Legend of the Singing River

Hundreds of years ago, before the mouth of Mississippi would ever be colonized, there lived a tribe of Native Americans in Pascagoula. Their chieftain would fall in love with the princess of a neighboring tribe from Biloxi, despite her engagement to her own tribe's chieftain. The Pascagoula, a Choctaw word meaning bread-eaters (or bread sharers, by some translations), were a peaceful people, living off the Pascagoula River that ran through Mississippi into the ocean. For as peaceful as the Pascagoula were, the Biloxi were known as a warrior people, seeking out battle and war. And so it came to pass that the Pascagoula fought the Biloxi so that their chieftain might marry the princess. Despite their best efforts, it became clear during the battle that the Pascagoula were not going to defeat the Biloxi.

Instead, led by their women and children, they walked, singing a death chant, into the waters of the Pascagoula River and drowned themselves rather than be enslaved to the Biloxi.

As legend would have it, they say that on a cool night in the early fall you can still hear the melody of the Pascagoula natives on the edge of the river.

This project is how we listen for that song.