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ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE TUNICA..
southern frontier of the Mississippian thrust in the valley during the mid-sixteenth century is an interesting historical footnote, but that it can be identified with the Tunica is a coincidence of even greater significance for the history of that tribe. Being a brief contact, there are no clues in the De Soto narratives to this significance, but the subsequent history of the Tunica supported by archaeological evidence demonstrates that a strategic riverine position was a primary consideration in the location of their settlements.
The De Soto narratives give ample testimony to the fact that there was considerable native conflict in the vicinity of Quizquiz (remeber the "valiant deeds and triumphs of his bellicose youth" cited above). It would seem that new Mississippian peoples were pushing into the area. Despite the impression conveyed in the narratives, the Quizquiz - Tunica peoples were to react as they consistently did in the historical record, and probably had for centuries before: they were to take
the path of least resistance, and move yet farther south.
At this point, a break in the historical record must be acknowledged. It was to be more than a century and a half before European contact was next established with the Tunica and at that time they were a modest tribe who numbered only a few hundred warriors, a pale reflection of great Quizquiz (even discounting the customary exaggerations of the De Soto narratives). While the Spanish exploration probably had little direct political, cultural, or economic effect upon the Indians, its biological effect must have been enormous. Unaccustomed diseases were introduced which ravaged the native populations. Quizquiz must have suffered horribly, but so also other groups, including those of the Mississippi Valley cultures affiliated with Quigualtam to the south. The earlier odds were more or less evened, and so, faced with pressure from the north, the Quizquiz-Tunica moved south sometime between 1541 and 1699.
Reconstructed capital of Quizquiz, sixteenth century ancestors of the Tunica.
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