1985 Fall

Pre-Statehood

Page 3

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Plum Bayou Prepares for Mid-Summer Celebration

PLUM BAYOU CITY – With preparations nearing completion, the mid-summer festival of 800 A.D. is about to begin here at the political, economic, and religious capital of Plum Bayou Culture.

The city includes 18 mounds, with the two major mounds rising dramatically beside the calm waters of the lake. According to a spokesman, these mounds and others have recently been replastered with red clay. They are certainly striking when viewed across the central plaza.

All the houses of priests and their relatives, and the temples on and beside the mounds, have been renovated with new thatch roofs and decorated cane matting. The whole 80-acre ceremonial complex is surrounded by a dirt wall and a ditch. Beyond, the field s and farms of the Plum Bayou people stretch through the woods for miles.

By the day of the Festival, the families of the Plum Bayou people will gather from nearly farms and more distant settlements as far away as the Great River (the Mississippi), and the Highlands (the Ozarks and Ouachitas). They will bring with them items for trade, such as salt, quartz crystals, and lead. They will also bring food for the feasts – garden produce including beans, squash, sunflower seeds, melons and most importantly maize, along with pecans, wild fruits, herbs, and vegetables, loaves of hickory nut bread, and game including turtles, fish, beaver, raccoon, rabbit, and huge quantities of venison.

Dignitaries have been arriving in large canoes, coming from other important capitals at Cahokia (Illinois) to the north, Spiro (Oklahoma) to the west, and even the Great Ocean (Gulf of Mexico far to the south. They bring greetings to the leaders of Plum Bayou, along with valued goods such as feather capes, special stone for tools, and sea shells for gifts and trade.

Adults, children, priests and guests are all looking forward to this major sacred celebration of the achievements and importance of Plum Bayou City and Plum Bayou culture.

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