The Tunica people are a group of linguistically and culturally related Native American tribes in the Mississippi River Valley, which include the Tunica (also spelled Tonica, Tonnica, and Thonnica); the Yazoo; the Koroa (Akoroa, Courouais); and possibly the . They first encountered Europeans in 1541 – members of the Hernando de Soto expedition. The Tunica language is an isolate.