Biloxi tribe

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The Biloxi are a Native American tribe of Siouan stock. They call themselves Tanêks(a). When first encountered by Europeans in 1699, the Biloxi inhabited an area near the coast of the Gulf of Mexico in the vicinity of what is now the city of Biloxi, Mississippi. Eventually they moved west into Louisiana and eastern Texas. Today, the small remainder of the Biloxi people share a small reservation with the Tunica, an unrelated tribe, in Marksville, Louisiana. The Biloxi language--Tanêksąya ade--has been extinct since the 1930s when the last known native semi-speaker, Emma Jackson, died.

As with most people of an oral tradition who did not keep written records, little is known of Biloxi history prior to their contact with Europeans. The Hernando de Soto expedition of 1540 apparently missed the Biloxi, unless they encountered them under a different name, as no mention is made of them in the records of that Spanish expedition. Their first known contact with Europeans was in 1699 when they encountered the French Canadian Pierre LeMoyne d'Iberville who was establishing France's Louisiana colony. The Biloxi told d'Iberville that the Biloxi were formerly quite numerous, but that their people were severely decimated by a disease epidemic (smallpox, or variola) that left an entire village abandoned and in ruins.

The remaining Biloxi were later found in various parts of the Southeast, including in Louisiana and Texas, often living with other tribes such as the Caddo, the Choctaw, and most recently, the Tunica.

Although historically of Siouan origin, the Biloxi adapted many Southeastern areal features into their culture. They inhabited cabins made of mud with roofs covered in tree bark. Little is known of their lifestyle, although it can be inferred from words in their language that they wore robes of animal hides, particularly of buffalo and deer, at least in colder weather. They made implements and utensils from buffalo and deer horns. Some Biloxi had facial tattoos and wore nose- and/or earrings. They adopted the use of the blowgun for use in hunting from the neighboring Choctaw.

Typical of the Southeastern tribes, the Biloxi held their chiefs in high reverence. While little is known of Biloxi funereal practices among common tribal members, the bodies of deceased chiefs were dried in fire and smoke. The preserved bodies were then placed in an upright position on red poles stuck into the ground around the central interior of a temple. The chief last deceased would be set up on a platform near the front entrance of the temple and food would be "offered" to him daily by tribal members.