swANToxl INDIAN THIBKS ()!•' Till'. I.OWKII MISSISSIPPI VALLFA' 185 



consciously to :i<rr('(' with sonic lirccoiiccplioiis of liis own. IjCiivin^ 

 aside his deductions, the gist of this narrative appears to be that the 

 Natchez supposed themselves to have orij^inally come from the east- 

 ward into a country to the southwest of their historical haljitat, where 

 they found apparently a semicivilized race of people whom they 

 called "ancients of the country," or, as we would say, "aborigines." 

 After warring with these i)eople for some time and being hard 

 pressed, a portion ascended the Mississippi river on the west side and 

 crossed to the i)lace afterward occupied by them. The tradition is 

 suggestive in its statement that the Natchez rulers — that is, the Sun 

 clan — did not join the rest of their people until later. In all prob- 

 ability the earlier part of the tradition dealing with their migration 

 from the east is entirely mythical, having grown up around their 

 Sun cult. 



A former location of this tribe in a region somewhere to the west is 

 also confirmed by De la Vente, who says: 



The Natchez, who have the most definite (aftsurdes) traditions and who count 

 45 or no chiefs who have succeeded each other successively, say that they came 

 from a very far country, and [it is], according to our reckoning, to the north- 

 west." 



This direction agrees more closely Avith that given in Muskhogean 

 traditions than the one in Du Pratz's narrative. If, however, the 

 Nat<'hez were really the result of a fusion of a Muskhogean element 

 and a non-Muskhogean element related to the Tunica, Chitimacha, 

 and Atakapa, it is possible that both of these traditions are cor- 

 rect. The h3^pothesis of a southwestern origin foi" part of the 

 people is strengthened by their known friendship for the Chitimacha, 

 whom they called " brothers," but it should not be forgotten that 

 the Chitimacha traced their origin from the Natchez country, the 

 exact opposite of the Natchez tradition. That their ancient home 

 was Mexico, as Du Pratz supposed, is out of the question, both 

 on account of the distance of that country from the Mississi])pi 

 and the implied nearness of that ancient home to the later Natchez 

 habitat. If the account were to be relied upon we ought to look 

 for some region along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico bordered 

 by mountains, which we certainly do not find in Louisiana or Texas, 

 nor is the geographical position of the semicivilized race with stone 

 comnninal houses evident. It is apparent that this part of the nar- 

 rative must be viewed with suspicion. The reference to '' fire people " 

 })erhaps contains some reminiscence of the invasion of De Soto, which 

 must have made a deep impression, though he did not pass very near 

 the region in (piestion except on his retreat down the Mississippi. 



Taken together, language, myth, and customs seem to indicate that 

 the Natchez originated from the fusion of people from the south- 

 west, affiliated with the Chitimacha and Atakapa with a Muskhogean 



" De la Vente, letter of 1704, in Compte Rendu Cong. Internat. des Amer., 15th sess., 

 I, 37. 



