Tunica’s Storied Past
The city of Tunica, Mississippi does not have an abundance of history associated with it. The first known inhabitants were Native Americans and the city itself was named after the Tunica tribe. Related to the Tonikan family of tribes, the Tunica tribe’s history can be traced back to lower Mississippi and a gradual migration to the north of the state.
They are known to have allied with early French settlers against opposing tribes. An interesting fact about the Tunica tribe is that they are believed to be vegetarians, subsisting on agricultural crops such as corn. Men were primarily the tenders of the farms and the women created impressive fabric from mulberry cloths. Currently, there are only thought to be 30 direct descendants of the Tunica tribe and these participants still speak a variation of the Tunica language.
Because of the small size of the city, there have not been very many local celebrities. However, Charlaine Harris, is a notable resident who is known across the country as an accomplished writer, creating the Teagarden series of books and being nominated for the Agatha prize. She has since created other series of books and has been on the New York Times Bestseller List many times.
As far as industry, the farming tradition has remained popular, with early European settlers growing cotton. The land proved to be very arable due to the close proximity of the river. Like many areas of Mississippi, cotton was a boom industry and created much wealth for a number of people until the Civil War. With the following industrial revolution, Tunica was left behind and those that enjoyed reasonable success now found themselves at the point of poverty. For many years after this, cotton was still the main industry of Tunica, until the arrival of the casinos. And then a new era began.
The Age of Casinos
The casinos entered the Tunica region in 1992, beginning with the Tunica Splash. Since the inception of casinos, many new properties have been opened and Tunica has quickly grown to be the third largest gambling location in the United States. Economically, the casinos have made quite a difference. The resulting prosperity has provided many jobs to the people of the region and has enabled the city to construct and maintain the Tunica County Museum, which examines what life was like throughout the history of the region.
Also, the city has constructed the Tunica RiverPark, a celebration of the Mississippi River featuring nature trails and an aquarium. The Tunica region was one of the poorest in the state with per capita income falling much less than the state’s average, which is the lowest in the United States. In addition, the infant mortality was one of the highest in the country, but improved hospital conditions have provided a dramatic reduction of this aspect. The city was officially incorporated in 1888 and currently has a population of only 1,132 official residents, with the majority of casino employees residing in nearby Robinsonville or White Haven.