Description
The Koroa are one of many “small tribes” of the southeastern United States that are mentioned briefly in historic accounts and then fade from the records during the colonial period. The Koroa were one of the groups of indigenous people who lived in the Mississippi Valley prior to the European settlement of the region. They lived in the northwest of present-day Mississippi in the Yazoo River basin. The Koroa may be the tribe identified by Hernando de Soto's expedition as the Coligua or Cologoa. They were met by Soto's company in the area of what is today Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1541.
Language
Their language was never well recorded, but appears to have been a Gulf language, either a dialect of Tunica or a closely related language.
Culture
Tunica Indians grew crops of corn and squash that were the primary food staples. The men did most of the gardening and the women collected wild plant foods, including fruits, berries, nuts, seeds, roots, and herbs. The men also hunted deer, bear, and occasionally buffalo for meat, hides, and other products. Water from salty springs was evaporated to make salt, some of which was traded to other tribes. The men wore deerskin loincloths during the warm seasons, and they tattooed themselves and wore beads and pendants. Women wore short, fringed skirts of cloth made by pounding the inner bark of mulberry trees. They also tattooed themselves and wore beads, pendants and ear ornaments. Women kept their hair in a single, long braid that often was coiled on top of the head. Both sexes wore cloaks of mulberry cloth, woven turkey feathers, or muskrat fur during the cold seasons.