Nankowetco: The Natchez Odyssey, 1716-1734

This fictional history shows how people worlds apart are hurled into the Mississippi Valley to a New World ruled by water and climate and by overseas power. Their daily lives and passions pitch men and women, French, Canadian,African and Indian into the storm that is Louisiana as cultures clash to change all their lives. NANKOWETCO explores the life of the Natchez Indian Lepage Du Pratz. French Peers called him Lepage, and natives addressed him as Nankowetco ("The Man Who Cares"). Du Pratz sympathized with the native resistance to French Control during 1716-1734, refusing to become enslaved by the French. The French in turn were determined to prevail against the Indians to the point of annihilation. Not only an Indian hero, Du Pratz was an enlightened man, a scientist and observer.