Daily Life

The Natchez Calendar

8 July 2019

The year in the Natchez Calendar began around the early spring according to Antoine-Simon Le Page du Pratz and other among his French contemporaries. A grandiose celebration called Deer Feast that opened the year took days to complete, a magnificent festival of traditional food, games... Read More

Feast of the Deer or Happy New Year

13 May 2019

As mentioned in the Natchez Calendar, the Mississippian new year began on the new moon of the early spring (roughly equivalent to mid-March). Celebrated with magnificent festival called The Feast of the Deer, it lasted for several days and involved many different feats and festivities.Several... Read More

The Harvest Feast

20 March 2019

The second most important celebration of the Natchez’ year was held through mid-September, or on the Moon of the Great Corn, the festivity that began the time of the harvest.The Feast of the Grain it was called it times according to the French annalists, Du... Read More

Buy Vermilion for a Party

31 January 2019

Fashion of decorating one’s body was not limited to tattoos or other permanent markings. Another important part of the Mississippians’ lives came certain dress codes, ornaments as well as the fashion that demanded complete removal of one’s body hair. One of the early French chronicles... Read More

Fancy a warriors’ marking or just a pretty tattoo?

30 November 2018

Among the Mississippians and their neighbors the art of decorating one’s body with permanent markings of colorful designs was widespread and beautiful to look at. Or so claimed the later-day French that lived among the Natchez and other nations that considered themselves to be descendants... Read More

Married into the Mississippian royal family? Follow your loved one into his new beginning

31 October 2018

Upon the great mounds of Cahokia and the rest of the great Mississippian cities, life was reported to be significantly different than among the dwellers of the countryside and the simpler towns and neighborhoods. As mentioned in the previous article, the lower class people did... Read More

When a Mississippian Boy Meets a Mississippian Girl

31 August 2018

While the rules governing marriage eligibility seemed to be strict among the Mississippian nobility, the common people were reported to enjoy more freedom and less ceremony by far. Especially the representatives of the fair sex. In fact, it might seem that, while not enjoying the... Read More

The Dubious Privilege of Being a Son of the Great Sun

27 July 2018

The magnificent mound of Cahokia, the largest man-made earthwork in North America, is towering over the surrounding landscape of the beautiful Missouri River and multitude of other man-made mounds, over 100 feet high and nearly 1000 feet long, massive, multi-terraced, imposing, humbling. It must have... Read More

Ahuitzotl – the Mysterious Creature of the Lake

30 April 2018

The legendary animal that reportedly haunted many fishermen’s sleep back in the 15th century Central Mexico, ahuizotl was widely known around the great Lake Texcoco and among towns and altepetls surrounding it; widely known and greatly feared. Described as a lethal creature with spiky fur,... Read More

From the feasts of Tenochtitlan Royal Enclosure to the kitchens of the commoner-folk

11 February 2018

Between the grand feasts consumed by the Mexica rulers in Tenochtitlan Palace and the daily meals the last of the commoners living by the wharves or the marketplace hastily devoured, the flow of the edible goods entering the island city had to be maintained and... Read More

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