Natchez, Mississippi- Council members and delegates of the Edisto Natchez-Kusso Tribe of South Carolina have traveled this weekend for a reunion with Natchez Tribe descendent’s families of Natchez, Mississippi. The delegates are visiting the ancestral home of their Natchez kin.
This journey commemorates the 18th Century displacement of the Natchez following conflicts with the French. From Mississippi, The Natchez traveled east, living first among the Catabaw and Cherokees. Under the refuge of South Carolina’ s Governor James Glen, in 1734, they were granted refuge to live with the Peedee’s on the Coachman Property in Dorchester County just north of St. George.
Eventually they intermarried with the Kussos, a local coastal tribe, who had moved up the Edisto River, settling in the Creeltown Community in the early 1800’s and later in Four Holes Swamp.
Council members working to establish criteria for Federal recognition have been documenting historical sites and landmarks as part of the petition process.
“This trip to Natchez is a connection to our relatives we’ve been trying to make for 300 years,” according to Chief John Glenn Creel.
Other council members and tribal members on the trip are First lady, Charlene Creel, Vice-Chief, Donnie Creel Sr. and his wife, Doris Creel, secretary, Sabrina Creel, Clint Tawes, Dana Muckelvaney, and B.J. Boren.
In Natchez, the council members have visited the Emerald Mound, the second largest temple mound in the United States. The eight acre mound, constructed from a natural hillside, was used from 1300 to 1600 as a burial site for civic and religious leaders of the Mississippi Natchez. Unlike dome shaped mounds designed just for burial, the Emerald Mound also supported temple and ceremonial structures.
