Trudeau Landing

The Trudeau Landing Site (16-WF-25), also known as Tunica Village and Trudeau, is an archaeological site in Tunica, unincorporated West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana, United States. It was once occupied by the Tunica tribe.

Tunica treasure

In the 1960s graves at the site were dug up by a local self described treasure hunter. The Tunica, who felt he had stolen tribal heirlooms and desecrated the graves of their ancestors, were outraged. In 1970s the site was excavated by archaeologists, uncovering large amounts of pottery, European trade goods and other artifacts deposited as grave goods by the Tunica from 1731 to 1764 when they occupied the site. A lawsuit, with help from the State of Louisiana, was begun by the tribe for the title to the artifacts. A decade was to pass in the courts, but the ruling became a landmark in American Indian history, and helped lay the groundwork for new federal legislation, the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, passed in 1990.^[2] It was also used to prove the ancient heritage of the Tunica peoples, and helped them to gain state and federal recognition.^[3] A museum to house the artifacts was built by the Tunica-Biloxi in Marksville, Louisiana.

References

External links

• Indian Mounds Louisiana