The Grand Village is actually a state-operated museum with displays, a "touch" table, and a gift shop. They also have A/V about the site. The grounds are quite beautiful, with a nature walk around the mounds and down by St. Catherine Creek. There are no extant buildings, only artifacts (one recreated hut). The Natchez were a fascinating tribe, highly developed culture reminiscent of the Maya and Aztec, unfortunately gone now. Also, Emerald Mound, the 2nd largest mound in the US, is a few miles north just off the Natchez Trace. That mound has about a 2 acre top-- huge! Of course, Natchez is at the terminus of the Trace, a scenic road (a la the Blue Ridge Parkway) from Nashville to Natchez.
We were a little disappointed. The museum is tiny with very few artifacts to see. The recreated hut was very spidery and buggy on the inside. I expected more. My kids were bored.
There is no fee for this attraction and that is a fair price.There is a short introduction film in the visitor centre which was probably/hopefully made some years ago. The picture quality is poor and the sound goes up and down. It gives you a bit of some interesting facts and background so if you have made the effort to pop in here worth a watch, even if just for the comic value.Visitor centre staff were nice and there are bathroom facilities. The stroll around the mounds was pleasant, not that much to see or read but good excuse for a leg stretch and some fresh air after being in the car for a most of the day!
A recent trip to Natchez led us to the Grand Village of the Natchez Indians. There is a very small museum/gift shop on the property. After viewing the items in both, we made the outside trek to the mounds. Overall, I was somewhat disappointed. Just not enough there to see.The site is open everyday except Sunday from 9 - 5. Admission is free.
This is a wonderful and educational site. It isn't downtown but is easily located off Hwy. 61 South. Becky was so helpful and we just fell in love with her. Her knowledge and love of her job is evident. Don't miss!!!
If you are into Mississippi Culture Indian Mounds and are in Natchez, you can add this to your list of places to see. If you are looking for a Grand experience as compared to other Mississippi Culture Mound builders, you will be disappointed.
The museum is very tiny, and the information and literature offered is quite limited. I left the exhibit wishing there had been more detailed explanations of the artifacts and traditions they outlined. The exhibits seemed very dated, and the museum overall seemed tired. The grounds were scenic, but the availability of information about the village itself was inconsistent. There was plenty of explanation on the ancient mounds, but none on the traditional home they had set up! I wouldn't put this as #1 on your list if you have limited time in Natchez, but it's not an awful place to spend about a half hour.
So this place isn't that impressive when you first look at it. The museum is small, but very informative! There is only one hut, but its cool to go inside and see how their houses used to look. And that's about it. So, for a more enjoyable time, I recommend bringing a picnic and eat in little meadow then go for a hike in the surrounding forest.
My visit gave me an understanding of ancient Natchez Indian culture. There is no admission fee and you cannot complain about the cost.
Wanted to come here and learn a bit more about the Natchez Indians, as most of the stuff around Natchez deals with the antebellum era houses etc. There is a very small museum with limited information, and we encountered 2 staff members who didn't say more than "hello" and "goodbye" to us the entire time we were in there - which to be fair was only about 15 mins. We started to look around outside but nothing has any information about it so we turned around and left. As it is free we didn't mind having wasted our time, but wouldn't recommend anyone else visiting.