The Location of the Historic Natchez Villages, Revisited

Summary

In the 1720s the Natchez nation, as described in contemporary French accounts, consisted of at least six towns: Grand, Farine, Pomme, Tioux, Grigra, and Jenzenaque. Building on the work of Andrew Albrecht, Ian Brown, and James Barnett, and taking into account eighteenth-century manuscript maps that have recently come to light, I re-examine the evidence for the nature of these towns and where they were located on the modern landscape. Apparent inconsistencies between narrative accounts and maps are reconciled by showing that the French applied different names to the same towns. Thus, the names Farine and Carnard referred to the same community, as did Grand and Valeur. Contemporary maps indicate that the layout of the civic-ceremonial capital was more complex than previously assumed.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 21820