kettles, copper pots, iron knives, brass buttons, earthenware containers, fine china dishes.
In short, while the French relied on their Indian scouts and horse traders, the Tunica became dependent upon the French for access to much of the material culture of Europe.
Archaeology at Angola Farm goes far beyond acquisition of spectacular French
Alan Toth
Having served as Louisiana?s assistant state archaeologist since 1975, Alan Toth spearheads his work from the newly-created Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism. Specializing in archaeology of the Lower Mississippi Valley, Dr. Toth has extended his research to sites and collections throughout the Southeast. From Cheshire, CT, he was educated at Louisiana Slate University and Harvard University, where he received his Ph.D. Dr. Toth now lives in Baton Rouge.
and Indian artifacts for museum displays. Interpretation of the artifacts and the contexts in which they were found is the real goal being pursued. For example, one research objective is to find out how widely the European trade goods were distributed among the Tunica. Did the chief hoard all the wealth or was it redistributed among the tribe?
Individual status and social stratification within the tribe are additional topics being illuminated by Tunica archaeology as are house styles, subsistence, settlement patterns and commerce. By combining the historical documents with evidence from field archaeology, then, scientists are able to subject the dynamics of French-Indian contact to intense scrutiny.
The process of scientific investigation is of necessity slow and tedious. In contrast, the evidence so vital to scientific enquiry is being lost at an astonishing rate. The best of the Angola Farm materials were ripped from the earth by relic hunters long before professional archaeologists ever were called to the scene. A more spectacular example of site plundering, hailed as ?one of the great archaeological finds of the century,? becomes apparent when the Tunica story is taken a little farther.
The Natchez lost their struggle with the French but remained unified long enough to seek revenge on the Tunica. The retaliatory blow came in a night raid in April, 1731. A group of Natchez refugees attacked the Tunica village at Angola, killing their great chief, Cahura-Joligo, and inflicting perhaps 40 other casualties. The Tunica withdrew to a new village a few miles to the south.
The relocated village, known as the Trudeau site, was discovered and looted by a collector during the 1960s. His endeavors resulted in a large collection of French and Indian artifacts, misleadingly called the ?Tunica Treasure,? but a complete loss of the evidence concerning the story behind those artifacts. While title to the collection is being decided in the courts, the materials are being studied by archaeologists at Harvard University and the metal items are being cleaned and permanently stabilized. The Tunica Treasure remains the largest assortment of early 18th Century French and Indian artifacts yet found at a contact site in North America.
While at Trudeau, the Tunica continued to prosper from their trade with the French. They retained control of the ?Portage of the Cross,? a strategic neck of land leading to the Mississippi River at its junction with Red River. When the French lost control of the Mississippi Valley in 1763, the Tunica moved west across the great river and lingered awhile in the vicinity of the French settlement at Pointe Coupee. Loyal to the end, the Tunica followed French settlers up Red River during the late 1700s to Marksville, LA, where a small band of Tunica descendants remains on tribal lands to the present day.
The Tunica story is being preserved and
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