Taensa
Encyclopedia
The Taensa were a people of northeastern Louisiana
. They lived on Lake Saint Joseph west of the Mississippi River
, between the Yazoo River
and Saint Catherine Creek. Their settlements were in present-day Tensas Parish, Louisiana
, as reported by Nicolas de la Salle
in 1682. They numbered perhaps 1200 people in several villages.
The meaning of the name is unknown, although it is believed to be an autonym. The Chitimacha
called them Chō´sha.
The Taensa are not to be confused with the Avoyel
, also known in French as petits Taensas (English: Little Taensa) who were closer to the Tunica people
and lived in present-day Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana
(mentioned by Iberville
in 1699).
is considered ancestral to the Natchez
and Taensa Peoples.
missionaries around the year 1700, who settled among the Taensa, Tunica people
, and Natchez
. In 1699, the Taensa had seven villages. They lived along the Mississippi River
south of the Tunica, near the Yazoo River
.
In 1706, they were forced southward by the Yazoo
and Chickasaw
slave raids, after which they were among the Bayogoula. Soon after, the Taensa attacked and burned down the Bayogoula village. Later they fought with the Houma
.
They settled on the Tensaw River
(an eastern branch of the Mobile River
named after them) north of Mobile Bay
in 1715. In 1764, they were settled with the Apalachee
and Pakana west of the Mississippi. Ultimately they merged with the Chitimacha
, Atakapa
, and Alabama
on the Red River
and Bayou Boeuf.
The missionaries noted the complex religion of the Taensa. The tribe had retained chiefdom
characteristics after they had disappeared elsewhere.
Their society had similarity to the Natchez people
in its practice of sacrificial rites and hierarchical social classes. Their chief deities seem to have been the Sun and the Serpent. Their dome-shaped temple was surmounted by the figures of three eagles facing the rising sun, the outer walls and the roof being of cane mats painted entirely red. The whole was surrounded with a palisade
of stakes, on each of which was set a human skull, the remains of a former sacrifice. Inside was an altar, with a rope of human scalp locks, and a perpetual fire guarded day and night by two old priests. When a chief died, his wives and personal attendants were killed so that their spirits might accompany him to the other world. At one chief's funeral, thirteen victims were sacrificed. When a Catholic priest stopped one of these ceremonies, the temple was struck by lightning. The Taensa took this as evidence that their beliefs were valid. The lightning encouraged women to volunteer to be sacrificed.
In 1700, the French missionary Montigny recorded that many Taensa died of illness, probably an epidemic of smallpox
. The Taensa, along with other Indians of the lower Mississippi River, were subjected to slave raids by the Chickasaw
, for sale in the British slave trade via South Carolina
. The Natchez and Yazoo often allied with the Chickasaw in attacking smaller tribes such as the Taensa and Tunica. During the Natchez War of 1729, the Taensa and Tunica were forced to migrate south into present-day Louisiana
.
Their initial relations with the French were friendly, but the rivalry of European powers strained Indians throughout the region. The Taensa later moved to southwest Louisiana due to fighting with the Chickasaw and Yazoo tribe. Early in the nineteenth century, they petitioned the Spanish to allow them to enter Texas
, but did not migrate. This was the last appearance of the tribe in historical records.
. Both missionaries were learning the Natchez language. The widespread use of Mobilian jargon
as a lingua franca
throughout the area has led to the unsupported assumption (e.g. by Gatschet) that the Taensa (and other many other peoples of the lower Mississippi and Gulf Coast) spoke a Muskogean language.
In 1881 Jean Parisot, a French seminary student in Plombières, Frances, published a grammatical sketch, vocabulary and texts (including songs) of what he claimed to be the Taensa language. This produced an excitement and extensive debate among linguists. However, in 1908 and 1910 John R. Swanton
exposed the language as a hoax. The hoax inspired debate in philology
circles.
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
. They lived on Lake Saint Joseph west of the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
, between the Yazoo River
Yazoo River
The Yazoo River is a river in the U.S. state of Mississippi.The Yazoo River was named by French explorer La Salle in 1682 as "Rivière des Yazous" in reference to the Yazoo tribe living near the river's mouth. The exact meaning of the term is unclear...
and Saint Catherine Creek. Their settlements were in present-day Tensas Parish, Louisiana
Tensas Parish, Louisiana
Tensas Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The seat of the parish is St. Joseph. In 2010, the population of Tensas Parish was 5,252; it is the least-populous of all sixty-four parishes....
, as reported by Nicolas de la Salle
Nicolas de la Salle
Nicolas de la Salle was the first commissary appointed by the French king in the colony of Louisiana. He was the adversary of Bienville and eventually responsible for his removal from the office of governor....
in 1682. They numbered perhaps 1200 people in several villages.
The meaning of the name is unknown, although it is believed to be an autonym. The Chitimacha
Chitimacha
The Chitimacha are a Native American federally recognized tribe that lives in the U.S. state of Louisiana, mainly in St. Mary Parish. They currently number about 720 people. The Chitimacha language is a language isolate.- History :The Chitimacha's historic home was the southern Louisiana coast...
called them Chō´sha.
The Taensa are not to be confused with the Avoyel
Avoyel
The Avoyel or Avoyelles was a small Natchez-speaking tribe who inhabited land near the mouth of the Red River in the area of present-day Marksville, Louisiana. The indigenous name for this tribe is Tamoucougoula. The word Avoyel is of French derivation and means either "Flint People" or "the...
, also known in French as petits Taensas (English: Little Taensa) who were closer to the Tunica people
Tunica people
The Tunica people were a group of linguistically and culturally related Native American tribes in the Mississippi River Valley, which include the Tunica ; the Yazoo; the Koroa ; and possibly the Tioux...
and lived in present-day Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
(mentioned by Iberville
Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville
Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville pronounced as described in note] Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville pronounced as described in note] Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville pronounced as described in note] (16 July 1661 – 9 July 1702 (probable)was a soldier, ship captain, explorer, colonial administrator, knight of...
in 1699).
Prehistory
The Plaquemine culturePlaquemine culture
The Plaquemine culture was an archaeological culture in the lower Mississippi River Valley in western Mississippi and eastern Louisiana. Good examples of this culture are the Medora Site in West Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana, and the Anna, Emerald Mound, Winterville and Holly Bluff sites located...
is considered ancestral to the Natchez
Natchez people
The Natchez are a Native American people who originally lived in the Natchez Bluffs area, near the present-day city of Natchez, Mississippi. They spoke a language isolate that has no known close relatives, although it may be very distantly related to the Muskogean languages of the Creek...
and Taensa Peoples.
European contact
The Taensa were visited by French CatholicCatholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
missionaries around the year 1700, who settled among the Taensa, Tunica people
Tunica people
The Tunica people were a group of linguistically and culturally related Native American tribes in the Mississippi River Valley, which include the Tunica ; the Yazoo; the Koroa ; and possibly the Tioux...
, and Natchez
Natchez people
The Natchez are a Native American people who originally lived in the Natchez Bluffs area, near the present-day city of Natchez, Mississippi. They spoke a language isolate that has no known close relatives, although it may be very distantly related to the Muskogean languages of the Creek...
. In 1699, the Taensa had seven villages. They lived along the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
south of the Tunica, near the Yazoo River
Yazoo River
The Yazoo River is a river in the U.S. state of Mississippi.The Yazoo River was named by French explorer La Salle in 1682 as "Rivière des Yazous" in reference to the Yazoo tribe living near the river's mouth. The exact meaning of the term is unclear...
.
In 1706, they were forced southward by the Yazoo
Yazoo tribe
The Yazoo were a tribe of the Native American Tunica people historically located on the lower course of Yazoo River, Mississippi. It was closely connected to other Tunica peoples, especially the Tunica, Koroa, and possibly the Tioux....
and Chickasaw
Chickasaw
The Chickasaw are Native American people originally from the region that would become the Southeastern United States...
slave raids, after which they were among the Bayogoula. Soon after, the Taensa attacked and burned down the Bayogoula village. Later they fought with the Houma
Houma
Houma can refer to:*Houma, Louisiana, city in the United States*Houma, Shanxi, city in China*Houma Tribe, a Native American group*Houma, a proper name*Houma, meaning cape, the name of some capes in Tonga and villages near them such as:...
.
They settled on the Tensaw River
Tensaw River
The Tensaw River is a distributary of the Mobile River, approximately 36 mi long, in southern Alabama in the United States. It is formed as a bayou of the Mobile approximately 6 mi south of the formation of the Mobile by the confluence of the Tombigbee and Alabama rivers...
(an eastern branch of the Mobile River
Mobile River
The Mobile River is located in southern Alabama in the United States. Formed out of the confluence of the Tombigbee and Alabama rivers, the approximately river drains an area of of Alabama, with a watershed extending into Mississippi, Georgia, and Tennessee. Its drainage basin is the...
named after them) north of Mobile Bay
Mobile Bay
Mobile Bay is an inlet of the Gulf of Mexico, lying within the state of Alabama in the United States. Its mouth is formed by the Fort Morgan Peninsula on the eastern side and Dauphin Island, a barrier island on the western side. The Mobile River and Tensaw River empty into the northern end of the...
in 1715. In 1764, they were settled with the Apalachee
Apalachee
The Apalachee are a Native American people who historically lived in the Florida Panhandle, and now live primarily in the U.S. state of Louisiana. Their historical territory was known to the Spanish colonists as the Apalachee Province...
and Pakana west of the Mississippi. Ultimately they merged with the Chitimacha
Chitimacha
The Chitimacha are a Native American federally recognized tribe that lives in the U.S. state of Louisiana, mainly in St. Mary Parish. They currently number about 720 people. The Chitimacha language is a language isolate.- History :The Chitimacha's historic home was the southern Louisiana coast...
, Atakapa
Atakapa
The Atakapan people are a Southeastern culture of Native American tribes who spoke Atakapa and historically lived along the Gulf of Mexico. They called themselves the Ishak, pronounced "ee-SHAK", which translates as "The People". Although the people were decimated by infectious disease after...
, and Alabama
Alabama (people)
The Alabama or Alibamu are a Southeastern culture people of Native Americans, originally from Mississippi...
on the Red River
Red River (Mississippi watershed)
The Red River, or sometimes the Red River of the South, is a major tributary of the Mississippi and Atchafalaya Rivers in the southern United States of America. The river gains its name from the red-bed country of its watershed. It is one of several rivers with that name...
and Bayou Boeuf.
Culture
The Taensa were an agricultural and canoeing people who lived in large houses described as having walls of earth. It is more probable that these were made of logs plastered with clay, and roofed with mats of woven cane splits. Their chiefs had absolute power and were treated with great respect. This varied greatly from the custom among the northern tribes. Reportedly during a ceremonial visit to La Salle, the chief was accompanied by attendants who, with their hands, swept the road in front of him as he advanced.The missionaries noted the complex religion of the Taensa. The tribe had retained chiefdom
Chiefdom
A chiefdom is a political economy that organizes regional populations through a hierarchy of the chief.In anthropological theory, one model of human social development rooted in ideas of cultural evolution describes a chiefdom as a form of social organization more complex than a tribe or a band...
characteristics after they had disappeared elsewhere.
Their society had similarity to the Natchez people
Natchez people
The Natchez are a Native American people who originally lived in the Natchez Bluffs area, near the present-day city of Natchez, Mississippi. They spoke a language isolate that has no known close relatives, although it may be very distantly related to the Muskogean languages of the Creek...
in its practice of sacrificial rites and hierarchical social classes. Their chief deities seem to have been the Sun and the Serpent. Their dome-shaped temple was surmounted by the figures of three eagles facing the rising sun, the outer walls and the roof being of cane mats painted entirely red. The whole was surrounded with a palisade
Palisade
A palisade is a steel or wooden fence or wall of variable height, usually used as a defensive structure.- Typical construction :Typical construction consisted of small or mid sized tree trunks aligned vertically, with no spacing in between. The trunks were sharpened or pointed at the top, and were...
of stakes, on each of which was set a human skull, the remains of a former sacrifice. Inside was an altar, with a rope of human scalp locks, and a perpetual fire guarded day and night by two old priests. When a chief died, his wives and personal attendants were killed so that their spirits might accompany him to the other world. At one chief's funeral, thirteen victims were sacrificed. When a Catholic priest stopped one of these ceremonies, the temple was struck by lightning. The Taensa took this as evidence that their beliefs were valid. The lightning encouraged women to volunteer to be sacrificed.
In 1700, the French missionary Montigny recorded that many Taensa died of illness, probably an epidemic of smallpox
Smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning "spotted", or varus, meaning "pimple"...
. The Taensa, along with other Indians of the lower Mississippi River, were subjected to slave raids by the Chickasaw
Chickasaw
The Chickasaw are Native American people originally from the region that would become the Southeastern United States...
, for sale in the British slave trade via South Carolina
Province of Carolina
The Province of Carolina, originally chartered in 1629, was an English and later British colony of North America. Because the original Heath charter was unrealized and was ruled invalid, a new charter was issued to a group of eight English noblemen, the Lords Proprietors, in 1663...
. The Natchez and Yazoo often allied with the Chickasaw in attacking smaller tribes such as the Taensa and Tunica. During the Natchez War of 1729, the Taensa and Tunica were forced to migrate south into present-day Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
.
Their initial relations with the French were friendly, but the rivalry of European powers strained Indians throughout the region. The Taensa later moved to southwest Louisiana due to fighting with the Chickasaw and Yazoo tribe. Early in the nineteenth century, they petitioned the Spanish to allow them to enter Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, but did not migrate. This was the last appearance of the tribe in historical records.
Language and hoax
French missionaries, François Jolliet de Montigny and Jean-François Buisson de St. Cosme, stated that the Taensa spoke NatchezNatchez language
Natchez was a language of Louisiana. Its two last fluent speakers, Watt Sam and Nancy Raven, died in the late 1930s. The Natchez nation is now working to revive it as a spoken language.-Classification:...
. Both missionaries were learning the Natchez language. The widespread use of Mobilian jargon
Mobilian Jargon
Mobilian Jargon was a pidgin used as a lingua franca among Native American groups living along the Gulf of Mexico around the time of European settlement of the region...
as a lingua franca
Lingua franca
A lingua franca is a language systematically used to make communication possible between people not sharing a mother tongue, in particular when it is a third language, distinct from both mother tongues.-Characteristics:"Lingua franca" is a functionally defined term, independent of the linguistic...
throughout the area has led to the unsupported assumption (e.g. by Gatschet) that the Taensa (and other many other peoples of the lower Mississippi and Gulf Coast) spoke a Muskogean language.
In 1881 Jean Parisot, a French seminary student in Plombières, Frances, published a grammatical sketch, vocabulary and texts (including songs) of what he claimed to be the Taensa language. This produced an excitement and extensive debate among linguists. However, in 1908 and 1910 John R. Swanton
John R. Swanton
John Reed Swanton was an American anthropologist and linguist who worked with Native American peoples throughout the United States. Swanton achieved recognition in the fields of ethnology and ethnohistory...
exposed the language as a hoax. The hoax inspired debate in philology
Philology
Philology is the study of language in written historical sources; it is a combination of literary studies, history and linguistics.Classical philology is the philology of Greek and Classical Latin...
circles.
See also
- Tunica-BiloxiTunica-BiloxiThe modern Tunica-Biloxi tribe live in Mississippi and east central Louisiana. The modern tribe is composed of descendants of Tunica, Biloxi , Ofo , Avoyel , and Muskogean Choctaw. They speak mostly English and French...
- Tunica (language)
- History of the Tunica people
- Southeastern Ceremonial ComplexSoutheastern Ceremonial ComplexThe Southeastern Ceremonial Complex is the name given to the regional stylistic similarity of artifacts, iconography, ceremonies, and mythology of the Mississippian culture that coincided with their adoption of maize agriculture and chiefdom-level complex social organization from...
- platform moundPlatform moundA platform mound is any earthwork or mound intended to support a structure or activity.-Eastern North America:The indigenous peoples of North America built substructure mounds for well over a thousand years starting in the Archaic period and continuing through the Woodland period...
- Mound builder (people)