Tunica, "Those Who Are the People." They were culturally similar to the Yazoo.
Location The people lived anciently in northwestern Mississippi and Arkansas as far as the Washita River. By the later seventeenth century they had migrated to the Lower Yazoo River in present-day Mississippi. Today, most live in Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana.
Population From about 2,000 in the late seventeenth century, their population declined to no more than 30 in 1800. There were 430 members of the Tunica-Biloxi tribe in the early 1990s.
Language Tunica was one of several Tunican languages.
Historical Information
History Tunicas had ancient links to southern Hopewell culture. Hernando de Soto came through their territory in 1541. Around 1700, the French claimed the lower Mississippi area, at which time Jesuit missionaries established a presence. The Tunica became loyal French allies, in part to counter pro-British Chickasaw slave traders.
Out of fear of the Chickasaw and other tribes, the Tunica moved south to a Houma town, opposite the mouth of the Red River, around 1705. Despite being given a friendly reception, after several years they killed most of their hosts and forced the others to move away. The Tunica were important French allies in the 1729 Natchez war and fought the Yazoo and several other tribes in 1731.
The Tunica fought the British as part of the Pontiac uprising when the French lost political control of the region in 1763. For years after that event, the Tunicas attempted to maintain a delicate diplomatic balance between the European powers. They sided with Spain and the colonies in the American Revolution. Their existence and their rights ignored, at best, by the U.S. government, the Tunicas dispersed in the later eighteenth century, moving up the Red River to the Avoyelles prairie. Others joined the Atakapa, and still others joined the Choctaws in Indian Territory.
The tribe hired a lawyer to protect its interests in the early nineteenth century. Still, ignoring federal law, the United States denied the Tunicas long-established title to their land. The Indians lived in relative harmony with their neighbors, however, until their chief was murdered in 1841 for resisting the theft of tribal land. In a state trial, centering on the land dispute, the Indians were formally awarded some of their own land, which became the basis of their reservation.
The Tunica continued to hunt, farm, fish, and practice traditional healing and religion into the twentieth century. They merged with the Biloxi, a small Siouan tribe, in the 1920s. Participation in several court cases in the early twentieth century underscored the need for literacy and formal recognition. Faced with a severely diminished population, one chief proposed in the 1940s to sell all tribal lands and move the people to Texas, for which he was removed from office. The last chief died in 1976.
The Tunicas were important French allies in the 1729 Natchez War and fought the Yazoo and several other tribes in 1731. In this 1732 French sketch, the chief of the Tunicas is shown with the widow and child of the former chief, who was killed by the Natchez. The living chief carries three Natchez scalps on his staff.
Religion Tunicas worshiped the sun, among other deities. They celebrated the Green Corn feast. Clay figures stood inside thatched temples built atop mounds. They may have engaged in sacrificial killing.
Government Chiefs were relatively authoritarian, although not at the level of the Natchez.
Customs Men planted, harvested, and dressed skins. Women made pottery, clothing, and mulberry tree-bark fabric. The people buried their dead in the ground with their heads facing east. A four-day fasting and mourning period followed the funeral, after which participants bathed in the river. Cemeteries were located on hills and were guarded. The custom of infant head deformation was probably acquired in the late prehistoric period. If personally witnessed, adultery was severely punished. The Tunica played stickball and enjoyed various dances.
Dwellings Villages were located on the Mississippi floodplain in the mid-sixteenth century but on the bluffs overlooking the floodplain in the late seventeenth century. At least in the early eighteenth century, towns were laid out in a circle. Thatched houses were partly square and partly round and contained no smoke holes. Granaries, possibly square, were built on posts. A square chief’s cabin was decorated with carved wooden images.
Diet The Tunica economy was based on agriculture. Men and women grew corn as well as pumpkins and beans. They integrated crops such as melons and peaches after contact with non-natives. Corn was made into at least 42 different dishes, including gruel (hominy) and bread. The people also grew a particular grain-bearing grass.
Women gathered wild rice, berries, fruits, grapes, mushrooms, and nuts. In season, persimmon bread was a staple food item for at least a month. Deer, turkey, and buffalo were the most important animal foods. Men stalked deer with deer head disguises and went on communal buffalo hunts in fall. They used fire to rout hibernating bears out of their hollows.
Bear fat oil was an important seasoning. Other foods included ducks and other fowl, fish, and possibly dogs.
Key Technology Cloth fabric woven from mulberry bark was used in a number of items. Women also made pottery and pine straw baskets. Men hollowed logs for mortars and cut saplings for pestles.
Trade Tunicas mined and boiled down salt from licks to trade with other tribes, particularly the Quapaw and Taensa.
Notable Arts The people made very fine pottery as well as well-dressed skins.
Transportation Carved dugout canoes enabled the people to move around the many rivers and lakes.
Dress Most clothing was made from deerskins. Men wore breechclouts, and women wore a wrapped waist-to-knee skirt made from deerskin or mulberry cloth. Mantles or cloaks were made from turkey feathers or muskrat skins. Girls wore a two-piece tasseled mulberry-net apron, like those of the Natchez. Most men wore their hair long. Women blackened their teeth. Both sexes tattooed their bodies.
War and Weapons Traditional enemies included the Chickasaw, Alabama, and Houma. War parties visited the temple before they departed and after they returned. Weapons included the bow and arrow, club, and knife.
Contemporary Information
Government/Reservations The Tunica-Biloxi Reservation is located in Avoyelles Parish, near Marksville, Louisiana. It consists of 130 acres and had 16 resident Indians in 1990. There is an elected tribal council.
Economy The tribe operates a housing authority and owns a cattle herd and a pecan-processing plant. It is developing a program to facilitate crafts training and marketing.
Legal Status Since the 1980s, the Tunica-Biloxi tribe has been a federally recognized tribal entity.
Daily Life The Tunica language is no longer spoken. The people continue to celebrate the New Corn ceremony. They also hold a parallel, secular festival around the same time, which features craft sales, dancing, and ball play. Tribal leaders are active in local and national Indian affairs. There is a tribal museum.
