A place to go native.

About thirty miles from Bynum Mounds, you’ll want to explore the Chickasaw Village, once known as Long Town, where the Chickasaws defeated the French at the Battle of Ackia. The Village is a fascinating doorway into the Chickasaw culture; there’s even a nature trail grown with the indigenous plants the tribe used for food and medicine. Just a few miles away, the Chickasaw Council House is located on the site of Pontatok, the capital of the Chickasaw nation during the 1820s.

It isn’t only the opportunities the Trace provides for visitors to see sites like the Council House and the Chickasaw Village, it’s also the context and interpretation the Trace provides that makes for such a memorable and compelling experience. At the Natchez Trace Headquarters, located just outside Tupelo, a newly revamped historical exhibit has become a must-see attraction for the more than 50,000 visitors who pass through the facility every year. Organized through 9 major subjects, from the mound builders to the Kaintuck boatmen to military affairs to flora and fauna, the exhibit goes deep and wide, and will carry you to the heart of what the Natchez Trace means to America.

Afterwards, you’ll want to head into the city. Tupelo means “lodging place” in Chickasaw, but you’ll want to leave behind the moccasins. Time to put on your blue suede shoes. First stop: The Birthplace.