Maturin Le Petit (1693–1739) [1] was a Jesuit priest sent among the Choctaws in 1726 [2] and to observe the Natchez in 1730 [3] in an area of what became part of Mississippi. He was also in New Orleans. [4] He wrote of the Natchez that, "The sun is the principal object of veneration to these people" and that "they cannot conceive of anything which can be above this heavenly body". [5] The French were fascinated by accounts of the Natchez as they had been ruled by their own Sun King, Louis XIV (le Roi Soleil). [6]
Maturin Le Petit (1693–1739) [1] was a Jesuit priest sent among the Choctaws in 1726 [2] and to observe the Natchez in 1730 [3] in an area of what became part of Mississippi. He was also in New Orleans. [4] He wrote of the Natchez that, "The sun is the principal object of veneration to these people" and that "they cannot conceive of anything which can be above this heavenly body". [5] The French were fascinated by accounts of the Natchez as they had been ruled by their own Sun King, Louis XIV (le Roi Soleil). [6]