Natchez << NACH ihz >> were a Native American tribe in North America whose important chiefs had total power over their subjects’ lives and property. The tribe once lived near the city along the Mississippi River that was named after them. They were farmers, and they made excellent fabrics and pottery. Each tribe member inherited a place in a society of rigid class distinctions. There were three classes of nobility, as well as a large group of common people. The Natchez had a highly developed religious life based on sun worship. They believed that their chief was descended from the sun. Servants carried him about in a special litter, so that his feet would not touch the ground. When an important Natchez chief died, tribe members paid considerable respect to the leader and performed sacrifices.
The name of the Natchez first occurs in the reports of Sieur de La Salle’s descent of the Mississippi River in 1682. The tribe, which probably included about 6,000 people, was the largest and strongest on the lower Mississippi at that time. They fought three major wars with the French, but were so soundly defeated in 1729 that the tribe did not recover. The survivors joined other tribes.
