Native Mississippians Lecture Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms, historical figures, tribes, and cultural practices from the Native Mississippians lecture notes.

Pictography

A system of communication through pictures and symbols developed by Native Mississippians in the absence of a written language.

Matrilineal Ancestry

The practice of tracing family lines through mothers rather than fathers, contrasting with European traditions.

Exogamic Marriage

The practice of marrying outside of one's own clan, celebrated with large weddings that functioned as political and economic alliances.

Muskogean Dialects

The primary language group spoken by most Southeastern nations, with the major exceptions being the Biloxi (who spoke Siouan) and the Natchez.

Green Corn Ceremony

The most important annual ritual held each August, serving as a joyful time of forgiveness, feasting, and new beginnings.

Bone Pickers

Individuals who prepared a deceased person's skeleton for burial after the body decomposed on a raised platform.

Emerald Mound

The $2\text{nd}$ largest Indian Temple Mound in the US, built and used between $1300$ and $1600\,\text{AD}$ by the forerunners of the Natchez.

Nanih Waiya

A sacred Choctaw mound located in Winston County.

Stickball

A tribal game where teams of $200$ to $300$ players battled for goals, referred to by the Choctaw as 'Little Brother of War'.

Chunkey

A traditional Native Mississippian game that tested speed and aim.

Calumet

A peace pipe smoked to open important tribal council meetings, which could last up to $3\,\text{days}$.

The Great Sun

The ceremonial chief of the Natchez who held no direct power over the tribe's five villages and whose death required voluntary human sacrifices to accompany him.

Grand Village

The ceremonial center of the Natchez from $1682$ to $1730$, which was later destroyed by the French.

Fort Rosalie

A French fort and commercial settlement that was captured by the Natchez in $1729$ during an uprising.

1729 Uprising

An attack where the Natchez captured Fort Rosalie, killing $230$ colonists (including $194$ men, $35$ women, and $16$ children) before French and Choctaw forces recaptured it.

St. Domingue

The destination where captured Natchez survivors were sold into slavery by the French following their defeat.

Acolapissa

A tribe located on the Gulf Coast and Pearl River that met the French in $1699$, allied with them, and merged with the Houma in $1739$.

Biloxi Tribe

A tribe originally from the Ohio Valley that settled on the Gulf Coast, gave their name to a city, and became part of the Tunica-Biloxi in $1981$.

Chakchiuma

A tribe in the Yazoo River valley caught in conflicts between the Choctaw and Chickasaw and absorbed by both after $1736$.

Choula

A small tribe in the Yazoo River valley that merged with the Ibitoupa and was absorbed by larger neighboring tribes.

Grigra

A tribe living among the Natchez whose name echoes the sound of a stream in their speech and who disappeared from French records after $1723$.

Ibitoupa

A tribe on the Upper Yazoo River whose name means 'people at the source of a stream' and who joined the Chickasaw by $1730$.

Koroa

A tribe in the Lower Yazoo River area that fought the French alongside the Natchez in $1729$ and helped destroy Fort St. Pierre.

Ofogoula

A Yazoo River tribe known as the 'dog people' who allied with the pro-French Tunica and moved to Louisiana in $1784$.

Pascagoula

A tribe living along the Pascagoula River and Gulf Coast known as the 'bread people' who maintained friendly relations with the French.

Taposa

A Yazoo River tribe that sided with the Natchez in their revolt and was likely absorbed by the Chickasaw.

Tiou

A tribe in Natchez country that joined the attack on Fort Rosalie and was destroyed by the French by $1731$.

Tunica

A tribe along the Lower Mississippi River that traded salt, served as the closest French ally, and gained federal recognition as the Tunica-Biloxi in $1981$.

Yazoo Tribe

An anti-French tribe on the Lower Yazoo River tied to the Koroa who nearly destroyed Fort St. Pierre in $1729$.