SUMMARYPerier ships the Natchez to Ayiti as slaves (New Orleans to Ayiti, colonial "Saint-Domingue," 1731) [Connections: Gulf, Louisiana, Texas & Mexico, Nov 5, 2026]
RECORDAfter the January 1731 surrender, Governor Étienne Perier "sent the chiefs, the Great Sun and the Little Sun," along with 45 male prisoners and 450 women and children, to the colony the French called Saint-Domingue, "where they were sold as slaves" (Gayarré 1854, pp. 447–448, as cited by Wikipedia). The Great Sun, Saint Cosme, and his mother, the Female Sun Tattooed Arm, were among them. Historian Noel E. Smyth (draft) records the ship La Vénus leaving New Orleans in May 1731 with 291 enslaved Natchez, of whom only 160 were alive at Cap Français
PATTERNA whole sovereign nation's leadership was sold into the Caribbean slave system, where their descendants were counted as enslaved people
LENS (WW9)The Natchez royal line went into Ayiti's chains, and their descendants were renamed on paper
OPENThe counts disagree (495 per Gayarré, 438 or 291 per Smyth), so they need reconciling. The Smyth draft says "do not cite or circulate": cite his 2016 UC Santa Cruz dissertation "A Natchez Diaspora" instead
SOURCENatchez revolt (Wikipedia); Smyth, "Natchez in Saint Domingue, 1731–1791" (draft).