Introduction

The history of intimate relations in eighteenth-century Louisiana is a familiar colonial story. Through historical documents we learn of the commonplace nature of interracial and interethnic sexual relations in the colony, the frustrations of missionaries regarding the lack of legitimate Christian marriage, concerns regarding Native American and African concubines, and the very real threat (at least in the eyes of colonial officials and missionaries) of French men leaving behind their cultural traditions and their spiritual selves to “go native.” Numerous academic publications have emphasized the complex nature of colonial métissage and an increasing number of authors continue to draw out the lived experiences of women and their mixed-race children in these entanglements (e.g., Hodes 1997; Spear 1999, 2003, 2009; Stoler 2001). Spear (1999, 2003) and Dawdy (2006) have used historical documents to detail some of the intimate relations that existed between the Native American and French occupants of colonial Louisiana. Drawing from this same body of literature, Usner (2003: 22) notes that “intimate border crossing” was common in the colony, especially because young Native American women could freely engage in sexual relations before marriage without social sanction. Additionally, Hodes (1997: 39) highlights the sexual and material aspects of intimate encounters, indicating that Native American women may have sought out relationships with French men to allow themselves access to more European-manufactured goods, thus enabling them to gain status within their communities. These contemporary writings that examine eighteenth-century documents reveal the central role of sex and intimate relationships in the Louisiana colony: sexual attractions of unfamiliar bodies, policing of those desires, maintenance of social hierarchies and skin color, and material strategies used in dressing one's body in this context of colonization, desire, and fear.

Given that intimate border crossings were so ordinary, part of the everyday rhythm of life in French Louisiana, here I explore archaeological and archival perspectives of intimate relations in French Colonial Louisiana. What do these sources have to say about the ways in which intimate relations were materialized? When viewed together, how to they provide insight on colonial conceptualizations and constructions of desire? My study focuses on Natchez dress and adornment. Natchez people incorporated aspects of Native American- and European-manufactured material culture into their dressing practices. Although these practices allowed Natchez people to create new colonial identities that would enable further intimate border crossings, these dressing practices created a colonial body that was so sensorially different from European bodies that it was simultaneously feared and desired by French colonizers.