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{{Infobox Ethnic group
|image=
|group= Tunica
|poptime=
|popplace=[[United States]] ([[Mississippi]], [[Arkansas]])
|rels=Native tribal religion
|langs=[[Tunica language]] (isolate)
|related= [[Yazoo tribe|Yazoo]], [[Koroa]], Tioux
}}
The '''Tunica people''' were a group of linguistically and culturally related [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] tribes in the [[Mississippi River]] Valley, which include the Tunica (also spelled Tonica, Tonnica, and Thonnica); the [[Yazoo tribe|Yazoo]]; the [[Koroa]] (Akoroa)<ref name=BRAINTUNICA/>; and possibly the [[Tioux]].<ref>{{Cite book|author=Michael Johnson|title=Encyclopedia of Native Tribes of North America|publisher=[[Gramercy Books]]|year=2000|isbn=0-517-16342-X}}</ref> They first encountered Europeans in 1541 - members of the [[Hernando de Soto]] expedition.
[[File:Tunica Trail map HRoe 2010.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Tunica Trail from the Central Mississippi valley to Marksville, LA]]
Over the next centuries, under pressure from hostile neighbors, the Tunica migrated south from the Central Mississippi Valley to the Lower Mississippi Valley. Eventually they moved westward from the river and settled at present-day [[Marksville, Louisiana]].

Since the early 1800s, they have intermarried with the [[Biloxi tribe]], an unrelated [[Siouan]]-speaking people from the vicinity of [[Biloxi, Mississippi]] and shared land. Remnant peoples from other small tribes also merged with them. The '''[[Tunica-Biloxi]] Tribe of Louisiana''', which shares a reservation, was federally recognized in 1981.<ref name=BRAINTUNICA/>

==Prehistory==
[[File:Casqui Parkin Site HROE 2009 01.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Parkin Site, circa 1539. Illustration by Herb Roe]]
By the [[Mississippian culture|Middle Mississippian period]], local [[Woodland period|Late Woodland]] peoples in the Central Mississippi Valley had developed or adopted a full Mississippian lifestyle, with intensive [[maize]] agriculture, hiearchial political structures, [[mussel]] shell-tempered pottery and participation in the [[Southeastern Ceremonial Complex]] (SECC). At this time the settlement patterns were a mix of dispersed settlements, farmsteads and villages. Over the next centuries, settlement patterns changed to a pattern of more centralized towns, with defensive [[palisades]] and ditches, indicating a state of [[endemic warfare]] had developed between local competing polities. Material culture, such as pottery styles and mortuary practices, began to diverge at this point.

The [[archaeological]] evidence suggests that the valley was home to several competing [[paramount chief]]doms, with supporting [[vassal state]]s, all belonging to the same overall culture. The groups in the area are defined by archaeologists as [[archaeological phase]]s, based on differentiation in these material cultures. They include the [[Menard-Hodges Site|Menard]], [[Tipton Phase|Tipton]], [[Walls Phase|Belle Meade-Walls]], [[Parkin Site|Parkin]] and [[Nodena Phase|Nodena]] phases.<ref name=HudsonKNIGHTS>{{cite book|author=[[Charles M. Hudson (author)|Hudson, Charles M.]]|title =Knights of Spain, Warriors of the Sun: Hernando De Soto and the South's Ancient Chiefdoms|year =1997|publisher=[[University of Georgia Press]]|ISBN=0-8203-1888-4}}</ref> In the immediate vicinity of the future city of [[Memphis, Tennessee]], two phases seem have been [[paramount chiefdoms]]: Parkin and Nodena. The other phases were possible vassal states or allies in their competition for local supremacy.

The Parkin phase is centered on the [[Parkin Archeological State Park|Parkin]] site, a {{convert|17|acre|ha|0|lk=on}} palisaded village at the [[confluence]] of the [[St. Francis River|St. Francis]] and [[Tyronza River|Tyronza]] rivers. The large village was likely located at the confluence of the two rivers because the site enabled residents to control transportation and trade on the waterways.<ref name=MorsePARKIN>{{cite book| author= [[Phyllis Morse|Morse, Phyllis A.]]|title =Parkin| year =1981 | publisher=Arkansas Archaeological Survey Research Series| isbn = 0882-4591}}</ref>

The Nodena phase is believed to have been centered on the [[Bradley Site]] (3 Ct 7) and its nearby cluster of towns and villages.<ref name=MorseDNodenaPhase>{{cite book |author=[[Dan Morse]]|editor=David H. Dye and Cheryl Ann Cox|article=The Nodena Phase|title=Towns and Temples Along the Mississippi|publisher=[[University of Alabama Press]]|year=1990|pages=69–97|isbn=0-8173-0455-X}}</ref> The phase is named for the [[Nodena Site]], located east of [[Wilson, Arkansas]] in [[Mississippi County, Arkansas|Mississippi County]] on a [[meander]] bend of the Mississippi River. Scholars believe that because of pottery and mortuary similarities, the Belle Mead and Walls phase peoples were allies or vassals of the Nodena polity. The Parkin polity, defined by different mortuary practices and pottery, was competing.

==Protohistoric period==
===Spanish contact===
[[File:Nodena HRoe 2009.jpg|thumb|300px|Illustration of the Nodena Site ca. 1539, by Herb Roe.]]
{{cquote|''One mid-day we came upon a town called Quizquiz, and so suddenly to inhabitants, that they were without any notice of us, the men being away at work in the maize-fields. We took more than three hundred women, and the few skins and shawls they had in their houses.''|20px|20px|-''Luys Hernandez de Biedma describing the Quizquiz 1544''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://anthro.siuc.edu/muller/Biedma/Biedma_frame.html|title=Relation of the Conquest of Florida Presented by Luys Hernandez de Biedma in the Year 1544 to the King of Spain in Council|accessdate=2010-02-10}}</ref>}}

In the spring of 1541 [[Hernando de Soto]] and his army approached the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, coming upon the [[Quizquiz (tribe)|Province of Quizquiz]] (pronounced "keys-key"). These people spoke a [[dialect]] of the Tunican language. At that time, these related groups covered a large region extending along both sides of the Mississippi River in present-day [[Mississippi]] and [[Arkansas]].<ref name=ARKARCHEO>{{Cite web| url= http://arkarcheology.uark.edu/indiansofarkansas/index.html?pageName=Tunica%20and%20Koroa%20Indians|title=Tunica and Koroa Indians|accessed=2010-02-10}}</ref>

{{cquote|''Off to one side of the town was the dwelling place of the Curaca (chief). It was situated on a high mound which now served as a fortress. Only by means of two stairways could one ascend to this house…… The lord of the province, who like his land was called Quizquiz, was now old and sick in bed; but on hearing the noise and confusion in his village, he arose and came from his bedchamber. Then beholding the pillage and seizure of his vassals, he grasped a battle-ax and began to descend the stairs with the greatest fury, in the meantime vowing loudly and fiercely to slay anyone who came into his land without permission……But the memory of valiant deeds and triumphs of his bellicose youth, and the fact that he held sway over a province so large and good as his, gave him strength to utter those fierce threats and even fiercer ones.''|20px|20px|-''Inca Garcilaso de la Vega describing the Quizquiz 1605''<ref>{{cite book|title=La Florida del Inca,|author=[[Inca Garcilaso de la Vega]]|year=1605|location=[[Lisbon]]}}</ref>}}

Upon crossing the river, the expedition came upon the [[Aquixo|Province of Aquixo]], and from there on to the [[Casqui|Province of Casqui]]. The province had a long standing feud with the [[Pacaha|Province of Pacaha]], described by its participants as having lasted for generations. The Spaniards were impressed with the peoples of this region, its many towns, abundant agriculture and fine quality of the people. The settlements of this area are described thus by the admiring Spaniards:
{{cquote|''This town was a very good one, thoroughly well stockaded; and the walls were furnished with towers and a ditch round about, for the most part full of water which flows in by a canal from the river; and this ditch was full of excellent fish of divers kinds. The chief of Casqui came to the Christians when they were entering the village and they entertained him bravely. In Aquixo, and Casqui, and Pacaha, they saw the best villages seen up to that time, better stockaded and fortified, and the people were of finer quality, excepting those of [[Cofitachequi]].''|20px|20px|-''Rodrigo Ranjel describing the Casqui 1547&ndash;49''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.siu.edu/~anthro/muller/RRanjel.htm|title =A narrative of de Soto's Expedition based on the diary of Rodrigo Ranjel|accessdate=2008-09-30}}</ref>}}
[[Image:DeSoto Map HRoe 2008.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Proposed route for the de Soto Expedition, based on [[Charles M. Hudson (author)|Charles M. Hudson]] map of 1997.<ref name=HudsonKNIGHTS/>]]
The expedition later visited the [[Quigate|Province of Quigate]], the [[Coligua|Province of Coligua]] and [[Palisema]]. The chief of Palisema sent the expedition on to the land of the Cayas, where they found the town of [[Tanico]]. [[Linguistic analysis]] in the 1930s by [[John Swanton]] and in the 1980s by [[Robert L. Rankin]] point to the [[Koroa]] tribe as likely to have been the Coligua.

Archaeologists believe the location for the Province of Coligua may be the Greenbriar phase on the [[White River (Arkansas)|White River]] at the edge of the [[Ozark Highlands (ecoregion)|Ozark Highlands]]. Tanico is also another name used by Europeans to name the Tunica, also making its identification as a Tunican group secure.<ref name=HOFFMAN>{{Cite book|author=Michael P. Hoffman|editor=Patricia B. Kwachka|title=Perspectives on the Southeast-Linguistics, Archaeology and Ethnohistory|article=Ethnic Identities and Cultural Change in the Protohistoric Period of Eastern Arkansas|year=1994|publisher=[[University of Georgia Press]]|isbn=0-8203-1593-1}}</ref> The Tanico were salt-makers and salt-traders, procuring the salt from the sands of a stream that fed into the River of the Cayas (identified as the [[Arkansas River]]). The people would scoop the sand in baskets, and run water through it, making a [[brine]]. The brine was then strained and left to dry in shallow bowls, where the dried salt would later be scraped off.<ref name=HudsonKNIGHTS/>

Scholars evaluated the three surviving Soto narratives for topography, linguistics and cultural traits, combined with archaeological excavations and analysis. Most archaeologists and [[ethnohistorian]]s believe the following can be identified as equivalent sites: they are paired by archeological phase and Soto references:
Menard - Anilco</br>
Walls - Quiquiz</br>
Belle Meade - Aquixo </br>
Parkin - Casqui</br>
Nodena - Pacaha <ref name=HOFFMAN/>

The description of the ongoing war between the Casqui and Pacaha matches interpretations of the archaeological record, as do distances and topography mentioned in the narratives. Words recorded by the narratives at Pacaha, such as ''mochila'', ''macanoche'', and ''caloosa'', match Tunica linguistic characteristics evaluated by [[Mary Haas]] in the 1940s. It is now theorized that the peoples of the Central Mississippi Valley, from Pacaha in the north to the [[Anilco|Provinces of Anilco]] and [[Utiangüe]] in the south on the Arkansas River, were all Tunican.<ref name=HOFFMAN/>

===French contact===
It was another 150&nbsp;years before another European group records the Tunica. In 1699 when encountered by the LaSource expedition (coming downriver from Canada), the Tunica were a modest-sized tribe numbering only a few hundred warriors, with about 900 people in total. While the Spanish were only in the area for a short time, their presence had devastating effects. A favorite tactic of the expedition had been to play off local political rivalries, causing more conflict.<ref name=HudsonKNIGHTS/> More significantly, the introduction of [[Eurasia]]n [[infectious diseases]] would have ravaged the native population who had no acquired immunity.

By the time the French arrived, the Central Mississippi Valley was sparsely occupied by the [[Quapaw]], a [[Dhegihan|Dhegiha Siouan]] people hostile to the Tunica. In the intervening century and a half since the de Soto Expedition, the Tunica and Koroa had relocated further south to the mouth of the [[Yazoo River]] in west central Mississippi.<ref name=ONTUNICATRAIL/>

==Historic Period==
===Mouth of the Yazoo 1682-1706===
{{cquote|''We arrived at the Tonicas about sixty leagues below the Ankanseas ( Quapaw ). The first village is four leagues from the Micissippi inland on the bank of a quite pretty river; they are dispersed in little villages; they cover in all four leagues of country; they are about 260 cabins…. They are very peaceable people, well disposed, much attached to the French, living entirely on Indian corn, they are employed solely on their fields; they do not hunt like the other Indians.''|20px|20px|-''La Source describing the Tunica 1699''<ref name=ONTRAILQUIZ>{{Cite web|url=http://www.crt.state.la.us/archaeology/TUNICA/quiz.htm|title=ON THE TUNICA TRAIL-Quizquiz|accessed=2010-02-14}}</ref>}}

The French established a mission among the Tunica around the year 1700, on the [[Yazoo River]] near the [[Mississippi River]] in the present-day state of [[Mississippi]]. Archaeological evidence suggests that they had recently migrated to the region from eastern [[Arkansas]], in the late 17th century. [[Father Antoine Davion]] was assigned as the missionary for the Tunica as well as the smaller tribes of the [[Koroa]], the [[Yazoo tribe|Yazoo]], and Couspe (or Houspe) tribes. Unlike the northern tribes with which the French were familiar, the Tunica (and the nearby [[Taensa]] and [[Natchez people|Natchez]]) had a complex [[religion]]. They had built [[temple]]s, created [[cult image]]s, and had a [[priest]] class. The Tunica, Taensa, and Natchez retained [[chiefdom]] characteristics, such as a complex religion and ,in the case of the Natchez, use and maintenance of [[platform mound]]s, after they had disappeared elsewhere.

Several characteristics linked the Tunica to groups encountered by de Soto: their emphasis on agriculture; cultivation by men rather than women (as de Soto noted when describing Quizquiz); trade; and manufacture and distribution of salt, a valuable item to both native and Europeans.<ref name=ONTRAILQUIZ/> The trade in salt was an ancient profession amongst the Tunica, as evidenced by de Soto's noting salt production when visiting the village of Tanico. Salt was extremely important in the trade between the French and the various [[Caddoan Mississippian culture|Caddoan groups]] in northwestern Louisiana and southwestern Arkansas. Scholars believe the Tunica were middlemen in the movement of salt from the Caddoan areas to the French.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.crt.state.la.us/archaeology/salt/hist.htm|title=The Role of Salt in Eastern North American Prehistory|accessed=2010-02-13}}</ref>

===Angola 1706-1731===
[[File:Tunica chief Du Batz 1732.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Brides les Boefs, holding a staff with 3 [[Natchez people|Natchez]] scalps, and the son and wife of the slain chief Cahura-Joligo, 1732]]
By the early 1700s [[Chickasaw]] raided the tribes along the lower Mississippi River to capture people for the English slave trade in [[Province of Carolina|South Carolina]]. They took an estimated 1,000 to 2,000 captives from the Tunica, Taensa, and Quapaw tribes during this period.<ref name=GALLAY>{{Cite book|author=Gallay, Alan|title=The Indian Slave Trade: The Rise of the English Empire in the American South 1670-1717|publisher=[[Yale University Press]]|location=New York|year=2002}}</ref>

By 1706 the Tunica had again decided to move. With their enemies the [[Natchez people|Natchez]] to their immediate south, they decided to move even further, down to the Mississippi side of the Mississippi and [[Red River (Mississippi River)|Red River]] [[confluence]], the next major river junction. This move allowed them to keep control of their salt trade, as the Red River also connected to their salt source in the [[Caddo]]an areas.<ref name=ANGOLAFARM>{{Cite web|url=http://www.crt.state.la.us/archaeology/TUNICA/angola.htm|title=ON THE TUNICA TRAIL|accessed=2010-02-14}}</ref> They established a loose collection of hamlets and villages at their new home in present-day [[Angola, Louisiana]] (the later site of the Louisiana State Penitentiary). In 1976 an inmate of Angola discovered the remains of a small hamlet at this site. The archeological site is now known as the [[Bloodhound Site]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.crt.state.la.us/hp/nhl/parish63/scans/63002001.pdf|title=The Bloodhound Archaeological Site|accessed=2010-02-13}}</ref>

During the 1710s and 1720s, war broke out four times between the French and the Natchez. The French called these the First Natchez War (1716), the Second Natchez War (1722), the Third Natchez War (1723), and the Natchez Rebellion of 1729. The last was the most widespread war; the Natchez attacked and killed many of the French in Natchez territory; in retaliation, the French gained the Choctaw as allies, eventually defeating the Natchez people. Of those who survived, thousands were sold into slavery.

In November of 1729 the French commander Sieur de Chépart ordered the Natchez to vacate one of their villages so that he could use its land for a new [[tobacco]] [[plantation]]. The chiefs of the village sent emissaries to potential allies, including the Yazoo, Koroa, [[Illiniwek|Illinois]], [[Chickasaw]], and Choctaw. They also sent messages to the African slaves of nearby French plantations, inviting them to join the Natchez in rising up against the French.<ref name=DUVAL>{{cite book |last= DuVal |first= Kathleen |editor= Gregory A. Waselkov (ed.) |title= Powhatan's Mantle: Indians in the Colonial Southeast, Revised and Expanded Edition |year= 2006 |publisher=[[University of Nebraska Press]] |isbn= 0803298617 |chapter= Interconnectedness and Diversity in French Louisiana|chapterurl=http://www.uga.edu/colonialseminar/DuVal.pdf}}</ref> In November 1729, the Natchez attacked. Before the day was over, the entire French colony at Natchez was wiped out, including [[Fort Rosalie]]. Over 200 colonists, mostly French men, were killed and over 300 women, children, and slaves were taken captive.<ref name=LAWSON>{{Cite web|author=Charles F. Lawson|url=http://etd.lib.fsu.edu/theses/available/etd-04012004-071415/unrestricted/LawsonThesis.pdf |title =Archaeological Examination of Electromagnetic Features: An Example from the French Dwelling Site, a Late Eighteenth Century Plantation Site in Natchez, Adams County, Mississippi]|accessed=2007-8-21}}</ref> War continued until January of 1731, when the French captured a Natchez fort on the west side of the Mississippi River. Between 75 and 250 Natchez warriors escaped and found refuge among the Chickasaw. The young Great Sun and about 100 of his followers were captured, subsequently enslaved, and shipped to work French plantations in the [[Caribbean]].<ref name=LORENZ>{{cite book |last= Lorenz |first= Karl G. |editor= Bonnie G. McEwan (ed.) |title= Indians of the Greater Southeast: Historical Archaeology and Ethnohistory |year= 2000 |publisher= University Press of Florida |isbn= 0-8130-1778-5 |chapter= The Natchez of Southwest Mississippi}}</ref>
The Natchez Rebellion expanded into a larger regional conflict with many repercussions. The Yazoo and Koroa Indians allied with the Natchez and suffered their fate. The Tunica were initially reluctant to fight on either side.<ref name=DUVAL/> In June of 1730 the Head Chief of the Tunica, ''Cahura-Joligo'', agreed to let a small party of Natchez refugees settle near his village, with the provision that they should do so unarmed. He received thirty Natchez warriors into his village, after disarming them.

A few days later, the last chief of the Natchez arrived at the Tunica village with a hundred men, and an unknown number of women and children. They also concealed Chickasaw and Koroa in the canebrake around the village. ''Cahura-Joligo'' informed them that he could not receive them unless they gave up their arms. They replied that this was their intention, but asked if they could keep them awhile longer so their women didn't get the impression that their unarmed men were prisoners. He consented to their request and proceeded to distribute food to his new guests. A celebratory dance was held till after midnight, when the Tunica retired to their cabins, thinking that the Natchez would do the same. The Natchez, Chicasaw and Koroa, attacked their hosts in their cabins, and killed all they managed to surprise while asleep. ''Cahura-Joligo'' killed four Natchez during the fighting, but was eventually killed along with twelve of his warriors. His war-chief ''Brides les Boeufs'' (Buffalo Tamer), with a dozen of his warriors, repulsed the attack and retook the Head Chief's cabin. He rallied his remaining warriors, and after fighting for five days and nights without interruption, regained control of the village. Twenty Tunica were killed and as many wounded in the fighting. They had also managed to kill thirty-three of the Natchez warriors and take three prisoners, who were later burned in punishment for the attack.<ref name=ANGOLAFARM/>

===Trudeau Landing 1731-1764===
[[File:DumontMemoiresLouisianeMap.jpg|thumb|right|200px|"Carte de Louisiane" of [[Dumont de Montigny]] (1753). Shows the 1736 location of the Tunica]]
After the attack and plundering of their village at Angola, in 1731 the Tunica moved a few miles away to the [[Trudeau Landing|Trudeau]] site in [[West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana|West Feliciana Parish]]. The Tunica continued to prosper, practicing their vocation as traders and middlemen. They expanded on a relatively new business as horse traders. For at least a decade, the French had became dependent on the Tunica for supplying the valuable animals.

{{cquote|''The chief received us very politely; he was dressed in the French fashion, and seemed to be not at all uneasy in that habit. Of all the savages of Canada (New France) there is none so depended on by our commandants as this 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 of us to hoard up money, and he reckoned very rich.''|20px|20px|-''Father Charlevoix describing a meeting with Cahura-Joligo in 1721'' <ref>{{Cite book|year=1911|title=Indian Tribes of the Lower Mississippi Valley and Adjacent Coast of the Gulf of Mexico|author=[[John Swanton]]|publisher=[[Smithsonian Institution]]|location=Washington D.C.}}</ref>}}

Because of the expense of shipping horses from France, the French found it cheaper to buy them from the Tunica. They acquired the horses through a native [[Trade route|trade network]] which had its origin in the [[Spanish Empire|Spanish]] colony of [[Viceroyalty of New Spain|Mexico]].<ref name=ANGOLAFARM/> The Tunica stayed at this location into the 1760s, when the [[Louisiana (New France)|French]] [[Treaty of Fontainebleau (1762)|ceded]] control to the [[Louisiana (New Spain)|Spanish]] following the French defeat by the English in the [[Seven Years' War]].<ref>The [[Treaty of Paris (1763)|Treaty of Paris]] in {{cite book|last=Corbett| first=Julian|authorlink=Julian Corbett|title=England in the Seven Years' War: A Study in Combined Strategy Vol. II.|edition=Second Edition|year=1918|month=|publisher=Longman, Green and Co.|location=London|pages=|chapter=}}</ref>

Proof of the tribe's prosperity during these years was revealed in the 1960s when the Trudeau site was discovered and excavated. Large amounts of European trade goods, including beads, porcelain, muskets, kettles and other items, as well as locally produced pottery in the Tunica tribal style were buried as [[grave goods]] at the site. What has been called the "Trudeau Treasure" was the greatest amount of European trade goods found at a Native American site of this period.

===Pointe Coupee 1764 to the early 1790s===
[[File:Choctaw Village by Francois Bernard.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Choctaw village in Louisiana similar to Tunica villages of the time]]
In 1764, the Tunica moved fifteen miles south of the Trudeau Landing site to just outside the French settlement at ''Pointe Coupée''.<ref name=BRAINTUNICA/> (Due to shifting of the Mississippi River, the area has eroded and the settlement was lost.) Other Native tribes had also settled in the area, including the [[Offagoula]], [[Pascagoula]] and the Siouan-speaking [[Biloxi tribe|Biloxi]]. The latter came to have a long-term relationship with the Tunica. (After years of intermarriage, in the 20th century the tribes gained federal recognition as the [[Tunica-Biloxi Nation of Louisiana]].)

The Tunica began to rely more on hunting for their sustenance than farming, and often worked for Europeans as hunters or guides. During the late 18th century, numerous Anglo-American settlers entered the region. The Tunica had become acculturated to European ways, although they still tattooed themselves and practiced some of their native religious customs. Their Head Chief during these years was ''Lattanash'', with the elder ''Brides les Boefs'' continuing as the War Chief.{{Citation needed|date=May 2010}} The [[Ofo]], ''Perruquier'', was the spokesman for his tribe. By this time, they had been assimilated into the Tunica.{{Citation needed|date=May 2010}} With the British in charge of the [[British West Florida|Western Florida colony]] and the Spanish in control of Louisiana, it was a volatile time politically for the area.

Both groups vied for the allegiance of the Tunica, with the Spanish usually winning. In 1779 [[Bernardo de Gálvez y Madrid, Count of Gálvez|Governor Galvez]] led a force that included Tunica and other tribes to take the British-held town of [[Baton Rouge]]. It is the last recorded military campaign in which the Tunica are documented.<ref name=BRAINTUNICA/>

By sometime in the late 1780s or 1790s, the Tunica had decided to move again, probably because of the large influx of Anglo-Americans.<ref name=ANGOLAFARM/> They moved west to a site on the Red River named Avoyelles, where they were subsequently granted land by the Spanish. Other tribes also settled in the area such as the [[Ofo]], Biloxi, and [[Avoyel]]. In 1794 an [[Italians|Italian]] [[immigrant]] named Marco Litche (anglicized as Marc Eliche) established a [[trading post]] in the area.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.citytowninfo.com/places/louisiana/marksville|title=Marksville, Louisiana Facts|accessed=2010-02-15}}</ref>. The settlement he founded became known as [[Marksville, Louisiana|Marksville]]. It was noted on Louisiana maps as of 1809.<ref>{{Cite web| url = http://www.marksvillechamberofcommerce.com/html/about_marksville.html | title=About Marksville|accessed=2101-02-15}}</ref>

===Marksville to the present===
[[File:Louisiana Indians Walking Along a Bayou.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Native Americans in Louisiana in the 1840s]]
When the Tunica settled at what became Marksville, the Red River was still an important avenue of trade. By the late 19th century, [[railroads]] surpassed the rivers as the main means of transportation and the Marksville area became a quiet backwater. Many small and peaceful tribes such as the Tunica were forgotten as other more bellicose tribes in the west took the attention of the [[United States#Independence and expansion|United States]]. The only U.S. Government mention of the Tunica from 1803 to 1938 was made in 1806 by an Indian Commissioner for Louisiana who remarked that the Tunica numbered only about 25 men, lived in [[Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana|Avoyelles,Parish]] and made their livings by occasionally hiring out as boatmen.<ref name=BRAINTUNICA/> Documents from the early 1800s record a second village on [[Bayou Rouge]] in these early years in Avoyelles Parish, with its own Chief.<ref name= BRAINTUNICA/> Some Tunica moved west to [[Texas]] and [[Oklahoma]], where they were absorbed by other Native groups.<ref name=TUNICATRAILMARKSVILLE/>

Although the Tunica were prosperous at this time, eventually problems with their white neighbors would take its toll. The [[Indian Removal Act of 1830]], signed by President [[Andrew Jackson]], forced all of the major tribers east of the Mississippi River to be removed from their lands and relocated to reservations west of the river. This resulted in the infamous [[Trail of Tears]] for many of the tribes. Although the Tunica were not removed to Indian Territory, it was a sign of the political and social times for all Native Americans. In 1841 the Tunica chief ''Melancon'' attempted to pull up fence posts fraudulently erected on Tunica land in an attempt to steal tribal land. The man, a local leader of the "Indian Patrol", shot ''Chief Melancon'' in the head in full view of other tribesmen. He was not prosecuted by local authorities and succeeded in stealing the land from the Tunica.<ref name=BRAINTUNICA/>

After the Chief's death, the tribe kept the office a close tribal secret for many years to avoid notice by unscrupulous neighbors. The Tunica became subsistence farmers, with some hunting and fishing to support themselves. Others turned to [[sharecropping]] on their white neighbors' land. No longer prosperous, they managed to eke out a living through the nineteenth century. In the 1870s their Chief, ''Volsin Chiki'' helped reunite the tribe and restore some of their pride by re-establishing ancient tribal ceremonies, such as the [[Green Corn Ceremony|Corn Feast]].<ref name=BRAINTUNICA/>

As the twentieth century dawned, the Tunica continued. They had managed to retain possession of the majority of their land, because it was held and worked in common by the whole tribe. Some still spoke the Tunica language, and their reinvigorated tribal ceremonies were still being practiced. Gradually the Tunica merged with other local groups (the Ofo, [[Avoyel]], and Biloxi), as well as intermarrying with European and African American neighbors.

When they tried to gain federal recognition as a tribe in 1938, they were denied on the grounds of being so racially mixed as not to be considered the descendants of a historical Native American tribe. They finally achieved federal recognition in 1981.<ref name=BRAINTUNICA/> Although they have adapted Euro-American lifeways, and no longer speak their original language, they have preserved much of their ethnic identity. They have always maintained their tribal government and the Chieftainship existed up to the mid 1970s.<ref name=TUNICATRAILMARKSVILLE>{{Cite web|url=http://www.crt.state.la.us/archaeology/TUNICA/mark.htm|title=On the Tunica Trail-Marksville|accessed=2010-02-15}}</ref>

==Modern tribe==
{{Main|Tunica-Biloxi}}
The modern Tunica-Biloxi tribe live in [[Mississippi]] and east central [[Louisiana]]. The modern tribe is composed of Tunica, [[Biloxi tribe|Biloxi]] (a [[Siouan]] speaking people from the Gulf coast), [[Ofo]] (also a Siouan people), [[Avoyel]] ( a [[Natchez people|Natchezan]] people), Mississippi [[Choctaw]],<ref name=BRAINTUNICA/> European and African ancestry. Many live on the '''Tunica-Biloxi Indian Reservation''' in central [[Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana|Avoyelles Parish]], just south of the city of [[Marksville, Louisiana]], with a part of the city actually extending onto reservation land. The [[Indian reservation|reservation]] has a land area of 1.682&nbsp;km² (0.6495 sq mi, or 415.68 [[acre]]s). Currently, they operate Louisiana's first land based casino, [[Paragon Casino Resort]], opened in Marksville in June 1994.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.paragoncasinoresort.com/site66.php|title=Paragon Casino and Resort-the Tunica Biloxi Tribe|accessed=2010-02-13}}</ref> The casino is known for its contributions back to its members and fighting for Native American Rights. The [[United States Census, 2000|2000 census]] lists 648 persons identified as Tunica.<ref name=2000CENSUS>{{Cite web|url=http://www.census.gov/population/cen2000/phc-t18/tab001.pdf|title=Census 2000 PHC-T-18. American Indian and Alaska Native Tribes in the United States: 2000|accessed=2010-02-11}}</ref>
Tribal government currently consists of an elected tribal council and tribal chairman. They maintain their own police force, health services, education department, housing authority, and court system. The tribal chairman since 1978 has been Earl J. Barbry, Sr.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.tunicabiloxi.org/index.php#|title=Tunica Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana|accessed=2010-02-13}}</ref>

===Tunica Treasure===
In the 1960s a treasure hunter named Leonard Charrier began searching for artifacts at the [[Trudeau Landing]] site in [[West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana]]. The Tunica, who felt he had stolen tribal heirlooms and desecrated the graves of their ancestors, were outraged. In 1970s the site was excavated by archaeologists, who uncovered pottery, European trade goods and other [[artifact (archaeology)|artifact]]s deposited as grave goods by the Tunica from 1731 to 1764, when they occupied the site.

With help from the State of Louisiana, the tribe filed a lawsuit for the title to the artifacts, which has become known as the "Tunica Treasure". It took a decade to be worked through the courts, but the ruling became a landmark in American Indian history. It helped to lay the groundwork for new federal legislation, the [[Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act]], passed in 1990.<ref name=ONTUNICATRAIL>{{Cite web|url= http://www.crt.state.la.us/archaeology/TUNICA/today.htm| title=On the Tunica Trail-Tunica Biloxi Today|accessed-2010-02-10}}</ref> Because the artifacts had been separated from the original burials, the tribe decided to build a museum to house them. Members of the tribe were trained as [[Conservation-restoration|conservators]] to repair damage by the centuries underground and handling during the ten-year court battle.

The Tunica had the museum designed in the shape of the ancient [[platform mounds]] of their people. The earthen structure took the symbolic place of the original burial underground. It was opened in 1991 as '''The Tunica-Biloxi Regional Indian Center and Museum'''.<ref name=TRIBALMUSEUM>{{Cite web|url=http://www.tunicabiloxi.org/museum.php?PHPSESSID=fbf7a7153d8a0f75e173cd7f5521d36f|title=Tunica Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana-Tribal Museum and Cultural Resource Center|accessed=2010-02-13}}</ref> Due to structural problems, it was closed in 1999, with plans for a new larger facility underway.

===Federal recognition===
Formal efforts to be recognized by the federal government were begun in the 1940s under Chief Eli Barbry, who led a group to [[Washington, D.C.]]<ref name= ONTUNICATRAIL/> Federal recognition would have entitled the tribe to benefit from social programs under the [[Indian Reorganization Act of 1934]]. A succession of chiefs, including Chief Horace Pierite Sr, would work at the task. The Tunica treasure was considered part of the proof of the historical tribe. They were recognized by the United States government in 1981 as the '''Tunica Biloxi Indians of Louisiana'''.<ref name=BRAINTUNICA>{{Cite book|title=The Tunica-Biloxi|author=[[Jeffrey P. Brain]]|publisher=Chelsea House Publishers|year=1990|isbn=1-5546-731-8|page=93}}</ref>

==Tunica language==
==Tunica language==
{{Main|Tunica language}}
{{Main|Tunica language}}
[[Image:Tunica lang.png|thumb|200px|Tunica language]]
[[Image:Tunica lang.png|thumb|200px|Tunica language]]
The Tunica (or '''Tonica''', or less common form '''Yuron'''<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.itsmarc.com/crs/lang0152.htm#tunica|title=Language names:T|accessed=2010-02-15}}</ref>) language is a [[language isolate]]. When the last known fluent speaker, [[Sesostrie Youchigant]], died, the language became extinct. Linguist [[Mary Haas]] worked with Youchigant to describe what he remembered of the language, and the description was published in ''A Grammar of the Tunica Language'' in 1941, followed by ''Tunica Texts'' in 1950 and ''Tunica Dictionary'' in 1953. The Tunica tribe lived close to the [[Ofo]] and [[Avoyel|Avoyeles tribe]]s, but communication between the three was only possible through the use of the [[Mobilian Jargon]] or [[French language|French]].<ref>[[Mary Haas|Haas, Mary R.]] ''Tunica''. New York: J.J. Augustin Publisher, 1940.</ref> Most modern Tunica speak [[English language|English]], with a few older members speaking [[French language|French]] as a first language.
The Tunica (or '''Tonica''', or less common form '''Yuron'''<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.itsmarc.com/crs/lang0152.htm#tunica|title=Language names:T|accessed=2010-02-15}}</ref>) language is a [[language isolate]]. When the last known fluent speaker, [[Sesostrie Youchigant]], died, the language became extinct. Linguist [[Mary Haas]] worked with Youchigant to describe what he remembered of the language. The description was published in ''A Grammar of the Tunica Language'' in 1941, followed by ''Tunica Texts'' in 1950 and ''Tunica Dictionary'' in 1953. The Tunica tribe lived close to the [[Ofo]] and [[Avoyel|Avoyeles tribe]]s, but communication between the three was only possible through the use of the [[Mobilian Jargon]] or [[French language|French]].<ref>[[Mary Haas|Haas, Mary R.]] ''Tunica''. New York: J.J. Augustin Publisher, 1940.</ref> Most modern Tunica speak [[English language|English]], with a few older members speaking [[French language|French]] as a first language.

==See also==
* [[List of sites and peoples visited by the Hernando de Soto Expedition]]
* [[Biloxi tribe]]
* [[Biloxi language]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}
*[http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/DTTable?_bm=y&-context=dt&-ds_name=DEC_2000_SF1_U&-CHECK_SEARCH_RESULTS=N&-CONTEXT=dt&-mt_name=DEC_2000_SF1_U_P001&-tree_id=4001&-all_geo_types=Y&-redoLog=false&-transpose=N&-_caller=geoselect&-geo_id=25000US4315&-search_results=27300US4315220099572599999&-format=&-_lang=en&-show_geoid=Y Tunica-Biloxi Reservation, Louisiana] United States Census Bureau

==External links==
{{Commons category|Tunica tribe}}
*[http://www.tunicabiloxi.org/tribal_history.php?PHPSESSID=1ef4b2c007154f00763bcb4a9883c8aa Tunica-Biloxi History]
*[http://www.tunica.org/ The Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana]
*{{CathEncy|wstitle=Tonica Indians}}

{{Mississippian and related cultures}}
{{Pre-Columbian North America}}

[[Category:Middle Mississippian culture]]
[[Category:Native American history]]
[[Category:Native American tribes in Louisiana]]
[[Category:Native American tribes in Mississippi]]
[[Category:Federally recognized tribes in the United States]]

[[ca:Biloxi]]
[[de:Biloxi (Volk)]]
[[es:Biloxi]]
[[hr:Biloxi Indijanci]]
[[ru:Туника-билокси]]

Revision as of 22:44, 26 August 2010

Tunica language

Main article: Tunica language
Tunica language

The Tunica (or Tonica, or less common form Yuron[1]) language is a language isolate. When the last known fluent speaker, Sesostrie Youchigant, died, the language became extinct. Linguist Mary Haas worked with Youchigant to describe what he remembered of the language. The description was published in A Grammar of the Tunica Language in 1941, followed by Tunica Texts in 1950 and Tunica Dictionary in 1953. The Tunica tribe lived close to the Ofo and Avoyeles tribes, but communication between the three was only possible through the use of the Mobilian Jargon or French.[2] Most modern Tunica speak English, with a few older members speaking French as a first language.

  1. ^ "Language names:T". {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessed= ignored (help)
  2. ^ Haas, Mary R. Tunica. New York: J.J. Augustin Publisher, 1940.
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