Taposa

The Taposa were an Indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands from what is now Mississippi in the United States.^[4]

Taposa

Total population
extinct as a tribe, may have merged into Chakchiuma
Regions with significant populations
United States (Mississippi)
Languages
likely a Muskogean language[1]
Religion
Indigenous religion
Related ethnic groups
Chakchiuma, Ibitoupa,[2] and Tiou[3]

The Taposa were a small tribe like their neighbors, the Ibitoupa and Chakchiuma, who all lived along the upper Yazoo River between the larger, more powerful Chickasaw and Choctaw.^[2][5]

History

17th century

The Taposa were first written about by French colonist Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville in 1699.^[1]

18th century

Baron de Crenay's 1733 map of Louisiana includes a Taposa settlement near the Chakchiuma.^[1] Another neighboring tribe, the Ibitoupa may have merged into the Taposa in 1722.^[6] The Taposa ultimately allied with the Chickasaw.^[1]

Name

The original meaning of the name "Taposa" has been lost.^[7]

Notes

1. Ricky, Donald (200). Encyclopedia of Mississippi Indians. St. Clair Shores, MI: North American Book Distributors. p. 202. ISBN 9780403097784.
2. Ricky, Encyclopedia of Mississippi Indians, p. 7
3. Ricky, Encyclopedia of Mississippi Indians, p. 58
4. Taposa Tribe
5. The Indian Tribes of North America, by John Reed Swanton
6. Ricky, Donald (200). Encyclopedia of Mississippi Indians. St. Clair Shores, MI: North American Book Distributors. p. 107. ISBN 9780403097784.
7. Baca, Keith A. (2007). Native American Place Names in Mississippi. University Press of Mississippi. p. 121. ISBN 978-1-60473-483-6.

References

• Ricky, Donald (200). Encyclopedia of Mississippi Indians. St. Clair Shores, MI: North American Book Distributors. ISBN 9780403097784.