1. n ( pl Natchez ) a member of a former Native American agricultural people who lived on the Mississippi River near the modern city of Natchez, Mississippi . They spoke the Muskogean language and worshipped the sun. About 400 Natchez were captured by the French in 1729 and sold as slaves in the West Indies. The rest joined the Chickasaw, Creek and Cherokee peoples, and some then went to Oklahoma .
2. a city in the US state of Mississippi . It is the oldest city on the Mississippi River and is famous for its beautiful homes built before the Civil War . Natchez was settled in 1716 by the French who defeated the Natchez people. It was then controlled in turn by Britain, Spain and the US. For a short time (1817–21) it was the state capital. The Natchez Trace National Parkway runs from Natchez to Nashville , Tennessee .