Sacchuma

Sacchuma was a name recorded by members of Hernando de Soto's expedition for the Chakchiuma, a people of the upper Yazoo River country. Their name has been interpreted as “red crawfish,” referring to a tribal totem. French observers later described them as related to the Chickasaw and other peoples speaking western Muskogean languages.

In 1700 Carolina colonists encouraged Quapaw warriors to attack the Chakchiuma and seize captives for the slave trade, but the attack failed. The Chakchiuma later fought on the French side in the Yazoo War. Around 1739 conflict with the Chickasaw devastated them as an independent people; survivors joined Chickasaw and Choctaw communities, forming a Crawfish clan among the latter. A trader recorded Chakchiuma survivors living in Chickasaw villages in 1757.