The Natchez Great Sun and Tattooed Serpent (Natchez)
The Natchez were ruled by two paramount chiefs: the Great Sun, who had supreme authority over civil and religious affairs, and the Tattooed Serpent, who oversaw matters of war, peace, and diplomacy. Both were hereditary positions within the Sun lineage, the royal clan. The Great Sun was considered a living deity, a direct descendant of the sun itself, and was carried on a litter so that his feet never touched the ground. When the Tattooed Serpent died in 1725, the funeral was a spectacular and solemn event. Two of his wives, one of his sisters, his first warrior, his doctor, his head servant a