Koroa facts for kids

The Koroa were a group of Native Americans who lived in the Mississippi River Valley a long time ago. They lived in what is now the northwest part of Mississippi, near the Yazoo River. The Koroa people are no longer a separate tribe today.

Koroa Language

The Koroa people likely spoke a language related to Tunica. This language family is called Tunican. Some French explorers and missionaries wrote about the Koroa language.

They noticed that the Koroa (who they called Courouais) spoke a language similar to the Yazoo people. However, it was different from the Tunica language. This might mean the Koroa spoke a special version, or dialect, of Tunica. Or it could have been a closely related language.

Koroa History

The Koroa people may have been the tribe that Hernando de Soto met in 1541. De Soto was a Spanish explorer. His group called the tribe Coligua or Cologoa. They met these people near what is now Little Rock, Arkansas.

Later, in the late 1600s, French explorers met the Koroa. Jacques Marquette called them Akoroa. The Koroa lived on both sides of the Mississippi River. They had at least one village on the east side of the river.

In 1682, another French explorer, La Salle, visited a Koroa village. This village was on the west side of the Mississippi River. The Koroa people welcomed La Salle's group and shared a feast with them. La Salle also saw people from the Quinipissa tribe there, who were friends with the Koroa.

In 1698, French missionaries came to the area. They found the Koroa living near the Tunica, Yazoo, and Houspé tribes. A missionary named Father Antoine Davion was sent to work with them.

Around 1702, a French missionary named Nicolas Foucault was harmed while with the Koroa. The leaders of the Koroa tribe made sure those responsible were held accountable. Over time, many Koroa people joined other tribes. This happened because European diseases caused their population to shrink. They joined tribes like the Tunica, Chickasaw, or Natchez.