A mystery as rich as the heritage left behind.
Chucalissa means "abandoned house" in the Choctaw language, an apt moniker for this prehistoric Native American village, now a facility of The University of Memphis. Though the mounds remain, the once-thriving village is gone, along with her people and way of life. Her lineage has been erased by time, perhaps a victim of diseases introduced by Spanish conquistadors. Nobody knows for sure.

Located along the banks of the Mississippi Valley at Memphis, the people of Chucalissa were part of the culture called Mississippian by archaeologists today. They inhabited the Memphis area off and on for 3000 years. They were farmers, hunters, fishers and traders. Their government was an advanced chiefdom. An impressive pair of large mounds indicates a belief in an afterlife. And yet these people vanished just before the arrival of Desoto.

While her people have vanished, her legacy lives in her artifacts. Pottery, spectacular in its design and craftsmanship, is often unearthed intact. Painted hands and unique engravings on pottery are a Chucalissa trademark.

Just as distinctive are the Chucalissa dwellings, dramatic structures far more durable than the iconic Native American teepee. This Tennessee archeological site also surrenders from its protective earth skillfully crafted jewelry, weapons and tools.

Chucalissa is a village of memory, her true name lost as though wiped clean by the rising tide of the Mississippi. Yet we are drawn to her mystery, and we have come to understand that, though they are gone, the people of Chucalissa have much to teach us.

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