them as the Tensaw River. In 1763 the French ceded the eastern half of French Louisiana to the British following their defeat in the Seven Years' War. The Taensa, along with the Apalachee and Pakana, relocated again, this time west of the Mississippi to French territory on the Red River. There they eventually merged with the Chitimacha. According to historian James Mooney, they numbered about 100 persons in 1805. Early in the nineteenth century, the Taensa petitioned the Spanish colonial authorities for land on which to settle in southeastern Texas; they were given permission to settle land lying between the Trinity and the Sabine rivers, but ultimately did not migrate. This was the last appearance of the tribe in historical records. They later moved south to Bayou Boeuf and later still to Grand Lake, "after which the remnant disappear[ed] from history." Culture The Taensa were a Natchezan people who separated from the main body of the Natchez sometime prior to European contact with the Lower Mississippi Valley region. As such their languages, political, religious, and material cultures were very similar to the Natchez. When they first enter the historical record they are found just to the northwest of the Natchez and on the western bank of the Mississippi as opposed to its eastern bank. Like some other inhabitants of the area, such as the Natchez, Tunica, and Houma, Taensa society was matrilineal. Taensa society was also very hierarchical and showed marked class differences between commoners and elites, hallmarks of being a simple chiefdom. Chiefs exercised absolute power and were treated with great respect; unlike more egalitarian customs among the northern tribes the early chroniclers were used to. An example of this respect was recorded during a ceremonial visit by a chief to visit the explorer René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, when attendants came several hours in advance of the chief and with their hands swept the road clean. Ceramics The beginning of the Transylvania Phase (1550-1700 CE) of the Tensas Basin region saw the increasing spread of Mississippian influences diffusing southward from what is now southeastern Arkansas. This is most identifiable in ceramic traditions. The Mississippian peoples of the Central Mississippi Valley used different vessel forms, tempering agents, and decorations than the Plaquemine peoples of the Lower Mississippi Valley. By the late 17th century these changes in ceramic technology had reached the Taensa in the Lower Tensas Basin. The