The Tunica Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana: Part 2

The Tunica Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana has a deep and rich history in Louisiana. The Tunica were known to be skilled traders and entrepreneurs, especially in the mining and distribution of salt. Salt was extremely important in the trade between the French and the various Caddoan groups in northwestern Louisiana and southwestern Arkansas. By the early 18^th century, the tribes along the lower Mississippi River were a target of Chickasaw raids for the English slave trade in South Carolina.  By the 1770s the Tunica decided to move. In the 1770s, the Tunica moved to the present-day Marksville area on the Red River. The Tribe remains today on the land granted to them by Spain. Bureau of Indian Affairs records show that the current tribe is a result of the gradual fusion of the Tunica, Ofo, Avoyel and Biloxi Tribes, which probably culminated in about 1810. Each of these Tribes has continually documented interactions with the French and Spanish authorities throughout the 1700s.

The Tunica’s trading acumen throughout their history is evidenced through the collection of artifacts that make up the “Tunica Treasure,” one of the present-day Tribes’ greatest assets. The Tribe was able to recover and preserve the artifacts that were taken from their ancestors’ graves. Though the tribe’s members were aware their ancestors had occupied the area of Trudeau, Louisiana near the present-day site of Angola State Penitentiary, they had no idea that a guard from the prison had located their burial ground and had been ransacking the graves. They learned about it from the State of Louisiana which had asked the tribe to intervene in the case of Charrier v. Bell to try to keep the artifacts from being sold. Chairman Barbry readily agreed, on the condition that the artifacts be returned to the tribe. 

Charrier, the prison guard, had stocked his home with the artifacts before filing suit against the owner of the land to claim half of what he had unearthed. Charrier’s luck turned when the courts ruled that he never owned the artifacts because the items were never given up for ownership. The attorney for the Tribe explained: It was buried with these people and never intended to be dug up and sold. The judge brought the case to what it was, a case of abandonment, and these goods were never abandoned.

The tribe built an underground museum in anticipation of the artifacts’ arrival, attempting to create a symbolic site for the items. However, when the items arrived they were in a seriously deteriorated condition. The resourceful tribe created a conservation lab by transforming a refrigerated eighteen-wheeler trailer into controlled environments suitable for artifacts storage and restoration processes. Since the time of original restoration, they have a beautiful museum to continue to restore and display these treasures. 

Because of what the tribe was able to do and the stand they took in preserving those artifacts, federal legislation was enacted – the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. The Act established that ancestors’ remains and any other grave items that can be identified as belonging to a particular tribe and are held by museums and federal and state agencies must be returned to the tribe from which they came.

The Tribe has a second historical museum a short distance from the new one housing the Tunica Treasure. The historical museum is located at the site of the Marksville Mounds.

Today, the Tribe boasts a membership of more than 1,200 who reside primarily in Louisiana, Texas and Illinois. Many live on 1,717 acre Tunica-Biloxi Indian Reservation located just south of Marksville in east-central Louisiana. The 2010 US Census lists 951 persons self-identified as at least partly Tunica-Biloxi with 669 of those identifying as solely Tunica-Biloxi ancestry. Others are descendants of the Ofo, Avoyel and Choctaw.

The Tribe owns and operates the Paragon Casino and Resort, the largest employer in Central Louisiana. The Casino opened for business in 1994 and has expanded ever since. The full-service Class III casino offers one of the largest slot machine floors in Louisiana, a poker room, numerous table games and an off-track betting parlor. The resort offers more than 500 hotel rooms and suites with an indoor pool with a swim-up bar, a 200 site R.V. park, a full-service spa, three screen cinema, retail shops nine food service areas and restaurants, a championship golf course and live entertainment in their Main Showroom concert stage. In April, 2016 Tunica-Biloxi Gaming Authority, owner and operator of the Paragon Resort, retained Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority to provide gaming, hospitality and entertainment consulting services to the Marksville complex.

Through its compact negotiated with the State of Louisiana, the Tribe has been able to assist local governments with distributions of more than $40 Million since the opening of their gaming business.

Sources:  The Historic Indian Tribes of Louisiana From 1542 to Present by Fred Kniffen, Hiram F. Gregory, and George A. Stokes; Nations Within, The Four Sovereign Tribes of Louisiana by Sarah Sue Goldsmith, Risa Mueller and Tim Mueller; The Southeastern Indians by Charles Hudson; The Tunica-Biloxi web site; Wikipedia; and other web sources.