Tunica Museum

Last updated
Tunica Museum
Tunica Museum.jpg
Established 1997
Location 1 Museum Blvd
Tunica, Mississippi
Coordinates 34°43′40″N90°22′05″W / 34.7279°N 90.3680°W / 34.7279; -90.3680 Coordinates: 34°43′40″N90°22′05″W / 34.7279°N 90.3680°W / 34.7279; -90.3680
Type History museum
Website www.tunicamuseum.com

The Tunica Museum is a museum in Tunica, Mississippi dedicated to the history of Tunica County. Founded in 1997 and funded by casino gambling revenues, it has 6,500 square feet (600 m2) of permanent exhibit space and 1,600 square feet (150 m2) of temporary exhibit space, which showcase historically aspects of the region including race relations, Native American settlements, and the daily life of residents. It offers self-guided tours and is free to enter. [1]

Tunica, Mississippi Town in Mississippi, United States

Tunica is a town in and the county seat of Tunica County, Mississippi, United States, near the Mississippi River. Until the early 1990s when casino gambling was introduced in the area, Tunica had been one of the most impoverished places in the United States. Despite this economic improvement, Tunica's population continues to decline from its peak in 1970.

Casino facility which houses and accommodates certain types of gambling activities

A casino is a facility which houses and accommodates certain types of gambling activities. The industry that deals in casinos is called the gaming industry. Casinos are most commonly built near or combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships or other tourist attractions. There is much debate over whether the social and economic consequences of casino gambling outweigh the initial revenue that may be generated. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertainment events, such as stand-up comedy, concerts, and sporting events.

Native Americans in the United States Indigenous peoples of the United States (except Hawaii)

Native Americans, also known as American Indians, Indigenous Americans and other terms, are the indigenous peoples of the United States, except Hawaii. There are over 500 federally recognized tribes within the US, about half of which are associated with Indian reservations. The term "American Indian" excludes Native Hawaiians and some Alaska Natives, while Native Americans are American Indians, plus Alaska Natives of all ethnicities. Native Hawaiians are not counted as Native Americans by the US Census, instead being included in the Census grouping of "Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander".

Contents

Founding

The museum was proposed in 1997, by a group of citizens. They developed the museum’s mission statement which states, “The Tunica County Museum will interpret the history of Tunica County through exhibits, education programs, research and collections. Topics include the natural setting, Native American prehistory, early European exploration and settlement, and 19th and 20th century social, agricultural, institutional, political, military and commercial history. The exhibits will reflect the rich ethnic diversity of the County.” [2] Funding for the project came from increased public revenues derived from casino gambling in Tunica County. [3]

Permanent exhibits

The first exhibits trace the history of Tunica County. The first room looks like a forest and has several examples of wildlife indigenous to the area. These include birds, bobcats, and a lifesize black bear. An exhibit of the mound building Indians, including the Tunica people, is next. There are panels that describe the life and activities of the Indians, and there is also a television that plays continually a short documentary about the Indians. One particular excavation site, the Hollywood site, is given special attention, including mention of the work done by the University of Mississippi’s archaeology department.

Tunica people group of Native American tribes in the Mississippi River Valley, United States

The Tunica people were a group of linguistically and culturally related Native American tribes in the Mississippi River Valley, which include the Tunica ; the Yazoo; the Koroa ; and possibly the Tioux. They first encountered Europeans in 1541 - members of the Hernando de Soto expedition.

Tunica was changed by European contact, and the museum describes the early exploration by the Spanish. The exhibit argues that Tunica County was the probable place where Hernando de Soto first sighted the Mississippi River. This is based on the descriptions of the place as described by members of DeSoto’s party. This topic has been a source of debate for many years.7 There is a life-size conquistador, demonstrating the typical appearance of the early Spanish explorers.

Hernando de Soto Spanish explorer and conquistador

Hernando de Soto was a Spanish explorer and conquistador who was involved in expeditions in Nicaragua and the Yucatan Peninsula, and played an important role in Pizarro's conquest of the Inca Empire in Peru, but is best known for leading the first Spanish and European expedition deep into the territory of the modern-day United States. He is the first European documented as having crossed the Mississippi River.

Northern Mississippi, including Tunica County, belonged to the Chickasaw tribe through the colonial days and the first years of the new American republic. An exhibit details the Chickasaw cession (Treaty of 1818) made final with the Treaty of Pontotoc. With this cession’s description, the exhibits move into the settlement of the region under the government of the State of Mississippi. Exhibits describe how the Tunica County was denuded and turned into farm land, including several large plantations. The land was excellent for farming. As part of the Mississippi Delta, the soil had been enriched by constant flooding of the Mississippi River. This section includes a full size mule and wagon, a real plantation bell, and a recreated plantation commissary. There are also several display related to the widespread use of slavery in Tunica.

Chickasaw indigenous people of Southeastern Woodlands of the US

The Chickasaw are an indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands. Their traditional territory was in the Southeastern United States of Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee. They are of the Muskogean language family and are federally recognized as the Chickasaw Nation.

Treaty of 1818 treaty signed in 1818

The Convention respecting fisheries, boundary and the restoration of slaves between the United States of America and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, also known as the London Convention, Anglo-American Convention of 1818, Convention of 1818, or simply the Treaty of 1818, was an international treaty signed in 1818 between the above parties. Signed during the presidency of James Monroe, it resolved standing boundary issues between the two nations. The treaty allowed for joint occupation and settlement of the Oregon Country, known to the British and in Canadian history as the Columbia District of the Hudson's Bay Company, and including the southern portion of its sister district New Caledonia.

Post-Civil War exhibits begin with the implementation of Jim Crow laws in Tunica. Stories of white violence during and post-Reconstruction are told, with special attention to a racist group known as the Red Shirts (Southern United States). Issues related to agriculture are examined, including the fight against the boll weevil, the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, and the loss of field hands due to the Great Migration.

Jim Crow laws were state and local laws that enforced racial segregation in the Southern United States. All were enacted in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by white Democratic-dominated state legislatures after the Reconstruction period. The laws were enforced until 1965. In practice, Jim Crow laws mandated racial segregation in all public facilities in the states of the former Confederate States of America, starting in the 1870s and 1880s, and were upheld in 1896, by the U.S. Supreme Court's "separate but equal" legal doctrine for facilities for African Americans, established with the court's decision in the case of Plessy vs. Ferguson. Moreover, public education had essentially been segregated since its establishment in most of the South, after the Civil War (1861–65).

Boll weevil species of insect

The boll weevil is a beetle which feeds on cotton buds and flowers. Thought to be native to Central Mexico, it migrated into the United States from Mexico in the late 19th century and had infested all U.S. cotton-growing areas by the 1920s, devastating the industry and the people working in the American South. During the late 20th century, it became a serious pest in South America as well. Since 1978, the Boll Weevil Eradication Program in the U.S. allowed full-scale cultivation to resume in many regions.

Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 1927 flood of the Mississippi River

The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 was the most destructive river flood in the history of the United States, with 27,000 square miles (70,000 km2) inundated up to a depth of 30 feet (9 m). To try to prevent future floods, the federal government built the world's longest system of levees and floodways.

Daily life in Tunica up to modern times was shown with displays that included parts of a barbershop and movie theater. Tunica County has faced the persistence of poverty. A display recounts the national attention received from living conditions in Sugar Ditch, a poverty-stricken neighborhood in the city limits of Tunica. [4] The Reverend Jesse Jackson’s activities related to Sugar Ditch are part of the display.

In 1992, casino gambling came to Tunica County, when Splash Casino opened. The impact on Tunica County is the subject of another display that includes a slot machine and a casino card table. This section includes a television playing a short documentary related to casinos.

With the conclusion of the historical exhibits, there are several other displays. These include a cotton bale and samples of rice, soybeans, and corn directly from the farm fields. One board shows notable people from Tunica County, along with a description of what they did. The last part of the Tunica museum includes numerous stuffed animals found in Tunica, especially large birds.

Themes

Other exhibits and activities

The Museum also operates the Tate Log House, which is the oldest structure in the county. It is open for viewing and is located within downtown Tunica. It demonstrates the early living conditions within the county. [5]

Behind the Museum, there is a nature walking trail, open to all visitors. [6]

The museum holds special educational events and hosts special exhibits. In 2013, these included a display of plaster masks of blues musicians and about Abraham Lincoln, the Constitution, and the Civil War.

Tunica Museum is a member of the Mississippi Museums Association. This association seeks to expand and promote the work of museums throughout the state. [7]

Related Research Articles

Tunica County, Mississippi County in the United States

Tunica County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2010 census, the population was 10,778. Its county seat is Tunica. The county is named for the Tunica Native Americans. Most migrated to central Louisiana during the colonial period.

DeSoto County, Mississippi County in the United States

DeSoto County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2010 census, the population was 161,252, making it the third-most populous county in Mississippi. Its county seat is Hernando. DeSoto County is part of the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is the second-most populous county in the MSA. The county has lowland areas that were developed in the 19th century for cotton plantations, and hill country in the eastern part of the county.

Chickasaw County, Mississippi County in the United States

Chickasaw County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2010 census, the population was 17,392. Its county seats are Houston and Okolona. The county is named for the Chickasaw people, who lived in this area for hundreds of years. Most were removed to Indian Territory in the 1830s, but some remained and became citizens of the state and United States.

Hernando, Mississippi City in Mississippi, United States

Hernando is a city in and the county seat of DeSoto County, which is on the northwest border of Mississippi, United States. The population was 14,090 at the 2010 census, up from 6,812 in 2000. DeSoto County is the second-most-populous county in the Memphis metropolitan area.

Mississippi Delta northwest section of the U.S. state of Mississippi that lies between the Mississippi and Yazoo rivers

The Mississippi Delta, also known as the Yazoo-Mississippi Delta, is the distinctive northwest section of the U.S. state of Mississippi which lies between the Mississippi and Yazoo Rivers. The region has been called "The Most Southern Place on Earth", because of its unique racial, cultural, and economic history. It is 200 miles long and 87 miles across at its widest point, encompassing circa 4,415,000 acres, or, some 7,000 square miles of alluvial floodplain. Originally covered in hardwood forest across the bottomlands, it was developed as one of the richest cotton-growing areas in the nation before the American Civil War (1861–1865). The region attracted many speculators who developed land along the riverfronts for cotton plantations; they became wealthy planters dependent on the labor of black slaves, who comprised the vast majority of the population in these counties well before the Civil War, often twice the number of whites.

The Tunica-Biloxi Indian Tribe, formerly known as the Tunica-Biloxi Indian Tribe of Louisiana, is a federally recognized tribe of primarily Tunica and Biloxi people, located in east central Louisiana. Descendants of Ofo (Siouan-speakers), Avoyel, and Choctaw (Muskogean) are also enrolled in the tribe.

Natchez people Native American people who originally lived near the present-day city of Natchez, Mississippi

The Natchez are a Native American people who originally lived in the Natchez Bluffs area in the Lower Mississippi Valley, near the present-day city of Natchez, Mississippi in the United States. They spoke a language with no known close relatives, although it may be very distantly related to the Muskogean languages of the Creek Confederacy.

Quapaw ethnic group

The Quapaw people are a tribe of Native Americans that coalesced in the Midwest and Ohio Valley. The Dhegiha Siouan-speaking tribe historically migrated from the Ohio Valley area to the west side of the Mississippi River and resettled in what is now the state of Arkansas; their name for themselves refers to this migration and traveling downriver.

Tunica Resorts, Mississippi Census-designated place & unincorporated community in Mississippi, United States

Tunica Resorts, formerly Robinsonville, is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in northern Tunica County, Mississippi, north of the county seat of Tunica. The community is situated mostly between the Mississippi River and U.S. Route 61 along the border with Arkansas.

The Yazoo were a tribe of the Native American Tunica people historically located on the lower course of Yazoo River in Mississippi, an area known as the Mississippi Delta. They were closely related to other Tunica-language peoples, especially the Tunica, Koroa, and possibly the Tioux.

Gold Strike Casino Resort in Tunica Resorts, Mississippi is an MGM Resorts International resort located 20 minutes south of Memphis, Tennessee.

Chickasaw Nation federally recognized Native American nation

The Chickasaw Nation is a federally recognized Native American nation, located in Oklahoma. They are one of the members of the Five Civilized Tribes. The Chickasaw Nation traces its origins to its homeland of modern day Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama and Kentucky.

The Tunica County School District is a public school district based in Tunica, Mississippi (USA). The district's boundaries parallel that of Tunica County.

Nodena Site

The Nodena Site is an archeological site east of Wilson, Arkansas and northeast of Reverie, Tennessee in Mississippi County, Arkansas, United States. Around 1400–1650 CE an aboriginal palisaded village existed in the Nodena area on a meander bend of the Mississippi River. The Nodena site was discovered and first documented by Dr. James K. Hampson, archaeologist and owner of the plantation on which the Nodena site is located. Artifacts from this site are on display in the Hampson Museum State Park in Wilson, Arkansas. The Nodena Site is the type site for the Nodena Phase, believed by many archaeologists to be the province of Pacaha visited by Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto in 1542.

Parkin Archeological State Park Archaeological site

Parkin Archeological State Park, also known as Parkin Indian Mound, is an archeological site and state park in Parkin, Cross County, Arkansas. Around 1350–1650 CE an aboriginal palisaded village existed at the site, at the confluence of the St. Francis and Tyronza rivers. Artifacts from this site are on display at the site museum. The Parkin Site is the type site for the Parkin phase, an expression of the Mississippian culture from the Late Mississippian period. Many archeologists believe it to be part of the province of Casqui, documented as visited by Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto in 1542. Archeological artifacts from the village of the Parkin people are dated to 1400–1650 CE.

Tocowa, Mississippi Ghost town in Mississippi, United States

Tocowa is a Ghost town located just outside Batesville in Panola County, Mississippi, United States.

Nodena Phase

The Nodena Phase is an archaeological phase in eastern Arkansas and southeastern Missouri of the Late Mississippian culture which dates from about 1400–1650 CE. The Nodena Phase is known from a collection of villages along the Mississippi River between the Missouri Bootheel and Wapanocca Lake. They practiced extensive maize agriculture and artificial cranial deformation and were members of a continent wide trade and religious network known as the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex, which brought chert, whelk shells, and other exotic goods to the area.

Commerce, Mississippi Ghost Town in Mississippi, United States

Commerce is a ghost town in Tunica County, Mississippi, United States. Commerce Landing was the town's port.

References

  1. ↑ Tunica Museum official website.
  2. ↑ Museum History at official website.
  3. ↑ Matt Volz, "Casinos renew life along river, Associated Press in The Daily Gazette , December 21, 2003.
  4. ↑ "The Bolivar Commercial - Revisiting Sugar Ditch Price of poverty is higher". Bolivarcom.com. 2012-02-23. Retrieved 2013-07-27.
  5. ↑ Mary Cashiola, "Quiet Time in Tunica: Casinos aren't the only game in this town.", Memphis Flyer , June 15, 2006.
  6. ↑ Sabah Karimi, Demand Media. "Family Things to Do in Tunica, Mississippi | USA Today". Traveltips.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2013-07-27.
  7. ↑ "Mississippi Museums Association: Welcome". Msmuseums.org. Retrieved 2013-07-27.

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