A Visit to Grand Village, 8/02/2018

The Grand Village of the Natchez People was a Native American community of farmers and hunters (deer, bear, bison, smaller game) from 700 AD to the 1720s. Initial contact with the French (1682) was friendly but began to deteriorate. By 1729 the Natchez attacked Fort Rosalie causing fierce retaliation by the French. The Natchez were forced to leave their homeland. 

First we checked out the Visitor Center where artifacts and information about the Natchez People can be found. Their calendar was based on 13 moons with a festival featuring seasonal fruit for each. 

Baskets, pottery, and a display about mound building provide insight into the lives of the Natchez. 

A large room is used for educational programs where more information is on display about Grand Village. My model enjoyed trying on some of the ceremonial masks. Ha!

The Natchez Nation was divided into lineages (kinship groups). Inheritance was through the female line with the highest-ranked lineage known as the Sun Family. The hereditary chief was called the Great Sun. Families were scattered across a broad area with only a few high-ranking individuals living in the Grand Village.

Walking trails at the 128-acre site lead you to two large, open plazas and three mounds. Below is the Great Sun’s Mound and the second is the Temple Mound. Both have been excavated and restored to their original size and shape. 

The home for the chief was situated atop the Great Sun’s Mound. When a Great Sun died, his/her home was burned and the mound was raised to a new height where a new house was built for the successor. 

Upon the death of the Great Sun, his/her spouses and servants were strangled during the burial ceremony to accompany him/her into the next life. French colonists witnessed the funeral rites for a female Natchez chief here in 1704; and, the burial ceremony of the Great Sun, known as Tattooed Serpent in 1725. There are very few eyewitness accounts of mound ceremonies. 

The temple on the Temple Mound was 60’ x 42’ with two rooms. Symbolic of the sun, a fire burned continuously in the temple’s inner sanctum. 

Below is a view of one of the two large ceremonial plazas at Grand Village. This is where the Natchez People from the surrounding area would gather for festivals and other social or religious activities. 

The Native House Exhibit has been removed to make way for a new one (not sure of the completion date). There has been one on display here since 1977. 

We have visited several other Native American mound villages (Missouri, Georgia, Mississippi) and found Grand Village of the Natchez to be very interesting. It’s a quick dog-friendly, self-guided tour with no fee. 

For additional information, go to www.natchezgrandvillage.com.