Strange Indian Customs (Natchez Indians and Fort Rosalie)

THE NATCHEZ INDIANS WERE A BLOOD-THIRSTY LOT.  THE TRIBE TRADED WITH THE FRENCH AT FORT ROSALIE, A FORT BUILT IN THE EARLY 1700'S AT THE SITE OF THE PRESENT DAY CITY OF NATCHEZ, MS.  BUT IN 1729 THE NATCHEZ INDIANS WENT INTO THE FORT AS THEY OFTEN DID TO TRADE WITH THE FRENCH SETTLERS.  THIS TIME HOWEVER, THEIR MISSION WAS NOT TO TRADE BUT TO KILL.  IT WAS A REAL MASSACRE WITH THE INDIANS KILLING ALMOST ALL THE FRENCH MEN AND PILING THEIR HEADS UP IN FRONT OF THE CHIEF AND AT THE SAME TIME MAKING ALL THE WOMEN THEIR CAPTIVES, THAT IS ALL EXCEPT THE PREGNANT ONES, WHO BELLIES THEY CUT OPEN AND AND THEIR BABIES REMOVED AND KILLED.  THE BLACK SLAVES AT THE FORT WERE ALSO MADE PRISONERS.  NEEDLESS TO SAY THIS ATTACK DID NOT GO UNANSWERED, FOR AS SOON AS WORD OF THE MASSACRE REACHED NEW ORLEANS AND EXPEDITION WAS FORMED AND TO MAKE A LONG STORY SHORT, THE NATCHEZ TRIBE CEASED TO EXIST.

 

HOWEVER WHAT INTEREST ME MOST ABOUT THE NATCHEZ TRIBE WAS SOME OF THEIR CUSTOMS.  FOR EXAMPLE, WHEN THE CHIEF DIED, ALL HIS WIVES WERE STRANGLED SO THEY COULD FOLLOW HIM IN THE AFTER LIFE.  ANOTHER CUSTOM THAT WAS SOMEWHAT UNIQUE WAS THAT WHEN THE OLD CHIEF DIED, IT WAS NOT HIS SON WHO BECAME CHIEF;  BUT RATHER THE OLDEST SON OF THE CHIEFS OLDEST SISTER.  YOU SEE ONE COULD NEVER BE SURE, THAT THE CHIEF'S SON WAS OF ROYAL BLOOD AS THE NATCHEZ WOMEN WERE SOMEWHAT LOOSE WITH THEIR AFFECTIONS.  BUT ONE COULD BE SURE THAT THE SISTER'S SON WAS OF ROYAL BLOOD AND THEREFORE SHOULD BECOME CHIEF.  I MUST SAY THAT WAS A BRILLIANT STROKE.  I WONDER IF THE EUROPEAN NOBILITY EVER THOUGHT OF THAT. 

 

OF COURSE, PRESENT DAY ACCOUNTS OF THE MASSACRE HAVE BEEN COLORED BY CONTEMPORARY POLITICAL CORRECTNESS.  THE ABOVE INFORMATION CAME FROM AN OLD BOOK I NO LONGER HAVE THAT WAS WRITTEN BY A FRENCHMAN WHO MANAGED TO ESCAPE FOR THAT DOOMED FORT AND FIND HIS WAS DOWN RIVER TO NEW ORLEANS.  HIS WAS AN EYE-WITNESS OF THE EVENTS ON THAT FATAL DAY.