The Grand Village of the Natchez Indians
The Grand Village of the Natchez Indians
The Grand Village of the Natchez Indians is a museum and 128-acre park featuring three prehistoric Native American mounds and a nature trail.
Visit
- Explore the Visitor Center and a gift shop offering Native American crafts. Visitor Center maximum occupancy is fifteen people at one time.
- Walk the nature trail.
- Join us for the annual Natchez Powwow, featuring traditional Native American singing and dancing, foods, crafts and more.
- Admission and parking are free.
Groups
Our staff is available to help you plan ahead for your next school or adult group visit. Call 601-446-6502 or email info@natchezgrandvillage.com for more information or to reserve a tour.
About
The Natchez Indians and their ancestors inhabited what is now southwest Mississippi ca. AD 700-1730. According to historical and archaeological evidence, the Grand Village was their main ceremonial center between 1682 and 1730. French explorers, priests, and journalists described the ceremonial mounds built by the Natchez on the banks of St. Catherine Creek. It was later archaeological investigations produced additional evidence that the site was the place that the French called “the Grand Village of the Natchez.”
During the height of power at the Grand Village, the French explored the region and began to make settlements. Relations between the French and the Natchez were cordial at first but deteriorated as various disagreements and episodes of violence arose in 1716 and again in 1723. In 1729, a pro-English element within the nation led the Natchez to attack the French colonial plantations and military garrison at Fort Rosalie. The French retaliated in such force that the Natchez were forced to abandon their homeland.
Two of the mounds, the Great Sun’s Mound and the Temple Mound, have been excavated and rebuilt to their original sizes and shapes. A religious structure once stood atop the Temple Mound. A sacred perpetual fire was kept in the Temple’s inner sanctum, symbolic of the sun from which the royal family had descended.
To learn more about the site and experience what it would have looked like in 1730, download the Timelooper app from Google Play or the App Store for iPhone.