History of Natchez

They used it as their major ceremonial center, after leaving the area of Emerald Mound. They added to the mounds, including a residence for their chief, the "Great Sun", on Mound B, and a combined temple and charnel house for the elite on Mound C. Many early European explorers, including Hernando de Soto, La Salle and Bienville, made contact with the Natchez at this site, called the Grand Village of the Natchez. Their accounts provided descriptions of the society and village. The Natchez maintained a hierarchical society, divided into nobles and commoners, with people affiliated according to matrilineal descent. The paramount chief, the "Great Sun", owed his position to the rank of his mother.

The 128-acre (0.52 km) site of the Grand Village of the Natchez is preserved as a National Historic Landmark and is maintained by the Mississippi Department of Archives and History. The site includes a museum with artifacts from the mounds and village, picnic pavilion, and walking trails. Nearby Emerald Mound is also a National Historic Landmark.

Colonial history (1716–1783)

In 1716 the French founded Fort Rosalie to protect the trading post established in the Natchez territory in 1714. Permanent French settlements and plantations were subsequently developed around the fort. The French inhabitants of the "Natchez colony" often came into conflict with the Natchez people over land use and resources. The natives increasingly split into pro-French and pro-English factions. English traders entered the area from British colonies to the east.

After several smaller wars, the Natchez (together with the Chickasaw and Yazoo) launched a war to eliminate the French in November 1729. It became known by the Europeans as the "Natchez War". The Indians destroyed the French colony at Natchez and other settlements in the area. In the Natchez