Early European descriptions of the Natchez and Taensa Indians help us
understand their life, and give an idea of the way many of the late
prehistoric Indians throughout Louisiana lived. European travelers
reported that some Indians lived near the ceremonial centers that had
mounds surrounding a central plaza. The two most important buildings,
the temple and the chief’s house, were at the center.
The temple was on the summit of one of the mounds, or was in a prominent
place facing the plaza. It had thick wattle and daub walls and a
thatched roof with carved and painted wooden animal effigies on top.
Inside, a sacred fire was tended by several Indians, whose job it was to
keep the fire always burning. Bones of past chiefs, and servants who had
died with them, were stored in baskets or on a low clay altar. Also,
valued objects such as clay figurines, crystals, and carved wooden
objects were kept in the temple.
The temple faced a plaza that was the scene of community feasts and
rituals, as well as games, such as chunkey. In chunkey, opponents hurled
long poles after a rolling disc. The one whose pole landed closest to
the place where the disc stopped rolling won a point, or valued
possessions, if bets had been made.
The chief’s house, situated on top of a mound, overlooked the plaza
area. The chief used the house as his living quarters as well as a
reception area for visitors and subjects. The furnishings of the house
included wooden beds covered with matting, and perhaps a wooden stump
used as a stool. Reed or cane torches provided light. Servants waited on
the chief, always keeping a respectful distance, and quickly meeting all
of his needs. No one ever used the chief’s belongings or walked in front
of him.
The chief was a highly honored and respected person, and his death was a
time for great mourning. Ceremonies, dancing, and processions were part
of the burial rituals that continued for several days. The chief’s wife,
servants, and others who volunteered for the honor, were sedated and
ritually strangled as part of the ceremonies. The bodies were placed on
special raised tombs covered with branches and mud. After many weeks,
the bones were removed and placed in baskets that were stored in the
temple. Eventually, the bones were buried in a platform in the temple,
or were buried in the mound when it was expanded. The deceased chief’s
house was usually burned and might be covered with another layer of
earth before the new chief’s house was built. The son of the dead
chief’s sister would become the next ruler.
[Illustration: Mound ceremony]
People from miles around came to participate in the burial ceremonies,
after which they returned to their villages and resumed their normal
lives. Some lived in small communities near the mounds, but others lived
in scattered settlements miles away.
Their clothing was very simple. The men wore only a cloth or deerskin
breechcloth, unless the weather was cold. Then they added long deerskin
shirts and leggings. Women wore skirts of skin or of cloth woven from
tree bark, and in cold weather they also wore a skin wrap.
Women usually wore their hair long, sometimes tying it back, or braiding
it. Men wore theirs short, and in many styles. Sometimes they even
completely removed the hair from one side of their head. Women often
decorated themselves by blackening their teeth with ashes and by rubbing
red pigment on their faces, shoulders, and stomachs. Men decorated
themselves, too, especially on ceremonial occasions when they painted
themselves with red, white or black markings and tied feathers in their
hair. Both men and women wore earrings in their pierced ears and large
pendants or strings of shells or seeds around their neck. Honored
warriors and upper class people wore red and black tattoos on their
faces and other parts of their bodies.
The men and women had very different daily tasks. Women took care of the
young children; planted, tended and harvested the crops; cooked the
meals; and made the pottery, baskets, mats and clothing. Men’s work
consisted of housebuilding, canoe-making, and clearing land for gardens,
along with defense, hunting, woodcutting, and making the tools for these
chores. The men also had primary responsibilities for ritual and
political activities.
The European explorers traded with the men. Europeans provided guns,
ammunition, metal kettles, iron tools, glass beads, and metal ornaments.
These were sometimes given as gifts to hosts, guides, or to the chief
and they were also exchanged for pearls or baskets, and for necessities
such as meat, oil, salt, skins and horses.