Natchez
A people of the lower Mississippi, ruled by a family called the Suns, whose villages lay near the French Fort Rosalie.
The Death of the Tattooed Serpent
Antoine-Simon Le Page du Pratz, History of Louisiana, vol. 3 (Paris, 1758), chapter 3 · printed 1758 (events of spring 1725)
Le Grand Soleil étant toujours accroupi & ses yeux cachés, je m'approchai d'un simple Soleil, & lui demandai ce que signifioit ce feu éteint & ces cris lugubres ; il me répondit que c'étoit le signal pour éteindre tous les feux, ce qui faisoit trembler avec raison tous les Natchez, parce que l'extinction des feux ne se faisoit point à cause de la mort du Serpent Piqué.
The Great Sun was still crouching with his eyes hidden. I went up to an ordinary Sun and asked him what the dead fire and these mournful cries meant. He told me it was the signal to put out all the fires. All the Natchez trembled at this, and with reason. For the fires were not put out for the Tattooed Serpent's death.