The Yazoo were a

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide use of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. The definition is contested, in part due to conflict ...

of the Native American

Tunica people The Tunica people are a group of linguistically and culturally related Native Americans in the United States, Native American tribes in the Mississippi River Valley, which include the Tunica (also spelled Tonica, Tonnica, and Thonnica); the Yazoo ...

historically located along the lower course of the Yazoo River in an area known as the

Mississippi Delta The Mississippi Delta, also known as the Yazoo–Mississippi Delta, or simply the Delta, is the distinctive northwest section of the U.S. state of Mississippi (and portions of Arkansas and Louisiana) that lies between the Mississippi and Yazo ...

. They were closely related to other Tunica language–speaking peoples, especially the Tunica,

Koroa The Koroa were one of the groups of Indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands who lived in the Mississippi Valley before French colonization. The Koroa lived in the Yazoo River basin in present-day northwest Mississippi. Language The Kor ...

, and possibly the Tioux.

Language

Nothing is definitely known about their language, believed to be related to Tunica, a

language isolate A language isolate is a language that has no demonstrable genetic relationship with any other languages. Basque in Europe, Ainu and Burushaski in Asia, Sandawe in Africa, Haida and Zuni in North America, Kanoê in South America, and Tiwi ...

History

17th century

French explorers and missionaries documented the tribe. In 1699, Father

Antoine Davion Antoine Davion was originally from Saint-Omer in Artois, France. He served in various churches on the Île d'Orléans in Québec before departing for the Mississippi River in 1698 to help establish missions among the indigenous peoples. He would ...

of the Quebec Seminary of Foreign Missions in New France (Canada) established a mission among the Tunica.

18th century

At this time, the Yazoo, like the

Chickasaw The Chickasaw ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands, United States. Their traditional territory was in northern Mississippi, northwestern and northern Alabama, western Tennessee and southwestern Kentucky. Their language is ...

, were under the influence of the English traders from Carolina on the Atlantic coast. In 1702, the Yazoo aided the

in killing the French priest Nicholas Foucault and his three companions. The seminary temporarily withdrew Fr Antoine from the area. In 1718, the French established a fort near the village of St. Pierre to command the river. In 1722 the young

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

priest Jean Rouel was given the Yazoo mission near the French post. He worked there until the outbreak of the Natchez revolt in 1729. At that time, the Yazoo and Koroa joined with the Natchez in attacking the French colonists, in an attempt to drive them out of the region altogether. On November 29, 1729, the Natchez attacked Fort Rosalie, killing more than 200 people, including the Jesuit priest Paul Du Poisson. They carried off as captives most of the French women and children, and their African slaves. On learning of the event, the Yazoo and Koroa, on December 11, 1729, waylaid and killed Rouel and his black slave. The next day, they attacked the neighboring post, killing the whole garrison. The tribes buried Rouel's body. His bell and some books were afterward recovered and restored to the French by the

Quapaw The Quapaw ( , Quapaw language, Quapaw: ) or Arkansas, officially the Quapaw Nation, is a List of federally recognized tribes in the United States, U.S. federally recognized tribe comprising about 6,000 citizens. Also known as the Ogáxpa or � ...

. Another priest, Stephen Doutreleau, was attacked on January 1, 1730, but was able to escape. The Natchez War of 1729 was a disaster for French settlements in Louisiana. The colonists withdrew in retreat to

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

. It was also a disaster for the Natchez and Yazoo. The French allied with the

Choctaw The Choctaw ( ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States, originally based in what is now Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. The Choctaw language is a Western Muskogean language. Today, Choct ...

for retaliation and overwhelmingly defeated the Natchez and Yazoo. They sold survivors into

slavery Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

on Caribbean plantations. The Chickasaw captured many other Yazoo men and sold them into slavery to Carolina-based traders.Gibson, Arrell M. "The Indians of Mississippi", in McLemore, Richard Aubrey, ed. ''A History of Mississippi'' (Hattiesburg: University and College Press of Mississippi, 1973) vol 1, p. 76 This ended the Yazoo as a tribe; their survivors intermarried with the Chickasaw, Africans, and other peoples.

In fiction

John Grisham John Ray Grisham Jr. (; born February 8, 1955) is an American novelist, lawyer, and former politician, known for his best-selling legal thrillers. According to the Academy of Achievement, American Academy of Achievement, Grisham has written 37 ...

's story "Casino", included in the short-story collection ''Ford County'' (2009), turns on a shady businessman in present-day

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

gathering several dozen people with purported Yazoo ancestry to seek tribal status. He gains federal recognition for them as a

Native American tribe In the United States, an American Indian tribe, Native American tribe, Alaska Native village, Indigenous tribe, or Tribal nation may be any current or historical Tribe (Native American)#Other uses, tribe, band, or nation of Native Americans in ...

, which would enable them to use their land to develop a gaming

casino A casino is a facility for gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shops, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos also host live entertainment, such as stand-up comedy, conce ...

Notable Yazoo people

* Moncacht Apé was an explorer who, in the late 1600s or early 1700s, may have made the first recorded round trip transcontinental journey across

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yazoo Tribe Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands Native American tribes in Mississippi Pre-statehood history of Mississippi Extinct Native American peoples Tunica