It was one hundred years before the arrival of Columbus when the Great Temple of Mound was started in the southern part of U.S. It is believed that the people that settled at Chucalissa were people from Mississippi. The settlement is believed to have been established in 900 A.D. Following that suspicion, the region of the Mississippi has been under the archeological excavation for a very long time. The Native Americans are believed to have arrived along the Mississippi River in the 10,000-12000 years ago. The first group to arrive in Chucalissa hunted ice age animals for food. Some of the animals that they used to hunt are extinct. Most of them were nomads, and they moved from one place to another in search of food. The Native Americans eventually introduced the idea of the farming in that period. They began farming of crops such squash, corn, and pumpkins. Because they considered the land as their field for hunting, they established permanent villages. They also established structures, where they used to bury their dead, and the structures were known as the mounds. The structures were of different shapes and sizes.
The dynamic interaction of the societies is considered to be the main factor that made the people settle along the Mississippi region in the late Seventeenth Century. The societies in Mississippi were formed as confederacies in the area. Some of the societies moved along the Mississippi region as refugees, and later settled in small communities where chiefs headed them (Britannica Student Encyclopedia 143). Some historian scholars suggested that there were villages by the name Tunica, Natchez, Muskogean, and Siouan. The Mississippi River was the key factor that facilitated the settlement of the people along it. It was a favorable place for various activities in that region including fishing, gathering, and hunting. The forest region in the bottom land, which was characterized by trees such as the oak, gum, and the cypress, was a conducive field for hunting among the most communities.
There was an emergence of ceremonial mound centers, which marked a rise of a powerful chiefdom in the communities along Mississippi (Pabis 4). The chiefdom was characterized by a hierarchy of kinship, and the highest ranked chief was believed to come from a recognized deity. It was the responsibility of the people to bring the chiefdoms together. The farming of corn played an important role in the rise of chiefdoms as it provided a nourishing and delicious food crop that was suitable for long-term storage. When the granaries of the ruling chief were full of corn, tributes were paid, followed by the redistribution of food to the villagers with less food. The ceremonial activities and the redistribution process played an important role in the growth of the chiefdoms as people would participate in those activities, therefore, creating a strong bond in the communities. Other activities enhanced unity among the communities, and they included construction of mounds where people presented themselves and offered labor, religious rites, and ceremonies in the chiefdom.
The chiefdom system and leadership were highly associated with religious matters (MacNutt 128). Some of the activities were associated with spiritual beliefs; a good example is the building of the Mounds. The structures around indicated the important activities of the people and their key themes such as fertility, warfare, and ancestor worship. Between A.D 900 and 1400, it is believed that the people involved themselves in trade, which mainly involved the exchange of ceremonial artifacts and engraved seashells. The political, environmental and economic factors in the region can be said to be the main reason for the collapse of the Mississippian chiefdoms. In addition, there was a conflict between the reign in the Northern part of Mississippi, and the Southern part as the chiefdoms started to compete on the farming fields.
It was only after the contact between the Native Americans and the Europeans that great changes occurred in the Southeast and Mississippi. The building of the mounds where they used to bury the dead ceased (MacNutt 24). Environmental factors also impacted the lives of the Native people of the Mississippi, and some began to plan on sailing to the west, along the Mediterranean seaport. The overuse of the available farming land also made the people move from the Northern chiefdom to move to the southern chiefdom. As more people arrived, some of the societies moved from Mississippi and went to the south in the Natchez Bluffs. Some of the societies tried to fight the situation at hand; for example, the Chiefdoms of the Tombigbee region formed an egalitarian confederation to cope with the situation.
However, only a few survivors were left during the transitional period. After France had invaded the region, it is believed that many demographic changes took place. Those ostentatious mounds were left abandoned and the populations that took care of them vanished. Only a few tribal groups were left along the Mississippi River, and they could only offer little resistance to European colonization. After the French had invaded the region, there was a hunting party by the Chickasaw. This was an indication to the French that the Chickasaw were just a few days towards their journey to the East.
In the colonial period, there was an indication that the Chickasaw villages would appear and disappear. The reason for that trend was the instability that was caused by war in that region. The house groups of the Chickasaw comprised of the women and their husbands. They were ranked according to their status and organized into clans. The villages of the Chickasaw were autonomous, and they normally operated independently when conducting trade. European trade enhanced the rise of the “War Chiefs” in positions of authority due to their leadership traits.
It was during the period of Mississippian that the people along the Ohio River constructed large, permanent settlements. The settlements consisted of two mounds: one for the chief’s residence and the other for ceremonial activities. Dwelling places were arranged in rows and beyond those settlements, there were the farmsteads, small villages, and hunting camps. Buildings and houses were usually made in a rectangular shape. The towns along the river became large trading centers and the communities that were settled there became stable.
Those communities along the river became dependent upon farming to the extent that they started to cultivate crops such as squash, beans, maize and the pumpkins. Proper granaries were constructed, and they facilitated improvement in the standards of living among the community members throughout the year because food was available all-year round. Some of the activities also supplemented farming (Pabis 2). The activities involved gathering mussels, communal hunting, and fishing activities. The Mississippians were skilled craftsmen, and they manufactured different types of pottery. They also produced different artifacts from bones and stones, and used them for personal adornment, as their tools. The drought that came later in the region of Mississippi made the farmers not to provide the people with sufficient food. The risk of starving the people motivated them to start new lives where they settled in small, nomadic groups. They also practiced farming, alongside hunting and gathering.
As the Mississippians interacted with other people from different regions in trade, many changes took place in terms of the cultural, agricultural and social organization of the community. The interaction facilitated the development of great techniques and ideas. One of the important materials in the economy of the people who lived along the river was the shell (MacNutt 142). The mussel shell, which was obtained from the river, was mainly used for manufacturing of substances such as scrapers, spoons, and hoes. Those substances were traded, and the Mississippians people obtained conch shells and whelk from the people of Mexico.
One of the significant structures for the Mississippians people was the mounds (Kennedy 101). It was believed that the great mounds were located in the Ohio valleys and the Mississippi. The size and shape of the mound were of great significance to the community. The mounds used to serve different purposes to the members of the community. Some mounds used to serve as burial sites, be it for individuals or groups. Others served as platforms for religious practice and temples. After people from France and other Europeans regions had started coming to Mississippi, the construction of the mounds decreased as they saw the practice as uncivilized.
It was in 1939 that the workers from the Civilian Conservation Corps discovered the Chucalissa village (Cheesman, Paul and Millie 35). According to those who found it, it was full of ancient bricks, pottery, and crumbling bones. This was an indication that those that used to stay there were among the Mississippian communities. Currently, the place is an archeological site.
In conclusion, the Chucalissa Indian Village is one of the ancient villages in the Mississippian period. Some of the things that were found in that place are similar to those to those of the Mississippi period. The mounds, which were some of the important structures along Mississippi, were still found in the Chucalissa village.
Works Cited
Britannica Student Encyclopedia: An a to Z Encyclopedia. 2015. Internet resource.
Cheesman, Paul R, and Millie F. Cheesman. Ancient American Indians: Their Origins,
Civilizations & Old World Connections. Bountiful, Utah: Horizon Publishers &
Distributors, 1991. Print.
Kennedy, Frances H. American Indian Places: A Historical Guidebook. Boston: Houghton
Mifflin Co, 2008. Internet resource.
MacNutt, Charles H. Prehistory of the Central Mississippi Valley. Tuscaloosa [u.a.: Univ. of
Alabama Press, 1996. Print.
Pabis, George S. Daily Life along the Mississippi. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press, 2007.
Print.
