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BRINTON S LIBRARY OF 
 
 ABORIGINAL AMERICAN LITERATURE. 
 
 NUMBER IV. 
 
 A 
 
 MIGRATION LEGEND 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Creek Indians, 
 
 WITH A LINGUISTIC, HISTORIC AND ETHNOGRAPHIC 
 INTRODUCTION, 
 
 ALBERT S. GATSCHET, 
 
 OF THE U. S. BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY, WASHINGTON, D. i_, 
 
 VOLU M E I. 
 
 Nape y.ai /lipyair' a-KiGTsX'j' 
 a/iftpa raura tu>v ypsvwv. 
 
 Epicharmus. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 
 D. G. BRINTON. 
 
 1884- 
 
 a. 
 
V»> w iih ■•-,. SU s_ 
 
 UNIVERSITY: 
 
 v 
 
 \ 
 
 Li aire Art i 
 
 Copyright, 
 
 By Daniel G. Brinton. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA : 
 
 Pkess of Wm. F. Fell & Co., 
 1220-24 Sansom Street. 
 
LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 American 
 
 Literature. 
 
 No. IV. 
 
 EDITED BY 
 
 D. G. BRINTON, M. D. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 1884. 
 
PREFATORY NOTE. 
 
 In the present work, Mr. ' Gatsctiet has carried out a much needed 
 investigation. The tribes who inhabited the watershed of the north shore 
 of the Mexican Gulf must always occupy a prominent place in the study 
 of American Ethnology, as possibly connecting the races of North and 
 South America, and those of the Valley of the Mississippi with those of 
 Anahuac and Mayapan. 
 
 Years ago the general editor of this series stated, in various publications, 
 the problems that region offers, and on finding the remarkable legend of 
 Chekilli, translated it and published it, as pointing to a solution of some of 
 the questions involved. This legend has, at his request, been taken by Mr. 
 Gatschet as a centre around which to group the ethnography of that whole 
 territory, as well as a careful analysis of the legend and its language. 
 
 The first volume contains the general discussion of the subject, and 
 closes with the Creek version of the Legend and its translation. The 
 second will contain the Hitchiti Version, the Notes, and Vocabulary. 
 
 One statement of the author, overlooked in the proof reading, seems of 
 sufficient importance to be corrected here. The Choctaw Grammar of 
 the late Rev. Cyrus Byington was published complete, and from his last 
 revision (1866-68), not as an extract from his first draft, as stated on page 
 117. The full particulars are given in the Introduction to the Grammar. 
 
 THE EDITOR. 
 
 111 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The present publication proposes to bring before the public, in popular 
 form, some scientific results obtained while studying the language and 
 ethnology of the Creek tribe and its ethnic congeners. The method of 
 furthering ethnographic study by all the means which the study of lan- 
 guage can afford, has been too little appreciated up to the present time, 
 but has been constantly kept in view in this publication. Language is not 
 only the most general and important help to ethnology, but outside of 
 race, it is also the most ancient of all ; ethnologists are well aware of this 
 fact, but do not generally apply it to their studies, because they find it too 
 tedious to acquire the language of unlettered tribes by staying long enough 
 among them. 
 
 The help afforded to linguistic studies by the books published in and 
 upon the Indian languages is valuable only for a few among the great 
 number of the dialects. The majority of them are laid down in phoneti- 
 cally defective missionary alphabets, about which we are prompted to 
 repeat what the citizens of the young colony of Mexico wrote to the 
 government of Spain, in Cortez's time : " Send to us pious and Christian 
 men, as preachers, bishops and missionaries, but do not send us scholars, 
 who, with their pettifogging distinctions and love of contention, create 
 nothing but disorder and strife." 1 In the same manner, some Creek 
 scholars and churchmen agreed five times in succession, before 1853, 
 upon standard alphabets to be followed in transcribing Creek, but, as 
 Judge G. W. Stidham justly remarks, made it worse each time. To arrive 
 at trustworthy results, it is therefore necessary to investigate the forms of 
 speech as they are in use among the Indians themselves. 
 
 Very few statements of the Kasi'hta migration legend can be made 
 available for history. It is wholly legendary, in its first portion even 
 mythical ; it is of a comparatively remote age, exceedingly instructive for 
 ethnography and for the development of religious ideas; it is full of that 
 sort of naiueti which we like so much to meet in the mental productions 
 of our aborigines, and affords striking instances of the debasing and 
 brutalizing influence of the unrestricted belief in the supernatural and 
 
 1 Quotation, ad sensum, from Benial Diaz" " Historia verdadera." 
 V 
 
Vi PREFACE. 
 
 miraculous. Of the sun-worship, which underlies the religions of all the 
 tribes in the Gulf territories, only slight intimations are contained in the 
 Kasi'hta legend, and the important problem, whether the Creeks ever 
 crossed the Mississippi river from west to east in their migrations, seems 
 to be settled by it in the negative, although other legends may be adduced 
 as speaking in its favor. 
 
 Owing to deficient information on several Maskoki dialects, I have not 
 touched the problem of their comparative age. From the few indications 
 on hand, I am inclined to think that Alibamu and Koassati possess more 
 and Cha'hta less archaic forms than the other dialect-groups. 
 
 From Rev. H. C. Buckner's Creek Grammar, with its numerous de- 
 fects, I have extracted but a few conjugational forms of the verb isita to 
 take, but have availed myself of some linguistic manuscripts of Mrs. A. 
 E. W. Robertson, the industrious teacher and translator of many parts of 
 the Bible into Creek. 
 
 The re-translation of the legend into Creek and Hitchiti is due to Judge 
 G. W. Stidham, of Eufaula, Indian Territory, who in infancy witnessed 
 the emigration of his tribe, the Hitchiti, from the Chatahuchi river into 
 their present location. My heartfelt thanks are also due to other Indians, 
 who have materially helped me in my repeated revisions of the subject 
 matter embodied in these volumes, and in other investigations. They 
 were the Creek delegates to the Federal government, Chiefs Chicote and 
 Ispahidshi, Messrs. S. B. Callaghan, Grayson and Hodge. 
 
 I also fully acknowledge the services tendered by the officers of the 
 TJ. S. Bureau of Ethnology, as well as by Dr. Daniel G. Brinton and by 
 General Albert Pike, who placed the rich shelves of their libraries at 
 my disposition. In the kindest manner I was furnished with scientific 
 statements of various kinds by Messrs. W. R. Gerard, C. C. Royce and 
 Dr. W. C. Hoffmann. 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
 Washington, August, 1884. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 FIRST PART. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 THE SOUTHERN FAMILIES OF INDIANS 9 
 
 /. Linguistic Groups of the Gulf States. 
 Timucua, II. Calusa, 13. Tequesta, 15. Kataba, 15. Yuchi, 17. 
 Cheroki, 24. Arkansas, 29. Taensa, 30. Tangipahoa, 34. 
 Naktche, 34. Tonica, 39. Adai,4i. Pani, 42. Shetimasha, 44. 
 Atakapa, 45. Bidai, 47. Korea, 47. The Westo and Stono In- 
 dians, 48. The Linguistic Map, 49. 
 
 II. The Maskoki Family. 
 
 The Common Maskoki Language, 53. The Name Maskoki, 58. 
 Tribal Divisions; the Yamassi, 62. Yamacraw, 65. Seminole, 
 66. Apalachi, 74. Mikasuki, 76. Hitchiti, 77. The Hitchiti 
 Dialect, 80. Alibamu, 85. Koassati, 89. Chicasa, 90. Tribes 
 on the Yazoo River, 97. Cha'hta, 100. The Cha'hta Language, 116. 
 
 III. The Creek Indians. 
 
 Creek Settlements, 120. List of Towns, 124. The Indian Pathways, 
 151. The Creek Government, 152. Tribal Divisions and Gentes, 
 153. Civil Government, 156. The Warrior Class, 158. War 
 Titles, 160. War Customs, 164. Organization of the Confederacy, 
 168. The Public Square, 171. The Annual Busk, 177. Further 
 Ethnographic Notes, 183. Creek History, 188. The Creek Dia- 
 lect, 198. Lexical Affinities, 212. 
 
 SECOND FART. 
 The KasVhta Migration Legend. 
 Indian Migration Legends, 214. Migration Legends of the Creek 
 Tribes, 222. TchikilU's Kasi'hta Legend, 235. The Text, 237. 
 The Translation, 244. 
 
 VII 
 
A MIGRATION LEGEND 
 
 OF 
 
 THE CREEK INDIANS. 
 
 FIRST OR GENERAL PART. 
 
 THE SOUTHERN FAMILIES OF INDIANS. 
 
 The early explorers of the Gulf territories have left to 
 posterity a large amount of information concerning the natives 
 whom they met as friends or fought as enemies. They have 
 described their picturesque attire, their curious, sometimes" 
 awkward, habits and customs, their dwellings and plantations, 
 their government in times of peace and war, as exhaustively 
 as they could do, or thought fit to do. They distinguished 
 tribes from confederacies, and called the latter kingdoms and 
 empires, governed by princes, kings and emperors. But the 
 characteristics of race and language, which are the most 
 important for ethnology, because they are the most ancient 
 ' in their origin, are not often alluded to by them, and when 
 the modern sciences of anthropology and ethnology had 
 been established on solid principles many of these southern 
 races had already disappeared or intermingled, and scientific 
 inquiry came too late for their investigation. 
 
 A full elucidation of the history and antiquities of the 
 subject of our inquiries, the Creeks, is possible only after 
 having obtained an exhaustive knowledge of the tribes and 
 nations living around them. The more populous among 
 them have preserved their language and remember many of 
 2 9 
 
10 THE SOUTHERN FAMILIES. 
 
 their ancestors' customs and habits, so that active exploration 
 in the field can still be helpful to us in many respects in 
 tracing and rediscovering their ancient condition. Three 
 centuries ago the tribes of the Maskoki family must have 
 predominated in power over all their neighbors, as they do 
 even now in numbers, and had formed confederacies uniting 
 distant tribes. Whether they ever crossed the Mississippi 
 river or not, the Indians of this family are as thoroughly 
 southern as their neighbors, and seem to have inhabited 
 southern lands for times immemorial. The scientists who 
 now claim that they descend from the mound builders, do so 
 only on the belief that they must have dwelt for uncounted 
 centuries in the fertile tracts where Hernando de Soto found 
 them, and where they have remained up to a recent epoch. 
 In the territory once occupied by their tribes no topographic 
 name appears to point to an earlier and alien population; 
 and as to their exterior, the peculiar olive admixture to their 
 cinnamon complexion is a characteristic which they have in 
 common with all other southern tribes. 
 
 My introduction to the Kasi'hta national legend proposes 
 to assign to the- Creeks: (i) their proper position in the 
 Maskoki family and among their other neighbors; and (2) 
 to describe some of their ethnologic characteristics. The 
 material has been divided in several chapters, which I have - 
 in their logical sequence arranged as follows : 
 
 Linguistic families traceable within the Gulf States. 
 
 The Maskoki group ; its historic subdivisions. 
 
 The Creek Indians ; tribal topography, historic and ethno- 
 graphic notices, sketch of their language. 
 
 I. LINGUISTIC GROUPS OF THE GULF STATES. 
 In the history of the Creeks, and in their legends of migra- 
 tion, many references occur to the tribes around them, with 
 whom they came in contact. These contacts were chiefly of 
 a hostile character, for the normal state of barbaric tribes 
 
TIMUCUA. 11 
 
 is to live in almost permanent mutual conflicts. What follows 
 is an attempt to enumerate and sketch them, the sketch to be 
 of a prevalently topographic nature. We are not thoroughly 
 acquainted with the racial or anthropological peculiarities of 
 the nations surrounding the Maskoki proper on all sides, but 
 in their languages we possess an excellent help for classifying 
 them. Language is not an absolute indicator of race, but it 
 is more so in America than elsewhere, for the large number 
 of linguistic families in the western .hemisphere proves that 
 the populations speaking their dialects have suffered less than 
 in the eastern by encroachment, foreign admixture, forcible 
 alteration or entire destruction. 
 
 Beginning at the southeast, we first meet the historic 
 Timucua family, the tribes of which are extinct at the present 
 time ; and after describing the Indians of the Floridian Pe- 
 ninsula, southern extremity, we pass over to the Yuchi, on 
 Savannah river, to the Naktche, Taensa and the other stocks 
 once settled along and beyond the mighty Uk'hina, or 
 "water road" of the Mississippi river. 
 
 TIMUCUA. 
 
 In the sixteenth century the Timucua inhabited the northern 
 and middle portion of the peninsula of Florida, and although 
 their exact limits to the north are unknown, they held a 
 portion of Florida bordering on Georgia, and some of the 
 coast islands in the Atlantic Ocean, as Guale (then the name 
 of Amelia) and others. The more populous settlements of 
 these Indians lay on the eastern coast of Florida, along the 
 St. John's river and its tributaries, and in the northeastern 
 angle of the Gulf of Mexico. Their southernmost villages 
 known to us were Hirrihigua, near Tampa Bay, and Tucururu, 
 near Cape Canaveral, on the Atlantic Coast. 
 
 The people received its name from one of their villages 
 called Timagoa, Thimagoua (Timoga on De Bry's map), 
 situated on one of the western tributaries of St. John's river, 
 
12 THE SOUTHERN FAMILIES. 
 
 and having some political importance. The name means 
 lord, ruler, master [atimuca "waited upon (muca) by ser- 
 vants (ati)] ;" and the. people's name is written Atimuca early 
 in the eighteenth century. We first become acquainted with 
 their numerous tribes through the memoir of Alvar Nunez 
 Cabeca de Vaca, the three chroniclers of de Soto's expedi- 
 tion, and more fully through Rene de Laudonniere (1564). 
 Two missionaries of the 'Franciscan order, Francisco Pareja 
 (161 2 sqq.) and Gregorio de Mouilla (1635), have composed 
 devotional books in their vocalic language. De Bry's Brevis 
 Narratio, Frankfort a. M., 1591, contains a map of their 
 country, and engravings representing their dwellings, fights, 
 dances and mode of living. 
 
 A few words of their language (Jengua timuquana in Spanish) 
 show affinity with Maskoki, others with Carib. From 1595 
 A. D. they gradually became converted to Christianity, re- 
 volted in 1687 against their Spanish oppressors, and early in 
 the eighteenth century (1706) were so reduced in number 
 that they yielded easily to the attacks of the Yamassi Indians, 
 who, instigated by English colonists, made incursions upon 
 their villages from the North. Their last remnants withdrew 
 to the Mosquito Lagoon, in Volusia County, Florida, where 
 the name of the Tomoco river still recalls their tribal name. 
 
 In 1564, Ren6 de Laudonniere heard of five head chiefs 
 (paracusi) of confederacies in the Timucua country, and from 
 Pareja we can infer that seven or more dialects were spoken 
 in its circumference. The five head chiefs, Saturiwa, Holata 
 Utina, Potanu, Onethcaqua and Hostaqua are only -tribal 
 names (in the second, Utina is the tribal appellation), and 
 the dialects, as far as known, were those of Timagoa, 
 Potanu, Itafi, the Fresh-Water district, Tucururu, Santa Lucia 
 de Acuera, and Mocama (" on the coast"). The last but 
 one probably coincided with that of AIs. 
 
 The AIs Indians, who held the coast from Cape Canaveral, 
 where the Spaniards had the post Santa Lucia, to a lagoon 
 
CALUSA. 13 
 
 once called Aisahatcha (viz., Ais river), were considered as 
 a people distinct from the Timucua. They worshiped the 
 sun in the shape of a stuffed deer raised upon the end of a 
 high beam planted in the ground; this gave, probably, 
 origin to their name Ais, for B. Romans interprets Aisa- 
 hatcha by Deer river (itchi, itche deer, in Creek and Semi- 
 nole). Their territory formed the northern part of the 
 "province" of Tequesta. Cf. B. Romans, East and West 
 Florida (New York, 1775), pp. 2. 260. 273. 281. Herrera, 
 Dec. IV, 4, 7. Barcia, Ensayo, p. 118. 
 
 CALUSA. 
 
 The languages spoken by the Calusa and by the people next 
 in order, the Tequesta, are unknown to us, and thus cannot 
 be mentioned here as forming separate linguistic stocks. 
 I simply make mention of these tribes, because they were 
 regarded as people distinct from the Timucua and the tribes 
 of Maskoki origin. 
 
 The Calusa held the southwestern extremity of Florida, 
 and their tribal name is left recorded in Calusahatchi, a river 
 south of Tampa bay. They are called Calos on de Bry's 
 map (1591), otherwise Colusa, Callos, Carlos, and formed a 
 confederacy of many villages, the names of which are given 
 in the memoir of Hernando d'Escalante Fontanedo (Memoire 
 sur la Floride, in Ternaux-Compans' Collection XX, p. 22; 
 translated from the original Spanish). These names were 
 written down in 1559, and do not show much affinity with 
 Timucua ; but since they are the only remnants of the Calusa 
 language, I present the full list : " Tampa, Tomo, Tuchi, Sogo, 
 No (which signifies 'beloved village'), Sinapa, Sinaesta, 
 Metamapo, Sacaspada, Calaobe, Estame, Yagua, Guaya, 
 Guevu, Muspa, Casitoa, Tatesta, Coyovea, Jutun, Tequemapo, 
 Comachica, Quiseyove and two others in the vicinity. There 
 are others in the interior, near Lake Mayaimi — viz., Cutespa, 
 Tavaguemue, Tomsobe, Enempa and twenty others. Two 
 
14 THE SOUTHERN FAMILIES. 
 
 upon the Lucayos obey to the cacique of Carlos, Guarunguve 
 and Cuchiaga. Carlos and his deceased father were the 
 rulers of these fifty towns." Fontanedo states that he was 
 prisoner in these parts from his thirteenth to his thirtieth 
 year; that he knew four languages, but was not familiar with 
 those of Ais and Teaga, not having been there. 
 
 One of these names is decidedly Spanish, Sacaspada or 
 " Draw-the-sword " ; two others appear to be Timucua, Cala- 
 obe (kala fruit; abo stalk, tree) and Comachica {hica land, 
 country). Some may be explained by the Creek language, 
 but only one of them, Tampa (itimpi close to it, near it) is 
 Creek to a certainty; Tuchi resembles tutchi kidneys ; Sogo, 
 sa-uka rattle, gourd-rattle, and No is the radix of a-no-kitcha 
 lover, anukidshas I love, which agrees with the interpretation 
 given by Fontanedo. Tavaguemue may possibly contain the 
 Creek tawa sumach ; Mayaimi (Lake), which Fontanedo ex- 
 plains by "very large," the Creek augmentative term mahi, 
 and Guevu the Creek u-iwa water. 
 
 The Spanish orthography, in which these names are laid 
 down, is unfitted for transcribing Indian languages, perhaps 
 as much so as the English orthography; nevertheless, we 
 recognize the frequently-occurring terminal -esta, -sta, which 
 sounds quite like Timucua. There are no doubt many geo- 
 •graphic terms, taken from Seminole-Creek, in the south of 
 the peninsula as well as in the north; it only remains to 
 determine what age we have to ascribe to them. 
 
 The Calusa bore the reputation of being a savage and 
 rapacious people, and B. Romans (p. 292) denounces them as 
 having been pirates. He informs us (p. 289), that "at Sandy 
 Point, the southern extremity of the peninsula, are large 
 fields, being the lands formerly planted by the Colusa 
 savages;" and that "they were driven away from the conti- 
 nent by the Creeks, their more potent neighbors." In 1763 
 the remnants, about eighty families, went to Havannah from 
 their last possessions at Cayos Vacos and Cayo Hueso (hueso, 
 
KATABA. 15 
 
 bone), where Romans saw the rests of their stone habitations 
 (p. 291); now called Cayos bajos and Key West. 
 
 On the languages spoken in these parts more will be found 
 under the heading "Seminole." 
 
 TEQUESTA. 
 
 Of the Tequesta people on the southeastern end of the 
 peninsula we know still less than of the Calusa Indians. There 
 was a tradition that they were the same people which held 
 the Bahama or Lucayo Islands, and the local names of the 
 Florida coast given by Fontanedo may partly refer to this 
 nationality. 
 
 They obtained their name from a "village, Tequesta, which 
 lay on a river coming from Lake Mayaimi (Fontanedo in 
 Ternaux-C, XX, p. 14) and was visited by Walter Raleigh 
 (Barcia, Ensayo, p. 161). The lands of the A'is formed the 
 northern portion of the Tequesta domains, and a place called 
 Mocossou is located there on de Bry's map. 
 
 This extinct tribe does not seem to have come in contact 
 with the Creeks, though its area is now inhabited by Semi- 
 noles. 
 
 KATABA. 
 
 The Kataba Indians of North and South Carolina are 
 mentioned here only incidentally, as they do not appear to 
 have had much intercourse with any Maskoki tribe. The 
 real extent of this linguistic group is unknown; being in 
 want of any vocabularies besides that of the Kataba, on 
 Kataba river, S. C, and of the Woccons, settled near the 
 coast of N. C, we are not inclined to trust implicitly the 
 statement of Adair, who speaks of a large Kataba confed- 
 eracy embracing twenty-eight villages "of different nations," 
 on Santee, Combahee, Congaree and other rivers, and speak- 
 ing dialects of the Kataba language. The Waterees, seen by 
 Lawson, probably belonged to this stock, and the Woccons 
 lived contiguous to the Tuscarora-Iroquois tribe. 
 
16 THE SOUTHERN FAMILIES. 
 
 The passage of Adair being the only notice on the extent 
 of the Kataba language found in the early authors, excepting 
 Lawson, I transcribe it here in full (History, pp. 224. 225): 
 "About the year 1743, the nation (of the Katahba) consisted 
 of almost four hundred warriors, of above twenty different 
 dialects. I shall mention a few of the national names of 
 those who make up this mixed language ; the K&tahba is the 
 standard or court dialect — the Wateree, who make up a large 
 town ; Eenb, Charah, \\-wah, now Chowan, Canggaree, Nachee, 
 lamasee, Coosah, etc. Their country had an old waste field 
 of seven miles extent, and several others of smaller dimen- 
 sions, which shows that they were formerly a numerous people, 
 to cultivate so much land with their dull stone axes, etc. ' ' 
 
 After Charah a new page begins, and the -wah following, 
 which has no connection with what precedes, proves that 
 there is a printer's lacune, perhaps of a whole line. Eeno 
 is given by Lawson as a Tuscarora town j 1 Charah is the 
 ancient Sara, Saura, Saraw or Sarau mentioned by Lederer 
 and others. The " Nachee " certainly did not speak a Kataba 
 language, nor is there much probability that the Yamassi did 
 so. By the Coosah are probably meant the Indians living 
 on Coosawhatchee river, South Carolina, near Savannah. 
 Adair, in his quality as trader, had visited the Kataba 
 settlements personally. 2 
 
 Penicaut, in his "Relation," 3 mentions a curious fact, 
 which proves that the alliances of the Kataba extended over 
 a wide territory in the South. In 1708, the Alibamu had 
 invited warriors of the Cheroki, Abika and Kataba (here 
 called Cadapouces, Canapouces) to an expedition against the 
 Mobilians and the French at Fort Mobile. These hordes 
 
 1 Reprint of 1860, pp. 97. 100. 101. 383. 
 
 2 Cf. B. R. Carroll, Histor. Collect, of S. C, II, p. 243. Lawson states 
 that the Congaree dialect was not understood by the Waterees and Chic- 
 arees. 
 
 3 Margry, Dicouvertcs, V, 477. 
 
YUCHI. 17 
 
 arrived near the bay, and were supposed to number four 
 thousand men ; they withdrew without inflicting much 
 damage. More about this expedition under "Alibamu," 
 q. v. 
 
 YUCHI. 
 
 None of all the allophylic tribes referred to in this First 
 Part stood in closer connection with the Creeks or Maskoki 
 proper than the Yuchi or Uchee Indians. They constituted 
 a portion of their confederacy from the middle of the eigh- 
 teenth century, and this gives us the opportunity to discuss 
 their peculiarities more in detail than those of the other 
 "outsiders." They have preserved their own language and 
 customs; no mention is made of them in the migration legend, 
 and the Creeks have always considered them as a peculiar 
 people. 
 
 General Pleasant Porter has kindly favored me with a few 
 ethnologic points, gained by himself from Yuchi Indians, 
 who inhabit the largest town in the Creek Nation, Indian 
 Terr., with a population of about 500. "In bodily size they 
 are smaller than the Creeks, but lithe and of wiry musculature, 
 the muscles often protruding from the body. Their descent 
 is in the male line, and they were once polygamous. It is a 
 disputed fact whether they ever observed the custom of flat- 
 tening their children's heads, like some of their neighbors. 
 They call themselves children of the Sun, and sun worship 
 seems to have been more pronounced here than with other 
 tribes of the Gulf States. The monthly efflux of the Sun, 
 whom they considered as of the female sex, fell to the earth, 
 as they say, and from this the Yuchi people took its origin. 
 They increase in number at the present time, and a part of 
 them are still pagans. Popularly expressed, their language 
 sounds 'like the warble of the prairie-chickens.' It is stated 
 that their conjurers' songs give a clue to all their antiquities 
 and symbolic customs. They exclude the use of salt from all 
 drugs which serve them as medicine. While engaged in making , 
 
18 THE SOUTHERN FAMILIES. 
 
 medicine they sing the above songs for a time; then comes 
 the oral portion of their ritual, which is followed by other 
 songs." 
 
 Not much is known of their language, but it might be 
 easily obtained from the natives familiar with English. From 
 what we know of it, it shows no radical affinity with any 
 known American tongue, and its phonetics have often been 
 noticed for their strangeness. They are said to speak with 
 an abundance of arrested sounds or voice-checks, from which 
 they start again with a jerk of the voice. The accent often 
 rests on the ultima (Powell's mscr. vocabulary), and Ware 
 ascribes to them, though wrongly, the Hottentot cluck. 
 
 The numerals follow the decimal, not the quinary system 
 as they do in the Maskoki languages. The lack of a dual 
 form in the intransitive verb also distinguishes Yuchi from 
 the latter. 
 
 The earliest habitat of the Yuchi, as far as traceable, was 
 on both sides of the Savannah river, apd Yuchi towns existed 
 there down to the middle of the eighteenth century. 
 
 When Commander H. de Soto reached these parts, with his 
 army, the "queen" (sefiora, cacica) of the country met him 
 at the town Cofetacque on a barge, a circumstance which 
 testifies to the existence of a considerable water-course there. 
 Cofetacque, written also Cofitachiqui (Biedma), Cofachiqui 
 (Garcilaso de la Vega), Cutifachiqui (consonants inverted, 
 Elvas) was seven days' march from Chalaque (Cheroki) 
 " province," and distant from the sea about thirty leagues, as 
 stated by the natives of the place. There were many ruined 
 towns in the vicinity, we are told by the Fidalgo de Elvas. 
 One league from there, in the direction up stream, was Talo- 
 meco town, the "temple" of which is described as a won- 
 derful and curious structure by Garcilaso. Many modern 
 historians have located these towns on the middle course of 
 Savannah river, and Charles C. Jones (Hernando de Soto, 
 1880; pp. 27. 29) believes, with other investigators, that 
 
YUCHI. 19 
 
 Cofetacque stood at Silver Bluff, on the left bank of the 
 Savannah river, about twenty-five miles by water below 
 Augusta. The domains of that "queen," or, as we would 
 express it, the towns and lands of that confederacy, extended 
 from there up to the Cheroki mountains. 
 
 The name Cofita-chiqui seems to prove by itself that these 
 towns were inhabited by Yuchi Indians ; for it contains 
 kowita, the Yuchi term for Indian, and apparently " Indian 
 of our own tribe." This term appears in all the vocabula- 
 ries: kawita, man, male; kohwita, ko-ita, plural kohino'h, 
 man; kota, man, contracted from kow'ta, kowita; also 
 in compounds: kowet-ten-choo, chief; kohitta makinnung, 
 chief of a people. The terms for the parts of the human body 
 all begin with ko-. The second part of the name, -chiqui, is 
 a term foreign to Yuchi, but found in all the dialects of 
 Maskoki in the function of house, dwelling, (tchuku, tch6ko, 
 and in the eastern or Apalachian dialects, tchiki) and has to 
 be rendered here in the collective sense of houses, town. 
 Local names to be compared with Cofitachiqui are : Cofachi, 
 further south, and Acapachiqui, a tract of land near Apalache. 
 
 The signification of the name Yutchi, plural Yutchiha, by 
 which this people calls itself, is unknown. All the surround- 
 ing Indian tribes call them Yuchi, with the exception of the 
 Lenapi or Delawares, who style them Tahogalewi. 
 
 But there are two sides to this question. We find the local 
 name Kawita, evidently the above term, twice on middle 
 Chatahuchi river, and also in Cofetalaya, settlements of the 
 Cha'hta Indians in Tala and Green counties, Mississippi. 
 Did any Yuchi ever live in these localities in earlier epochs? 
 Garcilaso de Vega, Florida III, c. 10, states that Juan Ortiz, 
 who had been in the Floridian peninsula before, acted as 
 interpreter at Cofitachiqui. This raises the query, did the 
 natives of this "capital" speak Creek or Yuchi? Who 
 will attempt to give an irrefutable answer to this query ? 
 
 The existence of a " queen " or cacica, that is, of a chief's 
 
20 THE SOUTHERN FAMILIES. 
 
 widow invested with the authority of a chief, seems to show 
 that Cofetacque town or confederacy did not belong to the 
 Maskoki connection, for we find no similar instance in Creek 
 towns. Among the Yuchi, succession is in the male line, but 
 the Hitchiti possess a legendary tradition, according to which 
 the first chief that ever stood at the head of their community 
 was a woman. 
 
 To determine the extent of the lands inhabited or claimed 
 by the Yuchi in de Soto's time, is next to impossible. At a 
 later period they lived on the eastern side of the Savannah 
 river, and on its western side as far as Ogeechee river, and 
 upon tracts above and below Augusta," Georgia. These tracts 
 were claimed by them as late as 1736. John Filson, in his 
 "Discovery etc. of Kentucky" vol. II, 84-87 (1793), gives 
 a list of thirty Indian tribes, and a statement on Yuchi 
 towns, which he must have obtained from a much older 
 source: "Uchees occupy four different places of residence, 
 at the head of St. John's, the fork of St. Mary's, the head of 
 Cannouchee and the head of St. Tillis. 1 These rivers rise on 
 the borders of Georgia and run separately into the ocean." 
 To Cannouchee answers a place Canosi, mentioned in Juan 
 de la Vandera's narrative (1569) ; the name, however, is 
 Creek and not Yuchi. Hawkins states that formerly Yuchi 
 were settled in small villages at Ponpon, Saltketchers and 
 Silver Bluff, S. C, and on the Ogeechee river, Ga. In 1739 
 a Yuchi town existed on the Savannah river, twenty-five miles 
 above Ebenezer, which is in Effingham county, Georgia, near 
 Savannah City (Jones, Tomochichi, p. 117 ; see next page). 
 From notices, contained in the first volume of Urlsperger's 
 " Ausfuhrliche Nachricht," pp. 845. 850-851, we gather 
 the facts that this Yuchi town was five miles above the Apa- 
 lachicola Fort, which stood in the " Pallachucla savanna," 
 and that its inhabitants celebrated an annual busk, which 
 was at times visited by the colonists. Governor Oglethorpe 
 1 The present Satilla river; falsely written St Ilia, Santilla, St Tillie. 
 
YUCHI. 21 
 
 concluded an alliance with this town, and when he exchanged 
 presents to confirm the agreement made, he obtained skins 
 from these Indians. Rev. Boltzius, the minister of the Salz- 
 burger emigrants, settled in the vicinity, depicts their char- 
 acter in dark colors ; he states " they are much inclined to 
 Robbing and Stealing," but was evidently influenced by the 
 Yamassi and Yamacraw in their vicinity, who hated them as 
 a race foreign to themselves. Of these he says, " these Creeks 
 are Honest, Serviceable and Disinterested." 1 • 
 
 The reason why the Yuchi people gradually left their old 
 seats and passed over to Chatahuchi and Flint rivers is 
 stated as follows by Benj. Hawkins, United States Agent 
 among the Creeks in his instructive "Sketch of the Creek 
 Country" (1799).* 
 
 In 1729, "Captain Ellick," an old chief of Kasi'hta, 
 married three Yuchi women and brought them to Kasi'hta. 
 This was greatly disliked by his townspeople, and he was 
 prevailed upon to move across Chatahuchi river, opposite to 
 where Yuchi town was in Hawkins' time; he settled there 
 with his three brothers, two of whom had intermarried with 
 Yuchis.. After this, the chief collected all the Yuchi people, 
 gave ,them lands on the site of Yuchi town, and there they 
 settled. 
 
 Hawkins eulogizes the people by stating that they are more 
 civil, orderly and industrious than their neighbors (the Lower 
 Creeks), the men more attached to their wives, and these 
 more chaste. He estimates the number of their warriors 
 ("gun-men"), including those of the three branch. villages, 
 at about two hundred and fifty. These branch towns were 
 Intatchkalgi, "beaver-dam people"; Padshilaika, "pigeon 
 roost"; and Tokogalgi, "tad-pole people", on Flint river 
 
 1 Extract from Rev. B's Journal; London, 1734, !2mo, p. 37. 
 
 2 Collections of the Georgia Historical Society, vol. Ill, part first, pp. 
 61-63 (Savannah, 1848). 
 
 * See below : List of Creek Settlements. 
 
22 THE SOUTHERN FAMILIES. 
 
 and its side creeks; while a few Yuchi had gone to the 
 Upper Creeks and settled there at Sawan6gi. Yuchi, the 
 main town, lay on the western bank of Chatahuchi river, on 
 a tributary called Yuchi creek, ten and one-half miles below 
 Kawita Talahassi, and two miles above Osutchi. Another 
 water course, called " Uchee river," runs from the west into 
 Oklokoni river, or "Yellow. Water," in the southwestern 
 corner of the State of Georgia. Morse, in his list of Semi- 
 nole settlements (1822), mentions a Yuchi town near Mika- 
 suki, Florida. 
 
 The main Yuchi town on Chatahuchi river was built in a 
 vast plain rising from the river. W. Bartram, who saw it 
 in 1775, depicts it as the largest, most compact, and best 
 situated Indian town he ever saw; the habitations were large 
 and neatly built, the walls of the houses consisted of a wooden 
 frame, lathed and plastered inside and outside with a reddish 
 clay, and roofed with cypress bark or shingles. He esti- 
 mated the number of the inhabitants at one thousand or 
 fifteen hundred. They were usually at variance with the 
 Maskoki confederacy, and "did not mix" with its people, 
 but were wise enough to unite with them against a common 
 enemy (Travels, pp. 386. 387). 
 
 The early reports may often have unconsciously included 
 the Yuchi among the Apalachi 1 and Apalatchukla. Among 
 the chiefs who accompanied Tomochichi, miko of the Yama- 
 craw Indians, to England in 1733, was Umphichi or 
 Umpeachy, "a Uchee chief from Palachocolas." 2 
 
 William Bartram, who traveled through these parts from 
 1773 to 1778, and published his "Travels" many years later, 3 
 calls them " Uche or Savannuca,' ' which is the Creek Sawan6gi, 
 or "dwellers upon Savannah river." This name Savannuca, 
 and many equally sounding names, have caused much con- 
 
 1 Cf. Gallatin, Synopsis, p. 95. 
 
 2 Chas. C. Jones, Tomochichi, pp. 58. 83. 
 
 3 Published Philadelphia, 1791. 
 
YUCHI. 23 
 
 fusion concerning a supposed immigration of the Shawano 
 or Shawnee Indians (of the Algonkin race) into Georgia, 
 among historians not posted in Indian languages. Sawan6gi 
 is derived from Savannah river, which is named after the 
 prairies extending on both sides, these being called in Spanish 
 sabana. Sabana, and savane in the Canadian French, desig- 
 nate a grassy plain, level country, prairie, also in Span, pasture 
 extending over a plain ; from Latin sabana napkin. It still 
 occurs in some local names of Canada and of Spanish 
 America. But this term has nothing at all in common with 
 the Algonkin word shawano south, from which are derived 
 the tribal names: Shawano or Shawnee, once on Ohio and 
 Cumberland rivers and their tributaries ; Chowan in Southern 
 Virginia; Siwoneys in Connecticut; Sawannoe in New Jersey 
 (about 1616); Chaouanons, the southern division of the 
 Illinois or Maskoutens. 
 
 These tribes, and many others characterized as southerners 
 by the same or similar Algonkin names, had no connection 
 among themselves, besides the affinity in their dialects, which 
 for the Chowans is not even certain. The tradition that 
 Shawanos existed in Upper Georgia, around Tugelo, and on 
 the head waters of the large Georgia rivers, requires therefore 
 further examination. Milfort, in his M6moire (pp. 9. 10) 
 states that lands were obtained from "les Savanogues, sauvages 
 qui habitent cette partie (de Tougoulou)," for the plantation 
 of vineyards, about 1775. The name of the Suwanee river, 
 Florida, and that of Suwanee Creek and town, northeast of 
 Atlanta, Georgia, seem to contain the Creek term sawani 
 echo. By all means, these names cannot serve to prove the 
 presence of the Shawano tribe in these eastern parts, but a 
 settlement of Shawanos, also called Sawanogi, existed on Talla- 
 poosa river, where they seem to have been mixed with Yuchi. 1 
 
 A. Gallatin, "Synopsis of the Indian Tribes," p. 95, men- 
 
 1 Cf. List of Creek Towns, and Penicaut, in B. French, Hist. Coll. La., 
 new series, p. 126; Force, Some Notices on Indians of Ohio, p. 22. 
 
24 THE SOUTHERN FAMILIES. 
 
 tions a tradition, according to which "the ancient seats of the 
 Yuchi were east of the Coosa, and probably of the Chatahuchi 
 river, and that they consider themselves as the most ancient 
 inhabitants of the country." Of which country? If the 
 whole country is meant, which was at the dawn of history 
 held by Maskoki tribes, the name of the Yazoo river may be 
 adduced as an argument, for the truth of this tradition, for 
 yasu, yashu is the Yuchi term for leaf and any leaf-bearing 
 tree, even pines (from ya, wood, tree), and Kawita has been 
 mentioned above. From a thorough comparative study of 
 the Yuchi language, the Maskoki dialects and the local 
 nomenclature of the country, we can alone expect any reli- 
 able information upon the extent and the area of territory 
 anciently held by the Yuchi ; but at present it is safest to 
 locate their "priscan home" upon both sides of Lower 
 Savannah river. 
 
 CHEROKI. 
 
 Intercourse between the Creek and the Cheroki Indians 
 must have taken place in prehistoric times, as evidenced by 
 local names, and more so by Cheroki terms adopted into the 
 Creek language. 
 
 The Cheroki, or more correctly, Tsalagi nation is essen- 
 tially a hill people; their numerous settlements were divided 
 into two great sections by the watershed ridge of the Alle- 
 ghany mountains, in their language Unega katusi (" white, 
 whitish mountains"'), of which even now a portion is called 
 "Smoky Mountains." Northwest of that ridge lay the 
 Cheroki villages of the Overkill settlement, dtari, Otali ("up, 
 above"), along the Great and Little Tennessee rivers and their 
 tributaries, while southeast of it, in the mountains of North 
 Carolina and on the head waters of the Georgia rivers, ex- 
 tended the towns of the Lower CheroM, or Erati (in Cheroki 
 elati, below, nether). There were also a number of Cheroki 
 villages in the northern parts of Alabama State, and du Pratz 
 distinctly states, that the "Cheraquies" lived east of the 
 
CHEROKI. 25 
 
 Abe-ikas. 1 While calling a person of their own people by the 
 name of Atsalagi, in the plural Anitsalagi, they comprise all 
 the Creeks under the name of Kusa, from Coosa river, or 
 more probably from the ancient, far-famed town of the same 
 name : Agusa, Kusa, Giisa, a Creek person; Anigusa, the Creek 
 people; Gusa uniwoni'hsti, the Creek language. 
 
 The Cheroki language was spoken in many .dialects before 
 the people emigrated to the lands allotted to them in the 
 northeastern part of the Indian Territory, and even now a 
 difference may be observed between the Western Cheroki 
 and the Eastern or Mountain Cheroki, which is the language 
 of the people that remained in the hills of Western North 
 Carolina and Eastern Tennessee. 2 Mr. Horatio Hale has 
 recently demonstrated the affinity of Cheroki with the Iro- 
 quois stock; 3 Wendat and Tuscarora form other dialectic 
 branches of it, showing much closer relation to the Iroquois 
 dialects of Western New York than Cheroki. Thirty-two 
 terms of the Keowe dialect (Lower Cheroki), taken down by 
 B. Hawkins, are embodied in an unpublished vocabulary, 
 which is in the possession of the American Philosophical 
 Society in Philadelphia. 4 Another ancient dialect is that of 
 Kitowa or Kitua ; this is the name by which the Cheroki are 
 known among several northern tribes, as Delawares and Sha- 
 wano (cf. below) ; it was also the name of a secret society 
 among the Cheroki, which existed at the time of the Secession 
 war. 
 
 The Cheroki Indians are bodily well developed, rather 
 
 1 Le Page du Pratz, Hist, de la Louisiane, II, p. 208 sq. (Paris, 1758) : 
 " A l'est des Abe-ikas sont les Cheraquis." 
 
 a The Mountain Cheroki are centering around Quallatown, Haywood 
 county, N. C, and an United States agent is residing in their country. 
 Their population is about 1600; others live in Northern Georgia. 
 
 a H. Hale, "Indian Migrations, as evidenced by language." American 
 Antiquarian, vol. V, pp. 18-28 and 108-124 ('883). 
 
 * The name Keowe is taken from a narcotic plant used for catching 
 fish, which grew in the vicinity of that village. 
 
26 THE SOUTHERN FAMILIES. 
 
 tall in stature and of an irritable temper, flashing up easily. 
 In the eighteenth century they were engaged in constant 
 wars, and from their mountain fastnesses made sallies upon all 
 the surrounding Indian tribes. The Iroquois or " Northern 
 Indians" attacked them in their own country, as they also 
 did the Kataba and Western Algonkins. A warlike spirit 
 pervaded the whole Cheroki nation, and even women par- 
 ticipated in their raids and fights. 1 
 
 Wm. Bartram states, that the Cheroki men had a lighter 
 and more olive complexion than the contiguous Creek tribes, 
 adding that some of their young girls were nearly as fair 
 and blooming as European women. H. Timberlake, who 
 visited a portion of their villages (on Great Tennessee river) 
 in 1762, represents them as of a middle stature, straight, well 
 built, with small heads and feet, and 6f an olive color, 
 though generally painted. They shaved the hair of their 
 heads, and many of the old people had it plucked out by 
 the roots, the scalp-lock only remaining. The ears were slit 
 and stretched to an enormous circumference, an operation 
 which caused them incredible pain and was adopted from 
 the Shawano or some other northern nation. The women 
 wore the hair long, even reaching to the knees, but plucked 
 it out from all the other parts of the body, especially the 
 looser part of the sex (Memoirs, pp. 49-51). Polygamy then 
 existed among them. They erected houses extending some- 
 times from sixty to seventy feet in length, but rarely over 
 sixteen in width, and covered them with narrow boards. 
 Some of these houses were two stories high, and a hot-house 
 or sudatory stood close to every one of these capacious 
 structures. They also made bark canoes and canoes of 
 poplar" or pine, from thirty to forty feet long and about 
 
 1 Lieut. H. Timberlake, Memoirs (London, 1765), pp. 70. 71. Urlsper- 
 ger, Nachricht, I, p. 658, where they are called " Tzerrickey Indianer." 
 D. Coxe calls them Sulluggees. 
 
 1 The term for poplar, tsiyu, is also the term for canoe and for trough. 
 
CHEROKI. 27 
 
 two feet broad, with flat bottoms and sides. Pottery was 
 made by them of red and white clay (Ibid., pp. 5.9-62). 
 
 The male population was divided into a class of head-men 
 or chiefs, recruited by popular election, the selection being 
 made among the most valorous men and the best orators in 
 their councils; and in two classes of "yeomen": the 
 "warriors" and the "fighting men," these being inferior 
 to the warriors. 
 
 Distinction in reward of exploits was conferred through 
 the honorary titles of Outacity, "man killer," Kolona, 
 "raven" and "Beloved," names to which parallels will be 
 found among the Creeks. (Ibid., pp. 70, 71.) 
 
 Seven clans or gentes exist among the Cheroki, and many 
 of them observe to the present day the regulations imposed 
 by the gentile organization. They will not marry into their 
 own gens or phratry, for instance. The totems of these 
 gentes (anataya"we, gens, clan) were obtained in 1880 from 
 Mr. Richard Wolf, delegate of the people to the United States 
 government, as follows: 
 
 1 . Aniweyahia anataya^we, wolf gens, the most important 
 of all. 
 
 2. Ane-igil6hi anataya"we, long hair gens. 
 
 3. Anigodege'we, the gens to which Mr. Wolf belongs. 
 They can marry into all gentes, except into the long hair 
 clan, because this contains their "aunts" (a'loki). 
 
 4. Anitsi'skwa, bird gens. 
 
 5. Amwo'te,j>aint gens; (wo'te,wo'de, clay; diDxwo't\,painf). 
 
 6. Anigo-ule, anikulg, acorn gens. 
 
 7. Anisahone, blue gens. 
 
 Besides the fact that gentes Nos. 2 and 3 belong to one 
 phratry, the other phratries and their names were not remem- 
 bered by the informant. The prefix ani- marks the plural of 
 animate beings. 
 
 The list of totemic gentes printed in Lewis H. Morgan, 
 Ancient Society, p. 164, differs from the above in giving ten 
 
28 THE SOUTHERN FAMILIES. 
 
 gentes, two being extinct, and one or two being perhaps 
 phratries and not gentes: — 
 
 i. fT^aniwhiya. 2. Red paint, aniw6te. 3. Long prairie, 
 anigatagani'h. 4. Deaf (a. bird), dsuliniana. 5. Holly tree, 
 anisdasdi. 6. Deer, anikawi'h. 7. Blue, anisahokni. 8. 
 Long hair, anikalohair 9. Acorn, anidsula (extinct). 10. 
 Bird, anidseskwa (extinct). 
 
 The names of several Cheroki towns are mentioned by the 
 historians of de Soto's expedition, which traversed a portion 
 of their country ; by Adair, Timberlake and by Wm. Bartram, 
 who has left a long list of their settlements. 
 
 The rare publication : Weston (PI. Chas. Jennett), Docu- 
 ments connected with the History of South Carolina, London, 
 1856, 4to, contains an article by de Brahm, which gives an 
 ethnologic sketch and many other particulars of the Southern 
 Indians, and especially refers to the Cheroki (pp. 218-227). 
 The English- Cheroki war, from February to August, 1760, 
 is narrated pp. 208-213. 
 
 The tradition that the Cheroki, or rather a portion of 
 them, were found living in caves, is substantiated by the 
 appellation "Cave-dwellers," given to them by the Northern 
 Indians. The Comanches call them Ebikuita; the Senecas, 
 Uyada, cave-men ; the Wendat, Uwatayo-r6no, from uwatayo, 
 which in their language means "hole in the ground, cave ;" 
 the Shawano call them 'Katowa, plural Katowagi ; and the 
 Delawares by the same name, Gatohua (Barton, Appendix, 
 p. 8: Gatt6chwa). This refers to Kitowa, one of their towns 
 previously mentioned. Caves of the old Cheroki country 
 were examined by archaeologists, and some of them showed 
 marks of former occupation, especially caves in Sullivan and 
 Hawkins counties, Tennessee. This reminds us of the Trog- 
 lodytse and Mandritae of ancient times, of the Cliff-Dwellers 
 on Upper Colorado river, New Mexico, and of other American 
 tribes, which lived in caves. Thus a Shasti tribe, the Weo- 
 how, are reported to have received this name from a " stone 
 
ARKANSAS. 29 
 
 house" or rock dwelling situated in their country, east of 
 Shasta River and south of the Siskiyou Mountains. 1 
 
 Lists of the ancient Cheroki towns will be found in W. 
 Bartram's Travels, p. 371-372 (forty-three), in H. Timber- 
 lake (his map is also reproduced in Jefferys' Topography of 
 N. A., an atlas in fol., 1762), and in J. Gerar W. de Brahm, 
 Hist, of the Prov. of Georgia, Wormsloe 1849, f°l-> P- 54- 
 
 ARKANSAS. 
 
 None of the numerous Algonkin tribes lived in the imme- 
 diate neighborhood of the Maskoki family of Indians, but of 
 the Dakotan stock the Arkansas (originally Akansa — the 
 Akansea of Father Gravier), dwelt in close proximity, and 
 had frequent intercourse with this Southern nation. 
 
 Penicaut relates 2 that the French commander, Lemoyne 
 d'lberville, sailed up the Mississippi river, and sixty leagues 
 above the mouth of the Yazoo found the mouth of the Arkan- 
 sas river; eight leagues above, on the same western shore, 
 was the nation of the Arkansas, and in their town were two 
 other "nations," called Torimas and Kappas. By these 
 warlike and hunting tribes he was received in a friendly 
 manner. The men are described as stout and thick-set 
 (gros et trapus), the women as pretty and light-complexioned. 
 Imahao, another Arkansas village, is mentioned in Margry 
 IV, 179. The affluent of the Mississippi on which the 
 Arkansas were settled was, according to D. Coxe, Carolana, 
 p. 11, the Ousoutowy river : another name for Arkansas river. 
 
 From Rev. J. Owen Dorsey, who makes a special study of all 
 the Dakota tribes, I obtained the following oral information, 
 founded on his personal intercourse with individuals of the 
 Kappa tribe : 
 
 "Akansa is the Algonkin name by which the Kapa, Quapa 
 
 1 Cf. Ind. Affairs' Report, 1864, p. 120. 
 
 2 Margry, P., Decouvertes et Etablissements des Francais dans 1'ouest et 
 dans le Sud de l'Amerique Septentrionale, Paris, 1S76, etc., V, 402. 
 
30 THE SOUTHERN FAMILIES. 
 
 were called by the eastern Indians, as Illinois, etc. They 
 call themselves Uga^pa and once lived in four villages, two 
 of which were on Mississippi, two on Arkansas river, near 
 its mouth : Their towns, though now transferred to the 
 Indian Territory, northeastern angle, have preserved the 
 same names : 
 
 "i. Uga/pa/ti or 'real Kapa.' Uga/pa means 'down 
 stream,' just as O'maha means 'up stream.' 
 
 "2. Tiwadima", called Toriman by French authors. 
 
 "3. Uzutiuhe, corrupted into O'sotchoue, O'sochi, Southois 
 by the French authors. Probably means : ' village upon 
 low-land level.' 
 
 "4. Ta°wa"zhika or ' small village ; ' corrupted into Topinga, 
 Tonginga, Donginga by the French. 
 
 "The Pacaha 'province' of de Soto's historians is a name 
 inverted from Capaha, which is Uga^pa. The form Quapa is 
 incorrect, for Kapa (or Kapaha of La Salle), which is abbre- 
 viated from Uga/pa." 
 
 In 1 72 1 LaHarpe saw three of their villages on the Missis- 
 sippi river, and noticed snake worship among these Indians. 
 
 TAENSA. 
 I. THE NORTHERN TAENSA. 
 
 On account of the recent discovery of their conso- 
 nantic language, which proves to be disconnected from any 
 other aboriginal tongue spoken in North America, a peculiar 
 interest attaches itself to the tribe of the Taensa Indians, 
 whose cabins stood in Tensas county, Louisiana, bordering 
 east on Mississippi river. The Tensas river, in French 
 Bayou Tensa, which joins the Washita river at Trinity City, 
 after forming a prodigious number of bends, and flowing 
 past a multitude of artificial mounds, still keeps up the 
 memory of this extinct tribe. 
 
 In March 1700, the French commander L. d' Iberville 
 1 cf. D. Coxe, Carolana, pp. n. 13. 
 
TAENSA. 31 
 
 calculated the distance from the landing of the Natchez to 
 that of the Taensas, following the river, at about 15^ 
 leagues, and in the air-line, nj^ leagues. That Taensa 
 landing, at the foot of a bluff nine hundred feet high (150 
 toises), was about 32°$' Lat., while d'Iberville, trusting his 
 inaccurate methods of measuring, located it at 32°47' Lat. 
 (Margry IV, 413). 
 
 The tribe occupied seven villages at the time of d'Iberville's 
 visit, which were distant four leagues from the Mississippi 
 river, and grouped around a semi-circular lake, probably 
 Lake St. Joseph. One hundred and twenty of these cabins 
 were extending for two leagues on the lake shore, and a 
 "temple" was among them. The missionary Montigny, 
 who visited the locality about the same epoch, estimated the 
 population of that part of the Taensa settlement which he 
 saw at 400 persons. " They were scattered over an area of 
 eight leagues, and their cabins lay along a river. ' ' 
 
 The seven villages visited by d'Iberville constitute one town 
 only, as he was told. This means to say that they formed a 
 confederacy. A Taensa Indian, who accompanied him, gave 
 their names in the Chicasa trade language, or, as the French 
 called it, the Mobilian jargon (Margry IV, 179). 
 
 1. Taensas; from Cha'hta ta n dshi maize. 
 
 2. Ohytoucoulas ; perhaps from uti chestnut; cf. utapa 
 
 chestnut eater. For -ougoula, cf. p. 36. 
 
 3. Nyhougoulas ; 
 
 4. Couthaougoulas ; from Cha'hta uk'hata^ lake. 
 
 5. Conchayon; cf. Cha'hta k6nshak reed, species of cane. 
 
 6. Talaspa; probably from ta'lapi_^z/<?, or ta'lepa hundred. 
 
 7. Chaoucoula; from Cha'hta issi deer, or hatche river, 
 
 water-course. 
 In the Taensa Grammar and Vocabulary of Haumonte, 
 Parisot and Adam (Paris, 1882), the name by which the 
 people called itself is Hastriryini "warriors, men, tribe;" 
 
32 THE SOUTHERN FAMILIES. 
 
 cf. p. 91 : hastri to fight, make war; hastrir warrior, man; 
 hastriryi people, tribe; but Tensagini also occurs in the texts, 
 which would point to an extensive maize culture. 
 
 The Taensa were sun worshipers, and had a temple with 
 idols and a perpetual fire. When d'Iberville sojourned 
 among them, lightning struck their temple and destroyed it, 
 upon which the mothers sacrificed their infants, to appease 
 the wrath of the incensed deity, by throwing them into the 
 burning edifice (Margry IV, 414, etc.; V, 398). The people 
 then rubbed their faces and bodies with earth. Nothing 
 definite is known about their gentes, phratries and totems. 
 Several French authors represent them as speaking the Naktche 
 language (which is untrue) and as being of the same nation. 1 
 D'Iberville states that their language differed from that of 
 the Huma tribe. 
 
 The remnants of a tribe called Mosopellea, probably of 
 Illinois-Algonkin origin and previously residing west of the 
 "Isle of Tamaroa," on western shore of Mississippi river, 
 joined the Taensa, and were met there in 1682 by Tonti. 
 They had been almost annihilated by the Iroquois. 2 
 
 The Taensa had, at one time, formed an alliance with the 
 Koroa, then on Yazoo river, and another with the Arkansas 
 Indians. 
 
 The Taensa grammar speaks of a northern and of a southern, 
 more polished dialect, but does not locate them topographi- 
 cally. The only word of Taensa which I have found to agree 
 with any other language, is ista eye; it also occurs in Southern 
 Dakotan dialects. 
 
 1 Grammaire et Voc. Taensa, Introd., pp. xii. xiv. Compare also 
 Margry, Die. et EtabU, I, 556-557, 566-568, 600-602, 609-610, 6*6; 
 IV, 414. Their temple, described by le Sieur de Tonty (traveling with 
 la Salle in 1682) in French, Hist Coll. of La., I, pp. 61. 64. 
 
 2 Margry I, 610. Mosopblea, ibid. II, 237; Monsopela, on the map 
 in D. Coxe, Carolana. 
 
TAENSA. 33 
 
 II. THE SOUTHERN TAENSA. 
 
 In early colonial times a portion of the Northern Taensa, 
 driven from their homes on the Taensa river by the rage of 
 the Chicasa, fled to the Mobilians. The French settled them 
 on the western side of Mobile bay, below Fort St. Louis, and 
 thirty miles above Fort Conde, which stood on the site of 
 the present city of Mobile. 1 The French called them " les 
 petits Taensas" in contradistinction to the "great (or 
 northern) Taensas," on Mississippi and Taensa rivers. About 
 the middle of the eighteenth century one hundred of their 
 cabins stood north of the French fort St. Louis, and also north 
 of the Tohome Indian settlement. The Taensa were then 
 speaking their native language and, besides this, a corrupt 
 Chicasa dialect, called the Mobilian language by the French." 
 Subsequently they must have removed from there to the 
 eastern channel, for Bartram, Travels, pp. 401. 403, describes 
 Taensa there as a "pretty high bluff, on the eastern channel 
 of the great Mobile river, about thirty miles above Fort 
 Conde, or city of Mobile, at the head of the bay .... 
 with many artificial mounds of earth and other ruins." Dur- 
 ing the wars of 1813-15 the adjacent country is called the 
 " Tensaw country." 
 
 It is not unlikely that these Taensa were identical with the 
 "petits Taensas" seen by Lemoyne d' Iberville at the Huma 
 town in March 1700, and described by him as migratory, 
 but living most of the time at three days' distance west of 
 Huma, and then warring against the Bayogoulas. They 
 gained their sustenance by hunting, though buffaloes were 
 scarce in their country, and were men of a fine physique 
 (Margry IV, 408). In 1702 they defeated the Bayogoulas 
 and burnt their village on Mississippi river ; the Bayogoulas 
 
 1 At that time they were warring unsuccessfully against the Huma 
 (1713); Penicaut (in Margry V, 508. 509) saw them at Manchac. 
 
 2 T. Jefferys, Hist, of French Dominions in America; London, 1761 ; I, 
 p. 162, sq. 
 
34 THE SOUTHERN FAMILIES. 
 
 fled to the. French fort on that river, then commanded by 
 Mr. St. Denis. If identical with the Taensa on Mobile river, 
 these fights of theirs must have occurred during their passage 
 from the North to the bay of Mobile. 
 
 III. THE TANGIPAHOA. 
 
 A third tribe, which may have stood in some connection 
 with the two tribes above, are the Tangipahoa Indians settled 
 in various places east of New Orleans, especially on Tangi- 
 pahoa river, in southeastern Louisiana. A French author 
 states that they formed one of the seven villages of the Acola- 
 pissa. The name is written in different ways, and is inter- 
 preted by Gov. Allen Wright as " those who gather maize 
 stalks," from ta°dshe maize; api stalk, cob; ayua they gather. 
 Penicaut defines the name differently, for he states (Margry 
 V, 387) "we found (northwest of Lake Pontchartrain) a 
 river, Tandgepao, which in the Indian signifies • bled blanc? " 
 The Taensapaoa tribe, on the river of the same name, is re- 
 ferred to in Bartram, Travels, p. 422 ; cf. p. 423. We have 
 no notice concerning the language spoken by this tribe, 
 which was, perhaps, incorporated into the Cha'hta living now 
 around New Orleans ; thus we are unable to decide whether 
 they spoke Cha'hta, like the other Acolapissa, or another 
 tongue. The Tangibao tribe was " destroyed by the Oumas," 
 as stated in a passage of Margry (IV, 168) ; by which is meant, 
 that they were scattered and their tribal connection disrupted. 
 
 NAKTCHE. 
 
 Of the Lower Mississippi tribes the most powerful and 
 populous was that of the Naktche, settled at the beginning 
 of the eighteenth century in nine villages on and about St. 
 Catherine creek (Lukfi-akula in Cha'hta: "clay-digging 
 place" to daub houses with), in a beautiful and fertile coun- 
 try. This stream wends its way first south, then west^ in a 
 semi-eircular course, around the present city of Natchez, 
 
NAKTCHE. 35 
 
 Mississippi, and runs at an average distance of three to four 
 miles from it. Other Naktche villages existed in its vicinity. 
 
 Naktche is the correct form of the tribal name, though this 
 people appears to have called itself by some other appellation. 
 Natchez is the old-fashioned plural adopted from French 
 orthography ; we might just as well write Iroquoiz, Islinoiz 
 or Adayez, instead of the terminal -s now designating the 
 plural in French. The Cheroki Indians call a Nache, Natche 
 or Naktche person A'no^tse, A'nno^tse, the people or tribe 
 Anino/tse, shortened into Ani'htse, which proves that a gut- 
 tural has been elided from the present form of the name. 
 Isalakti, from whom Albert Gallatin obtained a vocabulary 
 of the language, called himself a Nahktse, not a Natche chief. 
 
 The name is of Shetimasha origin, I have reasons to assume. 
 Naksh in that language means one that is in a hurry, one run- 
 ning, naksh asi, 1 abbrev. naksh warrior; and the earliest 
 French explorers may have heard that name from the Sheti- 
 masha Indians settled on the Mississippi, where Bayou La- 
 fourche, also called the river of the Shetimasha, branches off 
 from it. Should the name belong to the Chicasa trade' 
 language, we might think of the Cha'hta adverb : naksika aside, 
 away from, referring to the site of the Naktche villages at 
 some distance from the great "water-road," the Mississippi 
 river. 
 
 The Naktche tribe owes its celebrity and almost romantic 
 fame to several causes : their towns were populous, the gov- 
 ernment more centralized than that of the surrounding native 
 populations ; the French settled in their vicinity, and hence 
 their authors have left to posterity more information concern- 
 ing their confederacy than concerning other tribes; their 
 stubborn resistance to French encroachments gave them a 
 high reputation for bravery ; their religious custom's, centering 
 in a highly developed sun-worship, made of them an object 
 
 1 Literally, " a hurrying man." In the sign language of the Mississippi 
 plains, the sign for fighting or battle is the same as for riding a horse. 
 
36 THE SOUTHERN FAMILIES. 
 
 of curious interest and far-going ethnologic speculation for 
 the white colonists, whose views on the Naktche we must 
 receive with the utmost caution. 
 
 L. d'Iberville reports, that at the time of his visit (March 
 1699) the villages of the Naktche made up one town only, 
 and formed a complex of contiguous villages called Theloel 
 or Thecoel 1 (Margry IV, 179). 
 
 The annalist Penicaut, who visited these parts in 1704, 
 states that the nine villages were situated in a delightful 
 country, swarming with buffaloes, drained by rivulets and 
 partly wooded. The village or residence of the head chief, 
 the Sun, lay one league from the Mississippi river, and three 
 other villages were on a brook, at a distance of half a league 
 from each other. He alludes to their human sacrifices, the 
 frequency of infanticide, and gives descriptions of their 
 temple, perpetual fire, their "marche des cadavres" and 
 articles of dress. The house of the Sun was large enough to 
 contain four thousand persons ; he had female servants called 
 oulchil iichon, and thirty male attendants ("laquais") or 
 louts, the Allouez of other chroniclers. Mother-right pre- 
 vailed among them (Margry V, 444-456). 
 
 The Taensa guide, who accompanied d'Iberville to the 
 Naktche tribe in 1699, furnished him a list of the nine 
 villages, their names being given in the Chicasa trade lan- 
 guage. I presume that they are given in the topographical 
 order as they followed «each other on St. Catharine creek, 
 from its mouth upward, since the "Naches" village or (resi- 
 dence of the Sun was distant one league only from the Mis- 
 sissippi river. We are not acquainted with the names given 
 to these villages in the Naktche language. The etymologies 
 of the Cha'Jita language were obtained from Allen Wright ; 
 the suffixed word -ougoula is the Cha'hta 6kla people, tribe. 
 
 1 The handwriting of this name is indistinct, but in the sequel, wherever 
 this name is mentioned, Margry prints it Theloel. There can scarcely be 
 any doubt of its identity with Thoucoue, the seventh village in the list. 
 
NAKTCHE. 37 
 
 i. Naches; 
 
 2. Pochougoula; " pond-lily people ," from Cha'hta pantchi 
 
 pond lily. 
 
 3. Ousagoucoulas ; " hickory people ," from Cha'hta u'ssak, 
 
 ossak hickory. 
 
 4. Cogoucoulas; " swan people" from 6kok swan. 
 
 5. Yatanocas; 
 
 6. Yroacachas; almost homonymous with the Arkansas 
 
 village Imahao, mentioned above. 
 
 7. Thoucoue ; probably identical with Theloel (cf. above) 
 
 and the Thioux of later authors. 
 
 8. Tougoulas; " wood ox forest people" from iti wood. 
 
 9. Achougoulasj " pipe people" from ashunga pipe, liter- 
 
 ally, " the thing they smoke from ; " cf. shungali 
 / smoke from. 
 
 Although these names are considerably frenchified in their 
 orthography, the meaning of some admits of no doubt. When 
 I visited Natchez city in January 1882, I was informed that 
 the White Apple village, called Apilua (Vpelois) and men- 
 tioned by Le Page du Pratz, is supposed to have existed 
 twelve to fifteen miles southeast of the city. The White Earth 
 village and the village of the Meal were other settlements of 
 theirs. Owing to incessant rains, I could not explore the sites 
 to their full extent, but found a flat mound south of St. Catha- 
 rine's creek, with a diameter of thirty-two feet and perfectly 
 circular, which lay at the same distance from the Mississippi as 
 given above for the residence of the Sun. Col. J. F. H. Clai- 
 borne's History of Mississippi, vol. I, 40^-47, gives valuable 
 extracts from French archives, pointing to the real sites of 
 the Naktche habitations. The colossal mound of Seltzer- 
 town stands but a short distance from the creek alluded to, 
 and is fourteen miles from Natchez city to the northeast. 
 
 The settlement of the French on the heights of Natchez, 
 the growing animosity of the natives against the intruders, the 
 three successive wars, the massacre of the colonists in Novem- 
 
38 THE SOUTHERN FAMILIES. 
 
 ber, 1729, and the final dispersion of the tribe in February 
 1730, are well-known historic facts and need not be repeated 
 in this volume. The disorganized warriors retreated with 
 their families to different parts of the country. One party 
 fled across Mississippi river to some locality near Trinity 
 City, La., where they entrenched themselves, but were at- 
 tacked, defeated and partly captured by a body of French 
 troops two years later. Another party reached the Chicasa 
 country and was granted a home and protection by that tribe ; 
 but the revengeful French colonists declared war upon the 
 hospitable Chicasa for sheltering. their mortal enemies, and 
 invaded their lands by way of the Yazoo river in 1736, but 
 were compelled to retreat after suffering considerable loss. 
 Fort Tombigbee, constructed in 1735, served as a second base 
 for the French operations. Further French-Chicasa wars 
 occurred in 1739-40 and in 1748. 1 
 
 Later on, we find their remnants among the Creeks, who 
 had provided them with seats on Upper Coosa river, and 
 incorporated them into their confederacy. They built a 
 village called Naktche, and a part of them went to reside in 
 the neighboring Abikudshi town. Naktche town lay, in B. 
 Hawkins' time (1799), on a creek of the same name, joining 
 Coosa river sixty miles above its confluence with Tallapoosa 
 river, and harbored from fifty to one hundred warriors 
 (Hawkins, p. 42). A number of Naktche families, speaking 
 their paternal language, now live in the hilly parts of the 
 Cheroki Nation, Indian Territory. 
 
 A body of Indians, called by French and English writers 
 Thioux and Grigras, remained in the vicinity of the Natchez 
 colony after the departure of the Naktche Indians, who had 
 been the ruling tribe of the confederacy. It is doubtful 
 whether these two divisions were of foreign or of Naktche 
 origin, though the latter seems improbable. The .Grigras 
 
 1 Cf. Adair, History, p. 354 sqq. On Fort Tombigbee, ibid., pp. 285, 
 291. 
 
TONICA. 39 
 
 were called so on account of a peculiarity in their pronuncia- 
 tion ; it probably referred to what the French call grasseyer, 
 and the Canadian French parler gras. 1 Eleven Shawano 
 were once brought to the villages as captives, and were known 
 there as "Stinkards," "Puants," terms which served to 
 interpret the Naktche term metsmetskop miserable, bad, 
 wretched, inferior. 
 
 The scanty vocabularies which we possess of the Naktche 
 language contain a sprinkling of foreign terms adopted from 
 the Chicasa or Mobilian. Two languages at least were spoken 
 before 1 730 in the Naktche villages ; the Naktche by the 
 ruling class or tribe ; the other, the Chicasa or trade language 
 by the "low people ;" and hence the mixture referred to. 
 Du Pratz gives specimens of both. Naktche is a vocalic 
 language, rich in verbal forms, and, to judge from a few 
 specimens, polysynthetic to a considerable degree in its 
 affixes. 
 
 TONICA. 
 
 Migratory dispositions seem to have inhered to the Tonica 
 or Tunica tribe in a higher degree than to their southern 
 neighbors, for in the short lapse of two centuries we see them 
 stationed at more than three places. 
 
 In a letter addressed by Commander Lemoyne d'Iberville 
 to the Minister of the French Navy, dated from Bayogoulas, 
 February 26th, 1700, he states that an English fur-trader and 
 Indian slave-jobber had just visited the Tonica, who are on 
 a river emptying into the Mississippi, twenty leagues above 
 
 1 It is stated that the Thioux were a small body of Indians, reduced in 
 numbers by the Chicasa, and then incorporated by the Naktche ; their 
 language possessed the sound R. If this- latter statement is true, their 
 language was neither of the Naktche nor of the Maskoki or Dakota 
 family. In conversation the Grigras often used this word grigra, which 
 also implies the use of the articulation R. Cf. Le Page du Pratz, IV, chap. 
 ii, sect. I ; JefFerys, French Dom. in America, p. 162, and what is said of 
 the Shawano under Yuchi, p. 
 
40 THE SOUTHERN FAMILIES. 
 
 the Taensa Indians, at some distance from the Chicasa, and 
 170 leagues from the Gulf of Mexico. When d'Iberville 
 ascended the Yazoo river in the same year, he found a village 
 of this tribe on its right (or western) bank, four days' travel 
 from the Natchez landing. Seven villages were seen upon 
 this river, which is navigable for sixty leagues. The Tonica 
 village, the lowest of them, was two days' travel from Thysia, 
 the uppermost (Margry IV, 180. 362. 398; V, 401). La 
 Harpe mentions the establishment of a mission house among 
 the Tonica on Yazoo river. 1 
 
 In 1706, when expecting to become involved in a conflict 
 with the Chicasa and Alibamu Indians, the Tonica tribe, or 
 a part of it, fled southward to the towns of the Huma, and 
 massacred a number of these near the site where New Orleans 
 was built afterwards (French, Hist. Coll. of La., Ill, 35). 
 The "Tunica Old Fields" lay in Tunica county, Missis- 
 sippi State, opposite Helena, Arkansas. Cf. Cha'hta. 
 
 They subsequently lived at the Tonica Bluffs, on the east 
 shore of the Mississippi river, two leagues below the influx of 
 the Red river. T. Jefferys, who in 1761 gave a description 
 of their village and chiefs house, states that they had settled 
 on a hill near the " River of the Tunicas," which comes from 
 the Lake of the Tunicas, and that in close vicinity two other 
 villages were existing (Hist, of French Dominions, I, 145— 
 146) 2 Th. Hutchins, Louisiana and West Florida, Phila., 
 1784, p. 44, locates them a few miles below that spot, oppo- 
 site Pointe Coupee and ten miles below the Pascagoulas, on 
 Mississippi river. So does also Baudry de Lozieres in 1802, 
 who speaks of a population of one hundred and twenty men. 
 
 In 181 7, a portion of the tribe, if not the whole, had gone 
 up the Red river and settled at Avoyelles, ninety miles above 
 
 1 French, Hist. Coll. Ill, 16; cf. Margry V, 525. The names of these 
 villages to be given under Chicasa, q. v. 
 
 2 This was probably the place where Le Page du Pratz saw them (about 
 1720 or 1725) : "vis-a-vis de la Riviere Rouge," II, 220-221. 
 
adAi. 41 
 
 its confluence with the Mississippi. A group of these Indians 
 is now in Calcasieu county, Louisiana, in the neighbor- 
 hood of Lake Charles City. 
 
 A separate chapter has been devoted to this tribe, because 
 there is a strong probability that their language differed en- 
 tirely from the rest of the Southern tongues. Le Page du 
 Pratz, 1.1., in confirming this statement, testifies to the exist- 
 ence of the sound R in their language, which occurs neither 
 in Naktche nor in the Maskoki dialects or Shetimasha (II, 
 220-221). We possess no vocabulary of it, and even the 
 tribal name belongs to Chicasa : tunnig post, pillar, support, 
 probably post of territorial demarcation of their lands on 
 the Yazoo river. The only direct intimation which I possess 
 on that tongue is a correspondence of Alphonse L. Pinart, 
 who saw some Tonica individuals, and inferred from their 
 terms that they might belong to the great Pani stock of the 
 Western plains. 
 
 adAi. 
 
 Of this small and obscure Indian community mention is 
 made much earlier than of all the other tribes hitherto spoken 
 of in this volume, for Cabeca de Vaca, in his Naufragios, 
 mentions them among the inland tribes as Atayos. In the 
 list of eight Caddo villages, given by a Taensa guide to 
 L. d'Iberville on his expedition up the Red river (March 
 1699), they figure as the Natao (Margry IV, 178). 
 
 The Adai, Ata-i, Hata-i, Adayes (incorrectly called Adaize) 
 seem to have persisted at their ancient home, where they 
 formed a tribe belonging to the Caddo confederacy. Charle- 
 voix (Hist, de la Nouvelle France, ed. Shea VI, p. 24) 
 relates that a Spanish mission was founded among the Adaes 
 in 1 715. A Spanish fort existed there, seven leagues west of 
 Natchitoches, as late as the commencement of the nineteenth 
 century. Baudry de Lozieres puts their population at one 
 hundred men (1802), and Morse (1822) at thirty, who then 
 4 
 
42 THE SOUTHERN FAMILIES. 
 
 passed their days in idleness on the Bayou Pierre of Red 
 river. Even at the present time they are remembered as a 
 former division of the Caddo confederacy, and called Hata-i 
 by the Caddo, who are settled in the southeastern part of the 
 Indian Territory. 
 
 A list of about 300 Adai words was gathered in 1802 by 
 Martin Duralde, which proves it to be a vocalic language 
 independent of any other, though a few affinities are traceable 
 with the Pani dialects. The orthography of that vocabulary 
 cannot, however, be fully relied on. The original is in the 
 library of the American Philosophical Society, in Philadelphia. 
 Rob. G. Latham, in his "Opuscula; Essays, chiefly philo- 
 logical," etc., London i860; pp. 402-404, has compared 
 Adahi words with the corresponding terms of other North 
 American languages, but without arriving at a definite result. 
 
 PANI. 
 
 The great family of Pani Indians has, in historic times, 
 extended from the Platte river southward to the Gulf of 
 Mexico. From the main stock, the Sanish or Arikari have 
 wandered on their hunting trips north to the Middle Missouri 
 river, while the Pani, in four divisions, had the Platte and 
 its tributaries for their headquarters. The southern tribes 
 are the Witchita, the Towakone or Three Canes, who speak 
 the Witchita dialect, the Kichai and the originally Texan 
 tribes of the Caddo and Waco (Weko, in Spanish : Hueco.) l 
 
 The Pani . family was too remote from the Maskoki tribes 
 to enter in direct connection with them. Some of the south- 
 ern septs had intercourse with them, mainly through the 
 French colonists. Fights between Caddos and Cha'hta are 
 recorded for the eighteenth century. The Pani family is 
 mentioned here simply because the legendary caves from 
 which the Creek nation is said to have sprung lay on Red 
 
 1 Cf. R. G. Latham, Opuscula, p. 400, who was the first to hint at a 
 possible affinity of Caddo to Pani. 
 
PANI. 43 
 
 river, within the limits of the territory held by some of the 
 southern Pani nations. 
 
 When L. d' Iberville ascended the western branch of the 
 Red river, now called Red river (the eastern branch being 
 Washita or Black river), in March 1699, ^ e saw an( ^ v i s i te d 
 eight villages of the Caddo connection. His Taensa guide 
 named them as follows : 
 
 Yatache ; called Yatassi by Americans. 
 
 Nactythos ; they are the Natchitoches. 
 
 Yesito ; 
 
 Natao ; the Adai above. 
 
 Cachaymons ; 
 
 Cadodaquis; full form, Cado-hadatcho or " chief tribe." 
 
 Nataches ; 
 
 Natsytos. 
 
 The Cachaymons and the Cadodaquis had been previously 
 visited by Cavelier de la Salle, when returning from the 
 Cenys, in the central parts of Texas. 1 
 
 The Caddo confederacy consists of the following divisions 
 or tribes, as given me by a Caddo Indian in 1882 : 
 
 Kado proper ; kado means chief, principal. 
 
 Anadako, Anadaku ; also Nandako. 
 
 Ainai, Ayenai ; also Hini, Inies upon an affluent of Sabine 
 river; identical with the Tachies (Sibley). From 
 this tribal name is derived Texas, anciently Tachus, 
 Taxus. 
 
 Natchidosh, Nashedosh; the Natchitoches. 
 
 Yatassi. 
 
 Anabaidaitcho, Nabadatsu; the Nabedatches, who are 
 nearly extinct now. 
 
 Natassi; identical with the Nataches above. 
 
 Nakuhedotch, Nakohodotse ; the Nagogdoches. 
 
 Assine, Assini ; the Asinays of French explorers. 
 
 Hadai ; the Adai, Adaye, q. v. 
 
 1 Cf. Margry IV, 178. 313. 409. 
 
44 THE SOUTHERN FAMILIES. 
 
 Yowa'ni, now in Texas. 
 
 A'-ishj a few of these are now living in Texas, called 
 Alish, Eyish by former writers. 
 
 The Caddo relate, as being the mythical origin of their 
 nation, that they came from a water-sink in Louisiana, went 
 westward, shoved up earth by means of arrow-heads, and 
 thus made a mountain. The totems of their gentes once 
 were, as far as remembered, bear na-ustse, panther ko'she, 
 w^ta-isha, snake kika, wild- cat wado, owl nea, 6-ush. 
 
 When Milfort passed through the Red river country about 
 1780, the Caddo, whom he describes as fallacious in trading, 
 were at war with the Cha'hta (Memoire, p. 95). 
 
 In 1705 some Colapissa from the Talcatcha river, four 
 leagues from Lake Pontchartrain, settled upon the northern 
 bank of this lake at Castembayouque (now Bayou Castin, at 
 Mandeville), and were joined, six months after, by a party 
 of "Nassitoches," whom famine had driven from their homes 
 on Red river. 1 
 
 SHETIMASHA. 
 
 These natives once dwelt in numerous settlements clustering 
 around Bayou Lafourche, Grand river (or Bayou Atchafalaya), 
 and chiefly around Grand Lake or Lake of the Shetimasha. 
 All that is left of them — about fifty-five Indians, of a parent- 
 age strongly mixed with white blood, reside at Charenton, 
 St. Mary's Parish, on the southwestern side of the lake, 
 though a few are scattered through the forests on Grand 
 river. They call themselves Pdntch pinunkansh, "men alto- 
 gether red." The name Shetimasha, by which they are 
 generally known, is of Cha'hta origin, and means "they 
 possess (imasha) cooking vessels (tchuti)." Their central 
 place of worship was three miles north of Charenton, on a 
 small inlet of Grand Lake. They worshiped there, by dances 
 and exhaustive fasting, their principal deity, Kut-Nahansh, 
 the "mid-day sun." 
 
 1 P£nicaut, in Margry V, 459-462. 
 
atAkapa. 45 
 
 They were not warlike, and never figured prominently in 
 colonial history. When a portion of the tribe, settled on 
 Bayou Lafourche, had murdered Mr. Saint-Cosme, a Naktche 
 missionary descending the Mississippi river in 1703, they 
 were attacked by the colonists and their Indian allies. The 
 war ended with a speedy submission of the savages. They 
 called the Naktche Indians their brothers, and their myths 
 related that their " Great Spirit" created them in the country 
 of that people, and gave them laws, women and tobacco. 
 The Cha'hta tribes, who attempted to deprive them of their 
 native land, made continual forays upon them during the 
 eighteenth century. 
 
 These Indians were strict monogamists. The chieftaincy 
 was a life-long office among them. The chiefs lived in lodges 
 larger than those of the common people, and their tobacco 
 pipes were larger than those of the warriors. The foreheads 
 of the children were subjected to the flattening process. 1 
 
 Their language is extremely polysynthetic as far as deriva- 
 tion by suffixes is concerned, and there are also a number of 
 prefixes. For the pronouns thou and ye a common and a 
 reverential form are in use. The faculty for forming com- 
 pound words is considerable, and the numerals show the 
 decimal form of computation. 
 
 ATAKAPA. 
 
 To close the list of the linguistic families encircling the 
 Maskoki stock, we mention the Atakapa, a language which 
 has been studied but very imperfectly. This tribe once ex- 
 isted upon the upper Bayou Teche northwest and west of the 
 Shetimasha, north and northwest of the Opelousa Indians, 
 and from the Teche extended beyond Vermilion river, per- 
 haps down to the sea coast. The Atakapa of old were a well- 
 made race of excellent hunters, but had, as their name indi- 
 
 1 Of these Indians I have given an ethnographic sketch in : Transact. 
 Anthropolog. Society of Washington, 1883, Vol. II, pp. 148- 158. 
 
46 THE SOUTHERN FAMILIES. 
 
 cates, the reputation of being anthropophagists (Cha'hta: 
 hatak, Jiattak person, apa to eat). At first, they suffered no 
 intrusion of the colonists into their territory and cut off 
 expeditions attempting to penetrate into their seats. During 
 the nineteenth century they retreated toward the Sabine river. 
 The name by which they call themselves is unknown ; perhaps 
 it is Skunnemoke, which was the name of one of their villages 
 on Vermilion river, six leagues west of New Iberia. Cf. Th. 
 Hutchins (Phila., 1784). 
 
 The scanty vocabulary of their language, taken in 1802, 
 shows clusters of consonants, especially at the end of words, 
 but with its queer, half-Spanish orthography does not appear 
 to form a reliable basis for linguistic conclusions. A few 
 words agree with T6nkawe, the language of a small Texan 
 tribe ; and according to tradition, the Karankawas, once the 
 giant people of Matagorda bay, on the Texan Coast, spoke a 
 dialect of Atakapa. These three tribes were, like all other 
 Texan tribes, reputed to be anthropophagists. In extenua- 
 tion of this charge, Milfort asserts that they "do not eat 
 men, but roast them only, on account of the cruelties first 
 enacted against their ancestors by the Spaniards" (p. 90). 
 This remark refers to a tribe, also called Atakapas, which 
 he met at a distance of five days' travel west of St. Bernard 
 bay. 
 
 We have but few notices of expeditions sent by French 
 colonists to explore the unknown interior of what forms now 
 the State of Louisiana. One of these, consisting of three 
 Frenchmen, was in 1703 directed to explore the tribes about 
 the river de la Madeleine, now Bayou Teche. The two 
 men who returned reported to have met seven "nations" 
 there ; the man they lost was eaten by the natives, and this 
 misfortune prompted them to a speedy departure. The loca- 
 tion seems to point to the territory of the Atakapa. 1 
 1 Pinicaut, in Margry V, 440. 
 
KOROA. 47 
 
 The enumeration of the southern linguistic stocks winds up 
 with the Atakapa; but it comprises only the families the 
 existence of which is proved by vocabularies. Tonica and 
 the recently-discovered Taensa furnish the proof that the 
 Gulf States may have harbored, or still harbor, allophylic 
 tribes speaking languages unknown to us. The areas of the 
 southern languages being usually small, they, could easily 
 escape discovery, insomuch as the attention of the explorers 
 and colonists was directed more toward ethnography than 
 toward aboriginal linguistics. 
 
 The southern tribes which I suspect of speaking or having 
 spoken allophylic languages, are the Bidai, the Koroa, the 
 Westo and Stono Indians. 
 
 BIDAI. 
 
 Rev. Morse, in his Report to the Government (1822), states 
 that their home is on the western or right side of Trinity river, 
 Texas, sixty-five miles above its mouth, and that they count 
 one hundred and twenty people. In 1850 a small settlement 
 of five or six Bidai families existed on Lower Sabine River. 
 
 The Opelousas of Louisiana and the Cances of Texas 
 spoke languages differing from all others around them. 1 
 
 KOROA. 
 
 The earliest home of this tribe, which figures extensively 
 in French colonial history, is a mountainous tract on the 
 western shore of Mississippi river, eight leagues above the 
 Natchez landing. They were visited there, early in 1682, by 
 the explorer, C. de la Salle, who noticed the compression of 
 their skulls (Margry I, 558. 566). They were a warlike and 
 determined people of hunters. In 1705 a party of them, 
 hired by the French priest Foucault to convey him by water 
 to the Yazoos, murderously dispatched him with two other 
 Frenchmen (Penicaut, in Margry V, 458). A companion of 
 C. de la Salle (in 1682) noticed that the "language of the 
 1 American State Papers, I, pp. 722-24. 
 
48 THE SOUTHERN FAMILIES. 
 
 Coroa differed from that of the Tinsa and Natche," but that 
 in his opinion their manners and customs were the same 
 (Margry.I, 558). 
 
 Koroas afterward figure as one of the tribes settled on 
 Yazoo river, formerly called also River of the Chicasa, and 
 are mentioned there by D, Coxe, Carolana (1742). P- 10, as 
 Kourouas. They were then the allies of the Chicasa, but 
 afterward merged in the Cha'hta people, who call them Kolwa, 
 Kulua. Allen Wright, descended, from a grandfather of this 
 tribe, states that the term is neither Cha'hta nor Chicasa, and 
 that the Koroa spoke a language differing entirely from 
 Cha'hta. 1 A place Kolua is now in Coahoma county, prob- 
 ably far distant from the ancient home of this tribe. The 
 origin of the name is unknown; the Cha'hta word: ka n lo 
 strong, powerful, presents some analogy in sound. 
 
 THE WESTO AND STONO INDIANS 
 
 lived - in the vicinity of the English colony at Charleston, 
 South Carolina. Their predatory habits made them particu- 
 larly troublesome in 1669-1671 and in 1674, when they had 
 to be repulsed by an army of volunteers. The Stonos must 
 have lived north of the colony, or on the upper course of 
 some river, for, in 1674, they are described as "coming 
 down ' ' (Hewat, Histor. Account of S. C. and Ga., London 
 1779; I, 51. 77). Stono Inlet is the name of a cove near 
 Charleston. Both tribes also met with disastrous reverses at 
 the hands of the Savannah Indians, probably the Yamassi 
 (Archdale). They are both mentioned as having belonged 
 to the Kataba confederacy, but this does not by any means 
 prove that they spoke Kataba or a dialect of it. As to the 
 name, the Westo Indians may be identified with the Oustacs 
 of Lederer (who are reported as being at war with the Ushe- 
 rees), and with the Hostaqua of Ren6 de Laudonniere, who 
 1 This is corroborated by the fact that the sound R did exist in the 
 Koroa language: Jefferys (1761), I, 163. 
 
REMARKS TO THE LINGUISTIC MAP. 49 
 
 mentions them as forming a confederacy under a paracusi in 
 the northern parts of the "Floridian" territory. Possibly 
 the Creek word O'sta four, in the sense of " four allied tribes," 
 has given origin to this tribal name (ostaka in Alibamu). 
 
 The affinity of the extinct Congaree Indians, on Congaree 
 river, is doubtful also; Lawson relates that they did not 
 understand the speech of the Waterees and Chicarees. Cf. 
 Kataba. Owing to the inactivity of the local historians, 
 our ethnographic information, on the North and South 
 Carolina Indians is extremely meagre and unsatisfactory. 
 
 REMARKS TO THE LINGUISTIC MAP. 
 
 The linguistic map added to this volume is an attempt to 
 locate, in a general way, the settlements pertaining to the 
 Indians of each of the linguistic stocks of the Gulf States, as 
 far as traceable in the eighteenth century. Some of them, 
 as the Timucua and Yamassi settlements, are taken from dates 
 somewhat earlier, while the location of the Atakapa tribe is 
 known to us only from the first decennium of the nineteenth 
 century. The marking of the linguistic areas by dots, point- 
 ing to the tribal settlements, answers much better the purpose 
 than the coloring of large areas, which conveys the erroneous 
 impression that the population was scattered all over a certain 
 country. This will do very well for densely populated coun- 
 tries, or for tracts inhabited by roving, erratic Indians, whom 
 we meet only on the west side of the Mississippi river. The 
 Gulf States' Indians were no longer in the condition of pure 
 hunting tribes; they had settled in stationary villages, and 
 derived the main part of their sustenance from agriculture 
 and fishing. 
 
 The location of the Chicasa, Cheroki, Seminole and Caddo 
 (Pani) tribes were not indicated with that completeness 
 which the subject requires. The northwest corner of the 
 map shows the tracts occupied at present in the Indian 
 Territory by tribes of Maskoki lineage. 
 
50 THE MASKOKI FAMILY. 
 
 II. THE MASKOKI FAMILY. 
 
 Among the various nationalities of the Gulf territories the 
 Maskoki family of tribes occupied a central and commanding 
 position. Not only the large extent of territory held by 
 them, but also their numbers, their prowess in war, and a 
 certain degree of mental culture and self-esteem made of the 
 Maskoki one of the most important groups in Indian history. 
 From their ethnologic condition of later times, we infer that 
 these tribes have extended for many centuries back in time, 
 from the Atlantic to the Mississippi and beyond that river, 
 and from the Apalachian ridge to the Gulf of Mexico. With 
 short intermissions they kept up warfare with all the circum- 
 iacent Indian communities, and also among each other. All 
 the various dispositions of the human mind are represented 
 in the Maskoki tribes. We have the cruel and lurking 
 Chicasa, the powerful and ingenious but treacherous and 
 corruptible Cha'hta, the magnanimous and hospitable, proud 
 and revengeful Creek, the aggressive Alibamu, the quarrel- 
 some Yamassi, and the self-willed, independent Seminole, 
 jealous of the enjoyment of his savage freedom in the swamps 
 and everglades of the semi-tropical peninsula. 
 
 The irresolute and egotistic policy of these tribes often 
 caused serious difficulties to the government of the English 
 and French colonies, and some of them constantly wavered 
 in their adhesion between the French and the English cause. 
 The American government overcame their opposition easily 
 whenever a conflict presented itself (the Seminole war forms 
 an exception), because, like all the Indians, they never knew 
 how to unite against a common foe. 
 
 The two main branches of the stock, the Creek and the 
 Cha'hta Indians, were constantly at war, and the remem- 
 brance of their deadly conflicts has now passed to their 
 descendants in the form of folklore. The two differ anthro- 
 pologically in their exterior, the people of the western or 
 Cha'hta branch being thick-set and heavy, that of the eastern 
 
ETHNOGRAPHIC PRACTICES. 51 
 
 or Creek connection more lithe and tall. Prognathism is 
 not frequent among them, and the complexion of both 
 is a rather dark cinnamon, with the southern olive tinge. 
 The general intelligence of this gifted race renders it suscep- 
 tible for civilization, endows it with eloquence, but does not 
 always restrain it from the outbursts of the wildest passion. 
 
 Among the tribes of the Maskoki family, we notice the 
 following ethnographic practices: the use of the red and 
 white colors as symbols of war and peace, an extensive system 
 of totemic gentes, the use of the Ilex cassine for the manu- 
 facture of the black drink, the erection of artificial mounds, 
 the belief in a deity called "Master of Life," and original 
 sun-worship. The eastern tribes all had an annual festival 
 in the town square, called a. fast (puskita in Creek), and some 
 traces of it maybe found also among the western connection. 
 In the eastern and western branch (also among the Naktche 
 people) the children belong to the gens of the mother, a 
 custom which differs from that of the Yuchi and dates from 
 high antiquity. No instances of anthropophagy are recorded, 
 but the custom of scalping seems to have been indigenous 
 among them. The early Timucua scalped their enemies and 
 dried the scalps over their camp-fires. The artificial flatten- 
 ing of the foreheads of male infants seems to have prevailed 
 in the western branch only, but some kind of skull deforma- 
 tion could be observed throughout the Gulf territories. The 
 re-interment of dead bodies, after cleaning their bones from 
 the adhering muscles several months after death, is recorded 
 more especially for the western branch, but was probably 
 observed among all tribes in various modifications. 
 
 None of the customs just enumerated was peculiar to the 
 Maskoki tribes, but common throughout the south, many of 
 them being found in the north also. They were mentioned 
 here only, to give in their totality a fair ethnographic picture 
 of the Maskoki nationality. 
 
 The genealogy of the Maskoki tribes cannot be established 
 
52 THE MASKOKI FAMILY. 
 
 on anthropological, that is racial, characteristics ; these In- 
 dians formerly incorporated so many alien elements into their 
 towns, and have become so largely mixed with half-castes in 
 the nineteenth century, that a division on racial grounds has 
 become almost impossible. 
 
 Hence, the only characteristic by which a subdivision of 
 the family can be attempted, is that of language. Following 
 their ancient topographic location from east to west, we ob- 
 tain the following synopsis : 
 
 First branch, or Maskoki proper. The Creek, Maskokalgi or 
 Maskoki proper, settled on Coosa, Tallapoosa, Upper and 
 Middle Chatahuchi rivers. From these branched off by 
 segmentation the Creek portion of the Seminoles, of the 
 Yamassi and of the little Yamacraw community. 
 
 Second, or Apalachian branch. This southeastern division, 
 which may be called also a parte potiori the Hitchiti connec- 
 tion, anciently comprised the tribes on the Lower Chatahuchi 
 river and, east from there, the extinct Apalachi, the Mikasuki, 
 and the Hitchiti portion of the Seminoles, Yamassi and Yama- 
 craws. 
 
 Third, or Alibamu branch comprised the Alibamu villages 
 on the river of that name ; to them belonged the Koassati 
 and Witumka on Coosa river, its northern affluent. 
 
 Fourth, Western or Cha'hta branch. From the main people, 
 the Cha'hta, settled in the middle portions of the State of 
 Mississippi, the Chicasa, Pascagoula, Biloxi, Huma and other 
 tribes once became separated through segmentation. 
 
 The strongest evidence for a community of origin of the 
 Maskoki tribes is furnished by the fact that their dialects 
 belong to one linguistic family. The numerous incorporations 
 of foreign elements have not been able to alter the purity of 
 their language ; the number of intrusive words is very small, 
 and the grammar has repelled every foreign intrusion. This 
 is the inference we draw from their best studied dialects, for 
 
THE COMMON MASKOKI LANGUAGE. 53 
 
 with some of them, as with Abika, we are not acquainted at 
 all, and with others very imperfectly. The principal dialects 
 of the family greatly differ from each other; Cha'hta, for 
 instance, is unintelligible to the Creek, Koassati and Hitchiti 
 people, and the speech of each of these three tribes is not 
 understood by the two others. When Albert Gallatin pub- 
 lished his vocabularies of Cha'hta and Creek, he was uncertain 
 at first whether they were related to each other or not. On 
 the other side, the difference between Cha'hta and Chicasa, 
 and between Creek and Seminole, is so insignificant that 
 these dialects may be considered as practically . identical. 
 The degree of dialectic difference points approximately to 
 the date of the separation of the respective communities, and 
 untold centuries must have elapsed since the two main branches 
 of the family were torn asunder, for Cha'hta differs about as 
 much from Creek as the literary German does from Icelandic. 
 
 THE COMMON MASKOKI LANGUAGE. 
 
 Although the dialects of Maskoki do not now diverge from 
 each other more than did the Semitic dialects two thousand 
 years ago, the time when they all had a common language, 
 or, in other words, the time . preceding the separation into 
 four divisions must lie further back than eight or ten thousand 
 years. We cannot expect to reconstruct the parent Maskoki 
 language spoken at that time but very imperfectly, since the 
 oldest text known to exist in any of the dialects dates from 
 A. D. 1688 only. An approach to its reconstruction could 
 be attempted by carefully comparing the lexicon and gram- 
 matic forms of the dialects presently spoken, and an individual 
 acquainted with them all, or at least with their four represen- 
 tatives, might also compose a comparative grammar of these 
 dialects as spoken at the present epoch of their development, 
 which would reveal many points concerning the ancient or his- 
 toric shape of the language once common to all these tribes. 
 
 What the Maskoki dialects presently spoken, as far as 
 
•54 THE MASKOKI FAMILY. 
 
 published, have in common, may be stated in a general way in 
 the following outlines : 
 
 Phonetics. — The dialects possess the sound f and the palata- 
 lized 1 ('-1), but lack th, v and r, while nasalization of the 
 vocalic element is more peculiar to the western than to the 
 eastern divisions. There is a tendency to pronounce the 
 mutes or checks by applying the tongue to the alveolar part 
 of the palate. The phonetic system is as follows : 
 
 explosives : 
 
 Not aspirated. Aspirated. 
 
 Gutturals kg X 
 
 Palatals tch,ts dsh, ds 
 
 Linguals k' g' 
 
 Dentals t d 
 
 Labials p b f 
 
 Vowels: — i, e, a, a, o, u; with their long and nasalized sounds, 
 
 breaths : 
 Spirants. Nasals. Trills. 
 
 h 
 
 y £ '1 
 
 sh 1 
 
 s n 
 
 w m 
 
 The syllable is quite simple in its structure ; it consists either 
 of a vowel only, or begins with one consonant (in the eastern 
 division with one or two), and ends in a vowel. Deviations 
 from this rule must be explained by phonetic alteration, 
 elision, etc. The frequent occurrence of homonymous terms 
 forms a peculiar difficulty in the study of the dialects. 
 
 Morphology. — No thorough distinction exists between the 
 different parts of speech, none especially between the nominal 
 and the verbal element. The fact that all adjectives can be 
 verbified, could be better expressed as follows : The adjectives 
 used attributively are participles of attributive verbs and 
 inflected for number like these, their so-called plural being 
 the plural form of a verb. This we observe in Iroquois, 
 Taensa and many other American languages ; it also explains 
 the position of the adjective after the noun qualified. Some 
 forms of the finite verb represent true verbs, while others, 
 like the Creek forms, with tcha-, tchi-, pu-, etc., prefixed, 
 which is the possessive pronoun, are nominal forms, and 
 represent nomina agentis and nomina actionis. The three 
 cases of the noun are not accurately distinguished from each 
 
THE COMMON MASKOKI LANGUAGE. 55 
 
 other in their functions; substantives form diminutives in 
 -odshi, -osi„ -usi, etc. The distinction between animate arid 
 inanimate gender is not made in this language family; much 
 less that between the male and the female sex. The possessive 
 pronoun of the third person singular and plural (im-, in-, i-) 
 is prefixed in the same manner to substantives to indicate 
 possession, as it is to verbs to show that an act is performed 
 in the interest or to the detriment of the verbal subject or 
 object. The Cha'hta alone distinguishes between the inclu- 
 sive and the exclusive pronouns we, our, ours, A dual exists 
 neither in the noun nor in the pronoun, but in most of the 
 intransitive verbs. The numerals are built upon the quinary 
 system, the numeral system most frequent in North America. 
 The verb forms a considerable number of tenses and incor- 
 porates the prefixed object-pronoun, the interrogative and the 
 negative particle ; it has a form for the passive and one for the 
 reflective voice. By a sort of reduplication a distributive form 
 is produced in the verb, adjective and some numerals, which 
 often has a frequentative and iterative function. The lack of 
 a true relative pronoun and of a true substantive verb is supplied 
 in different ways by the various dialects ; the former, for in- 
 stance, by the frequent use of the verbal in -t. Derivatives are 
 formed by prefixation and suffixation, many of the derivational 
 being identical with inflectional affixes in these dialects. 
 
 Although Maskoki speech, taken as a whole, belongs to, 
 the agglutinative type of languages, some forms of it, espe- 
 cially the predicative inflection of the verb and the vocalic 
 changes in the radicals, strongly remind us of the inflective 
 languages. Words, phrases and sentences are sometimes 
 composed by syncope, a process which is more characteristic 
 of the agglutinative than of the inflective type, and is by 
 no means confined to the languages of America. 
 
 In the following comparative table I have gathered some 
 terms of Maskoki which coincide in two or more of the dialects. 
 The table may be helpful for giving a general idea of the 
 lexical differences existing between the dialects explored : 
 
56 
 
 THE MASKOKI FAMILY. 
 
 dS|3_ 
 
 3 1=3 
 
 122 
 
 
 e .= e 
 
 g c * .S3-S ._ 
 
 g . .-m. a3 | 2 ._ : = 3 3|3 3 |jil^||"rl|l 
 
 
 ■a 
 
 E 
 
 i _ J ;j « — -a • 
 
 ■-JS 
 2"« 
 
 .5* 
 
 
 Sj^If^asg-ggjlsI -a 
 
 si's -a S2.-?='S5-S^'i-S-g^^'5>»SS , S-g 
 
 i.sfic-SjSSSr'g 5'K SJfxiSM 
 
 •£■§ 
 
 3 rt 
 
 :2 £2.2 
 
 ^■Bs-s.sis.s'g.a-g.-s 
 
 o.a 6:2 a 
 
 l:5.a -aii-a acJ£rjj; as o-cc a-oa.Sv.: a o OsC 
 
 .S '3, si* b 
 
 _'S A — Injsjijs B; 
 
 .- .a .g - a -a a. c .a <a : 
 
 
 
 be 
 
 B ^ 
 
 £3— a 3 rt V 
 
 2^-S^S E.S -a^£3 
 
 
 tax iB* 
 
 i a E 
 
 •3>E. 
 
 ss-g. 
 
 S ?!-r.s 
 
 •2-5 « 
 
 Sfl-5 
 
 = 5 = 
 
 3 G-rt 
 
 U u .c-o.fi 
 
 i O B.- O.- 
 
 3 a, rt — -C .— 5 *« S3 a 
 
 33 
 
 
 ace — -K <J 
 
 fl o 03 o.tJ 
 
 fl — 
 
 fajlillijli 
 
 ■a<3 
 
 
 ^2E 
 -9 |||! 
 
 •S3 
 
 IslMllJl 
 
 ,010 
 
 « S'S 
 
 32 « 
 
 lHJllMlli S IIIllll:i!l!lll!Il^ ll ^ lls 
 
 I 3 a"rt « B B-S OJ5 
 
 . a-d 2j= 3 9a 0.0. 
 
THE COMMON MASKOKI LANGUAGE. 57 
 
 The Chicasa of this comparative table is from a vo- 
 cabulary taken by G. Gibbs (1866) ; the Seminole and the 
 Mikasuki from Buckingham Smith's vocabularies printed in 
 the Historical Magazine (Morrisania, N. Y.) for August, 
 1866, and in W. W. Beach's: Indian Miscellany, Albany 
 1877, p. 120-126. The latter differs but little from the 
 Mikasuki of G. Gibbs, in the linguistic collection of the 
 Bureau of Ethnology in Washington. The few words of 
 Apalachi were drawn from the missive sent, A. D. 1688, to 
 the king of Spain, to be mentioned under "Apalachi"; the 
 Koassati terms I obtained in part at the Indian training 
 school at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, partly from Gen. Alb. Pike's 
 vocabularies, which also furnished the Alibamu terms. 
 
 Readers will perceive at the first glance that Cha'hta is 
 practically the same language as Chicasa, Creek as Seminole 
 and Hitchiti as Mikasuki. Alibamu forms a dialect for itself, 
 leaning more toward Cha'hta than Creek. The southeastern 
 group holds a middle position between Cha'hta and Creek. 
 As far as the queer and inaccurate Spanish orthography of 
 Apalachi enables us to judge, this dialect again differs some- 
 what from Hitchiti and Mikasuki. It will be well to remember 
 that in Indian and all illiterate languages the sounds of the 
 same organ-class are interchangeable ; thus, a word may be 
 correctly pronounced and written in six, ten, or twelve 
 different ways. Tchato rock, stone can be pronounced 
 tchatu, tchado, tchadu, tsato, tsatu, tsado, tsadu, etc. This 
 explains many of the apparent discrepancies observed in the 
 comparative table, and in our texts printed below. 
 
 A comparative study of the existing Maskoki vocabularies 
 would be very fruitful for the ethnographic history of the 
 tribes, and likely to disclose the relative epochs of their set- 
 tlement, if those that we have now could be thoroughly relied 
 on. In the comparative table subjoined I have received only 
 such terms that answer to this requisite. 
 
 There are terms which occur in all dialects in the same or 
 5 
 
58 THE MASKOKI FAMILY. 
 
 nearly the same form, as hasi sun, itchu, issi deer, ofi, ifa 
 dog, the terms for chief, black, yellow, bird, snake, buffalo, 
 turtle, fox (also in Cheroki : tsu'hla), the numerals and the 
 personal pronouns; they must, therefore, have been once 
 the common property of the still undivided, primordial tribe. 
 The fact that the words for chief (miki, mingo, miko), 
 for hola'hta, and for warrior (taska, taskaya), agree in all 
 dialects, points to the fact that when the tribes separated they 
 lived under similar social conditions which they have kept up 
 • ever since. The terms for maize disagree but apparently, and 
 seem to be reducible to one radix, atch or ash ; the terms for 
 dog agree in all dialects — hence, the Maskoki tribes planted 
 maize and kept dogs before, probably many centuries before 
 they separated ; and the term ifa went over from them to the 
 Timucua. The word for buffalo, yanase, is the same in all 
 dialects, and was probably obtained from the North, since 
 the term occurs in Cheroki also (ya'hsa in Eastern Cheroki). 
 The flame for salt, hapi, a mineral which had a sacrificial 
 importance, is found also in Yuchi in the form tapi, but 
 Creek has 6k-tchanua, Hitchiti : ok-tchahane. The term for 
 tobacco agrees in all divisions of the stock (haktchumma), ex- 
 cept in the Creek branch, where it is called hitchi, hidshi. 
 This weed is said to have received its Maskoki names from a 
 similarity of the top of the green plant with the phallus, 
 which is called in Alibamu and Hitchiti : 6ktchi or aktchi. 
 
 THE NAME MASKOKI; ITS USE AND SIGNIFICATION. 
 
 Maskoki, Maskdgi, isti Maskoki, designates a single person 
 of the Creek tribe, and forms, as a collective plural, Masko- 
 kalgi, the Creek community, the Creek people, the Creek 
 Indians. English authors write this name Muscogee, Muskh- 
 ogee, and its plural Muscogulgee. The first syllable, as 
 pronounced by the Creek Indians, contains a clear, short a, 
 and that the name was written Muscogee and not Mascogee, 
 is not to be wondered at, for the English language, with its 
 
THE NAME. MASKOKI. 59 
 
 surd, indistinct and strongly modified vocalization, will con- 
 vert the clearest a into a u. Whether the name Maskoki 
 was given to the Creeks before or after the incorporation of 
 the towns speaking other languages than theirs, we are unable 
 to tell, but the name figures in some of the oldest documents 
 on this people. The accent is usually laid on the middle 
 syllable : Maskoki, Maskogi. None of the tribes are able to 
 explain the name from their own language. 
 
 The Cheroki call a Creek Indian Kusa, the nation Ani- 
 kusa, probably because Kusa was the first Creek town they 
 met, when coming from their country along Coosa river, Ala- 
 bama. But why did the English colonists call them Creek 
 Indians? Because, when the English traders entered the 
 Maskoki country from Charleston or Savannah, they had 
 to cross a number of streams and creeks, especially between 
 the Chatahuchi and Savannah rivers. Gallatin thought 
 it probable that the inhabitants of the country adjacent 
 to Savannah river were called Creeks from an early time 
 (Synopsis, p. 94). The French settlers rendered the term 
 Lower Creeks by " Basses-Rivieres." 
 
 The Wendat or Hurons call the Creek people Ku-u'sha, 
 having obtained the name from the Cheroki. The Foxes 
 or Utagami call one Creek man U'mashgo anene-u, the 
 people U'mashgohak. B. S. Barton, New Views (1798), 
 Appendix p. 8, states that the Delawares call the Creeks 
 Masquachki : " swampland. ' ' 
 
 Caleb Swan, who wrote a report on the Creek people in 
 1791, mentions (Schoolcraft V, 259) a tradition current among 
 them, that they incorporated the Alibamu first, then the 
 Koassati, then the Naktche, and finally the Shawano. In 
 his time the Shawano had four towns on the Tallapoosa river, 
 and other Shawano (from the northwest) increased their 
 population every year by large numbers. One of these 
 towns was called Sawan6gi, another Kanhatki. A Muscogee 
 creek is near Columbus, running into Chatahuchi river from 
 
60 THE MASKOKI FAMILY. 
 
 the east. "Muskhogans" inhabited the tract north of 
 Pensacola. 
 
 The term is not derived from any known Maskoki word. 
 If oki water formed a component part of it, it would stand 
 first, as in the Hitchiti geographic terms Okelakni "yellow 
 water,'' Okifen6ke "wavering, shaking waters," Okmulgi 
 • 'bubbling water, ' ' Okitchobi ' ' river, " lit. ' 'large river. ' ' We 
 are therefore entitled to look out for a Shawano origin of the 
 tribal name, and remember the fact that the Creek Indians 
 called the Shawano and the Lenape (Delawares) their grand- 
 fathers. It will be appropriate to consult also the other 
 Algonkin languages for proper names comparable with the 
 one which occupies our attention. 
 
 The Shawano call a Creek person Humasko, the Creek 
 people Humaskogi. Here the hu- is the predicative prefix : 
 he is, she is, they are, and appears often as ho-, hui-, ku-. 
 Thus Humask6gi means "they are Masko" , the suffix -gi, -ki 
 being the plural ending of the animate order of substantives , 
 in Shawano. A word masko is not traceable at present in 
 that language, but muskiggui means lake, pond, m'skiegu-pki 
 or muskiegu-pki timbered swamp, musk'hanui nepl the 
 water (nepi) rises up to, surrounds, but does not cover 
 up. Miskekopke in Caleb Atwater's vocabulary (Archseol. 
 Americ. I, p. 290), signifies wet ground, swamp. Rev. 
 Lacombe's Cree or Knisteno Dictionary gives : maskek 
 marsh, swamp, trembling ground unsafe to walk upon; Maske- 
 kowiyiniw Ike Maskegons or JBogmen, a tribe of Crees, also 
 called Maskekowok, who were formerly Odsbibwe Indians, 
 but left Lake Superior to join the Crees; their name forms a 
 striking parallel to our southern Maskoki. Rev. Watkins' 
 Cree Dictionary, with its English, unscientific orthography, 
 has muskag, muskak swamp, marsh; Muskagoo Swampy Indian, 
 Maskegon; Muskagoowew he is a Swampy Indian. Here the 
 predicative suffix -wew is placed after the noun, while hu- of 
 Shawano stands before it. The Odshibwg Dictionary of 
 
THE NAME MASKOKI. 61 
 
 Bishop Baraga has mashkig, plur. maskigon swamp, marsh; 
 Mashki sibi Bad River; a corrupt form standing for Mashkigi 
 sibi Swamp River. In Abnaki we have megua'k fresh water 
 marsh, maskehegat fetid water. 
 
 The Shawano word for creek, brook, branch of river is 
 methtekui ; Shawano often has th where the northern dialects 
 have s (thipi river, in Potawat. and Sauk : sibe, in Odshibwe : 
 sibi) and hence the radix meth- is probably identical with 
 mas- in maskek. 
 
 The country inhabited by the Maskoki proper abounds in 
 creek bottoms overflowed in the rainy season, as the country 
 around Opelika " swamp-site " (from Creek: opilua, apilua 
 swamp, laikita to be stretched out}, Opil-'lako "great swamp," 
 west of the above (Hawkins, p. 50) and many other places 
 rendered uninhabitable by the moisture of the ground. The 
 countries of the Cha'hta and Chicasa also formed a succession 
 of swamps, low grounds and marshes. In view of the fact 
 that no other general name for the whole Creek nation was 
 known to exist save Maskoki, and that the legend and the 
 chroniclers of de Soto's expedition speak of single tribes 
 only, we are entitled to assume this foreign origin^ for the 
 name until a better one is presented. Another instance of 
 an Algonkin name of an Indian nationality adopted by the 
 Maskoki is that of isti Natuagi, or the " enemies creeping up 
 stealthily," lit., " snake-men," by which the Iroquois, or Five 
 Nations, are meant. 1 
 
 In this publication I call the Maskoki proper by the name 
 of Creeks only> and have used their name on account of the 
 central location and commanding position of the Maskoki 
 proper, to whom this appellation properly belongs, to 
 designate the whole Cha 'hta-Maskoki family of Indians. 
 
 It will also be remembered that several of the larger commu- 
 nities of American Indians are known to the white population 
 1 By this same name the Algonkihs designated many other Indians 
 hostile to them; it appears in Nottoway, Nadouessioux, etc. 
 
62 THE MASKOKI FAMILY. 
 
 exclusively through names borrowed from other languages 
 than their own, as, for instance, the Kalapuya of Oregon, 
 who call themselves Ame'nmei, Kalapuya (anciently Kala- 
 puyua) being of Chinook origin, and the Pani, whose name 
 is, according to J. H. Trumbull, taken from an Algonkin 
 dialect, and means lungy, not bellicose, inferior, while their 
 own name is Tsariksi tsariks " men of men." 1 Foreign 
 names have also been given to the smaller tribes of the 
 Shetimasha and Atakapa, names which are of Cha'hta 
 origin; v. supra. The Patagonian and Argentinian tribes 
 are mostly known to us under Chilian names, and the 
 Aimbore or Nkra'kmun of Brazil we know only under the 
 Portuguese name Botocudos. 
 
 THE TRIBAL DIVISIONS OF THE MASKOKI FAMILY. 
 
 YAMASSI. 
 
 As early as the latter half of the sixteenth century, a tribe 
 speaking a Maskoki language was settled on the shores of the 
 Atlantic ocean, on lands included at present in the State of 
 South Carolina, and from these shores they extended to some 
 distance inland. In that country Rene de Laudonniere in 
 1564 established a fortification in Port Royal Bay, called 
 Charlefort, and the terms transmitted by him, being all of 
 Creek origin, leave no doubt about the affinity of the natives, 
 yatiqui interpreter, tola laurel, Olataraca, viz.: hola'hta 'lako, 
 nom. pr. "the great leader." Shortly after, the Spanish 
 captain Juan Pardo led an expedition (1566-67) through the 
 countries along Savannah river, and the local names found in 
 the report made of it by Juan de la Vandera (1569) also 
 point to the presence of a people speaking Creek estab- 
 lished on both sides of that river: 2 Ahoya "two going" ; Issa 
 
 1 Prof. J. B. Dunbar, who composed an interesting ethnologic article on 
 this tribe, thinks that Pani is a true Pani word : pariki horn, meaning their 
 scalp lock; Magazine of American History, 1880 (April number), p. 245. 
 
 2 Cf. Buck. Smith, Coleccion de Documentos ineditos, I, p. 15-19 
 (Madrid, 1857). 
 
YAMASSI. 63 
 
 Cr. idshu ' ' deer ' ' ; Solameco, Cr. siili miko ' ' buzzard chief ' ' ; 
 Canosi, Cr. ikano'dshi "graves are there" — the name of 
 Cannouchee river, Georgia. 
 
 After the lapse of a century, when British colonists began 
 to settle in larger numbers in these parts, a tribe called 
 Yamassi (Yemasee, Yamasee, Yemmassaws, etc.) appears in 
 the colonial documents as settled there, and in the maritime 
 tracts of Georgia and Eastern Florida. Thus G. R. Fair- 
 banks, History of St. Augustine (1858), p. 125, mentions 
 the following dates from Spanish annals: "The Yemasees, 
 always peaceful and manageable, had a principal town, 
 Macarisqui, near St. Augustine. In 1680 they revolted, 
 because the Spaniards had executed one of their princi- 
 pal chiefs at St. Augustine; and in 1686 they made a 
 general attack on the Spaniards, and became their mortal 
 enemies." 
 
 The inroads of the Yamassi, in Cr. Yamassalgi, made in 
 1687 and 1706 upon the christianized Timucua have been 
 alluded to under "Timucua" (p. 12). 
 
 The English surveyor Lawson, who traveled through 
 these parts in 1701, calls them Savannah Indians, stating 
 that they are "a famous, warlike, friendly nation of 
 Indians, living at the south end of Ashley river." (Re- 
 print of i860, p. 75.) Governor Archdale also calls them 
 Savannahs'- in 1695; hence they were named like the 
 Yuchi, either from the Savannah river, or from the savanas 
 or prairies of the southern parts of South Carolina. The 
 Yuchi probably lived northwest of them. A few miles 
 north of Savannah city there is a town and railroad 
 crossing, Yemassee, which perpetuates their tribal name. 
 Another ancient authority locates some between the Com- 
 bahee and the Savannah river, and there stood their largest 
 
 1 Description of Carolina, London, 1707. The Yamassi then lived 
 about eighty miles from Charleston, and extended their hunting excur- 
 sions almost to St. Augustine. 
 
64 THE MASKOKI FAMILY, 
 
 town, Pocotaligo. 1 Hewat (1779) states that they possessed 
 a large territory lying backward from Port Royal Island, 
 in his time called Indian Land (Hist. Ace, I, 213). Cf. 
 Westo and Stono Indians, p. 48. 
 
 They had been the staunchest Indian supporters of the 
 new British colony, and had sent 28 men of auxiliary troops 
 to Colonel Barnwell, to defeat the Tuscarora insurrection on 
 the coast of North Carolina (17 12-13), wnen they suddenly 
 revolted on April 15th, 1715, committed the most atrocious 
 deeds against helpless colonists, and showed themselves to be 
 quite the reverse of what their name indicates (yamasi, ya- 
 massi, the Creek term for mild, gentle, peaceable ?). Among 
 their confederates in the unprovoked insurrection were Kataba, 
 Cheroki and Congari Indians. Wholesale massacres of colo- 
 nists occurred around Pocotaligo, on Port Royal Island and 
 at Stono, and the number of victims was estimated at four 
 hundred. A force of volunteers, commanded by Governor 
 Craven, defeated them at Saltketchers, on Upper Combahee 
 river, southern branch, and drove them over Savannah river, 
 but for a while they continued their depredations from their 
 places of refuge (Hewat, Histor. Ace, I, 213-222). 
 
 Names of Yamassi Indians mentioned at that period also 
 testify to their Creek provenience. The name of a man called 
 Sanute is explained by Cr. san6dshas I encamp near, or with 
 somebody; that of Ishiagaska (Tchiagaska?) by ika akaska his 
 scraped or shaved head; or issi akaska his hair (on body) 
 removed. At a public council held at Savannah, in May- 
 1 733, a Lower Creek chief from Kawita expressed the hope 
 that the Yamassi may be in time reunited to his people ; a fact 
 which fully proves the ethnic affinity of the two national bodies.* 
 
 1 Gallatin, Synopsis, p. 84, recalls the circumstance that Pok'etalico is 
 also the name of a tributary of the Great Kanawha river. This seems to 
 point to a foreign origin of that name. 
 
 2 Verbified intchayamassfs: I am friendly, liberal, generous, hospitable. 
 • Cf. Jones, Tomochichi, p. 31. 
 
YAMACRAW. 65 
 
 In Thomas Jeffery's Map of Florida, which stands opposite 
 the title-page of John Bartram, Descr. of East Florida, 
 London, 1769, 4to, a tract on the northeast shore of Pensa- 
 cola bay is marked "Yamase Land." 
 
 A tradition is current among the Creeks, that the Yamassi 
 were reduced and exterminated by them, but it is difficult to 
 trace the date of that event. W. Bartram, Travels, p. 137, 
 speaks of the "sepulchres or tumuli of the Yamasees who 
 were here slain in the last decisive battle, the Creeks having 
 driven them to this point, between the doubling of the river 
 (St. Juan, Florida), where few of them escaped the fury of 
 the conquerors. . . . There were nearly thirty of these 
 cemeteries of the dead," etc.; cf. ibid., p. 183. 516. Forty 
 or fifty of them fled to St. Augustine and other coast fortresses, 
 and were protected by the Spanish authorities; p. 55. 485. 390. 
 
 After the middle of the eighteenth century the name 
 Yamassi disappears from the annals as that of a distinct tribe. 
 They were now merged into the Seminoles ; they continued 
 long to exist as one of their bands west of the Savannah 
 river, and it is reported "that the Yemasi band of Creeks 
 refused to fight in the British- American war of 181 3." 
 
 All the above dates permit us to conclude that, ethnograph- 
 ically, the Yamassi were for the main part of Creek origin, 
 but that some foreign admixture, either Kataba or Yuchi, 
 had taken place, which will account for the presence of their 
 local names of foreign origin. The Apalachian or Hitchiti 
 branch of the Maskoki family must have also furnished ele- 
 ments to those Yamassi who were settled southwest of Savan- 
 nah city, for that was the country in which the Apalachian 
 branch was established. 
 
 YAMACRAW. 
 
 This small tribe is known only through its connection with 
 
 ' the young British colony of Savannah and the protection 
 
 which its chief, Tomochichi, extended over it. This chief, 
 
 from some unknown reason, had separated from" his mother 
 
66 THE MASKOKI FAMILY. 
 
 tribe of Apalatchokla town, and went to reside upon a river 
 bluff four miles above the site of Savannah city. He subse- 
 quently visited England and its court with Esquire Oglethorpe 
 (in 1733), and died, about ninety-seven years old, in 1739, 
 highly respected by his Indians and the colonists. The 
 Yamacraw Indians, who had followed him to the Savannah 
 river, consisted mainly of disaffected Lower Creek and of 
 some Yamassi Indians. 
 
 The Creeks cannot give any account of the name Yama- 
 craw, and the R, which is a component sound of it, does not 
 occur in any of the Maskoki dialects nor in Yuchi. Cf. 
 Chas. C. Jones, Historical Sketch of Tpmo-chi-chi, mico of 
 the Yamacraws. Albany, 1868, 8vo. 
 
 SEMINOLE. 
 
 The term seman61e, or isti siman61e, signifies separatist 
 or runaway, and as a tribal name points to the Indians 
 who left the Creek, especially the Lower Creek settlements, 
 for Florida, to live, hunt and fish there in entire independence. 
 The term does not mean wild, savage, as frequently stated ; 
 if applied now in this sense to animals, it is because of its 
 original meaning, "what has become a runaway": pinua 
 simanole wild turkey (cf. pin-apuiga domesticated turkey), 
 tchu-ata seman61i, antelope, literally, " goat turned runaway, 
 wild," from tchu-ata, itchu hi.ta.goat, lit., "bleating deer." 1 
 The present Seminoles of Florida call themselves Ikaniii- 
 ksalgi or "Peninsula-People" (from ikana land, niuksa, for 
 in-yuksa its point, its promontory, -algi : collective ending) ; 
 another name for them is Tallahaski, from their town Talla- 
 hassie, now capital of the State of Florida. The Wendat or 
 Hurons call them Ungiayo-rono, " Peninsula-People," from 
 xmgikyo peninsula. In Creek, the Florida peninsula is called 
 also Ikan-faski, the "Pointed Land," the Seminoles: Ikana- 
 
 1 This adjective is found verbified in isimanolaidshit "he has caused 
 himself to be a runaway." 
 
SEMINOLE. 67 
 
 faskalgi "people of the pointed land." The name most 
 commonly given to the Seminoles in the Indian Territory by 
 the Creeks is Simano'lalgi, by the Hitchiti : Simano'la'li. 
 
 Indians speaking the Creek language lived in the south of 
 the peninsula as early as the sixteenth century. This fact is 
 fully proved by the local names and by other terms used in 
 these parts transmitted by Fontanedo (in 1559, cf. Calusa) : 
 seletega! "run hither.'" now pronounced silitiga, silitka, 
 abbrev. from isilitka ; isilitkas I run away, lit., I carry myself 
 away, off; litkas I am running. Silitiga is now used as a 
 personal name among the Creeks. 
 
 We have seen that a portion of Fontanedo's local names of 
 the Calusa country are of Creek origin, and that another 
 portion is probably Timucua. The rest of them, like Yagua 
 and others, seem to be of Caribbean origin, and a transient 
 or stationary population of Caribs is mentioned by Hervas, 
 Catalogo de las lenguas I, p. 386 as having lived in the Apa- 
 lachi country. 1 
 
 . The hostile encounter between Creeks and Calusa, men- 
 tioned by Romans (cf. Calusa), probably took place about 
 A. D. 1700, but the name Seminole does not appear as early 
 as that. Previous to that event the Creeks seem to have held 
 only the coast line and the north part of what is now the area 
 of Florida State. A further accession resulted from the 
 arrival of the Yamassi, whom Governor Craven had driven 
 into Georgia and into the arms of their enemies, the Span- 
 iards of Florida, after suppressing the revolt of 1 715 in which 
 they had participated. 
 
 The Seminoles of modern times are a people compounded 
 of the following elements : separatists from the Lower Creek 
 and Hitchiti towns ; remnants of tribes partly civilized by 
 the Spaniards ; Yamassi Indians and some negroes. Accord- 
 ing to Hawkins, Sketch of the Creek Country (1799), pp. 25. 
 26, they had emigrated from Ok6ni, Sawokli, Yufala, Ta- 
 1 Cf. Proceed. Am. Philos. Society of Phila., 1880, pp. 466, 478. 
 
68 THE MASKOKI FAMILY. 
 
 ma'la, Apalatchukla and Hitchiti (all of which are Lower 
 Creek towns), being invited to Florida by the plenty of game, 
 the mildness of the climate and the productiveness of the 
 soil. The Seminoles mentioned by him inhabited the whole 
 peninsula, from Apalachicola river to the "Florida Point," 
 and had the following seven towns : Seman61e Talahassi, 
 Mikasuki, Witchotukmi, Alachua, Oklawaha 'lako, Talua- 
 tchapk-apopka, Kalusa-hatchi. Some of the larger immigra- 
 tions from the Creek towns into those parts occurred: in 
 1750, after the end of the Revolutionary war, in 1808 and 
 after the revolt of the Upper Creeks in 18 14. 
 
 When Wm. Bartram traveled through the Seminole coun- 
 try, about 1 773, he was informed that Cuscowilla, a town on 
 a lake of the same name and a sort of Seminole capital, had 
 been built by Indians from Ok6ni old town, settled upon the 
 Alachua plains: " They abdicated the ancient Alachua town 
 on the borders of the savanna, about fifty miles west from the 
 river San Juan, and built here, calling the new town Cusco- 
 willa. (About 1 7 10) they had emigrated from Oconee town, 
 on the Oconee river, on account of the proximity of the 
 white people. " They formerly waged war with the " Tomocos 
 (Timucua), Utinas, Calloosas, Yamases" and other Florida 
 tribes. 1 
 
 The Seminoles were always regarded as a sort of outcasts 
 by the Creek tribes from which they had seceded, and no 
 doubt there were reasons for this. The emigration included 
 many of the more turbulent elements of the population, and 
 the mere fact that many of them spoke another dialect than 
 the Maskoki proper (some belonging to the Hitchiti or south- 
 eastern division of the family) is likely to have cast a shadow 
 upon them. The anecdote narrated by Milfort (Memoire, 
 
 1 Wm. Bartram, Travels, p. 97. 179. 190-193. 216. 217. 251. 379-380. 
 The name Cuscowilla bears a curious resemblance to the Chicasa town 
 Tuskawillao, mentioned by Adair, History, p. 353. Cf. also Okoni, in 
 List of Creek Settlements. 
 
SEMINOLE. 69 
 
 p. 31 1-3 1 7) furnishes ample proof of the low esteem in which 
 the Seminoles were held by the Creeks. But, on the other 
 side, emigration was favored by the Creek communities them- 
 selves through the practice observed by some of their number 
 to send away a part of their young men to form branch 
 villages, whenever the number of the inhabitants began to 
 exceed two hundred. Several towns will be found in our 
 "List of Creek Settlements," in which the process of segmen- 
 tation was going on upon a large scale in the eighteenth 
 century. 
 
 The Seminoles first appear as a distinct politic body in 
 American history under one of their chiefs, called King 
 Payne, at the beginning of this century. This refers more 
 particularly to the Seminoles of the northern parts of what 
 is now Florida; these Indians showed, like the Creeks, 
 hostile intentions towards the thirteen states during and 
 after the Revolution, and conjointly with the Upper Creeks 
 on Tallapoosa river concluded a treaty of friendship with 
 the Spaniards at Pensacola in May, 1784. Although under 
 Spanish control, the Seminoles entered into hostilities with 
 the Americans in 1793 and in 181 2. In the latter year Payne 
 miko was killed in a battle at Alachua, and his brother, the 
 influential Bowlegs, died soon after. These unruly tribes 
 surprised and massacred American settlers on the Satilla river, 
 Georgia, in 1817, and another conflict began, which termi- 
 nated in the destruction of the Mikasuki and Suwanee river 
 towns of the Seminoles by General Jackson, in April, 1818. 
 After the cession of Florida, and its incorporation into the 
 American Union (1819), the Seminoles gave up all their ter- 
 ritory by the treaty of Fort Moultrie, September 18th, 1823, 
 receiving in exchange goods and annuities. When the gov- 
 ernment concluded to move these Indians west of the Missis- 
 sippi river, a treaty of a conditional character was concluded 
 with them at Payne's Landing, in 1832. The larger portion 
 were removed, but the more stubborn part dissented, and 
 
70 THE MASKOKI FAMILY. 
 
 thus gave origin to one of the gravest conflicts which ever 
 occurred between Indians and whites. The Seminole war 
 began with the massacre of Major Dade's command near 
 Wahoo swamp, December 28th, 1835, and continued with 
 unabated fury for five years, entailing an immense expenditure 
 of money and lives. A number of Creek warriors joined the 
 hostile Seminoles in 1836. 
 
 A census of the Seminoles taken in 1822 gave a population 
 of 3899, with 800 negroes belonging to them. The popula- 
 tion of the Seminoles in the Indian Territory amounted to 
 2667 in 1881 (Ind. Affairs' Rep.), and that of the Florida 
 Seminoles will be stated below. There are some Semi- 
 noles now in Mexico, who went there with their negro 
 slaves. 
 
 The settlements of the Seminoles were partly erratic, com- 
 parable to hunters' camps, partly stationary. The stationary 
 villages existed chiefly in the northern parts of the Seminole 
 lands, corresponding to Southern Georgia and Northern 
 Florida of our days. A very instructive table exists of some 
 of their stationary villages, drawn up by Capt. Young, and 
 printed in Rev. Morse's Report on the Indians of the United 
 States (1822), p. 364. This table however includes, with a 
 few exceptions, only places situated near Apalachicola river 
 (east and west of it"), in Alabama, Georgia and Florida ; the 
 list was probably made at a time when Florida was still under 
 Spanish domination, which accounts for the fact that the 
 county names are not added to the localities. Many of 
 these towns were, in fact, Lower Creek towns and not be- 
 longing to the Seminole proper, all of whom lived east of 
 Apalachicola river, mostly at some distance from it. Seminole 
 and Lower Creek were, in earlier times, often regarded as 
 identical appellations; cf. Milfort, Mem., p. 118. 
 
 The remarks included in parentheses were added by 
 myself. 
 
SEMINOLE. 71 
 
 LIST OF SEMINOLE SETTLEMENTS. 
 
 Micasukeys— (In eastern part of Leon county, Florida). 
 
 Fowl Towns— Twelve miles east of Fort Scott (a place 
 " Fowl Town " is now in Decatur county, Georgia, 
 on eastern shore of Chatahuchi river). 
 
 Oka-tiokinans— Near Fort Gaines (the Oki-tiyakni of our 
 List of Creek Settlements; Fort Gaines is on Chata- 
 huchi river, Clay county, Georgia, 31 38' Lat.) 
 
 Uchees — Near the Mikasukey. 
 
 Ehawhokales — On Apalachicola (river). 
 
 Ocheeses— At Ocheese Bluff (Ocheese in southeast corner 
 of Jackson county, Florida, western shore of Apa- 
 lachicola river ; cf. List). 
 
 Tamatles — Seven miles from the Ocheeses. (Cf. Tama'li, 
 in List of Creek Settlements.) 
 
 Attapulgas — On Little river, a branch of Okalokina (now 
 Oklokonee river, or "Yellow Water," from oki 
 water, lakni yellow, in Hitchiti; the place is in 
 Decatur county, Georgia. From itu-pulga, boring 
 holes into wood to make fire: pulgas I bore, itu 
 wood). 
 
 Telmocresses — West side of Chatahoochee river (is Talua 
 mutchasi, "Newtown"). 
 
 Cheskitalowas — West side of Chatahoochee river (Chiska 
 talofa of the Lower Creeks, q. v.) 
 
 Wekivas — Four miles above the Cheskitalowas. 
 
 Emussas — Two miles above the Wekivas (Omussee creek 
 runs into Chatahuchi river from the west, 31 ° 20' 
 Lat.; imussa signifies : tributary, branch, creek joining 
 another water- course ; from the verb im-6sas). 
 
 Ufallahs — Twelve miles above Fort Gaines (Yufala, now 
 Eufaula, on west bank of Chatahuchi river, 31 55' 
 Lat.) 
 
 Red Grounds — Two miles above the line (or Georgia 
 boundary; Ikan-tchati in Creek). 
 
72 THE MASKOKI FAMILY. 
 
 Etohussewakkes — Three miles above Fort Gaines (from itu 
 
 log, hassi old, vrzkasl lie on the ground). 
 Tattowhehallys — Scattered among other towns (probably 
 
 talua hallui "upper town"). 
 Tallehassas — On the road from Okalokina (Oklokonee 
 river) to Mikasukey (now Tallahassie, or " Old 
 City," the capital of Florida State). 
 Owassissas — On east waters of St. Mark's river (Wacissa, 
 
 Basisa is a river with a Timucua name). 
 Chehaws — On the Flint river (comprehends the villages 
 
 planted there from Chiaha, on Chatahuchi river). 
 Tallewheanas — East side of Flint river (is H6tali huyana ; 
 
 cf. List of Creek Settlements). 
 Oakmulges — East of Flint river, near the Tallewheanas. 
 From reports of the eighteenth century we learn that in the 
 south of the Floridian peninsula the Seminoles were scattered 
 in small bodies, in barren deserts, forests, etc., and that at in- 
 tervals they assembled to take black drink or deliberate on 
 tribal matters. It is also stated that in consequence of their 
 separation the Seminole language had changed greatly from 
 the original Creek; a statement which is not borne out by 
 recent investigations, and probably refers only to the Semi- 
 nole towns speaking Hitchiti dialects. 
 
 By order of the Bureau of Ethnology, Rev. Clay Mac- 
 Cauley in 1880 visited the Seminoles settled in the southern 
 parts of the peninsula, to take their census and institute ethno- 
 logic researches. He found that their population amounted 
 to 208 Indians, and that they lived in five settlements to 
 which he gave the following names : 
 
 1. Miami settlement; this is the old name of Mayaimi 
 
 Lake, and has nothing in common with the Miami- 
 Algonkin tribe. 
 
 2. Big Cypress, 26° 30' Lat. 
 
 3. Fish-eating Creek, 26 37'; head-chief Tustenuggi. 
 
 4. Cow Creek, fifteen miles north of Lake Okitch6bi. 
 
SEMINOLE. 73 
 
 5. Catfish Lake, 28 Lat. The late Chipko was chief there, 
 who had been present with Osceola at the Dade 
 massacre in 1835. 
 
 Traces of languages other than the Seminole were not dis- 
 covered by him. 
 
 In December 1882 J. Francis Le Baron transmitted to 
 the Smithsonian Institution a few ethnologic notices and a 
 vocabulary obtained from the Seminole Indians of Chipko's 
 (since deceased) band, which he had visited in March 1881 
 in their village near Lake Pierce. The dialect of the vocabu- 
 lary does not differ from Creek in any appreciable degree. 
 On marriage customs and the annual busk of these Indians he 
 makes the following remarks : " They do not marry or inter- 
 mix with the whites, and are very jealous of the virtue of 
 their women, punishing with death any squaw that accepts 
 the attentions of a white man. Some Seminoles exhibit a 
 mixture of negro blood, but some are very tall, fine-looking 
 savages. Their three tribes live at Chipko town, near Lake 
 Oketchobee, and in the Everglades. They have a semi- 
 religious annual festival in June or July, called the green 
 corn dance, the new corn being then ripe enough to be 
 eaten. Plurality of wives is forbidden by their laws. Tom 
 Tiger, a fine-looking Indian, is said to have broken this rule 
 by marrying two wives, for which misdemeanor he was ban- 
 ished from the tribe. He traveled about one hundred miles 
 to the nearest tribe in the Everglades, and jumped unseen 
 into the ring at the green corn dance. This procured him 
 absolution, conformably to their laws." 
 
 We have deemed it appropriate to dwell at length on the 
 history, topography and peculiar customs of the Seminoles 
 on account of their identity with the Creek Indians, the main 
 object of this research. We now pass over to the South- 
 eastern or Apalachian group of Maskoki. 
 
74 THE MASKOKI FAMILY. 
 
 APALACHI. 
 
 The Hitchiti, Mikasuki and Apalachi languages form a 
 dialectic group distinct from Creek and the western dialects, 
 and the people speaking them must once have had a common 
 origin. The proper names Apalachi and Apalatchukli are 
 now extinct as tribal names, but are of very ancient date. 
 The auriferous ledges of the Cheroki country were said to be 
 within "the extreme confines of the Apalachi province" 
 (Fontanedo, 1559), and the Apalachi found by Narvaez was 
 fifteen days' march north of Aute, 1 a roadstead or harbor on 
 the Gulf of Mexico, though the Indians had stated to him that 
 it lay at a distance of nine days' travel only. The "province" 
 of Apalachi probably included the upper part or the whole 
 of the Chatahuchi river basin, and on account of the ending 
 -okla in Apalatchukla, its origin must be sought in the Cha'hta 
 or Hitchiti dialect. Rev. Byington explains it by helping 
 people, allies, in the Cha'hta apalatchi okla, but the original 
 form of the name is Apala^tchi okli, not apalatchi ; -^tchi is 
 a Hitchiti suffix of adjectives, and apalui in that dialect 
 means ' 'on the other side of. ' ' Hence the adjective apala/tchi : 
 "those (people okli) on the other side, shore or river." 
 
 The town of Apalachi, on Apalache bay, must be kept 
 clearly distinct from the town of Apalachicola, or Apalatchu- 
 kla, about fifty miles further west, on the river then called 
 by the same name. 
 
 Apalachi town was north of Apalachi bay, the principal 
 port of which is now St. Marks. This was probably the place 
 after which "Apalache provincia" was named in de Soto's 
 time; Biedma, one of his historians, states (in Smith, Docum. 
 ined., I, 48. 49), that "this province was divided by a river 
 from the country east of it, having Aguile as frontierstown. 
 Apalachi has many towns and produces much food, and (the 
 Indians) call this land visited by^us Yustaga." This river 
 was probably the St. Mark's river. Both names are also dis- 
 
 1 Perhaps from the Hitchiti term a-titilis "I build or kindle afire: 1 
 
APALACHI. 75 
 
 tinguished as belonging to separate communities in Margry IV, 
 96. 117 (1699) and IV, 309. The western "Palachees" are 
 laid down on the map in Dan. Coxe, Carolana, on Chatahuchi 
 river, the eastern "Palachees" on a river in the northeast 
 angle of the Gulf of Mexico; north of the latter are the 
 Tommachees (Timucua). At present, a northwestern affluent 
 of Okoni river, in Upper Georgia, is called Apalache river. 
 
 Apalatchukla, a name originally belonging to a tribe, was 
 in early times transferred to the river, now Chatahuchi, and 
 from this to all the towns of the Lower Creeks. An instance 
 of this is given by L. d'Iberville, who states (Margry IV, 
 594- 595) tliat in 1 701 a difficulty arose between the Apalachi- 
 colys and the Apalachis on account of depredations com- 
 mitted ; that the Spanish call those Indians Apalachicolys, 
 the French Conchaques, and that they counted about 2000 
 families — an equal number of men being ascribed to the 
 Apalachis, who were under Spanish rule. 
 
 The name of the tribe and town was Apalatchukla, also 
 written Pallachucla, Palachicola. This town was on the western 
 bank of Chatahuchi river, i}& miles below Chiaha. In early 
 times its tribe was the most important among the Lower Creeks, 
 adverse to warfare, a "peace or white town," and called by 
 the people Talua 'lako, Great Town. Like the town Apala- 
 chi, the inhabitants of this town spoke a dialect resembling 
 Hitchiti very closely. Apalachicola river is no,w the name 
 of Chatahuchi river below its junction with the Flint river. 
 More about this town in the : List of Creek Settlements. 
 
 Later in the sixteenth century the boundary between the 
 Timucua and the Apalachi lands is stated to have been on 
 or near the Vacissa river ; Ibitachuco or Black Lake being 
 the eastern Apalachi boundary, the westernmost town of the 
 Timucua being Asile (Ausile, Oxilla). 
 
 In 1638 the Indians of Apalachi made war against the 
 Spanish colonists. Although the governor of Florida had 
 but few troops to oppose, he marched against them and 
 
76 THE MASKOKI FAMILY. 
 
 daunted their aggressiveness (sobervia) by forcing them to a 
 disastrous retreat and following them into their own country 
 (Barcia, Ensayo, p. 203). 
 
 In 1688 a number of Apalachi chiefs (caciques) addressed 
 a letter of complaint to Charles the Second, king of Spain 
 (fi 700), concerning the exactions to which their former gov- 
 ernors had subjected them, and other topics relating to their 
 actual condition. The towns mentioned in the letter are San 
 Luis de Apalachi, Ibitachuco, Pattali, Santa Cruz, Talpatqui, 
 Vasisa, San Marcos. The original, with its Spanish transla- 
 tion, was reproduced in a fac-simile edition in i860 by 
 Buckingham Smith (fol.), and other documents written in 
 Apalachi are preserved in the archives of Havana, the seat of 
 the archbishopric, to which Apalachi and all the other settle- 
 ments comprised within the diocese of St. Helena belonged. 
 
 Christianized Apalachis, who had been frequently raided 
 by Alibamu Indians, fled in 1 705 to the French colony at 
 Mobile, where Governor de Bienville gave them lands and 
 grain-seed to settle between the Mobilian and Tohome tribe; 
 cf. Penicaut in Margry V, 461. 485, where their religious 
 festivals and other customs are described. Like the Apalachis, 
 the tribe of the heathen Taouachas had quitted the Spanish 
 territory for being harassed by the Alibamu, and fled southwest 
 to the French, who settled them on Mobile river, one league 
 above the Apalachis (1710; in Margry V, 485-487). Some 
 Cha'hta refugees had been settled at the " Anse des Chactas," 
 on Mobile bay, the year preceding. In the nineteenth century 
 the last remnants of the Apalachi tribe were living on the 
 Bayou Rapide, in Louisiana, and about A. D. 1815 counted 
 fourteen families. 
 
 MIKASUKI. 
 
 "Miccosukee" is a town of Florida, near the northern 
 border of the State, in Leon county, built on the western 
 shore of the lake of the same name. The tribe established 
 there speaks the Hitchiti language, and must hence have 
 
HITCHITI. 77 
 
 separated from some town or towns of the Lower Creeks 
 speaking that language. 
 
 The tribe was reckoned among the Seminole Indians, but 
 does not figure prominently in Indian history before the out- 
 break of the Seminole war of 1817. It then raised the " red 
 pole " as a sign of war, and became conspicuous as a sort of 
 political centre for these Southern " soreheads.' ' The vocabu- 
 laries of that dialect show it to be practically identical with 
 that of Hitchiti town. Cf. the comparative table, p. 56. 
 More notices on this tribe will be found under : Seminole. 
 
 HITCHITI. 
 
 The Hitchiti tribe, of whose language we present an exten- 
 sive specimen in this volume, also belongs to the southeastern 
 group, which I have called Apalachian. 
 
 Hitchiti town was, in Hawkins' time, established on the 
 eastern bank of Chatahuchi river, four miles below Chiaha. 
 The natives possessed a narrow strip of good land bordering 
 on the river, and had the reputation of being honest and 
 industrious. They obtained their name from Hitchiti creek, 
 so called at its junction with Chatahuchi river, [and in its 
 upper course Ahiki (Ouhe-gee) ; cf. List] from Creek : ahi- 
 tchita "to look up (the stream)." They had spread out into 
 two branch settlements : Hitchitudshi or Little Hitchiti, on 
 both sides of Flint river, below the junction of Kitchofuni 
 creek, which passes through a county named after it ; and 
 Tutalosi on Tutalosi creek, a branch of Kitchofuni creek, 
 twenty miles west of Hitchitudshi (Hawkins, p. 60. 65). 
 The existence of several Hitchiti towns is mentioned by C. 
 Swan in 1791; and Wm. Bartram states that they "speak 
 the Stincard language." There is a popular saying among 
 the Creeks, that the ancient name of the tribe was Atchik'hade, 
 a Hitchiti word which signifies white heap (of ashes). 
 
 Some Hitchiti Indians trace their mythic origin to a fall 
 from the sky, but my informants, Chicote and G. W. Stid- 
 
78 THE MASKOKI FAMILY. 
 
 ham, gave me the following tale: "Their ancestors first 
 appeared in the country by coming out of a canebrake or 
 reed thicket (utski in Hitchiti) near the sea coast. They 
 sunned and dried their children during four days, then set 
 out, arrived at a lake and stopped there. Some thought it 
 was the sea, but it was a lake ; they set out again, traveled 
 up a stream and settled there for a permanency." Another 
 tradition says that this people was the first to settle at the 
 site of Okmulgi town, an ancient capital of the confederacy. 
 
 The tribe was a member of the Creek confederacy and 
 does not figure prominently in history. The first mention I 
 can find of it, is of the year 1733, when Gov. Oglethorpe met 
 the Lower Creek chiefs at Savannah, Ga., to conciliate their 
 tribes in his favor. The "Echetas" had sent their war- 
 chiefs, Chutabeeche and Robin with four attendants (Ch. C. 
 Jones, Tomochichi, p. 28). The Yutchitalgi of our legend, 
 who were represented at the Savannah council of 1735 by 
 "Tomehuichi, dog king of the Euchitaws," are probably the 
 Hitchiti, not the Yuchi. Wm. Bartram calls them (1773) 
 "Echetas" also. 
 
 The dialect spoken by the Hitchiti and Mikasuki once 
 spread over an extensive area, for local names are worded in 
 it from the Chatahuchi river in an eastern direction up to 
 the Atlantic coast. To these belong those mentioned under 
 "the name Maskoki," p. 58. 
 
 According to Wm. Bartram, Travels, pp. 462-464, the fol- 
 lowing towns on Chatahuchi river spoke the " Stincard " 
 language, that is a language differing from Creek or Musco- 
 gulge : Chiaha (Chehaw), Hitchiti (Echeta), Okoni (Occone), 
 the two Sawokli (Swaglaw, Great and Little). From this it 
 becomes probable, though not certain, that the dialect known 
 to us as Hitchiti was common to them all. The Sawokli 
 tribe, settled in the Indian Territory, have united there with 
 the Hitchiti, a circumstance which seems to point to ancient 
 relationship. 
 
H1TCHITI. 79 
 
 Like the Creeks, the Hitchiti have an ancient female dia- 
 lect, still remembered and perhaps spoken by the older people, 
 which was formerly the language of the males also. The 
 woman language existing among the'Creek Indians is called by 
 them also the ancient language. A thorough study of these 
 archaic remnants would certainly throw light on the early 
 local distribution of the tribes and dialects of the Maskoki in 
 the Gulf States. 
 
 HUNTER'S SONG. 
 
 The following ancient hunting song may serve as a speci- 
 men of the female dialect of Hitchiti ; the ending -i of the 
 verbs, standing instead of -is of the male dialect, proves it to 
 be worded in that archaic form of speech. Obtained from 
 Judge G. W. Stidham: 
 
 Hantun talankawati a'klig ; eyali. 
 
 Suta! kaya! kayap'hu! 
 aluktchabakliwati alclig ; eyali. 
 
 Suta! kaya! kayap'hu ! 
 aluktigonknawati aOdig ; ayali. 
 
 Suta! kaya! kayap'hu! 
 aluk'hadsha-aliwati aldig; eyali. 
 
 Suta ! kaya ! kayap'hu ! 
 hantun ayawati aldig; ayali. 
 
 Suta! kaya! kayap'hu! 
 
 Somewhere (the deer) lies on the ground, I think ; I walk about. 
 
 Awake, arise, stand up ! 
 It is raising up its head, I believe ; I walk about. 
 
 Awake, arise, stand up ! 
 It attempts to rise, I believe ; I walk about. 
 
 Awake, arise, stand up ! 
 Slowly it raises its body, I think; I walk about. 
 
 Awake, arise, stand up ! 
 It has now risen on its feet, I presume; I walk about. 
 
 Awake, arise, stand up ! 
 
80 THE MASKOKI FAMILY. 
 
 At every second line of this song the singer kicks at a log, 
 feigning to start up the deer by the noise from its recesses in 
 the woods. The song-lines are repeated thrice, in a slow 
 and plaintive tune, except the refrain, which is sung or rather 
 spoken in a quicker measure, and once only. For the words 
 of the text and of the refrain, cf. the Hitchiti Glossary. 
 
 THE HITCHITI DIALECT 
 
 of the Maskoki language-family is analogous, though by no 
 means identical with the Creek dialect in its grammatic out- 
 lines. Many points of comparison will readily suggest them- 
 selves to our readers, and enable us to be comparatively short 
 in the following sketch. 
 
 The female dialect is an archaic form of Hitchiti parallel 
 to archaic Creek ; both were formerly spoken by both sexes. 
 Only the common form (or male language) of Hitchiti will 
 be considered here. 
 
 PHONETICS. 
 
 The phonetic system is the same as in Creek, except that the 
 sonant mutes, b, g, are more distinctly heard (d is quite rare). 
 The processes of alternation are the same in both dialects. 
 Many vowels of substantives are short in Creek, which appear 
 long in Hitchiti: a'pi tree: H. a'pi; ha'si sun, moon: H. 
 ha'si ; ni'ta day : H. nita etc. 
 
 V- 
 
 MORPHOLOGY. 
 
 Noun. The case inflection of the substantive, adjective, of 
 some pronouns and of the nominal forms of the verb is effected 
 by the suffixes : -i for the absolute, -ut for the subjective, -un 
 for the objective case : yati person, yatut, yatun ; naki what, 
 which, nakut, nakun. A few verbals inflect in -a, -at, -an ; 
 for instance, those terminating in -hunga. 
 
 The diminutive ending is the same as in Creek : -odshi, 
 -udshi. 
 
THE HITCHITI DIALECT. 81 
 
 To the Creek collective suffix -algi corresponds -a'li, which 
 is, in fact, the third person of a verbal plural : miki chief, 
 mika.'\i the class of chiefs and: " they are chiefs." Mask6ki : 
 Maskoka'li the Creek people; fapli'hitchi wind, fapli'htcha'li 
 wind clan, wind gens. 
 
 Hitchiti has a greater power of verbifying substantives 
 than Creek: miki chief, mik61is lam chief; tch6yi pine-tree, 
 tch6yus it is a pine tree. 
 
 There is no real substantive verb in the language, and ad- 
 jectives, when becoming verbified, are turned into attributive 
 verbs, as in Creek : wan ti strong, hard; tsawantus / am strong; 
 wantus he, it is strong, hard; wantatik not strong; wantigus he 
 is very strong; wantatis he is not strong; wanta'hlatis he is not 
 strong at all. 
 
 The gradation of the adjective is expressed either by the 
 attributive verb, to which isi-, is- is prefixed, or in some other 
 ways syntactically : 
 
 Kddsuni tchatu-kunawun isinwantfis iron is harder than 
 
 silver. 
 ukitchubi okildsi ihayuykiki o'latiwats a lake is deeper than 
 a river; lit. "to river the lake in its depth does not 
 come up." This may also be expressed: okilosi 
 (u)kitchobi isihayu^kuwats ; lit. "a lake (than) a 
 river more-deepens." 
 ya hali'hlosaka lapkun u"weikas this boy is the tallest; lit. 
 
 "this boy all surpasses in height." 
 yat yakni tchaih'-apiktcha^ayus this is the highest mountain; 
 
 lit. "this ground-high stands ahead." 
 The numeral has two forms for the cardinal number : one 
 used attributively, and another, abbreviated from it, used 
 exclusively for counting ; there are, outside of this, forms for 
 the ordinal, for the distributive, and for the adverbial 
 numeral. The list of the numerals is as follows : 
 
82 
 
 THE MASKOKI FAMILY. 
 
 Cardinals. Ordinals. 
 
 1 'lamin 'lahai'h indshuatki 
 
 " beginning" 
 
 2 toklan tuka' satdklaka . 
 
 3 tutchlnan tutchi satotchinaka 
 
 4 sitakin sita'h isitagika 
 
 5 tcha/gipan tcha'hgi istcha/gipaka 
 
 6 ipagin ipa isipagaka 
 
 7 kulapakin kiilapa iskulapakika 
 
 8 tusnapakin tusnapa istusnapakika 
 
 9 ustapakin ustapa isustapakika 
 Io pok6lin pukii ispokdlika 
 20 pok6li tuklan ispokol-toklaka poko-tukulakan ispukuli-tuklan 
 
 loo tchukpi 'lamin istchukpi-'lamikatchukpi-'lamakanistchukpi-'la- 
 
 min 
 Folded four times is expressed by the cardinal : po'l6tki sitaki ; folded 
 eight times: po'l6tki tusnapakin. 
 
 The personal pronoun appears in different forms : sub- 
 jective absolute ; subjective prefixed to verbs and objective 
 pronoun. 
 
 Subjective absolute: Subj. prefixed : Objective: 
 
 Distributive. 
 
 Adverbial. 
 
 'lahamin 
 
 a'la'hmi 
 
 tuklakan 
 
 satukla'h 
 
 tutchinakan 
 
 atutchina'h 
 
 sitahakin 
 
 asitagi 
 
 tcha/gipakan 
 
 atsa'hgipi 
 
 ipahakan 
 
 isipagi 
 
 kulapahakan 
 
 iskulapaki 
 
 tusnapahakan 
 
 istusnapaki 
 
 ustapahakan 
 
 isustapaki 
 
 pukulakan 
 
 ispukiili 
 
 I 
 
 thou 
 
 am 
 tchi'hni 
 
 tcha-, am-, an-, a- 
 tchi- 
 
 he, she, it i'hni 
 
 tcha- 
 tchi- 
 im-, in-, i- 
 
 we pu'hni pu-, po- pu- 
 
 ye tchi'hnitaki tchi-, inverted: itch- tchi-, w. suffix 
 
 they i'hnitaki im-, in-, i- 
 
 anali (usually analut) myself, 2 s. tchi'hnali, 3 s. i'hnali ; 
 pu'hnali ourselves, 2 pi. tchi'hnalitaki, 3 pi. i'hnalitaki. 
 
 The possessive pronoun. 
 
 my 
 
 am-, an-, a- 
 
 tcha-, inverted: atch- 
 
 thy 
 
 tchi-, 
 
 tchi-, inverted: itch- 
 
 his, her, its 
 
 im-, in-, i- 
 
 im-, in-, i- 
 
 our 
 
 pu'hni, pu- 
 
 pun-, pu-, po- 
 
 your 
 
 tchi/tchi, tchi- 
 
 tchi-, with suffix 
 
 their 
 
 im-, in-, i- 
 
 i- etc., with suffix. 
 
THE HITCHITI DIALECT. 83 
 
 tchalbi my hand or hands, tchilbi, ilbi; pulbi our hand at 
 
 hands, tchilbu/tchi, ilbi. 
 dntchiki my house or houses; tchintchiki, intchiki; puntchiki, 
 
 tchintchigo/tchi, intchigo^tchi. 
 Demonstrative pronouns : ma, mut, mta (Cr. ma); ya, yat, 
 
 yan or yftn (Cr. hia); yakti, yaktut, yaktun (Cr. 
 
 asa); ma'hmali the same. 
 Demonstr.-relat. pronoun : naki, nakut, nakun which, what. 
 Interrogative pronouns : no'li ? n6'lut or n6'lut i ? no'lun 
 
 or no'lun i ? who ? naki ? nakut ? nakun ? which ? 
 
 what? nakon i? what is it? 
 The Hitchiti verb equals the Creek verb in the abundance 
 of inflectional forms. In order to show the inflection of 
 a verb (or rather a part of it), going parallel to the one 
 chosen as the Creek paradigm, we select isiki to take, to 
 carry ; awiki being used when a plurality of objects is con- 
 cerned ; Creek : isita, tchawita. 
 
 isilis I take, 2 s. isitskas, 3 s. isis ; ipl. isikas, 2 pi. isatchkas, 
 
 3 pi. isa'li. 
 awalis I take, pi. of obj., 2 s. awitskas, 3 s. awas; 1 pi. awikas, 
 
 2 pi. awatskas, 3 pi. awa'lis. 
 i'hsilis I took a short time ago (Cr. isayanks); a'hwalis. 
 isanis I took several days ago (Cr. isaimatas) ; also / had 
 
 taken; awanis. 
 isiliktas / have taken many years ago (Cr. isayantas); awa- 
 
 liktas. 
 isilalis I shall take (Cr. isa'lis); awalalis. 
 isis! pi. isitis! take it! a' wis! a'witis! (ora'watis!) 
 isi^tchi having taken, holding in one's hands; awi/tchi. 
 i'hsik (object) taken, part, pass.; a'hwak. 
 isigi, isiki to lake, the taking; awigi, awiki. ^ 
 
 isi, isut, isun one who takes, carries; awi, awut, awun. 
 isihunka, -at, -an one who took, has taken; awihunka, 
 
 -at, -an. 
 isahika, -at, -an one who is going to take; awahika, -at, -an. 
 
84 THE MASKOKI FAMILY. 
 
 From this verb isiki, awiki the language does not form 
 any passive, reciprocal, reflective and causative voice, but 
 employs verbs from other radices instead. The interrogative 
 and negative inflection is as follows : 
 
 isatas I do not take, 2 s. isitskatis, 3 s. Isitis; 1 pi. isikatis, 
 2 pi. isatskatis, 3 pi. (?); awatas I do not take, pi. of 
 obj., awitskatis etc. 
 Isilus? do I take? 2 s. isitskus? 3 s. isus? 1 pi. isigo? 2 pi. 
 
 isatsko? 3 pi. (?). awalus? do I take? etc. 
 isata'sOs? dolnottake? 2 s. isitskatibos? 3 s. isitisos? 1 pi. 
 isikatibSs? 2 pi. isatskatibos? 3 pi. (?). awata'sos? 
 do I not take? etc. 
 A form for the 3. pi. was remembered by none of my 
 informants, who state that the Hitchiti render it by a circum- 
 scriptive sentence. 
 
 A specimen of the objective or compound conjugation of 
 the verb I strike, bata'plilis, runs as follows : 
 I strike thee once tchibataplilis, repeatedly tchibataspilis 
 I strike him, her once bata'plilis bataspilis 
 
 ye tchibatap'holilis tchibatas'h6pilis 
 
 them batas'hupilis batas'hupilis 
 
 He, she strikes me once: tchabataplis, repeatedly: tchabataspis 
 thee tchibataplis tchibataspis 
 
 him, her bataplis bataspis 
 
 us pubataplis pubataspis 
 
 ye tchibatap'holis tchibatas'hopis 
 
 them bataspis batas'h6pis 
 
 The same verb to strike gives origin to the following genera 
 verbi, each appearing under two different forms, and all 
 being quoted in the present tense of the declarative mode, 
 affirmative voice : 
 Active: bata'plilis I strike (now) by one blow- 
 
 bata'spilis I strike (now) by several blows 
 Passive: tchabatapkas I am struck once, by one blow 
 
 tchabataspkas lam struck more than once (obsolete) 
 
ALIBAMU. 85 
 
 Reciprocal: itibataplikas we strike each other once 
 
 itibataspigas we strike each other repeatedly 
 Reflective : ilbata'plilis I strike myself by one blow 
 
 ilbataspilis I strike myself by several blows 
 Causative: bataplidshilis I cause to strike once 
 
 bataspidshilis I cause to strike repeatedly. 
 Postpositions govern the absolute case of the noun just 
 as they do in Creek: 
 
 konut tchigi i-a^nun i-aulidshis the skunk stays under the 
 
 house. 
 sawut ahi igapun untcho^olis the racoon sits on the top of 
 
 the tree. 
 otaki labaki near or around an island. 
 6tagi apalu-un on the other side of the island. 
 yantuntun hitchkatigan beyond sight, is an instance of a 
 postposition figuring as preposition, and is connected with 
 the objective case of a noun. It is not a real postposition, 
 but an adverb used in this function. 
 
 ALIBAMU. 
 
 The disconnected remarks on the Alibamu Indians which 
 we find in the documents and chronicles represent them as 
 early settlers on Alabama river, at a moderate distance from 
 the confluence of Coosa and Tallapoosa rivers. In our legend 
 they are introduced among the four tribes contending for the 
 honor of being the most ancient and valorous. 
 
 D. Coxe, Carolana, p. 24 mentions their tribal name in the 
 following connection : "On Coussa river 1 are the Ullibalies 2 , 
 
 1 Anciently Coosa, Coussa river was a name given to our Coosa river, 
 as well as to its lower course below the junction of Tallapoosa, now called 
 Alabama river. Wright's Ch. Dictionary has : alua a burnt place. 
 
 1 In the report of the Fidalgo de Elvas, Ullibahali, a walled town, is 
 not identical with Alimamu. Ullibahali is a name composed of the 
 Alibamu : 61i village, town and the Hitchiti : bahali down stream, and 
 southward, which is the Creek wahali South. 
 
86 THE MASKOKI FAMILY. 
 
 Olibahalies, Allibamus; below them the Tallises." Allen 
 Wright derives Alibamu (also written Allibamous, Alibami, 
 Albamu, incorrectly Alibamon) from Cha'hta : alba thicket and 
 i.yalrnuj>lace cleared (of trees, thickets): alba ayamule I open or 
 clear the thicket. If this derivation is correct, the name, with 
 its generic definition, could apply to many localities simulta- 
 neously. Let us hear what Sekopechi or "Perseverance," 
 an old man of that tribe, related to Agent Eakin concerning 
 their early migrations and settlements. (Schoolcraft, Indians 
 I, 266 sqq) : 
 
 " The Great Spirit brought the Alabama Indians from the 
 ground between the Cahawba and Alabama rivers, and they 
 believe that they are of right possessors of this soil. The 
 Muscogees formerly called themselves Alabamians (" thicket- 
 clearers"?), but other tribes called them Oke-choy-atte, 
 "life." 1 The earliest oral tradition of the Alibamu of a 
 migration is, that they migrated from the Cahawba and Ala- 
 bama rivers to the junction of the Tuscaloosa (?) and Coosa 
 rivers, where they sojourned for two years. After this they 
 dwelt at the junction of the Coosa and Alabama rivers, on 
 the west side of what was subsequently the site of Fort 
 Jackson. It is supposed that at this time they numbered 
 fifty effective men. They claimed the country from Fort 
 Jackson to New Orleans for their hunting grounds." 
 
 Whatever may be the real foundation of this confused nar- 
 rative, it seems that the Alibamu reached their later seats 
 from a country lying to the west or southwest, and that they 
 showed a preference for river-junctions, for this enabled them 
 to take fish in two rivers simultaneously. Another migration 
 legend of this tribe, as related by Milfort, will be given and 
 accounted for below. 
 
 Biedma relates that H. de Soto, when reaching the "Ali- 
 bamo province," had to fight the natives entrenched within a 
 palisaded fort (fuerte de Alibamo, Garc. de la Vega) and the 
 1 Oktch6yi is the Cha'hta term for living, alive. 
 
ALIBAMU. 87 
 
 Fidalgo of Elvas : that the cacique of Chicaca came with the 
 caciques of Alimamu and of Nicalasa, 1 whereupon a fight took 
 place. But that Alibamo province lay northwest of Chicaca 
 town and province, and was reached only after passing the 
 Chocchechuma village on Yazoo river ; it was probably not 
 the Alibamu tribe of the later centuries. In the report of 
 Tristan de Luna's expedition no mention is made of the 
 Alibamu Indians, though it speaks of "Rio Olibahali." 
 
 In 1702 five French traders started with ten Alibamu 
 natives from Mobile, for the country where the tribe resided. 
 They were killed by these guides when at a distance of ten 
 leagues from the Alibamu village, and M. de Bienville, then 
 governor of the French colony, resolved to make war on 
 the tribe. He started with a force of seventy Frenchmen 
 and eighteen hundred Indian auxiliaries ; the latter deserted 
 after a march of six days, and finally the party was compelled 
 to return. A second expedition, consisting of Frenchmen 
 only, was not more successful, and had to redescend Alabama 
 river in canoes. Mr. de Boisbriand, the leader of a third 
 expedition, finally succeeded in destroying a camp of Ali- 
 bamu, sixty-five miles up the river, in killing the inmates 
 and capturing their women and children, who were given to 
 the Mobilians, their allies. 2 This action was only the first 
 of a series of subsequent troubles. 
 
 An alliance concluded by the Alibamu with the Mobilians 
 did not last long, for in 1708 they arrived with a host of 
 Cheroki, Abika and Kataba Indians, in the vicinity of the 
 French fort on Mobile Bay, where Naniabas, Tohomes and 
 Mobilians had settled, but were foiled in their attack upon 
 the .Mobilians through the watchfulness of the tribe and of 
 the French colonists. The whole force of their aggressors and 
 their allies combined was estimated at four thousand warriors 
 (id., Margry V, 477~478; cf. 427). 
 
 1 Gallatin, Syn. p. 105, proposes to read Nita-lusa, Black Sear. 
 3 Relation of PSnicaut, in Margry V, 424-432. 
 
88 THE MASKOKI FAMILY. 
 
 In 1 713, after the Alibamu had made an inroad into the 
 Carolinas with a host of Kataba and Abika Indians, their 
 confederates, the head-chief of the first-named tribe besought 
 the French commander at Mobile bay to erect a fort in his 
 own country. The offer was accepted, and the tribe was 
 helpful in erecting a spacious fort of about three hundred 
 feet square, on a bluff overlooking the river, and close to 
 their village (id., Margry V, 510-511). This fort, built 
 near the junction of Coosa and Tallapoosa rivers, was called 
 Fort Toulouse, and by the British colonists Fort Albamu, or 
 Alebama garrison. 
 
 When Fort Toulouse was abandoned in 1762, some Alibamu 
 Indians followed the French, and established themselves 
 about sixty miles above New Orleans, on Mississippi river, 
 near the Huma village. Th. Hutchins (1784), p. 39. esti- 
 mates the number of their warriors settled there at thirty. 
 Subsequently they passed into the interior of Louisiana, where 
 some are hunting and roving in the woods at the present 
 time. The majority, however, settled in Polk county, in 
 the southeastern corner of Texas, became agriculturists, and 
 about 1862 numbered over two hundred persons. Some 
 Alibamu reside in the Indian Territory. Cf. Buschmann, 
 Spuren d. azt. Spr., p. 424. 
 
 The former seats of the tribe, near the site of the present 
 capital, Montgomery, are described as follows : 
 
 Colonel Benj. Hawkins, United States Agent among the 
 Creeks, saw four Alibamu towns on Alabama river, below 
 Koassati. " The inhabitants are probably the ancient Ala- 
 bamas, and formerly had a regular town." (Sketch of the 
 Creek Country, pp. 35-37, 1799.) The three first were sur- 
 rounded by fertile lands, and lay on the eastern bank of 
 Alabama river. Their names were as follows : 
 
 Ikan-tchati or "Red Ground," a small village, with poor 
 and indolent inhabitants. 
 
 Tawassa or Tawasa, three miles below Ikan-tchati, a small 
 
koassAti. 89 
 
 village on a high bluff. Called Taouacha by the French, cf. 
 Tohome. The Koassati word tabasa means widower, widow. 
 
 Paw6kti, small town on a bluff; two miles below Tawassa. 
 
 A'tagi, a village four miles below the above, situated on 
 the western bank, and spreading along it for two miles. Also 
 written At-tau-gee, Autaugee, Autobi. Autauga county is 
 named after it. 
 
 These Alibamu could raise in all about eighty warriors ; 
 they did not conform to Creek custom, nor did they apply 
 the Creek law for the punishment of adultery. Although 
 hospitable to white people, they had very little intercourse 
 with them. Whenever a white person had eaten of a dish 
 and left it, they threw the rest away, and washed everything 
 handled by the guest immediately. The above towns, together 
 with Oktchoyudshi and Koassati were, upon a decree of the 
 national council at Tukabatchi, November 27th, 1799, united 
 into one group or class under one " warrior of the nation." 
 The dignitary elected to that post of honor was Hu'lipoyi of 
 Oktchoyudshi, who had the war titles of hadsho and tustenoggi. 
 (Hawkins, pp. 51. 52.) Cf. Witumka. 
 
 KOASSATI. 
 
 The ancient seat of this tribe was in Hawkins' time (1 799), 
 on the right or northern bank of Alabama river, three miles 
 below the confluence of Coosa and Tallapoosa rivers. Coosada, 
 Elmore county, Alabama, is built on the same spot. " They 
 are not Creeks," says Hawkins (p. 35), although they con- 
 form to their ceremonies ; a part of this town moved lately 
 beyond the Mississippi, and have settled there." G. W. 
 Stidham, who visited their settlement in Polk county, Texas, 
 during the Secession war, states that they lived there east of 
 the Alibamu, numbered about 200 persons, were pure-blooded 
 and very superstitious. Some Creek Indians are with them, 
 who formerly lived in Florida, between the Seminoles and 
 
 the Lower Creeks. 
 
 7 
 
90 THE MASKOKI FAMILY. 
 
 Their tribal name is differently spelt : Coosadas, Koosati, 
 Kosadi, Coushatees, etc. Milfort, Mem. p. 265, writes it 
 Coussehate. This tribe must not be confounded with the 
 Conshacs, q. v. 
 
 From an Alibamu Indian, Sekopechi, we have a statement 
 on the languages spoken by the people of the Creek con- 
 federacy (Schoolcraft, Indians, I, 266 sq.) : " The Muskogees 
 speak six different dialects : Muskogee, Hitchitee, Nauchee, 
 Euchee, Alabama and Aquassawtee, but all of them generally 
 understand the Muskogee language." This seems to indicate 
 that the Alibamu dialect differs from Koassati, for this is 
 meant by Aquassawtee; but the vocabularies of General 
 Albert Pike show that both forms of speech are practically 
 one and the same language. 
 
 Historic notices of this tribe after its emigration to western 
 parts were collected by Prof. Buschmann, Spuren d. aztek. 
 Sprache, p. 430. Many Koassati live scattered among the 
 Creeks in the Creek Nation, Indian Territory, at Yufala, for 
 instance. 
 
 Witumka, on Coosa river, spoke, according to Bartram, the 
 "Stincard" language, and was a town of the Alibamu divi- 
 sion. Cf. List of Creek Settlements. 
 
 CHICASA. 
 
 The northern parts of Mississippi State contain the earliest 
 homes of the warlike tribe of Chicasa Indians which histori- 
 cal documents enable us to trace. Pontotoc county was the 
 centre of their habitations in the eighteenth century, and was 
 so probably at the time of the Columbian discovery ; settle- 
 ments of the tribe scattered along the Mississippi river, in 
 West Tennessee and in Kentucky up to Ohio river, are 
 reported by the later chroniclers. 
 
 In the year 1540 the army of Hernando de Soto crossed a 
 portion of their territory, called by its historians " Chicaca 
 provincia," and also visited a town of this name, with a 
 
CHICASA. 91 
 
 smaller settlement (alojamiento) in its vicinity named Chi- 
 cacjlla. 
 
 Two rivers anciently bore the name of "Chicasa river," 
 not because they were partially or exclusively inhabited by 
 tribes of this nationality, but because their headwaters lay 
 within the Chicasa boundaries. This gives us a clue to the 
 topographic position of the Chicasa settlements. Jefferys (I, 
 153), states that " Chicasa river is the Maubile or Mobile river, 
 running north and south (now called Lower Alibama river), 
 and that it takes its rise in the country of the Chicasaws in 
 three streams." When L. d'Iberville traveled up the Yazoo 
 river, the villages on its banks were referred to him as lying 
 on " la riviere des Chicachas." 1 
 
 The most lucid and comprehensive account of the Chicasa 
 settlements is found in Adair's History. 
 
 James Adair, who was for several years a trader among the 
 Chicasa, gives the following account of their country and 
 settlements (History, p. 352, sq.) : "The Chikkasah country 
 lies in about thirty-five degrees N. Lat., at the distance of 
 one hundred and sixty miles from the eastern side of the 
 Mississippi . . . about half way from Mobille to the 
 Elinois, etc. The Chikkasah are now settled between the 
 heads of two of the most western branches of Mobille river 
 and within twelve miles of Tahre Hache (Tallahatchie). . 
 . . In 1720 they had four contiguous settlements, which 
 lay nearly in the form of three parts of a square, only that 
 the eastern side was five miles shorter than the western, with 
 the open part toward the Choktah. One was called Yaneka, 
 about a mile wide and six miles long . . . ; another was 
 ten miles long . . . and from one to two miles broad. 
 The towns were called Shatara, Chookheereso, Hykehah, 
 Tuskawillao, and Phalacheho. The other square, Chookka 
 Pharaah or " the long-house," was single and ran four miles 
 in length and one mile in breadth. It was more populous 
 1 Margry IV, 180. 
 
92 THE MASKOKI FAMILY. 
 
 than their whole nation contains at present . . . scarcely 
 450 warriors." From Adair's text it appears that the three 
 towns were but a short distance from the fortified places held 
 by them at the time when he composed his History (published 
 1 7 75). They were about Pontotoc or Dallas counties, Missis- 
 sippi. 
 
 The Chicasa settlements are referred to in detail by B. 
 Romans, East and West Florida, p. 63: "They live in the 
 centre of an uneven and large nitrous savannah ; have in it 
 one town, long one mile and a half, very narrow and irreg- 
 ular; this they divide into seven (towns), by the names 
 of Melattaw 'hat and feather,' Chatelaw 'copper town,' 
 Chukafalaya 'long town,' Tuckahaw 'a certain weed,' 
 Ashuck hooma 'red grass.' Formerly the whole of them 
 were enclosed in palisadoes." Unfortunately, this list gives 
 only five towns instead of the seven referred to. 
 
 D. Coxe, Carolana (1741) says, when speaking of the 
 Tennessee river (p. 13. 14): "River of the Cusates, Chera- 
 quees or Kasqui river . . . ; a cataract is on it, also the 
 tribe of the Chicazas." An early French report alludes to 
 one of their villages, situated thirty leagues inward from a 
 place forty leagues above the mouth of Arkansas river. 
 "From Abeeka to the Chickasaw towns the distance is 
 about one hundred and fifty-nine miles, crossing many 
 savannahs; " B. Romans, E. and W. Florida, p. 313. 
 
 Through all the epochs of colonial history the Chicasa 
 people maintained their old reputation for independence and 
 bravery. They were constantly engaged in quarrels and 
 broils with all their Indian neighbors: sometimes with the 
 cognate Cha'hta and with the Creeks, at other times with the 
 Cheroki, Illinois, Kickapu, Shawano, Tonica, Mobilians, 
 Osage and Arkansas (Kapaha) Indians. In 1732 they cut to 
 pieces a war party of the Iroquois invading their territory, 
 but in 1748 cooperated against the French with that confed- 
 eracy. J. Haywood, in his Natural and Aboriginal History 
 
CHICASA. 93 
 
 of Tennessee (1823), p. 240, alludes to a tradition purporting 
 that the Chicasa had formerly assisted the Cheroki in driving 
 the Shawanese from the Cumberland river; the Cheroki 
 desired war, and attacked the Chicasa shortly before 1769, 
 but were utterly defeated by them at the " Chicasa Old 
 Fields," and retreated by way of Cumberland river and the 
 Cany Fork. On the authority of chief Chenubbee, the same 
 author states (p. 290) that a part of the Chicasa established 
 themselves on Savannah river, opposite Augusta, but that 
 misunderstandings with the Creeks made them go west again. 
 In 1 795" the Chicasa claimed the land opposite Augusta, and 
 sent a memorial to the United States Government to substan- 
 tiate that claim. Another fraction of the tribe, called the 
 Lightwood-Knots, went to war with the Creeks, but were 
 reduced by them, and have lived with them in peace ever 
 since. These facts seem to have some reference to the settle- 
 ment of a Chicasa band near Kasi^ta, and east of that town ; 
 cf. Kasi'hta. 
 
 Penicaut mentions an intertribal war between them and 
 the Cha'hta, and relates a case of treason committed by a 
 Cha'hta chief in 1 703. 1 A war with the Creeks occurred in 
 1 793, in which the Americans stood on the Chicasa side. 
 
 The policy of the Chicasa in regard to the white colonists 
 was that of a steady and protracted enmity against the 
 French. This feeling was produced as well by the intrigues 
 of the British traders residing among them as by their hatred 
 of the Cha'hta, who had entered into friendly relations with 
 the French colonists, though they could not, by any means, 
 be called their trusty allies. By establishing fortified posts 
 on the Yazoo and Little Tombigbee rivers, 2 the French threat- 
 ened the independence of these Indians, who began hostilities 
 
 1 Margry V, 433 sqq. 
 
 2 The site once occupied by Fort Tombigbee is now called Jones' 
 Bluff, on Little Tombigbee river. Cf. Dumont in B. F. French; Histor. 
 Coll. of La., V, 106 and Note. 
 
94 THE MASKOKI FAMILY. 
 
 against them in 1722, near the Yazoo post, and urged the 
 Naktche to a stubborn resistan'ce against French encroach- 
 ments. They sheltered the retreating Naktche against the 
 pursuing French, 1 besieged the commander Denys at Fort 
 Natchitoches, though they were repulsed there with con- 
 siderable loss, defeated the French invading their country at 
 Amalahta (1736), at the Long House, or Tchuka falaya 
 (Adair, p. 354), and other points, and in the second attack of 
 1 739-40 also baffled their attempts at conquering portions of 
 Chicasa territory. 
 
 The relations of these Indians with the United States were 
 regulated by a treaty concluded at Hopewell, 1786, with Pio 
 mico and other Chicasa chiefs. Their territory was then 
 fixed at the Ohio river on the north side, and by a boundary 
 line passing through Northern Mississippi on the south side. 
 They began to emigrate to the west of Arkansas river early 
 in this century, and in 1822 the population remaining in 
 their old seats amounted to 3625. Treaties for the removal 
 of the remainder were concluded at Pontotoc creek, October 
 20th, 1832, and at Washington, May 24th, 1834. 
 
 After their establishment in the Indian Territory the politi- 
 cal connections still existing between them and the Cha'hta 
 were severed by a treaty signed June 22d, 1855. The line 
 of demarcation separating the two "nations," and following 
 the meridian, is not, however, of a binding character, for 
 individuals of both peoples settle east or west of it, wherever 
 they please (G. W. Stidham). 
 
 No plausible analysis of the name Chicasa, which many 
 western tribes, as well as the Chicasa themselves, pronounce 
 Shikasa, Shikasha, has yet been suggested. Near the Gulf 
 
 1 Adair, History, p. 353, asserts that the real cause of the third Naktche- 
 French war lay in the instigations of the Chicasa. On the causes and 
 progress of the hostilities between the French and the Chicasa, cf. pp. 
 353-3S 8 - Tne y attacked there his own trading house, cf. p. 357. Cf. 
 also Naktche, in this vol., pp. 34-39. 
 
CHICASA. 95 
 
 coast it occurs in many local names, and also in Chickasawhay 
 river, Mississippi, the banks of which were inhabited by 
 Cha'hta people. 
 
 In language and customs they differ but little from their 
 southern neighbors, the Cha'hta, and must be considered as 
 a northern branch of them. Both have two phratries only, 
 each of which were (originally) subdivided, in an equal 
 manner, into four gentes ; but the thorough-going difference 
 in the totems of the 8-12 gentes points to a very ancient 
 separation of the two national bodies. 
 
 The Chicasa language served as a medium of commercial 
 and tribal intercourse to all the nations inhabiting the shores 
 of the great Uk-'hina (" water road "), or Lower Mississippi 
 river. Jefferys (1, 165), compares it to the " lingua franca in 
 the Levant ; they call it the vulgar tongue. ' ' A special mention 
 of some tribes which spoke it is made by L. dTberville 1 : 
 " Bayagoula, Ouma, Chicacha, Colapissa show little difference 
 in their language;" and "The Oumas, Bayogoulas, Theloel, 
 Taensas, the Coloas, the Chycacha, the Napissa, the Ouachas, 
 Choutymachas, Yagenechito, speak the same language and 
 understand the Bilochy, the Pascoboula." As we have seen 
 before, three of the above tribes, the Naktche portion of the 
 Theloel settlements, the Taensa and the Shetimasha had 
 their own languages, but availed themselves of the Chicasa 
 for the purposes of intertribal barter, exchange and com- 
 munication. The most important passages on this medium 
 of trade are contained in Le Page du Pratz, Histoire (II, 218. 
 219): "La langue Tchicacha est parlee aussi par les Chatkas 
 (sic!) et (corrompue) paries Taensas; cette langue corrompue 
 est appel6e Mobilienne par les Francais," etc., and in Margry 
 V, 442, where P6nicaut alleges to have studied the languages 
 of the Louisiana savages pretty thoroughly for five years, 
 "surtout le Mobilien, qui est le principal et qu'on entend 
 par toutes les nations." Cf. the article Naktche. 
 1 Margry IV, 412 and 184. 
 
96 THE MASKOKI FAMILY. 
 
 A few terms in which Chicasa differs from main Cha'hta 
 are as follows : 
 
 Chicasa kuishto panther, Cha'hta kuitchito 
 
 k6e domestic cat, kato (Spanish) 
 
 Isto large, tchito 
 
 iskitinusa small, iskitine 
 
 hushi bird, fushi 
 
 The Chicasa trade language also adopted a few terms from 
 northern languages, as : 
 
 pishu lynx, from Odshibwe pishiu ; also an Odshibwe totem- 
 clan. 
 
 ■piakixaxas. persimmon, changed in the French Creole dialect 
 to plaquemine. 
 
 sbishikushi gourd-rattle or drum, Margry IV", 175. 
 
 sacacuya war-whoop, la huee. 
 
 Lewis H. Morgan published in his Ancient Society (New 
 York, 1877). p. 163, a communication from Rev. Chas. C. 
 Copeland, missionary among the Chicasa Indians, on the 
 totemic gentes observed by him. Copeland states that the 
 descent is in the female line, that no intermarriage takes place 
 among individuals of the same gens, and that property as 
 well as the office of chief is hereditary in the gens. The fol- 
 lowing list will show how considerably he differs from Gibbs' 
 list inserted below : 
 
 Panther phratry, k6a. Its gentes: 1. ko-intchush, wild 
 cat; 2. fushi, bird; 3. nanni, fish ; 4. issi, deer. 
 
 Spanish phratry, Ishpani. Its gentes: 1. shawi racoon; 2. 
 Ishpani Spanish; 3. mingo Royal; 4. huskoni ; 5. tunni 
 squirrel; 6. hotchon tchapa alligator; 7. nashoba wolf; 8. 
 tchu'hla blackbird. 
 
 Further investigations will show whether the two gentes, 
 Ishpani and mingo, are not in fact one and the same, as they 
 appear in Gibbs' list. This list is taken from a manuscript 
 note to his Chicasa vocabulary, and contains nine "clans " 
 or iksa, yeksa : 
 
CHICASA. 97 
 
 Spane or Spanish gens ; mingos or chiefs could be chosen 
 from this gens only, and were hereditary in the 
 female line; sha-e or racoon gens; second chiefs 
 or headmen were selected from it ; kuishto or tiger 
 gens; ko-intchush or catamount gens ; nani or fish 
 gens ; issi or deer gens ; haloba or ? gens ; foshe or 
 bird gens ; hu n shkon6 or skunk gens, the least re- 
 spected of them all. 
 An account in Schoolcraft, Indians I, 311, describes the 
 mode of tribal government, and the method by which the 
 chiefs ratified the laws passed. Sick people, when wealthy, 
 treated their friends to a sort of donation party (or potlatch 
 of the Pacific coast) after their recovery ; a custom called 
 tonshpashupa by the tribe. 
 
 TRIBES ON THE YAZOO RIVER. 
 
 Along the Yazoo river existed a series of towns which seem 
 to have been independent at the time of their discovery, but 
 at a late period, about 1836, were incorporated into the 
 Chicasa people. Some were inhabited by powerful and 
 influential tribes, but it is uncertain whether any of them 
 were of Maskoki lineage and language or not. 1 During the 
 third Naktche-French war, the Yazoo tribes suffered consid- 
 erably from attacks directed upon them by the Arkansas 
 Indians. The countries along Yazoo river are low and 
 swampy grounds, subject to inundations, especially the 
 narrow strip of land extending between that river and the 
 Mississippi. 
 
 The Taensa guide who accompanied Lemoyne d'Iberville, 
 up the Yazoo river in March 1699, enumerated the villages 
 seen on its low banks in their succession from southwest to 
 northeast, as follows (Margry IV, 180) : 
 
 1 I have treated of some of these tribes (Tonica, Koroa) in separate 
 articles. Moncachtape said to du Pratz, that the Yazoo Indians regarded 
 the Chicasa as their elders, " since from them came the language of the 
 country." 
 
98 THE MASKOKI FAMILY. 
 
 i. Tonica, four days' travel from the Naktche and two 
 days' travel from the uppermost town, Thysia. Cf. 
 Tonica, p. 39 sqq. 
 
 2. Ouispe ; the Oussipes of Penicaut. 
 
 3. Opocoulas. They are the Affagoulas, Offogoula, Oufe- 
 
 ogoulas or "Dog-People" of the later authors, and 
 in 1 784 some of them are mentioned as residing eight 
 miles above Pointe Coupee, on W. bank of Missis- 
 sippi river. 
 
 4. Taposa ; the Tapouchas of Baudry de Loziere. 
 
 5. Chaquesauma. This important tribe, written also Cho- 
 
 keechuma, Chactchioumas, Saques'huma, etc., are 
 the Saquechuma visited by a detachment of de 
 Soto's army in their walled town (1540). The 
 name signifies " red crabs." Cf. Adair, History, p. 
 352: "Tahre-hache (Tallahatchi), 1 which lower 
 down is called Chokchooma river, as that nation 
 made their first settlements there, after they came 
 on the other side of Mississippi. . . . The 
 Chicasaw, Choktah and also the Chokchooma, who 
 in process of time were forced by war to settle be- 
 tween the two former nations, came together from 
 the west as one family," etc. Cf. B. Romans, p. 
 315. Crab, crawfish is soktchu in Creek, saktchi 
 in Hitchiti. 
 
 6. Outapa ; called Epitoupa, Ibitoupas in other documents. 
 
 7. Thysia; at six days' canoe travel (forty-two leagues) 
 
 from the Naktche. They are the Tihiou of Dan. 
 
 Coxe (1741). 
 
 Penicaut, who accompanied d'Iberville in this expedition, 
 
 gives an account of the Yazoo villages, which differs in some 
 
 respects from the above : Going up the river of the Yazoux 
 
 for four leagues, there are found on the right the villages 
 
 1 A large northern affluent of Yazoo river, in northern parts of Missis- 
 sippi State. 
 
CHICASA. 99 
 
 inhabited by six savage nations, called "les Yasoux, les Offo- 
 goulas, les Tonicas, les Coroas, les Ouitoupas et les Oussipes." 
 A French priest had already fixed himself in one of the 
 villages for their conversion. 1 
 
 D' Iberville was also informed that the Chicasa and the 
 Napissas formed a union, and that the villages of both were 
 standing close to each other. The term Napissa, in Cha'hta 
 na n pissa, means spy, sentinel, watcher, and corresponds in 
 signification to Akolapissa, name of a tribe between Mobile 
 Bay and New Orleans, q. v. Compare also the Napochies, 
 who, at the time of Tristan de Luna's visit, warred with the 
 Coca (or Kusa, on Coosa river?): "Cocas tenian guerra con 
 los Napochies "; Barcia, Ensayo, p. 37. 
 
 D. Coxe, Carolana, p. 10, gives the Yazoo towns in the fol- 
 lowing order : The lowest is Yassaues or Yassa (Yazoo), then 
 Tounica, Kouroua, Samboukia, Tihiou, Epitoupa. Their 
 enumeration by Baudry de Loziere, 1802, is as follows: 
 " Yazoos, Offogoulas, Coroas are united, and live on Yazoo 
 river in one village; strength, 120 men. Chacchioumas, 
 Ibitoupas, Tapouchas in one settlement on Upper Yazoo river, 
 forty leagues from the above." Cf. Koroa. 
 
 Another Yazoo tribe, mentioned at a later period as con- 
 federated with the Chicasa are the Tchula, Chola or "Foxes." 
 
 Yazoo is not a Cha'hta word, although the Cha'hta had a 
 "clan" of that name: Ya'sho okla, Yashukla, as I am in- 
 formed by Gov. Allen Wright. 2 T. Jefferys (I, 144) reports 
 the Yazoos to be the allies of the " Cherokees, who are under 
 the protection of Great Britain." He also states that the 
 French post was three leagues from the mouth of Yazoo river, 
 close to a village inhabited by a medley of Yazoo, Couroas 
 and Ofogoula Indians, and mentions the tribes in the follow- 
 ing order (I, 163): "Yazoo Indians, about 100 huts; further 
 up, Coroas, about 40 huts; Chactioumas or "red lobsters", 
 
 * Cf. Margry V, 401 and Note. 2 Cf. article on Yuchi, p. 24. 
 
100 THE MASKOKI FAMILY. 
 
 about 50 huts, on same river ; Oufe-ouglas, about 60 huts; 
 Tapoussas, not over 25 huts." 
 
 CHA'HTA. 
 
 The southwestern area of the Maskoki territory was occu- 
 pied by the Cha'hta people, and in the eighteenth century 
 this was probably the most populous of all Maskoki divisions. 
 They dwelt in the middle and southern parts of what is now- 
 Mississippi State, where, according to early authors, they had 
 from fifty to seventy villages ; they then extended from the 
 Mississippi to Tombigbee river, and east of it. 
 
 The tribes of Tuskalusa or Black Warrior, and that of 
 Mauvila, which offered such a bold resistance to H. de Soto's 
 soldiers, were of Cha'hta lineage, though it is not possible at 
 present to state the location of their towns at so remote a 
 period. 
 
 On account of their vicinity to the French colonies 
 at Mobile, Biloxi, New Orleans, and on other points of the 
 Lower Mississippi, the Cha'hta associated early with' the colo- 
 nists, and became their allies in Indian wars. The French and 
 British traders called them Tetes-Plattes, Flatheads. In the 
 third French war against the Naktche a large body of Cha'hta 
 warriors served as allies under the French commander, and 
 on January 27, 1730, before daylight, made a furious on- 
 slaught on their principal village, killing sixty enemies and 
 rescuing fifty-nine French women and children and one 
 hundred and fifty negro slaves previously captured by the 
 tribe (Claiborne, Mississippi, I, 45. 46). In the Chicasa war 
 fourteen hundred Cha'hta Indians aided the French army in 
 its attack on the Chuka p'haraah or Long-House Town, as 
 auxiliaries (Adair, History, p. 354). 
 
 They continued friends of the French until (as stated by 
 Romans, Florida, p. 74) some English traders found means 
 to draw the eastern party and the district of Coosa (together 
 called Oypat-oocooloo, "small nation") into a civil war 
 
cha'hta. 101 
 
 with the western divisions, called Oocooloo-Falaya ("long 
 tribe"), Oocooloo-HanalS ("six tribes"), and Chickasaw- 
 hays, which, after many conflicts and the destruction of East 
 Congeeto, ended with the peace of 1763. 
 
 The Cha'hta did not rely so much on the products of the 
 chase, as other tribes, but preferred to till the ground exten- 
 sively and with care. Later travelers, like Adair, depict 
 'their character and morality in very dark colors. In war, 
 the Cha'hta east of the Mississippi river were less aggressive 
 than those who resided west of it, for the policy of keeping 
 in the defensive agreed best with their dull and slow dispo- 
 sition of mind. About 1732, the ordinary, though contested 
 boundary between them and the Creek confederacy was the 
 ridge that separates the waters of the Tombigbee from those 
 of the Alabama river. Their principal wars, always defensive 
 and not very sanguinary, were fought with the Creeks ; in a 
 conflict of six years, 1765-1771, they lost about three hundred 
 men (Gallatin, Synopsis, p. 100). Claiborne mentions a 
 battle fought between the two nations on the eastern bank 
 of Noxubee river, about five miles west of Cooksville, Noxu- 
 bee County, Mississippi. Charles Dobbs, the settler at the 
 farm including the burying-ground of those who fell in that 
 battle, opened it in 1832, and found many Spanish dollars 
 in the graves. It was some three hundred yards northeast of 
 the junction of Shuqualak creek with the river. A decisive 
 victory of the Cha'hta took place at Nusic-heah, or Line 
 creek, over the Chocchuma Indians, who belonged to the 
 Chicasa connection ; the battle occurred south of that creek, 
 at a locality named Lyon's Bluff. 1 
 
 Milfort establishes a thorough distinction between the 
 northern and the southern Cha'hta as to their pursuits of 
 life and moral character. The Cha'hta of the northern sec- 
 tion are warlike and brave, wear garments, and crop their 
 hair in Creek fashion. The southern Cha'hta, settled on 
 1 Claiborne, Mississippi, Appendix, I, p. 485. 486. 
 
102 THE MASKOKI FAMILY. 
 
 fertile ground west of Mobile and southwest of Pascogoula, 
 are dirty, indolent and cowardly, miserably dressed and 
 inveterate beggars. Both sections could in his time raise 
 six thousand warriors (p. 285-292). The mortuary customs, 
 part of which were exceedingly barbaric, are spoken of with 
 many details by Milfort (p. 292-304); their practices in cases 
 of divorce and adultery (p. 304-311) are dwelt upon by 
 several other writers, and were of a revolting character. 1 
 
 No mention is made of the " great house" or " the square" 
 in Cha'hta towns, as it existed in every one of the larger 
 Creek communities, nor of the green corn dance. But they 
 had the favorite game of chunks, and played at ball between 
 village and village (B. Romans, p. 79. 80). The men assisted 
 their wives in their agricultural labors and in many other 
 works connected with the household. 2 The practice of 
 flattening the heads extended to the male children only; 
 the Aimara of Peru observed the same exclusive custom. 
 
 The collecting and cleaning of the bones of corpses was 
 a custom existing throughout the southern as well as the 
 northern Indians east of Mississippi river, and among some 
 tribes west of it. Every tribe practiced it in a different 
 manner; the Cha'hta employed for the cleaning : "old gen- 
 tlemen with very long nails," and deposited the remains, 
 placed in boxes, in the bone houses existing in every town. 3 
 Tombigbee river received its name from this class of men : 
 itumbi-bikpi " cofHn-maker. " The Indians at Fort Orange 
 or Albany (probably the Mohawks) bound up the cleaned 
 bones in small bundles and buried them : De Vries, Voyages 
 (1642) p. 164; the Nanticokes removed them to the place 
 from which the tribe had emigrated (Heckewelder, Delawares, 
 p. 75 sq.) Similar customs were observed among the Dakota- 
 
 1 Cf. B. Romans, E. and W. Florida, p. 86-89. 
 
 * B. Romans, p. 86. He describes education among the Cha'hta, p. 76. 
 77 ; the sarbacane or blow-gun, p. 77. 
 3 B. Romans, p. 89. 90. 
 
cha'hta. 103 
 
 Santees, Shetimashas and several South American tribes. 
 Captain Smith mentions the quiogozon or burial place of 
 Virginia chiefs. 1 
 
 The Cha'hta also had the custom, observed down to the 
 present century, of setting up poles around their new graves, 
 on which they hung hoops, wreaths, etc., for the spirit to 
 ascend upon. Around these the survivors gathered every 
 day at sunrise, noon, sunset, emitting convulsive cries during 
 thirty to forty days. On the last day all neighbors assembled, 
 the poles were pulled up, and the lamentation ended with 
 drinking, carousing and great disorders. 2 
 
 The Chicasa a_e not known to have settled west of the 
 Mississippi river to any extensive degree, but their southern 
 neighbors and relations, the Cha'hta, did so at an early 
 epoch, no doubt prompted by the increase of population. 
 The Cha'hta emigrating to these western parts were looked 
 at by their countrymen at home in the same light as the 
 Seminoles were by the Creeks. They were considered as 
 outcasts, on account of the turbulent and lawless elements 
 which made up a large part of them. 
 
 On the middle course of Red river Milfort met a body of 
 Cha'hta Indians, who had quitted their country about 1755 
 in quest of better hunting grounds, and were involved in 
 frequent quarrels with the Caddos (p. 95). 
 
 The French found several Cha'hta tribes, as the Bayo- 
 goula, Huma and Acolapissa, settled upon Mississippi river. 
 In the eighteenth century the inland Shetimasha on Grand 
 Lake were constantly harassed by Cha'hta incursions. About 
 1809 a Cha'hta village existed on Washita river, another on 
 
 1 Cf. Lawson, History of Carolina (Reprint i860), p. 297. More 
 information on Cha'hta burials will be found in H. C. Yarrow, Indian 
 mortuary customs ; in First Report of U. S. Bureau of Ethnology, 1879- 
 1880 ; especially p. 185. 
 
 2 Missionary Herald of Boston, 1828 (vol. xxiv) p. 380, in an article 
 on Religious Opinions, etc., of the Choctaws, by Rev. Alfred Wright. 
 
104 THE MASKOKI FAMILY. 
 
 Bayou Chicot, Opelousas Parish, Louisiana. Morse mentions 
 for 1820 twelve hundred Cha'hta Indians on the Sabine and 
 Neche rivers, one hundred and forty on Red river near 
 Nanatsoho, or Pecan Point, and many lived scattered around 
 that district.. At the present time (1882), encampments of 
 Biloxis, who speak the Cha'hta language, exist in the forests 
 of Louisiana' south of Red river. 
 
 The Cha'hta nation is formally, though not locally, divided 
 into two iksa (yeksa) or kinships, which exist promiscuously 
 throughout their territory. These divisions were denned by 
 Allen Wright as: 1. Kashap-ukla or kashapa ukela (6kla) 
 "part of the people; " 2. Ukla i n hula'hta "people of the 
 headmen." 
 
 Besides this, there is another formal division into three 
 okla, districts or fires, the names of which were partly 
 alluded to in the passage from B. Romans : 
 6kla falaya " long people "; 
 ahepat 6kla "potato-eating people "; 
 6kla hannali " Sixtown people," who used a special dialect. 
 The list of Cha'hta gentes, as printed in Lewis H. Morgan, 
 Ancient Society* stands as follows : 
 
 First phratry: kushap 6kla or Divided People. Four 
 gentes: 1. kush-iksa, reed gens. 2. Law okla. 3. Lulak- 
 iksa. 4. Linoklusha. 
 
 Second phratry : wataki hulata or Beloved People, "people 
 of head-men": Four gentes: 1. chufan iksa, beloved people. 
 2. iskulani, small {people}; 3. chito, large {people); 4. 
 shakch-ukla, cray-fish people. 
 
 Property and the office of chief was hereditary in the gens. 
 
 As far as the wording is concerned, Morgan's list is not 
 
 satisfactory, but being the only one extant I present it as it is. 
 
 Rev. Alfred Wright, missionary of the Cha'hta, knows of 
 
 six gentes only, but states that there were two great families 
 
 who could not intermarry. These were, as stated by Morgan,- 
 
 1 Published New York, 1877. pp. 99. 162. 
 
cha'hta. 105 
 
 the reed gens and the chufan gens. Wright then continues : 
 " Woman's brothers are considered natural guardians of the 
 children, even during father's lifetime ; counsel was taken for 
 criminals from their phratry, the opposite phratry, or rather 
 the principal men of this, acting as accusers. If they failed 
 to adjust the case, the principal men of -the next larger 
 division took it up ; if they also failed, the case then came 
 before the itimoklushas and the shakch-uklas, whose decision 
 was final. This practice is falling in disuse now." A busi- 
 ness-like and truly judicial proceeding like this does much 
 honor to the character and policy of the Cha'hta, and will 
 be found in but a few other Indian communities. It must 
 have acted powerfully against the prevailing practice of 
 family revenge, and served to establish a state of safety for 
 the lives of individuals. 
 
 More points on Cha'hta ethnography will be found in the 
 Notes to B. F. French, Histor. Collect, of La., Ill, 128-139. 
 
 The legends of the Cha'hta speak of a giant race, peaceable 
 and agricultural (nahullo) 1 , and also of a cannibal race, both 
 of which they met east of the Mississippi river. 
 
 The Cha'hta trace their mythic origin from the "Stooping, 
 Leaning or Winding Hill," Nani Waya, a mound of fifty 
 feet altitude, situated in Winston county, Mississippi, on the 
 headwaters of Pearl river. The top of this "birthplace" of 
 the nation is level, and has a surface of about one r fourth of 
 an acre. One legend states, that the Cha'hta arrived there, 
 after crossing the Mississippi and separating from the 
 Chicasa, who went north during an epidemic. Nanna 
 Waya creek runs through the southeastern parts of Winston 
 county, Miss. 
 
 Another place, far-famed in Cha'hta folklore, was the 
 "House of Warriors," Taska-tchuka, the oldest settlement in 
 
 1 Nahullo, nahunlo means : greater, higher race, eminent race ; though 
 the original meaning is that of "more sacred, more honorable." A white 
 man is called by the Cha'hta : nahullo. 
 8 
 
106 THE MASKOKI FAMILY. 
 
 the nation, and standing on the verge of the Kushtush 1 . It 
 lay in Neshoba county, Mississippi. It was a sort of temple, 
 and the Unkala, a priestly order, had the custody or care of 
 it. The I'ksa A'numpule or "clan-speakers" prepared the 
 bones of great warriors for burial, and the Unkala went at 
 the head of the mourners to that temple, chanting hymns in 
 an unknown tongue. 2 
 
 The curious tale of the origin of the Cha'hta from Nani 
 Waya has been often referred to by authors. B. Romans 
 states that they showed the "hole in the ground," from 
 which they came, between their nation and the Chicasa, and 
 told the colonists that their neighbors were surprised at seeing 
 a people rise at once, out of the earth (p. 71). The most 
 circumstantial account of this preternatural occurrence is 
 laid down in the following narrative." " When the earth 
 was a level plain in the condition of a quagmire, a superior 
 being, in appearance a red man, came down from above, 
 and alighting near the centre of the Choctaw nation, threw 
 up a large mound or hill, called Nanne Wayah, stooping 
 or sloping hill. Then he caused, the red people to come 
 out of it, and when he supposed that a sufficient number had 
 come out, he stamped on the ground with his foot. When 
 this signal of his power was given, some were partly formed, 
 others were just raising their heads above the mud, emerging 
 into light,* and struggling into life. . . . Thus seated 
 on the area of their hill, they were told by their Creator 
 they should live forever. But they did not seem to under- 
 stand what he had told them ; therefore he took away from 
 them the grant of immortality, and made them subject to 
 
 1 C-ustusha creek runs into Kentawha creek, affluent of Big Black river, 
 in Neshoba county. 
 
 2 Claiborne, Mississippi, I, p. 518. 
 
 8 Missionary Herald, 1828, p. 181. 
 
 4 Compare the poetic vision, parallel to this, contained in Ezekiel, 
 ch. 39. 
 
cha'hta. 107 
 
 death. The earth then indurated, the hills were formed by 
 the agitation of the waters and winds on the soft mud. The 
 Creator then told the people that the earth would bring forth 
 the chestnut, hickory nut and acorn ; it is likely that maize 
 was discovered, but long afterward, by a crow. Men began to 
 cover themselves by the long moss (abundant in southern 
 climates), which they tied around their waists; then were 
 invented bow and arrows, and the skins of the game used 
 for clothing. ' ' 
 
 Here the creation of the Cha'hta is made coeval with the 
 creation of the earth, and some features of the story give 
 evidence of modern and rationalistic tendencies of the 
 relator. Other Cha'hta traditions state that the people came 
 from the west, and stopped at Nani Waya, only to obtain 
 their laws and phratries from the Creator — a story made to 
 resemble the legislation on Mount Sinai. Other legends 
 conveyed the belief that the emerging from the sacred hill 
 took place only four or five generations before. 1 
 
 The emerging of the human beings from the top of a 
 hill is an event not unheard of in American mythology, 
 and should not be associated with a simultaneous creation 
 of man. It refers to the coming up of primeval man 
 from a lower world into a preexistent upper world,, through 
 some orifice. A graphic representation of this idea will be 
 found in the Navajo creation myth, published in Amer. 
 Antiquarian V, 207-224, from which extracts are given in 
 this volume below. Five different worlds are there supposed 
 to have existed, superposed to each other, and some of the 
 orifices through which the "old people" crawled up are 
 visible at the present time. 
 
 The published maps of the Cha'hta country, drawn, in colo- 
 nial times, are too imperfect to give us a clear idea of the situ- 
 -ation of their towns. From more recent sources it appears 
 that these settlements consisted of smaller groups, of cabins 
 1 Missionary Herald, 1828, p, 21S-. 
 
108 THE MASKOKI FAMILY. 
 
 clustered together in tribes, perhaps also after gentes, as we 
 see it done among the Mississippi tribes and in a few in- 
 stances among the Creeks. 
 
 The "old Choctaw Boundary Line," as marked upon the 
 U. S. Land Office map of 1878, runs from Prentiss, a point 
 on the Mississippi river in Bolivar county (33 37' Lat.), 
 Miss., in a southeastern direction to a point on Yazoo river, 
 in Holmes county. The "Chicasaw Boundary Line" runs 
 from the Tunica Old Fields, in Tunica county, opposite 
 Helena, on Mississippi river (34 33' Lat.), southeast through 
 CofFeeville in Yallabusha county, to a. point in Sumner county, 
 eastern part. The "Choctaw Boundary Line" passes from 
 east to west, following approximately the 31 50' of Lat., from 
 the Eastern boundary of Mississippi State to the southwest 
 corner of Copiah county. All these boundary lines were 
 run after the conclusion of the treaty at Doak's Stand. 
 
 The Cuska Indians, also called Coosa, Coosahs, had settle- 
 ments on the Cusha creeks, in Lauderdale county. 
 
 The UMa-fal&ya, or "Long People," were settled in 
 Leake county. (?) 
 
 The Cofetalaya were inhabiting Atala and Choctaw coun- 
 ties, settled at French Camp, etc., on the old military road 
 leading to Old Doak's Stand; General Jackson advanced 
 through this road, when marching south to meet the 
 English army. 
 
 Pineshuk Indians, on a branch of Pearl river, in Winston 
 county. 
 
 Boguechito Indians, on stream of the same name in Neshoba 
 county, near Philadelphia. Some Mugulashas lived in the 
 Boguechito district; Wiatakali was one of the villages. 
 "Yazoo Old Village " also stood in Neshoba county. 
 
 Sixtowns or English-Towns, a group of six villages in Smith 
 and Jasper counties. Adair, p. 298, mentions "seven towns 
 that lie close together and next to New Orleans", perhaps 
 meaning these. The names of the six towns were as follows : 
 
cha'hta. 109 
 
 Chinokabi, Okatallia, Killis-tamaha (kilis, in Creek : inkilisi, 
 is EnglisK), Tallatown, Nashoweya, Bishkon. 
 
 Sukinatchi or "Factory Indians" settlement, in Lowndes 
 and Kemper counties. Allamutcha Old Town was ten miles 
 from Sukinatchi creek. 
 
 Yauana, Yowanne was a palisaded town on Pascagoula 
 river, or one of its affluents; cf. Adair, History, 297-299. 301. 
 He calls it remote but considerable ; it has its name from 
 a worm, very destructive to corn in the wet season. French 
 maps place it on the same river, where "Chicachae" fort 
 stood above, and call it : "Yauana, dernier village des Choc- 
 taws." "Yoani, on the banks of the Pasca Oocooloo 
 (Pascagoula)"; B. Romans, p. 86. 
 
 An old Cha'hta Agency was in Oktibbeha county. 
 
 Cobb Indians ; west of Pearl river. 
 
 Shuqualak in Noxubee county. 
 
 Chicasawhay Indians on river of the same name, an affluent 
 of the Pascagoula river; B. Romans, p. 86, states, that "the 
 Choctaws of Chicasahay and the Yoani on Pasca Oocooloo 
 river " are the only Cha'hta able to swim. 
 
 It may be collected from the above, that the main settle- 
 ments of the Northern Cha'hta were between Mobile and 
 Big Black river, east and west, and between 32 and 33° 30' 
 Lat., where their remnants reside even nowadays. 
 
 CHA'HTA TRIBES OF THE GULF COAST. 
 
 In the southern part of the Cha'hta territory several tribes, 
 represented to be of Cha'hta lineage, appear as distinct from 
 the main body, and are always mentioned separately. The 
 French colonists, in whose annals they figure extensively, 
 call them Mobilians, Tohomes, Pascogoulas, Biloxis, Mou- 
 goulachas, Bayogoulas and Humas (Oumas). They have all 
 disappeared in our epoch, with the exception of the Biloxi, 
 of whom scattered remnants live in the forests of Louisiana, 
 south of the Red river. 
 
110 THE MASKOKI FAMILY. 
 
 The Mobilians seem to be the descendants of the inhabit- 
 ants of Mauvila, a walled town, at some distance from the 
 seat of the Tuscalusa chief, and dependent on him. These 
 Indians are well known for their stubborn resistance offered 
 in 1540 to the invading troops of Hernando de Soto. 
 
 Subsequently they must have removed several hundred 
 miles south of Tuscalusa river, perhaps on account of inter- 
 tribal broils with the Alibamu; for in the year 1708 we find 
 them settled on Mobile Bay, where the French had allowed 
 them, the Naniaba and Tohome, to erect lodges around their 
 fort. Cf. Alibamu. On a place of worship visited by this 
 tribe (1792), Margry IV, 513. 
 
 The Tohome, Thomes, Tomez Indians, settled north of 
 Mobile City, stood in the service of the French colony, and 
 adopted the Roman Catholic faith. Besides the Naniaba 1 
 and Mobilian Indians, the French had settled in their 
 vicinity a pagan Cha'hta tribe from the northwest and an 
 adventitious band of Apalaches, who had fled the Spanish 
 domination in Florida. We are informed that the language 
 and barbarous customs of the Tohomes differed considerably 
 from those of the neighboring Indians. Their name is the 
 Cha'hta adjective tohobi, contr. t6bi white. 
 
 In 1 702 they were at war with the Chicasa. Their cabins 
 stood eight leagues from the French settlement at Mobile, on 
 Mobile river, and the number of their men is given as three 
 hundred. They spoke a dialect of the Bayogoula. Cf. 
 Margry IV, 427. 429. 504. 512-14. 531. The Mobilians 
 and the Tohomes combined counted three hundred and fifty 
 families : Margry IV, 594. 602. 
 
 The Touachas settled by the French upon Mobile bay in 1 705 , 
 were a part of the Tawasa, an Alibamu tribe mentioned above. 2 
 
 1 " Fish-eaters," from Cha'hta nani, nannies,*, apa to eat. On Turner's 
 map (1827), Nanihaba Island lies at the junction of Alabama with Tom- 
 bigbee river, and Nanihaba Bluff lies west of the junction. 
 
 2 Margry V, 457. 
 
cha'hta. Ill 
 
 The Paseogoula, incorrectly termed Pascoboula Indians, 
 were a small tribe settled upon Paseogoula river, three days' 
 travel southwest of Fort Mobile. Six different nations were 
 said to inhabit the banks of the river, probably all of Cha'hta 
 lineage ; among them are mentioned the Pascogoulas, Cho- 
 zettas, Bilocchi, Moctoby, all insignificant in numbers. The 
 name signifies "bread -people," and is composed of the 
 Cha'hta paska bread, (Ma. people, the Nahuatl tribal name of 
 the Tlascaltecs being of the same signification: tlaxcalli 
 tortilla, from ixca to bake. Cf. Margry IV, 154-157. 193. 
 195. 425-427- 45 1 - 454- 602. 
 
 A portion of these Indians may have been identical 
 with the Chicasawhay Indians, and with the inhabitants 
 of Yauana. 
 
 The Biloxi Indians became first known to the whites by 
 the erection of a French settlement, in 1699, on a bay called 
 after this tribe, which is styled B'luksi by the Cha'hta, and 
 has some reference to the catch of turtles (luktchi turtle). 
 
 "We thought it most convenient to found a settlement 
 in the Bilocchy bay ; ... it is distant only three leagues 
 from the Pascoboula river, upon which are built the three 
 villages of the Bilocchy, Pascoboula and Moctoby." Margry 
 IV, 195; cf. 311. 451. We also find the statement that the 
 Bayogoulas call the Annocchy : Bilocchy (pronounced : Bi- 
 lokshi), Margry IV, 172. Penicaut refers to their place of 
 settlement on Biloxi bay in 1704 in Margry V, 442. On 
 their language cf. Margry IV, 184; quoted under Chicasa, q. v. 
 
 Later on they crossed the Mississippi to its western side, 
 and are mentioned as wanderers on Bayou Crocodile and its 
 environs (1806), which they frequent even now, and on the 
 Lake of Avoyelles. 
 
 The Mugulashas (pron.: Moogoolashas) were neighbors of 
 the French colonists at Biloxi bay, and a people of the same 
 name lived in the village occupied by the Bayogoulas. 
 Mougoulachas is the French orthography of the name. Their 
 
112 THE MASKOKI FAMILY. 
 
 name is identical with Imuklasha or the "opposite phratry" 
 in the Cha'hta nation, from which Muklasha, a Creek town, 
 also received its name. In consequence of this, generic 
 meaning of the term this appellation is met with in several 
 portions of the Cha'hta country. 
 
 Previous to March 1700, there had been a conflict between 
 them and the Bayogoulas, in which the latter had killed all 
 of the Mugulashas who were within their reach, and called in 
 families of the Colapissas and Tioux to occupy their deserted 
 fields and lodges. Cf. Margry IV, 429., Boguechito Indians, 
 Bayogoula and Acolapissa. 
 
 The Acolapissa Indians appear under various names in the 
 country northwest to northeast of New Orleans. They are 
 also called Colapissa, Quinipissa, Quiripissa, Querepisa, forms 
 which all flow from Cha'hta okla-plsa "those who look 
 out for people," guardians, spies, sentinels, watching men. 
 This term refers to their position upon the in- and out-flow 
 of Lake Pontchartrain and other coast lagoons, combined 
 with their watchfulness for hostile parties passing these 
 places. It is therefore a generic term and not a specific 
 tribal name ; hence it was applied to several tribes simul- 
 taneously, and they were reported to have seven towns, 
 Tangibao among them, which were distant eight days' travel 
 by land E. N. E. from their settlement on Mississippi river. 
 Cf. Margry IV, 120. 167. 168. Their village on Missis- 
 sippi river was seen by L. d'Iberville, 1699-1700, twenty-five 
 leagues from its mouth (IV, 101). Their language is spoken 
 of, ibid. IV, 412. At the time of Tonti's visit, 1685, tnev 
 lived twenty leagues further down the Mississippi than in 
 1 699-1 700. They suffered terribly from epidemics, and joined 
 the Mugulashas, q.v., whose chief became the chief of both 
 tribes; Margry IV, 453. 602. On "Colapissas" residing on 
 Talcatcha or Pearl river, see Pani, p. 44. The Bayogoulas 
 informed d'Iberville in 1699, that the " Quinipissas " lived 
 fifty leagues east of them, and thirty or forty leagues distant 
 
cha'hta. 113 
 
 from the sea, in six villages: Margry IV, 119. 120. Are 
 they the Sixtown Indians ? 
 
 The Bayogoula Indians inhabited a village on the Missis- 
 sippi river, western shore (Margry IV, 119. 155), conjointly 
 with the Mugulashas, sixty-four leagues distant from the 
 sea, thirty-five leagues from the Humas, and eight days' 
 canoe travel from Biloxi bay. 
 
 Gommander Lemoyne d' Iberville graphically describes 
 (Margry IV, 170-172) the village of the Bayogoula with its 
 two temples and 107 cabins. The number of the males was 
 rather large (200 to 250) compared to the paucity of women 
 inhabiting it. A fire was burning in the centre of the 
 temples, and near the door were figures of animals, the 
 "choucoiiacha" or opossum being one of them. This word 
 shukuasha is the diminutive of Cha'hta: shukata opossum, 
 and contains the diminutive terminal -ushi. Shishikushi or 
 "tambours f aits de calebasses," gourd-drums, is another Indian 
 term occurring in his description, 1 probably borrowed from 
 an Algonkin language of the north. A curious instance of 
 sign language displayed by one of the Bayogoula chiefs will 
 be found in Margry IV, 154. 155. 
 
 The full form of the tribal name is Bayuk-okla or river-tribe, 
 creek- or bayou-people; the Cha'hta word for a smaller river, 
 or river forming part of a delta is bayuk, contr. bSk, and 
 occurs in Boguechito, Bok'humma, etc. 
 
 The JIuma, Ouma, Houma or Omma tribe lived, in the 
 earlier periods of French colonization, seven leagues above 
 the junction of Red river, on the eastern bank of Mississippi 
 river. L. d'Iberville describes their settlement, 1699, as 
 placed on a hill-ridge, 2^ leagues inland, and containing 140 
 cabins, with about 350 heads of families. Their village is 
 described in Margry IV, 177. 179. 265-271. 452, located by 
 degrees of latitude: 32 15', of longitude: 281 25'. The 
 
 1 Margry IV, 175 : " des tambours chychycouchy, qui sont des cale- 
 basses." 
 
114 THE MASKOKI FAMILY. 
 
 limit between the lands occupied by the Huma and the 
 Bayogoula was marked by a high pole painted red, in Cha'hta 
 Istr-ouma (?), which stood on the high shores of Mississippi 
 river at Baton Rouge, La. 1 Their hostilities with" the Tangi- 
 pahoa are referred to by the French annalists, and ended in 
 the destroying the Tangipahoa town by the Huma ; Margry 
 IV, 168. 169. Cf. Taensa. A tribe mentioned in 1682 in 
 connection with the Huma is that of the Chigilousa; Margry 
 
 I, 563- 
 
 Their language is distinctly stated to have differed from 
 that of the Taensa, IV, 412. 448, and the tribal name, a 
 Cha'hta term for red, probably refers to red leggings, as 
 Opelusa is said to refer to black leggings or moccasins. 
 
 They once claimed the ground on which New Orleans 
 stands, and after the Revolution lived on Bayou Lafourche. 2 
 A coast parish, with Houma as parish seat, is now called 
 after them. 
 
 The country south of the Upper Creek settlements, lying 
 between Lower Alabama and Lower Chatahuchi river, must 
 have been sparsely settled in colonial times, for there is but 
 one Indian tribe, the Pensacola (pa n sha-6kla or "hair-people" 
 mentioned there. This name is of Cha'hta origin, and there 
 is a tradition that the old homes, or a part of them, of the 
 Cha'hta nation lay in these tracts. On Escambia river there 
 are Cha'hta at the present time, who keep up the custom of 
 family vendetta or blood revenge, and that river is also men- 
 tioned as a constant battle-field between the Creeks and 
 Cha'hta tribes by W. Bartram. 8 When the Cha'hta concluded 
 treaties with the United States Government involving cessions 
 of land, they claimed ownership of the lands in question, 
 even of some lands lying on the east side of Chatahuchi 
 river, where they had probably been hunting from an early 
 
 1 Thomas Hutchins, French America, Phila., 1784, p. 40. 
 
 * Penicaut in Margry V, 395. 
 
 * Travels, p. 436: "the bloody field of Schambe"; cf. 400. 414. 
 
cha'hta. 115 
 
 period. A list of the way-stations and fords on the post-road 
 between Lower Tallapoosa river and the Bay of Mobile is 
 appended to Hawkins* Sketch, p. 85, and was probably 
 written after 1813; cf. p. 83. This post-road was quite 
 probably an old Indian war-trail traveled over by Creek 
 warriors to meet the Cha'hta. 
 
 The Conshac tribe, the topographic and ethnographic posi- 
 tion of which is difficult to trace, has been located in these 
 thinly-inhabited portions of the Gulf coast. La Harpe, whose 
 annals are printed in B. F. French, Histor. Coll. of Louisiana, 
 Vol. Ill, states (p. 44) that "two villages of Conshaques, 
 who had always been faithful to the French and resided near 
 Mobile Fort, had been driven out of their country because 
 they would not receive the English among them (about 
 1720)." The Conshacs and Alibamu were at war with the 
 Tohome before 1702 ; cf. Margry IV, 512. 518. L. d'lber- 
 ville, in 1702, gives their number at 2000 families, probably 
 including the Alibamu, stating that both tribes have their 
 first settlements 35 to 40 leagues to the northeast, on an 
 eastern affluent of Mobile river, joining it five leagues above 
 the fort. From these first villages to the E. N. E. there are 
 other Conshac villages, known to the Spaniards as Apalachi- 
 colys, with many English settled among them, and 60 to 65 
 leagues distant from Mobile. 1 Du Pratz, who speaks of 
 them from hearsay only, places them north of the Alibamu, 
 and states that they spoke a language almost the same as the 
 Chicasa (Hist. p. 208). "A small party of Coussac Indians 
 is settled on Chacta-hatcha or Pea river, running into St. 
 Rose's bay, 25 leagues above its mouth." 2 On the head- 
 waters of Ikanfina river, H. Tanner's map (1827) has a locality 
 called : Pokanaweethly Cootsa O. F. 
 
 The origin of these different acceptations can only be 
 
 1 Margry IV, 594. 595. 602. 
 
 2 Thorn. Hutchins, French America, p. 83 (1784). B. Romans, Florida, 
 p. 90. 
 
116 THE MASKOKI n^AMILY. 
 
 accounted for by the generic meaning of the appellation 
 Conshac. It is the Cha'hta word kanshak: (i) a species of 
 cane, of extremely hard texture, and (2) knife made from it. 
 These knives were used throughout the Gulf territories, and 
 thus d'Iberville and du Pratz call by this name the Creek 
 Indians or Maskoki proper, while to others the Conchaques 
 are the Cusha, Kusha, a Cha'hta tribe near Mobile bay, 
 which is called by Rev. Byington in his manuscript dictionary 
 Konshas, Konshaws. That the Creeks once manufactured 
 knives of this kind is stated in our Kasi'hta migration legend. 
 
 THE CHA'HTA LANGUAGE, 
 the representative of the western group of Maskoki dialects, 
 differs in its phonetics from the eastern dialects chiefly by the 
 more general vocalic nasalization previously alluded to. 
 Words cannot begin with two consonants ; the Creek st is 
 replaced by sht, and combinations like //, bt, nt do not 
 occur (Byington's Grammar, p. 9). In short words the 
 accent is laid upon the penultima. 
 
 The cases of the noun are not so distinctly marked as they 
 are in the eastern dialects by the case-suffixes in -/and -n, but 
 have often to be determined by the hearer from the position 
 of the words in the sentence. But in other respects, case 
 and many other relations are pointed out by an extensive 
 series of suffixed or enclitic syllables, mostly monosyllabic, 
 which Byington calls article-pronouns, and writes as sepa- 
 rate words. They are simply suffixes of pronominal origin, 
 and correspond to our articles the, a, to our relative and 
 demonstrative pronouns, partly also to our adverbs, prepo- 
 sitions and conjunctions. They form combinations among 
 themselves, and supply verbal inflection with its modal 
 suffixes or exponents. Adjectives possess a distinct plural 
 form, which points to their origin from verbs, but in sub- 
 stantives number is not expressed except by the verb con- 
 nected with them, or by means of separate words. 
 
cha'hta language^ 117 
 
 There are two classes of personal pronouns, the relative 
 and the absolute (the former referring to something said 
 previously), but the personal inflection of the verb is effected 
 by prefixes, the predicative suffix 'h being added to the end 
 of each form in the affirmative conjugation. Only the first 
 person of the singular is marked by a suffix : -It (increased by 
 'h:-WK). The lack of a true substantive verb to be is to 
 some extent supplied by this suffix -'h. Verbal inflection is 
 rich in tenses and other forms, and largely modifies the radix 
 to express changes in voice, mode and tense. The sway of 
 phonetic laws is all-powerful here, and they operate whenever 
 a slight conflict of syllables disagreeing with the delicate ear 
 of the Cha'hta Indian takes place. 
 
 Of abstract terms there exists a larger supply than in many 
 other American languages. 
 
 Several dialects of Cha'hta were and are still in existence, 
 as the Sixtown dialect, the ones spoken from Mobile bay to 
 New Orleans, those heard on the Lower Mississippi river, 
 and that of the Chicasa. The dialect now embodied in the 
 literary language of the present Cha'hta is that of the central 
 parts of Mississippi State, where the American Protestant 
 missionaries had selected a field of operation. 
 
 Rev. Cyrus Byington (born 1793, died 1867) worked as a 
 missionary among this people before and after the removal 
 to the Indian territory. He completed the first draft of his 
 "Choctaw Grammar" in 1834, and an extract of it was 
 published by Dr. D. G. Brinton. 1 His manuscript "Choctaw 
 Dictionary," now in the library of the U. S. Bureau of 
 Ethnology, fills five folio volumes, contains about 17,000 
 items (words, phrases and sentences), and was completed 
 about 1833. The missionary alphabet used by him, which is 
 also the alphabet of Cha'hta literature, is very imperfect, as 
 it fails to express all sounds of the language by signs for each, 
 
 1 Published in Proceedings of American Philosoph. Society, 1870 (56 
 pages), 8vo. 
 
118 THE CREEK INDIANS. 
 
 and entirely neglects accentuation. The pronunciation of 
 Cha'hta is so delicate and pliant that only a superior scien- 
 tific alphabet can approximately express its peculiar sounds 
 and intonations. 
 
 Cha'hta has been made the subject of linguistic inquiry by 
 Fr. Miiller, Grundzuge d. Sprachwissenschaft, II, 232-238, 
 and by Forchhammer in the Transactions of the Congres des 
 Americanistes, 2d session, 1877, 8vo.j also by L. Adam. 
 
 III. THE CREEK INDIANS. 
 
 The Creek Indians or Maskoki proper occupy, in historic 
 times, a central position among the other tribes of their 
 affiliation, and through their influence and physical power, 
 which they attained by forming a comparatively strong and 
 permanent national union, have become the most noteworthy 
 of all the Southern tribes of the United States territories. 
 They still fdrm a compact body of Indians for themselves, 
 and their history, customs and antiquities can be studied at 
 the present time almost as well as they could at the beginning 
 of the nineteenth century. But personal presence among the 
 Creeks in the Indian Territory is necessary to obtain from 
 them all the information which is needed for the purposes of 
 ethnologic science. 
 
 There is a tradition that when the Creek people incor- 
 porated tribes of other nations into their confederacy, these 
 tribes never kept up their own customs and peculiarities for 
 any length of time, but were subdued in such a manner as to 
 conform with the dominant race. As a confirmation of this, 
 it is asserted that the Creeks annihilated the Yamassi Indians 
 completely, so that they disappeared entirely among their 
 number; that the Tukabatchi, Taskigi and other tribes of 
 foreign descent abandoned their paternal language to adopt 
 that of the dominant Creeks. 
 
 But there are facts which tend to attenuate or disprove 
 this tradition. The Yuchi, as well as the Naktche tribe and 
 
THE CREEK INDIANS. 119 
 
 the tribes of Alibamu descent 1 have retained their language 
 and peculiar habits up to the present time, notwithstanding 
 their long incorporation into the Creek community. The 
 Hitchiti, Apalatchukla and Sawokli tribes, with their branch 
 villages, have also retained their language to this day, not- 
 withstanding their membership in the extensive confederacy, 
 a membership which must have lasted for centuries ; and in 
 fact we cannot see how the retention of vernacular speech 
 could hurt the interests of the community even in the slightest 
 way. There were tribes among the Maskoki proper, which 
 were said to have given up not only their own language, but 
 also their customs, at a time which fell within the remem- 
 brance of the living generation. Among their number was 
 the Taskigi tribe, 2 on the confluence of Coosa and Tallapoosa 
 rivers, whose earlier language was probably Cheroki. But, 
 on the other side, a body of Chicasa Indians lived near 
 Kasi^ta in historic times, which during their stay certainly 
 preserved their language as well as their traditional customs. 
 From Em. Bowen's map it appears that Chicasa Indians also 
 lived on Savannah river (above the Yuchi) for some time, 
 and many Cheroki must have lived within the boundaries of 
 the consolidated Creek confederacy. The more there were 
 of them, and the nearer they were to their own country, the 
 more it becomes probable that they preserved their own 
 language and paternal customs. The existence of Cheroki 
 local names amid the Creek settlements strongly militates 
 in favor of this; we have Etowa, Okoni, Chiaha, Tama'li, 
 Atasi, Taskigi, Amakalli. 
 
 In the minds of many of our readers it will ever remain 
 doubtful that the Creek tribes immigrated into the territories 
 of the Eastern Gulf States by crossing the Lower Mississippi 
 river. But there is at least one fact which goes to show that 
 
 1 Witumka (Great), Muklasi, and the four Alibamu villages named by 
 Hawkins. To these we may add Koassati. 
 
 2 Hawkins, p. 39. 
 
120 THE CREEK INDIANS. 
 
 the settling of the Creeks proceeded from west to east and 
 southeast. The oldest immigration to Chatahuchi river is 
 that of the Kasi/ta and Kawita tribes, both of whom, as our 
 legend shows, found the Kusa and the Apalatchukla with 
 their connections, ■ in situ, probably the Abi/ka also. If 
 there is any truth in the Hitchiti tradition, the tribes of this 
 division came from the seashore, an indication which seems 
 to point to the coast tracts afterwards claimed by the Cha'hta. 
 All the other settlements on Chatahuchi river seem younger 
 than Kasi/ta and Kawita, and therefore the Creek immigra- 
 tion to those parts came from Coosa and Tallapoosa rivers. 
 At one time the northern or Cheroki-Creek boundary of the 
 Coosa river settlements was Talatigi, now written Talladega, 
 for the name of thjs town has to be interpreted by " Village 
 at the End," italua atigi. If the name of Tallapoosa river, 
 in Hitchiti Talepusi, can be derived from Creek talepu'la 
 stranger, this would furnish another indication for a former 
 allophylic population in that valley; but '1 rarely, if ever, 
 changes into s. The Cheroki local names in these parts, 
 and east from there, show conclusively who these "strangers" 
 may have been. 
 
 It appears from old charts, that Creek towns, or at least 
 towns having Creek names, also existed west of Coosa river, 
 as on Canoe creek : Litafatcha, and on Cahawba river : Talua 
 hadsho, "Crazy Town," together with ruins of other villages 
 above this. 
 
 THE CREEK SETTLEMENTS. 
 
 The towns and villages of the Creeks were in the eighteenth 
 century built along the banks of rivers and their smaller 
 tributaries, often in places subject to inundation during large 
 freshets, which occurred once in about fifteen years. The 
 smallest of them contained from twenty to thirty cabins, 
 some of the larger ones up to two hundred, and in 1832 
 Tukabatchi, then the largest of all the Creek settlements, 
 harbored 386 families. Many towns appeared rather com- 
 
THE CREEK SETTLEMENTS. 121 
 
 pactly built, although they were composed of irregular clusters 
 of four to eight houses standing together; each of these 
 clusters contained a gens ("clan or family of relations," 
 C. Swan), eating and living in common. The huts and 
 cabins of the Lower Creeks resembled, from a distance, 
 clusters of newly-burned brick kilns, from the high color 
 of the clay. 1 
 
 It will be found appropriate to distinguish between Creek 
 towns and villages. By towns is indicated the settlements 
 which had a public square, by villages those which had none. 
 The square occupied the central part of the town, and was 
 reserved for the celebration of festivals, especially the annual 
 busk or fast (puskita), for the meetings of chiefs, headmen 
 and ' ' beloved men, ' ' and for the performance of daily dances. 
 Upon this central area stood the " great house," tchuka 'lako, 
 the council-house, and attached to it was a play-ground, 
 called by traders the ' ' chunkey-yard. ' ' Descriptions of these 
 places will be given below. 
 
 Another thoroughgoing distinction in the settlements of 
 the Creek nation was that of the red or war towns and the 
 white or peace towns. 
 
 The red or kipdya towns, to which C. Swan in 1791 refers 
 as being already a thing of the past, were governed by war- 
 riors only. The term red refers to the warlike disposition of 
 these towns, but does not correspond to our adjective bloody; 
 it depicts the wrath or anger animating the warriors when 
 out on the war-path. The posts of their cabin in the public 
 square were painted red on one side. 
 
 The present Creeks still keep up formally this ancient dis- 
 tinction between the towns, and count the following among 
 the kipaya towns : 
 
 Kawita, Tukabatchi, 'La- 'lako, Atasi, Ka-ilaidshi, Chiaha, 
 
 1 Cf. Yuchi, p. 22. At the time of the conquest of Mexico by Cortez, 
 many of the interior towns of that country were whitewashed in the same 
 manner, by means of a shining white clay coating. 
 9 
 
122 THE CREEK INDIANS. 
 
 Usudshi, Hutali-huyana, Alibamu, Yufala, Yufala hupayi, 
 Hilapi, Kitcha-pataki. 
 
 The white towns, also called peace towns, conservative towns, 
 were governed by civil officers or mikalgi, and, as some of the 
 earlier authors allege, were considered as places of refuge 
 and safety to individuals who had left their tribes in dread 
 of punishment or revenge at the hand of their pursuers. The 
 modern Creeks count among the peace towns, called talua- 
 mikagi towns, the following settlements : 
 
 Hitchiti, Okfuski, Kastyta, Abi'hka, Abi/kudshi, Talisi, 
 Oktchayi, Odshi-apofa, Lutchap6ka, Taskigi, Assi-lanapi or 
 Green-Leaf, Wiwu^ka. 
 
 Quite different from the above list is the one of the white 
 towns given by Col. Benj. Hawkins in 1799, which refers to 
 the Upper Creeks only : Okfuski and its branch villages (viz : 
 Niuya/a, Tukabatchi Talahassi, Imukfa, Tutokagi, Atchinalgi, 
 Okfuska'dshi, Sukap6ga, Ipis6gi); then Talisi, Atasi, Fus'-ha- 
 tchi, Kuliimi. For this list and that of the kipaya towns, cf. 
 his "Sketch," p. 51. 52. 
 
 The ancient distinction between red and white towns began 
 to fall into disuse with the approach of the. white colonists, 
 which entailed the spread of agricultural pursuits among these 
 Indians ; nevertheless frequent reference is made to it by the 
 modern Creeks. 
 
 Segmentation of villages is frequently observed in Indian 
 tribes, and -the list below will give many striking instances. 
 It was brought about by over-population, as in the case of 
 Okfuski ; and it is probable that then only certain gentes, 
 not a promiscuous lot of citizens, emigrated from a town. 
 Other causes for emigration were the exhaustion of the culti- 
 vated lands by many successive crops, as well as the need of 
 new and extensive hunting grounds. These they could not 
 obtain in their nearest neighborhood without warring with 
 their proprietors, and therefore often repaired to distant 
 countries to seek new homes (Bartram, Travels, p. 389). 
 
THE CREEK SETTLEMENTS. 123 
 
 The frequent removals of towns to new sites, lying at short 
 distances only, may be easily explained by the unhealthiness 
 of the old site, produced by the constant accumulation of 
 refuse and filth around the towns, which never had anything 
 like sewers or efficient regulations of sanitary police. 
 
 The distinction between Muscogulge and Siincard towns, 
 explicitly spoken of in Wm. Bartram's Travels (see Appen- 
 dices), refers merely to the form of speech used by the tribes 
 of the confederacy. This epithet {Puants in French) may 
 have had an opprobrious meaning in the beginning, but not 
 in later times, when it simply served to distinguish the prin- 
 cipal people from the accessory tribes. We find it also used 
 . as a current term in the Naktche villages. 
 
 Bartram does not designate as Stincards the tribes speaking 
 languages of another stock than Maskoki, the Yuchi, for 
 instance ; not even all of those that speak dialects of Maskoki 
 other than the Creek. He calls by this savorous name the 
 Muklasa, Witumka, Koassati, Chiaha, Hitchiti, Okoni, both 
 Sawokli and a part of the Seminoles. He mentions the 
 towns only, and omits all the villages which have branched 
 off from the towns. 
 
 The present Creeks know nothing of such a distinction. 
 Although I do not know the Creek term which corresponded 
 to it in the eighteenth century, it is not improbable that such 
 a designation was in vogue ; for we find many similar oppro- 
 brious epithets among other Indians, as Cuitlateca or "excre- 
 menters" in Mexico; Puants or Metsmetskop among the 
 Naktche 1 ; Inkalik, "sons of louse-eggs" among the Eskimo; 
 Ka'katilsh or "arm-pit-stinkers" among the Klamaths of 
 Southwestern Oregon; Moki or Mfiki," cadaverous, stinking," 
 an epithet originally given to one of the Shinumo or Moki 
 towns for lack of bravery, and belonging to the Shinumo 
 language : miiki dead. 
 
 The plural forms : tchilok6ga and tchilokogalgi designate 
 1 Dumont, M&m. histor. de la Louisiane, I, 181. 
 
124 THE CREEK INDIANS. 
 
 in Creek persons speaking another than the Creek language ; 
 tchilokas / speak an alien language. "Stincards" would be 
 expressed in Creek by isti fambagi. • Of all the gentes of the 
 Chicasa that of the skunk or hushkoni was held in the lowest 
 esteem, some of the lowest officials, as runners, etc., being 
 appointed from it ; therefore it can be conjectured that from 
 the Chicasa tribe a termMike "skunks," "stinkards," may- 
 have been transferred and applied to the less esteemed gentes 
 of other nations. 
 
 ALPHABETIC LIST OF TOWNS AND VILLAGES. 
 
 In this alphabetic list of ancient Creek towns and villages 
 I have included all the names of inhabited places which I 
 have found recorded before the emigration of the people to the 
 Indian Territory. The description of their sites is chiefly 
 taken from Hawkins' "Sketch," one of the most instructive 
 books which we possess on the Creeks in their earlier homes. 
 Some of these town names are still existing in Alabama and 
 Georgia, although the site "has not unfrequently changed. 
 I have interspersed into the list a few names of the larger 
 rivers. The etymologies added to the names contain the 
 opinions of the Creek delegates visiting Washington every 
 year, and they seldom differed among each other on any 
 name. The local names are written according to my scien- 
 tific system of phonetics, the only change introduced being 
 that of the palatal tch for ch. 
 
 LIST OF CREEK SETTLEMENTS. 
 
 AbVhka, one of the oldest among the Upper Creek towns; 
 the oldest chiefs were in the habit of naming the Creek 
 nation after it. Hawkins speaks of Abikudshi only, not 
 of Abi'hka. It certainly lay somewhere near the Upper 
 Coosa river, where some old maps have it. Emanuel 
 Bo wen, "A new map of Georgia," has only "Abacouse," 
 and this in the wrong place, below Kusa and above 
 
LIST OF TOWNS AND VILLAGES. 125 
 
 Great Talasse, on the western side of Coosa river. A 
 town Abi'hka now exists in the Indian Territory. The 
 name of the ancient town was pronounced Abi'hka, 
 Api/ka and written Obika, Abeka, Abeicas, Abecka, 
 Beicas, Becaes, etc. ; its people are called Api^kanagi. 
 Some writers have identified them with the Kusa and also 
 with the Conshacs, e. g. du Pratz. 1 D. Coxe, Carolana, 
 p. 25, states that "the Becaes or Abecaes have thirteen 
 towns, and the Ewemalas, between the Becaes and the 
 Chattas, can raise five hundred fighting men " (1741). 
 A part of the most ancient Creek customs originated 
 here, as, for instance, the law for regulating marriages 
 and for punishing adultery. The Creek term abi'hka 
 signifies "pile at the base, heap at the root" (abi stem, 
 pole), and was imparted to this tribe, "because in the 
 contest for supremacy its warriors heaped up a pile of 
 scalps, covering the base of the war-pole only. Before 
 this achievement the tribe was called sak'hutga door, 
 shutter, or simat'hutga italua shutter, door of the towns or 
 tribes." Cf. ak'hutas I close a door, sak'hutga hawidshas 
 I open a door. 
 
 Abiku'dshi, an Upper Creek town on the right bank of 
 Natche (now Tallahatchi) creek, five miles east of Coosa 
 river, on a small plain. Settled from Abika, and by 
 some Indians from Natche, q. v. Bartram (1775) states, 
 that they spoke a dialect of Chicasa ; which can be true 
 of a part of the inhabitants only. A spacious cave exists 
 in the neighborhood. 
 
 Ahiki creek, Hitchiti name of the upper course of Hitchiti 
 creek, an eastern tributary of Chatahuchi river. Haw- 
 kins (p. 60) writes it Ouhe-gee creek. • The name signi- 
 fies "sweet potato-mother" (ahi, iki), from the circum- 
 stance that when planting sweet potatoes (ahi), the fruit 
 
 1 The map appended to the French edition of Bartram identifies them 
 with the Kfisa : " Abikas ou Coussas." 
 
126 THE CREEK INDIANS. 
 
 sown remains in the ground until the new crop comes to 
 maturity. 
 
 Alabama river is formed by the junction of Coosa, and 
 Tallapoosa rivers; pursues a winding course between 
 banks about fifty feet high, and joins Tombigbee river 
 about thirty miles above Mobile bay, when it assumes the 
 name of Mobile river. Its waters are pure, its current 
 gentle; it runs about two miles an hour, and has 15-18 
 feet depth in the driest season of the year. Boats travel 
 from the junction to Mobile bay in about nine days, 
 through a fertile country, with high, cleared fields and 
 romantic landscapes (Hawkins). The hunting grounds 
 of the Creeks extended to the water-shed between the 
 Tombigbee and the Coosa and Alabama rivers. 
 
 Amakalli, Lower Creek town, planted by Chiaha Indians 
 on a creek of that name, which is the main water-course 
 of Kitchofuni creek, a northern affluent of Flint river, 
 Georgia. Inhabited by sixty men in 1 799. The name 
 is not Creek; it seems identical with Amacalola, the 
 Cheroki name of a picturesque cascade on Amacalola 
 creek, a northern affluent of Etowa river, Dawson county, 
 Georgia. The derivation given for it is: ama water, 
 kalola sliding, tumbling. 
 
 Anati tchdpko or "Long Swamp," a Hillabi village, ten 
 miles above that town, on a northern tributary of 
 Hillabi creek. A battle occurred there during the 
 Creek or Red Stick war, January 24th, 1814. Usually 
 written Enotochopko. The Creek term anati means 
 a brushy, swampy place, where persons can secrete 
 themselves. 
 
 Apalatchukla, a Lower Creek town on the west bank of 
 Chatahuchi river, 1^ miles below Chiaha. In Hawkins' 
 time it was in a state of decay, but in former times had 
 been a white or peace town, called (even now) Italua 
 'lako "large town," and the principal community among 
 
LIST OF TOWNS AND VILLAGES. 127 
 
 the Lower Creek settlements. The name was abbre- 
 viated into Palatchukla, and has also been transferred 
 to the Chatahuchi river ; that river is now called Apa- 
 lachicola below its confluence with the Flint river. Cf. 
 Sawokli-udshi. Bartram (Travels, p. 522) states: The 
 Indians have a tradition that the vast four-square ter- 
 races, chunk yards, etc., at Apalachucla, old town, were 
 "the ruins of an ancient Indian town and fortress." 
 This "old town" lay one mile and a. half down the 
 river from the new town, and was abandoned about 
 1 750 on account of unhealthy location. Bartram viewed 
 the " terraces, on which formerly stood their town-house 
 or rotunda and square or areopagus," and gives a lucid 
 description of them. About fifty years before his visit 
 a general killing of the white traders occurred in this 
 town, though these had placed themselves under the 
 protection of the chiefs (Travels, pp. 388-390"). Con- 
 cerning the former importance of this "white" town, 
 "W. Bartram (Travels, p. 387) states, that " this town is 
 esteemed the mother town or capital of the Creek con- 
 federacy ; sacred to peace ; no captives are put to death 
 or human blood spilt there; deputies from all Creek 
 towns assemble there when a general peace is proposed." 
 He refers to the town existing at the time of his visit, 
 but implicitly also to the " old Apalachucla town." The 
 ancient and correct form of this name is Apala^tchukla, 
 and of the extinct tribe east of it, on Apalache bay, 
 Apala/tchi. Judge G. W. Stidham heard of the fol- 
 lowing etymology of the name : In cleaning the ground 
 for the town square and making it even, the ground and 
 sweeping finally formed a ridge on the outside of the 
 chunk-yard or play-ground; from this ridge the town 
 was called apala^tch'-ukla. More upon this subject, cf. 
 Apalachi. An Apalachicola Fort on Savannah river is 
 mentioned on p. 20. 
 
128 THE CREEK INDIANS. 
 
 Apatd-i, a village of the Lower Creeks, settled by Kasi'hta 
 people on Big creek or Hatchi 'lako, twenty miles east 
 of Chatahuchi river, in Georgia. The name refers to 
 a sheet-like covering, from apatayas I cover; cf. patakas 
 I spread out; the Creek word apata-i signifies any 
 covering comparable to wall-papers, carpets, etc. The 
 town of Upotoy now lies on Upotoy creek, Muscogee 
 county, Alabama, in 32 38' Lat. 
 
 Assi-ldnapi, an Upper Creek town, called Oselanopy in 
 the Census list of 1832. It probably lay on Yellow Leaf 
 creek, which joins Coosa river from the west about five 
 miles below Talladega creek. From it sprang Green- 
 leaf Town in the Indian Territory, since lani means 
 yellow and green at the same time. Green is now more 
 frequently expressed by pahi-lani. 
 
 Atasi, or Atassi, an Upper Creek town oh the east side 
 of Tallapoosa river, below and adjoining Kalibi hatchi 
 creek. It was a miserable-looking place in Hawkins' 
 time, with about 43 warriors in 1766. Like that of all 
 the other towns built on Tallapoosa river, below its falls, 
 the site is low and unhealthy. The name is derived from 
 the war-club (a'tassa), and was written Autossee, Ottossee, 
 Otasse, Ot-tis-se, etc. Battle on November 29th, 1813. 
 A town in the Indian Territory is called after it A'tesi, 
 its inhabitants Atesalgi. ' 'A post or column of pine, forty 
 feet high, stood in the town of Autassee, on a low, cir- 
 cular, artificial hill." Bartram, Travels, p. 456. Cf. 
 Hu'li-Wa'hli. 
 
 Alchina-dlgi, or " Cedar Grove," the northernmost of all 
 the Creek settlements, near the Hillabi-Etowa trail, on 
 a side creek of Tallapoosa river and forty miles above 
 Niuya'a^a. Settled from Lutchapoga. 
 
 A t china Hdtchi, or " Cedar Creek," a village settled by 
 Indians from Ka-ilaidshi, q. v. on a creek of the same 
 name. 
 
LIST OF TOWNS AND VILLAGES. 129 
 
 Chatahuchi,*. former town of the Lower Creeks, on the 
 headwaters of Chatahuchi river. Probably abandoned 
 in Hawkins' time ; he calls it " old town Chatahutchi ; " 
 cf. Chatahuchi river. Called Chata Uche by Bartram 
 ( I 77S)> Chatahoosie by Swan (1791). 
 
 Chatahuchi river is the water-course dividing, in its 
 lower portion, the State of Alabama from that of Georgia. 
 On its banks were settled the towns and villages of the 
 Lower Creeks. Its name is composed of tchatu rock, 
 stone and hutchi marked, provided with signs, and hence 
 means: " Pictured Rocks." Rocks of this description 
 are in the bed of the river, at the "old town Chatahu- 
 chi," above Hu'li-taika (Hawkins, p. 52). Other names 
 for this river were : Apalachukla river (Wm. Bartram), 
 Cahoiiita or Apalachoocoly river (Jefferys' map in John 
 Bartram's report). 
 
 Che'l&ko Mini, or "Horse-Trail," a Lower Creek town 
 on the headwaters of Chatahuchi river, settled by 
 Okfuski Indians. Mentioned in 1832 as Chelucco- 
 ninny. Probably identical with Okfuski-Nini; see Ok- 
 fuskudshi, and : Indian Pathways. 
 
 Chi a ha, or Tchiaha, Chehaw, a Lower Creek town just 
 below Osotchi town and contiguous to it, on western 
 bank of Chatahuchi river. The Chiaha Indians had in 
 1799 spread out in villages on the Flint river, of which 
 Hawkins names Amakalli, Hotali-huyana; and at Chiahu- 
 dshi. Here a trail crossed the Chatahuchi river (Swan, 
 1791). A town of the same name, " where otters live," 
 existed among the Cheroki. An Upper Creek town 
 of this name, with twenty-nine heads of families, is 
 mentioned in the Census list of 1832 (Schoolcraft 
 IV, 578). 
 
 Chiahu' dshi , or "Little Chiaha," a Lower Creek town 
 planted by Chiaha Indians in a pine forest one mile and 
 a half west of Hitchiti town. Cf. Hitchiti, pp. 77. sqq. 
 
130 THE CREEK INDIANS. 
 
 Chiska talbfa, a Lower Creek town on the west side of 
 Chatahuchi river. Morse, Report, p. 364, refers to it 
 under the name of " Cheskitalowas " as belonging to 
 the Seminole villages. Is it Chisca, or " Chisi provin- 
 cia ", visited by the army of H. de Soto in 1540 ? Haw- 
 kins states that Chiske tal6fa hatche was the name given 
 to Savannah river (from tchiska base of tree). 
 
 Coosa River, (i)an affluent of Alabama river in Eastern 
 Alabama, in Creek Kusa-hatchi, runs through the roughest 
 and most hilly district formerly held by the Creek 
 Indians. "It is rapid, and so full of rocks and shoals 
 that it is hardly navigable even for canoes": Swan, in 
 Schoolcraft V, 257. Cusawati is an affluent of Upper 
 Coosa river, in northwestern Georgia, a tract where 
 Cheroki local names may be expected. 
 
 (2) A water-course of the same name, Coosawhatchie, 
 passes southeast of Savannah City, South Carolina, into 
 the Atlantic ocean. For the etymology, see Kusa. 
 
 Fin'-hdlu i, a town of the Lower Creeks or Seminoles. The 
 name signifies a high bridge, or a high foot-log, and the 
 traders' name was "High Log" (1832). 
 
 A swamp having the same name, Finholoway Swamp, 
 lies in Wayne county, between the lower Altamaha and 
 Satilla rivers, Georgia. 
 
 Fish- Ponds, or Fish-Pond Town; cf. 'La'lo-kalka. 
 
 Flint River, in Creek 'Lonotiska hatchi, an eastern 
 Georgian affluent of Chatahuchi river, and almost of 
 the same length. Creeks, Yuchi and Seminole Indians 
 were settled on it and on its numerous tributaries, one 
 of which is 'Lonoto creek, also called Indian creek, 
 Dooley county, Georgia. From 'lonoto flint. 
 
 Fort Toulouse ; cf. Taskigi. This fort was also called, 
 from the tribe settled around it, Fort Alibamu, Fort 
 Albamo, Fort Alebahmah, Forteresse des Alibamons. 
 Abandoned by the French in 1 762. 
 
LIST OF TOWNS AND VILLAGES. 131 
 
 Fu si- hate hi, Fus'-hdtchi, or "Birdcreek," a town of the 
 Upper Creeks, built on the right or northern bank of 
 Tallapoosa river, two miles below Hu'li-Wali. Remains 
 of a walled town on the opposite shore. 
 
 Hate hi t chap a, or "Half-way Creek," a small village 
 settled in a pine forest by Ka-ilaidshi Indians, q. v. 
 
 Hickory Ground; cf. Odshi-ap6fa. 
 
 Hillabi, pronounced Hi'lapi, an Upper Creek town on 
 Ko-ufadi creek, which runs into Hillabi creek one mile 
 from the village. Hillabi creek is a western tributary of 
 Tallapoosa river, and joins it eight miles below Niuya^a. 
 The majority of the Hillabi people had settled in four 
 villages of the vicinity in 1799, which were: 'Lanudshi 
 apala, Anati tchapko, Istudshi-laika, Uktaha 'lasi. 
 
 A battle took place in the vicinity on November 18th, 
 1 8 1 3. Though the name is of difficult analysis, it is said 
 to refer to quickness, velocity (of the water-course?) 
 
 Hitchiti , a Lower Creek town with branch villages; cf. 
 Hitchiti, p. 77 sqq. 
 
 Hit chitu'dshi; cf. Hitchiti, p. 77. 
 
 Hbtali-huydna, a Lower Creek town, planted by Chi- 
 aha Indians on the eastern bank of Flint river, six miles 
 below the Kitchofuni creek junction. Osotchi settlers 
 had mingled with the twenty families of the village. 
 The name means: "Hurricane Town," for hutali in 
 Creek is wind, huyana passing; it therefore marks a 
 locality once devastated by a passing hurricane. Called 
 Tallewheanas, in Seminole list, p. 72. 
 
 Hu ' li- taiga, a Lower Creek village on Chatahuchi river, 
 planted by Okfuski Indians. Bartram calls it Hothteto- 
 ga, C. Swan : Hohtatoga (Schoolcraft, Indians V, 262) ; 
 the name signifies "war-ford," military river-passage. 
 
 Hul' i-Wa' hli, an Upper Creek town on the right 
 bank of Tallapoosa river, five miles below Atasi. This 
 town obtained its name from the privilege of declaring 
 
132 THE CREEK INDIANS. 
 
 war (hu'li war, awa'hlita to share out, divide) ; the decla- 
 ration was first sent to Tukabatchi, and from there among 
 the other tribes. The town bordered west on Atas'- 
 hatchi creek. The name is written Clewauley (1791), 
 Ho-ithle-Wau-lee (Hawkins), Cleu-wath-ta (1832), 
 Quale, Clewulla, etc. 
 
 Ikanatch&ka, or Holy Ground, a town on the southern 
 side of Alabama river, built on holy ground, and there- 
 fore said to be exempt from any possible inroads of the 
 white people. Weatherford, the leader of the insurgent 
 Creeks, and their prophet Hilis'-hako resided there; 
 the forces gathered at this place by them were defeated 
 December 23d, 1813. From ikana ground, atchaka be- 
 loved, sacred. 
 
 Ik an' -hatki, or "white ground," a Shawano town just 
 below Kulumi, and on the same side of Tallapoosa river. 
 "Cunhutki speaks the Muscogulge tongue"; W. Bar- 
 tram (1775). 
 
 Im u kfa , an Upper Creek town on Imukfa creek, west of 
 Tallapoosa river. Near this place, in a bend or penin- 
 sula formed by the Tallapoosa river, called Horse Shoe 
 by the whites, the American troops achieved a decisive 
 victory over the Red Stick party of the Creek Indians 
 on March 25th, 1814, which resulted in the surrender of 
 Weatherford, their leader, and put an end to this bloody 
 campaign. Not less than five hundred and fifty-seven 
 Creek warriors lost their lives in this battle. The term 
 imukfa is Hitchiti, for (1) shell; (2) metallic ornament of 
 concave shape ; Hawkins interprets the name by " gorget 
 made of a conch." In Hitchiti, bend of river is hatchi 
 pa/utchki; ha'htchafashki, hatsafaski is river-bend in 
 Creek. Tohopeka is another name for this battle-field, 
 but does not belong to the Creek language. 
 
 Intatchkdlgi, or '* collection of beaver dams," a Yuchi 
 town of Georgia settled twenty-eight miles up Opil-'lako 
 
LIST OF TOWNS AND VILLAGES. 133 
 
 creek, a tributary of Flint river. A square was built by 
 the fourteen families of this town in 1798. Tatchki 
 means anything straight, as a dam, beaver dam, line, 
 boundary line, etc., ikan'-tatchka survey-line ; the above 
 creek was probably Beaver- dam creek, an eastern tribu- 
 tary of Flint river, joining it about 32 15' Lat. 
 
 Ipisbgi, an Upper Creek town upon Ipis6gi creek, a large 
 eastern tributary of Tallapoosa river, joining it opposite 
 Okfuski. Forty settlers in 1799. Cf. Pin-h6ti. 
 
 Istapbga, an Upper Creek settlement not recorded in the 
 earlier documents ; a place of this name exists now east 
 of Coosa river, Talladega county, Alabama. The name, 
 usually written Eastaboga, signifies: "where people 
 reside " (isti people; ap6kita to reside). 
 
 Istudshi-laika, or "child lying there," a Hillabi 
 village, on Hillabi creek, four miles below Hillabi town. 
 It owes its name to the circumstance that a child was 
 found on its site. 
 
 Ka-ilaidshi, an Upper Creek town, on a creek of the 
 same name, which joins Oktchoyi creek, a western tribu- 
 tary of Tallapoosa river, joining it fifteen miles above 
 Tukabatchi. The two villages, Atchina Hatchi and 
 Hatchi tchapa, branched off from this town. The name 
 was variously written Ki-a-li-ge, Kiliga, Killeegko, Kio- 
 lege, and probably referred to a warrior's head dress : ika 
 his head; ilaidshas I kill. 
 
 Kan' -tchati, Kanshade, "Red dirt," "Red earth," an 
 Upper Creek town, mentioned in 1835 as " Con- 
 chant-ti." Conchardee is a place a few miles north- 
 west of Talladega. 
 
 Kasi' hta, a Lower Creek town on the eastern bank of 
 
 ' Chatahuchi river, two and a half miles below Kawita 
 
 Talahassi; Kasi'hta once claimed the lands above the 
 
 falls of the Chatahuchi river on its eastern bank. In 
 
 this town and tribe our migration legend has taken its 
 
134 THE CREEK INDIANS. 
 
 origin. Its branch settlements spread out on the right 
 side of the river, the number of the warriors of the town 
 and branches being estimated at 180 in 1799; it was 
 considered the largest among the Lower Creeks. The 
 natives were friendly to the whites and fond of visiting 
 them; the old chiefs were orderly men, desirous and 
 active in restraining the young "braves" from the 
 licentiousness which they had contracted through their 
 intercourse with the scum of the white colonists. Haw- 
 kins makes some strictures at their incompetency for 
 farming ; " they do not know the season for planting, or, 
 if they do, they never avail themselves of what they 
 know, as they always plant one month too late " (p. 59). 
 A large conical mound is described by him as standing 
 on the Kasi'hta fields, forty-five yards in diameter at its 
 base, and flat on the top. Below the town was the \ old 
 Cussetuh town," on a high flat, and afterwards "a Chica- 
 saw town " occupied this site (p. 58). A branch village 
 of Kasi' hta is Apata-i, q. v. The name Kasi' hta, Kasi^ta, 
 is popularly explained as "coming from the sun" (ha'si) 
 and being identical with hasi'hta. The' Creeks infer, 
 from the parallel Creek form hasoti, "sunshine," that 
 Kasi'hta really meant "light," or "bright splendor of 
 the sun; " anciently, this term was used for the sun him- 
 self, "as the old people say." The inhabitants of the 
 town believed that they came from the sun. Cf. Yuchi. 
 A place Cusseta is now in Chatahuchi county, Georgia, 
 32 20' Lat. 
 
 Kawaiki , a town of the Lower Creeks, having forty- five 
 heads of families in 1832. Kawaiki Creek is named 
 after quails. 
 
 Kawita, a Lower Creek town on the high western bank 
 of Chatahuchi river, three miles below its falls. The 
 fishery in the western channel of the river, below the 
 falls, belonged to Kawita, that in the eastern channel 
 
LIST OF" TOWNS AND VILLAGES. 135 
 
 to Kasi'hta. In Hawkins' time (1799) many Indians 
 had settled on streams in the vicinity, as at Hatchi 
 ika, "Creek-Head." Probably a colony of Kawita 
 Talahassi. 
 
 Kawita Talahdssi, "old Kawita Town," a Lower Creek 
 town two miles and a half below Kawita, on the western 
 side of the river, and half a mile from it. Old Kawita 
 town was the "public establishment" of the Lower 
 Creeks, and in 1799 could raise sixty-five warriors; it was 
 also the seat of the United States agent. Kawita Tala- 
 hassi had branched off by segmentation from Kasi'hta, 
 as shown in the migration legend, and itself has given 
 origin to a village called Witumka, on Big Yuchi creek. 
 The town was a political centre for the nation, and is 
 referred to by the traveler Wm. Bartram (1775), p. 389. 
 463, in-the following terms: "The great Coweta town, 
 on Chatahuchi or Apalachucly river, twelve miles above 
 Apalachucla town, is called the bloody town, where the 
 micos, chiefs and warriors assemble, when a general war 
 is proposed, and here captives and state malefactors are 
 put to death. Coweta speaks the Muscogulgee tongue." 
 Colden, Five Nations, p. 5, mentions an alliance con- 
 cluded between the Iroquois of New York and the 
 Cowetas; but here the name Cowetas is used in the 
 wider sense of Creek Indians or Lower Creek Indians. 
 The Creek form is Kawitalgi, or isti Kawitalgi. Written 
 Caouita by French authors. Cf. Apalatchukla. 
 
 Kitcho-pat&ki, an Upper Creek town, now name of a 
 Creek settlement in the Indian Territory. From kitchu 
 "maize-pounding block of wood" ; pataki "spreading 
 out." Kitchopataki creek joins Tallapoosa river from 
 the west a few miles below Okfuskee, in Randolph 
 county, Alabama. 
 
 Koassati, an Upper Creek town. Cf. special article on 
 this tribe, pp. 89. 90. 
 
136 THE CREEK INDIANS. 
 
 Kulumi, Upper Creek town on right side of Tallapoosa 
 river, small and compact, below Fusi-hatchi and con- 
 tiguous to it. A conical mound, thirty feet in diameter, 
 was seen by Hawkins, opposite the "town-house." 
 A part of the inhabitants had settled on Likasa creek. 
 The signification of the name is unknown, but it may 
 have connection with a'hkolumas / clinch (prefix a- for 
 ani /). Of the "old Coolome town," which stood on 
 the opposite shore of Tallapoosa river, a few houses were 
 left at the time of Bartram's visit, c. 1775 (Travels, 
 
 P- 395)- 
 Ku sa,(.i) an old capital of the Creek people, referred to as 
 Coca by the historians of de Soto's expedition, on the 
 eastern bank of Coosa river, between Yufala and Natche 
 creeks, which join Coosa river from the east, a quarter 
 of a mile apart. 1 The town stood on a high hill in the 
 midst of a rich limestone country, forty miles above 
 Pakan-Talahassi and sixty above Taskigi, q. v. Bartram 
 saw it (1775), half deserted and in ruins. "The great 
 and old beloved town of refuge, Koosah, which stands 
 high on the eastern side of a bold river, about two hun- 
 dred and fifty yards broad, that runs by the late danger- 
 ous Alebahma fort, down to the black poisoning Mobille, 
 and so into the gulph of Mexico:" Adair, History, p. 
 395 . This town, which was also, as it seems, the sojourning 
 place of Tristan de Luna's expedition (1559), must have 
 been one of the earliest centres of the Maskoki people, 
 though it does not appear among its "four leading 
 towns". Its inhabitants may at one time have been 
 comprised under the people of the neighboring Abi'hka 
 town, q. v. K6sa is the name of a small forest-bird, re- 
 sembling a sparrow ; but the name of the town and river 
 could possibly be an ancient form of o'sa, Osa, 'osa poke 
 or pokcweed, a plant with red berries, which grows plen- 
 1 Now called Talladega and Tallahatchi creeks. 
 
LIST OF TOWNS AND VILLAGES. 137 
 
 tifully and to an enormous height throughout the South. 
 Cf. Coosa river. It is more probable, however, that the 
 name is of Cha'hta origin ; cf. (3). 
 
 (2) A town, "Old Kusa" or "Coussas old village," 
 is reported a short distance below Fort Toulouse, on the 
 northern shore of Alabama river, between Taskigi and 
 Koassati. It was, perhaps, from this place that the Ala- 
 bama river was, in earlier times, called Coosa or Coussa 
 river, but since Hawkins and others make no mention of 
 this town, I surmise that it was identical with Koassati, 
 the name being an abbreviation from the latter. 
 
 (3) The Kusa, Cusha or Coosa towns, on the Kusa 
 Creeks, formed a group of the eastern Cha'hta settle- 
 ments. From Cha'hta kush reed, cane which corresponds 
 to the koa, koe of Creek. Cf. p. 108. 
 
 'L&'lo-kdlka, "Fish-Pond Town," or "Fish-Ponds, " 
 an Upper Creek town on a small creek forming 
 ponds, fourteen miles above its junction with Alko- 
 hatchi, a stream running into Tallapoosa river from the, 
 west, four miles above Okfuski. The name is abbrevi- 
 ated from 'la'lo-akalka fish separated, placed apart; 
 from 'Ik'lofish, akalgas I am separated from. This was a 
 colony planted by Oktchayi Indians, q. v. 
 
 'Lanudshi apala, or "beyond a little mountain," a 
 Hillabi place fifteen miles from that town and on the 
 northwest branch of Hillabi creek; had a "town-house ' ' 
 or public square. 
 
 'Lap'lako, or "Tall Cane," "Big Reed," the name of 
 two villages of the Upper Creeks, mentioned in 1832. 
 'Lap is a tall cane, from which sarbacanes or blow-guns 
 are made. 
 
 ' Le-katchka, ' Li-i-k&tchka, or "Broken Arrow," a 
 
 Lower Creek town on a ford of the southern trail, 
 
 which crossed Chatahuchi river at this point, twelve 
 
 miles below Kasi'hta and Kawita (Swan, 1791). Bar- 
 
 10 
 
138 THE CREEK INDIANS. 
 
 tram calls it Tukauska, Swan : Chalagatsca. Called so 
 because reeds were obtained there for manufacturing 
 arrow shafts. 
 
 Lutchapbga, or "Terrapin-Resort," an Upper Creek 
 town, probably near Tallapoosa river. The village 
 Atchina-algi was settled by natives of this town (Haw- 
 kins, p. 47), but afterwards incorporated with Okfuski. 
 Also mentioned in the Census list of 1832. A place 
 called Loachapoka is now in Lee county, Alabama, 
 about half-way between Montgomery and West Point. 
 From lutcha terrapin, p6ka killing-place ; poyas I destroy, . 
 kill; pdka occurs only in compound words. 
 
 H. S. Tanner's map (1827) marks an Indian town 
 Luchepoga on west bank of Tallapoosa river, about ten 
 miles above Tukabatchi Talahassi; also Luchanpogan 
 creek, as a western tributary of Chatahuchi river, in 33 
 8' Lat., just below Chatahuchi town. 
 
 Muklasa, a small Upper Creek town one mile below 
 Sawan6gi and on the same side of Tallapoosa river. In 
 times of freshet the river spreads here nearly eight miles 
 from bank to bank. Bartram states, that Mucclasse 
 speaks the "Stincard tongue," and the list of 1832 writes 
 " Muckeleses." They are Alibamu, and a town of that 
 name is in the Indian Territory. " The Wolf-king, our 
 old, steady friend of the Amooklasah Town, near the late 
 Alebahina" (Adair, History, p. 277). The name points 
 to the Imuklasha, a division of the Cha'hta people; 
 imtikla is the " opposite people," referring to the two 
 iksa, jKashap-ukla and Ukla i"hula'hta. Cf. Cha'hta, p. 
 104^ and Mugulasha, p. in. 112. 
 
 Natch,e (better Naktche), on "Natche creek, five miles 
 
 above Abiku'dshi, scattering for two miles on a rich 
 
 flat below the fork of the creek, which is an' eastern 
 
 tributary of Upper Coosa river." 1 Peopled by the 
 
 1 Now called Tallahatchi creek. 
 
LIST OF TOWNS AND VILLAGES. 139 
 
 remainder of the Naktche tribe on Mississippi river, 
 and containing from fifty to one hundred warriors in 
 1799. The root talua was dug by them in this vicinity. 
 Bartram states, that " Natchez speak Muscogee and 
 Chicasaw" (1775). 
 
 Niuy&x a , village of the Upper Creeks, settled by Tukpafka 
 Indians in 1777, twenty miles above Okfuski, on the east 
 bank of Tallapoosa river. It was called so after the 
 Treaty of New York, concluded between the United 
 States Government and the Creek confederacy, at a date 
 posterior to the settlement of this town, August 7th, 1790. 
 
 Nofafi i creek, an affluent of Yufabi creek. Cf. Yufabi, 
 and Annotations to the Legend. 
 
 Odshi-aJ>bfa, or " Hickory-Ground," an Upper Creek 
 town on the eastern bank of Coosa river, two miles 
 above the fork of the river; from o'dshi hickory, api 
 tree, stem, trunk, -ofa, -ofan, a suffix pointing to locality. 
 The falls of Coosa river, one mile above the town, can 
 be easily passed in canoes, either up or down. The town 
 had forty warriors at the time of Hawkins' visit (1799). 
 Identical with Little Talisi; Milfort, p. 27: "le petit 
 Talessy ou village des Noyers." A map of this section 
 will be found in Schoolcraft, Indians, V, 255. Literally: 
 " in the hickory grove." 
 
 Okfuski (better Akfaski), an Upper Creek town, erected 
 on both sides of Tallapoosa river, about thirty-five miles 
 above Tukabatchi. The Indians settled on the eastern 
 side came from Chatahuchi river, and had founded on 
 it three villages, Che'lako-Ni'ni, Hul'i-taiga, Tchuka 
 l'ako, q. v. In 1799 Okfuski (one hundred and eighty 
 warriors) with its seven branch villages on Tallapoosa 
 river (two hundred and seventy warriors) was considered 
 the largest community of the confederacy. The shrub 
 Bex cassine was growing there in clumps. These seven 
 villages were : Niuyaya, Tukabatchi Talahassi, Imukfa, 
 
140 THE CREEK INDIANS. 
 
 Tu/tukagi, Atchina-algi, Ipisogi, Suka-ispoka. The 
 Creek term akfaski, akfuski signifies point, tongue of a 
 confluence, promontory, from ak- down in, faski sharp, 
 pointed. Tallapoosa river was also called Okfuski river. 
 
 Okfusku'dshi, or "Little Okfuski," a part of a small 
 village four miles above Niuya^a. Some of these people 
 formerly inhabited Okfuski-Nini, on Chatahuchi river, 
 but were driven from there by Georgian volunteers in 
 1793. Cf. Che'lako-Nini. 
 
 O ki-tiydkni , a lower Creek village on the eastern bank 
 of Chatahuchi river, eight miles below Yufala. Haw- 
 kins writes it O-ke-teyoc-en-ni, and Morse, Report, p. 
 364, mentions among the Seminole settlements, " Oka- 
 tiokinans, near Fort Gaines." Oki-tiyakni, a Hitchiti 
 term, means either whirlpool, or river-bend. 
 
 Okmulgi (r), a Lower Creek town on the east side of Flint 
 river, near H6tali-huyana. The name signifies ' ' bubbling, 
 boiling water," from H. 6ki water; mulgis it is boiling, 
 in Creek and Hitchiti. 
 
 (2) East of Flint river is Okmulgi river, which, after 
 joining Little Okmulgi and Ok6ni rivers, forms Altamaha 
 river. 
 
 Okoni, a small Lower Creek town, six miles below Apa- 
 lachukla, on the western bank of Chatahuchi river; 
 settled by immigrants from a locality below the Rock 
 Landing on Ok6ni river, Georgia. They spoke the 
 "Stincard tongue," and probably were Apalachians 
 of the Hitchiti-Mikasuki dialect. Cf. Cuscowilla, under 
 the head of: Seminole. The name is the Cheroki term 
 ekuoni river, from ikaa. great, large, viz.: "great water." 
 Bartram, who encamped on the site of the old Okoni 
 town on Ok6ni river, states (Travels, p. 378), that the 
 Indians abandoned that place about 1710, on account 
 of the vicinity of the white colonists, and built a town 
 among the Upper Creeks. Their roving disposition im- 
 
LIST OF TOWNS AND VILLAGES. 141 
 
 pelled them to leave this settlement also, and to migrate 
 to the fertile Alachua plains, where they built Cuscowilla 
 on the banks of a lake, and had to defend it against the 
 attacks of the Tomocos, Utinas, Calloosas (?), Yamases 
 and other remnant tribes of Florida, and the more 
 northern refugees from Carolina, all of whom were 
 helped by the Spaniards. Being reinforced by other 
 Indians from the Upper Creek towns, " their uncles," 
 they repulsed the aggressors and destroyed their villages, 
 as well as those of the Spaniards. This notice probably 
 refers to the Indian troubles with the Yamassi, which 
 occurred long before 1710, since inroads are recorded as 
 early as 1687. Hawkins, p. 65, states that the town 
 they formerly occupied on Ok6ni river stood just below 
 the Rock Landing, once the site of a British post about 
 four miles below Milledgeville, Georgia. 
 Oktchdyi, an Upper Creek town built along Oktchayi 
 creek, a western tributary of Tallapoosa river. The 
 town, mentioned as Oak-tchoy in 1791, lay three miles 
 below Ka-ilaidshi, in the central district. Cf. 'La'lo- 
 kalka. Milfort, Memoire, p. 266. 267, calls the tribe : 
 les Oxiailles. 
 Oktchayu' dshi, a "little compact town" of the Upper 
 Creek Indians, on the eastern bank of Coosa river, be- 
 tween Otchi-apofa and Taskigi, its cabins joining those 
 of the latter town. Their maize fields lay on the same 
 side of the river, on the Sambelo grounds, below Sam- 
 belo creek. They removed their village to the eastern 
 side of Tallapoosa river on account of former Chicasa 
 raids. The name of the town, "Little Oktchayi," 
 proves it to be a colony or branch of Oktchayi, q. v.; 
 PI. Porter says it is a branch of Okfuski. 
 OpiV - 'lako , or "Big Swamp," from opilua swamp, 'lako 
 large. (1) An Upper Creek town on a stream of the 
 same name, which joins Pakan'-Talahassi creek on its 
 
142 THE CREEK INDIANS. 
 
 left side. The town was twenty miles from Coosa river ; 
 its tribe is called Pinclatchas by C. Swan (1791). 
 
 (2) A locality west of Kasi'hta; cf. Talisi. 
 
 (3) A stream running into Flint river, Georgia. Cf. 
 Intatchkalgi. 
 
 Osotchi, Osutchi, Osudshi, or Usutchi, a Lower Creek 
 town about two miles below Yuchi town, on the 
 western bank of Chatahuchi river, whose inhabitants 
 migrated to this place in 1794 from Flint river. The 
 town. adjoins that of Chiaha; Bartram calls it Hoositchi. 
 The descendants of it and of Chiaha have consolidated 
 into one town in the Creek Nation, Indian Territory. 
 Cf. Hawkins, p. 63. 
 
 Padshilaika, or "Pigeon Roost;" (1) a Yuchi town on 
 the junction of Padshilaika creek with Flint river, Macon 
 county, Georgia, about 32 38' Lat. The village suf- 
 fered heavily by the loss of sixteen warriors, who were 
 murdered by Benjamin Harrison and his associates ; cf. 
 Hawkins, p. 62 sq. 
 
 (2) Patsilaika river was the name of the western 
 branch of Conecuh river, in Southern Alabama, Coving- 
 ton county, which runs into Escambia river and Pensa- 
 cola bay. From padshi pigeon, and laikas I sit down, am 
 sitting. 
 
 Pdkan'- Talahdssi, Upper Creek town on a creek of 
 the same name, which joins Coosa river from the east, 
 forty miles below Kusa town. From ipakana, may apple, 
 italua town, hassi ancient, in the sense of waste. G. W. 
 Stidham interprets the name: "Old Peach Orchard 
 Town." 
 
 Pin'-hoti, or "Turkey-Home," an Upper Creek town on 
 the right side of a small tributary of Ipis6gi creek ; cf. 
 Ipisogi. The trail from Niuya^a to Kawita Talahassi 
 passed through this settlement. From pinua turkey, huti, 
 hoti home. 
 
LIST OF TOWNS AND VILLAGES. 143 
 
 Pdlchus'-hdtchi, Upper Creek town in the central dis- 
 trict, on a stream of the same name, which joins Coosa 
 river from the northeast, four miles below Pakan'-Tala- 
 hassi. The town was in Coosa or Talladega county, 
 Alabama, forty miles above the junction; the name 
 signifies "Hatchet-Stream": potchusua hatchet, ax; 
 hatchi water-course. 
 
 Sakapatayi, Upper Creek town in the central district, 
 now Socopatoy, on a small eastern tributary of Potchus'- 
 hatchi, or Hatchet creek, Coosa county, Alabama; pro- 
 nounced also Sakapat6-i by Creek Indians. Probably 
 refers to water-lilies covering the surface of a pond, the 
 seeds of them being eaten by the natives; from sak- 
 patagas I lie inside (a covering, blanket, etc.) A legend, 
 which evidently originated from the name already exist- 
 ing, relates that wayfarers passing there had left a large 
 provision-basket (saka) at this locality, which was upset 
 and left rotting, so that finally it became flattened out : 
 from pataidshas / spread out something; patayi, partic. 
 pass., shaken out. 
 
 Sauga Hatchi, Upper Creek town on a stream of the 
 same name, which runs into Tallapoosa river from the 
 east, ten miles below Yufala. In 1 799 the thirty young 
 men of this place had joined Talisi town. Hawkins, 
 p. 49, renders the name by "cymbal creek." Sauga is 
 a hard-shelled fruit or gourd, similar to a cocoa-nut, used 
 for making rattles ; safikas I am rattling. 
 
 Sawanbgi , or "Shawanos," a town settled by Shawano - 
 Algonkins, but belonging to the Creek confederacy. It 
 stood on the left or southern side of Tallapoosa river, 
 three miles below Likasa creek. The inhabitants (in 
 1799) retained the customs and language of their coun- 
 trymen in the northwest, and had joined them in their 
 late war against the United States. Some Yuchi Indians 
 lived among them. The " town -house " was an oblong 
 
144 THE CREEK INDIANS. 
 
 square cabin, roof "eight feet pitch," sides and roof 
 covered with pine-bark. Cf. Ikan'-hatki. 
 
 Saw ok It, or Great Sawokli, Sa-ukli, a Lower Creek town, 
 six miles below Okoni, on the west bank of Chatahuchi 
 river, and four miles and a half above Wilani ("Yellow 
 Water ") Creek junction. The Hitchiti word sawi means 
 racoon, ukli town; and both Sawokli towns spoke the 
 "Stincard tongue" (Bartram). Called Chewakala in 
 1 791; Swaglaw, etc. Among the Hitchiti the mikalgi 
 were appointed from the racoon gens only. 
 
 Sawokli-u'dshi, or "Little Sawokli," a Lower Creek 
 town on the eastern bank of Chatahuchi river, four miles 
 below Okoni town ; contained about twenty families in 
 1799. About 1865 both Sawokli towns in the Indian 
 Territory have disbanded into the Talua 'lako ; cf. Apa- 
 latchukla. 
 
 Suka-ispbka, or Suka-ishp6gi, called "Hog Range" by 
 the traders, a small Upper Creek village situated on the 
 western bank of Upper Tallapoosa river, twelve miles 
 above Okfuski; its inhabitants had in 1799 moved, for 
 the larger part, to Imukfa. It is the place called else- 
 where Soguspogus, Sokaspoge, Hog Resort, the name 
 meaning literally: "hog-killing place." Cf. Lutcha- 
 poga. 
 
 Ta.latigi, now Talladega, an Upper Creek settlement in 
 the central district east of Coosa river. A battle was 
 fought there November 7th, 181 3. The name signifies 
 "border town," from italua town and atigi at the end, 
 on the border; cf. atigis "it is the last one, it forms the 
 extremity." Cf. Kusa (1). 
 
 Talisi, abbrev. Talsi, or: "Old Town," a contraction of 
 the term italua hassi; a town of the Upper Creeks on 
 the eastern bank of Tallapoosa river, opposite Tuka- 
 batchi, in the fork of Yufabi creek. In Hawkins' time 
 the natives of this place had for the larger part left the 
 
LIST OF TOWNS AND VILLAGES. 145 
 
 town and settled up Yufabi creek, and the chief, 
 Hobo-i'li miko, was at variance with the United States 
 and Spanish colonial authorities. The traders' trail from 
 Kasi'hta to the Upper Creek settlements crossed Yufabi 
 creek twice at the "Big Swamp," Opil'-'lako. The 
 Census of 1832 calls Talisi: "Big Tallassie or the 
 Halfway House." 
 
 Talisi, Little, a town of the Upper Creeks, identical 
 with Odshi-apofa, q. v. 
 
 Tallapoosa river, a considerable tributary of Alabama 
 river, full of rocks, shoals and falls down to Tukabatchi 
 town ; for thirty miles from here to its junction with the 
 Coosa, it becomes deep and quiet. The Hitchiti form 
 of the name is Talapusi; cf. Okfuski. A little village 
 named Tallapoosa lies on the headwaters of Tallapoosa 
 river, from which the river perhaps received its name ; 
 cf. talepu'li stranger (in Creek). 
 
 Talua 'lako, properly Italua 'lako, "the Great Town," 
 the popular name of Apalatchukla, q. v., the latter being 
 no longer heard at the present time. 
 
 Talua mutckdsi, (1) The new name for Tukabatchi 
 Talahassi, q. v. It is commonly abbreviated into Tal- 
 modshasi "Newtown." ' From italua town, mutchasi new. 
 (2) A Lower Creek town, on west shore of Chatahuchi 
 river, mentioned by Morse (1822) as: Telmocresses, 
 among the Seminole towns. 
 
 Ta m a 'li, a Lower Creek town on Chatahuchi river, seven 
 miles from Odshisi (Morse; Report, p. 364). Hawkins 
 writes it Tum-mult-lau, and makes it a Seminole town. 
 Probably a Cheroki name; there was on the southern 
 shore of Tennessee river, between Ballplay creek and 
 Toskegee, a settlement called Tommotley town in early 
 maps; cf. Jefferys' Atlas of N. America (map of 1762). 
 
 Taskigi or Tuskiki, a little, ancient Upper Creek town, 
 built near the site of the former French Fort Toulouse, 
 
146 THE CREEK INDIANS. 
 
 . at the confluence of Coosa and Tallapoosa rivers. It 
 stood on the high shore of Coosa river, forty-six feet 
 above its waters, where the two rivers approach each 
 other within a quarter of a mile, to curve out agaiD. On 
 this bluff are also five conic mounds, the largest thirty 
 yards in diameter at the base. The town, of 35 warriors, 
 had lost its ancient language and spoke the Creek (1799). 
 The noted A. MacGillivray, head chief of the Creeks in 
 the latter part of the eighteenth century, or as he was 
 styled, "Emperor of the Creek Nation," lived at Taskigi, 
 where he owned a house and property along Coosa river, 
 half a league from Fort Toulouse; Milfort, Memoire, p. 
 27. On the immigration of the tribe, cf. Milfort, pp. 
 266. 267. 
 
 The name of the town may be explained as : "jumping 
 men, jumpers," from Cr. taska-is, ta'skas I jump (tulup- 
 kalis in Hitchiti); or be considered an abbreviated form 
 of taskialgi warriors; cf. taskaya citizen (Creek), and 
 Hawkins, Sketch, p. 70. But since the town formerly 
 spoke another language, it is, in view of the frequency 
 of Cheroki names in the Creek country, appropriate to 
 regard Taskigi as linguistically identical with " Toske- 
 gee, ' ' a Cheroki town on Great Tennessee river, southern 
 shore, mentioned by several authors, and appearing on 
 Lieutenant H. Timberlake's map in his Memoir, repro- 
 duced in Jefferys' Topography (Atlas) of North America, 
 dated March, 1762. 
 
 Jchiika 'Idko, or "Great Cabin" of the public square, 
 (1) A Lower Creek town on Chatahuchi river, settled by 
 Okfuski Indians. 
 
 (2) A place of the same , name is mentioned in the 
 Census of 1832 as an Upper Creek town. 
 
 Tokogalgi, or "tadpole place," a small Yuchi settlement 
 on Kitchofuni creek, a northern affluent of Flint river, 
 Georgia, which joins it about 31 40' Lat. Beaver dams 
 
LIST OF TOWNS AND VILLAGES. 147 
 
 existed on branches of Kitchofuni creek ; cf. Hawkins, 
 p. 63. The present Creeks call a tadpole tokiulga. 
 Tukab&tchi, an Upper Creek town built upon the 
 western bank of Tallapoosa river, and two miles and a 
 half below its falls, which are forty feet in fifty yards. 
 Opposite was Talisi town, q. v. Tukabatchi was an 
 ancient capital, decreasing in population in Hawkins' 
 time, but still able to raise one hundred and sixteen 
 warriors. The town suffered much in its later wars with 
 the Chicasa. Cf. Hu'li-Wali. The traders' trail crossed 
 the Tallapoosa river at this place. Bartram (1775) states 
 that Tuccabatche spoke Muscogulge, and the Census of 
 1832 considers it the largest town among the Creeks, 
 with three hundred and eighty-six houses. Here, as at 
 a national centre, the Shawano leader, Tecumseh, held 
 his exciting orations against the United States Govern- 
 ment, which prompted the Upper Creeks to rise in arms 
 (1813). Tugiba^tchi, Tukipa'htchi, and Tukipa^tchi 
 are the ancient forms of the name (Stidham), which is 
 of foreign origin. The inhabitants believe that their 
 ancestors fell from the sky, or according to others, came 
 from the sun. Another tale is, that they did not origi- 
 nate on this continent; that when they arrived from 
 their country they landed at the "Jagged Rock," tchato 
 tcha^a/a 'lako, and brought the metallic plates with 
 them, which they preserve to the present day with 
 anxious care. In Adair's time (cf. Adair, History, pp. 
 178. 179, in Note) they consisted of five copper and two 
 brass plates, and were, according to Old Bracket's ac- 
 count, preserved under the "beloved cabbin in Tucca- 
 batchey Square" (A. D. 1759). Bracket's forefathers 
 told him that they were given to the tribe " by the man 
 we call God," and that the Tukabatchi were a people 
 different from the Creeks. The plates are mentioned in 
 Schoolcraft's Indians, V, 283 (C. Swan's account), and 
 
148 THE CREEK INDIANS. 
 
 rough sketches of them are given in Adair, 1. 1. They 
 appear to be of Spanish origin, and are produced at the 
 busk. The town anciently was known under two other 
 names : Ispok6gi, or Italua ispokogi, said to mean " town 
 of survivors," or " surviving town, remnant of a town"; 
 and Italua fatcha-sigo, " incorrect town, town deviating 
 from strictness." With this last appellation we may 
 compare the Spanish village-name Villa Viciosa. 
 
 On national councils held there, cf. Hawkins, Sketch, 
 p. 51 (in the year 1799) and Milfort, p. 40 (in the year 
 1780) and p. 266. 
 
 Tukabatchi Talah&ssi, or "old town of Tukabatchi," 
 an Upper Creek town on west side of Tallapoosa river, 
 four miles above Niuya/a. Since 1797 it received a 
 second name, that of Talua mutchasi or "new town." 
 The Census list of 1832 calls it Talmachussa, Swan in 
 1 791: Tuckabatchee Teehassa. 
 
 Tukpafka, "Spunk-knot," a village on Chatahuchi river, 
 Toapafki in 1832, from which was settled the town of 
 Niuyajfa, q. v. A creek of the same name is a tributary 
 of Potchus'-Hatchi, q. v. Tukpafka, not Tutpafka, is 
 the correct form ; it means punky wood, spunk, rotten 
 wood, tinder. 
 
 Tuxtu-kagi, or "Corn cribs set up" by the Okfuski 
 natives to support themselves during the hunting season, 
 was an Upper Creek town on the western bank of Talla- 
 poosa River, twenty miles above Niuy&jfa. The trail 
 from Hillabi to Etowa in the Cheroki country passed 
 this town, which is near a spur of mountains. Men- 
 tioned as "Corn House" in the Census list of 1832, as 
 Totokaga in 1791. Tu/tu means a crib; kagi is the past 
 participle of kakls, q. v. 
 
 Tu t a Id si , a branch village of Hitchiti town. Cf. Hitchiti, 
 p. 77. The Creek word tutal6si means chicken, in 
 Hitchiti tatayahi; its inhabitants, who had no town- 
 
LIST OF TOWNS AND VILLAGES. 149 
 
 square, are called by the people speaking Hitchiti: 
 Tatayahukli. 
 
 Uktaha-s&si, or "Sand-Heap," two miles from Hillabi 
 town, of which it was a branch or colony. Cf. Hillabi. 
 If the name was pronounced Uktaha lasi, it is " sand- 
 lick." 
 
 U-i-ukufki, Uyukufki, an Upper Creek town, on a creek 
 of the same name, a tributary of Hatchet creek (Haw- 
 kins, p. 42) ; Wioguf ka (1832). The name points, to 
 muddy water: o-iwa water, ukufki muddy ; and is also 
 the Creek name for the Mississippi river. Exists now in 
 Indian Territory. Cf. Potchus'-hatchi. 
 
 Wako-k&yi, Waxokd-i, or "Blow-horn Nest," an 
 Upper Creek town on Tukpafka creek, a branch of 
 Potchus'-Hatchi, a water-course which joins Coosa river 
 from the east. Also written Wolkukay by cartographers ; 
 Wacacoys, in Census List of 1832 ; Wiccakaw by Bar- 
 tram (1775). Wako is a species of heron, bluish-grey, 2 ' 
 high; kayi breeding-place. Another "Wacacoys" is 
 mentioned, in 1832, as situated on Lower Coosa river, 
 below Witumka. 
 
 Watula Hbkahdtchi. The location of this stream is 
 marked by Watoola village, which is situated on a run 
 joining Big Yuchi creek in a southern course, about 
 eighteen miles west of Chatahuchi river, on the road 
 between Columbus, Ga., and Montgomery, Ala. 
 
 Wi-kai 'Idko, or "Large Spring," a Lower Creek or 
 Seminole town, referred to by Morse under the name 
 Wekivas. From u-iwa, abbrev. u-i water, kaya rising, 
 'lako great, large. A Creek town in the Indian Terri- 
 tory bears the same name. 
 
 Witumka, (1) Upper Creek town on the rapids of Coosa 
 river, east side, near its junction with Tallapoosa. Haw- 
 kins does not mention this old settlement, but Bartram, 
 who traveled from 1773 to 1778, quotes Whittumke 
 
150 THE CREEK INDIANS. 
 
 among the Upper Creek towns speaking the " Stincard 
 tongue," which in this instance was the Koassati 
 dialect. 
 
 (2) A branch town of Kawita Talahassi, and twelve 
 miles from it, on Witumka creek, the main fork of 
 Yuchi creek. The place had a town-house, and ex- 
 tended for three miles up the creek. • The name sig- 
 nifies "rumbling water;" from u-i, abbrev. from u-iwa 
 "water," and tumkis "it rumbles, makes noise." 
 
 Wi tumka Creek, called Owatunka river in the migration 
 legend, is the northern and main branch of Yuchi creek, 
 which runs into the Chatahuchi river from the north- 
 west, and joins it about 32 18' Lat. The other branch 
 was Little Yuchi creek or Hosapo-laiki ; cf. Note to 
 Hawkins, p. 61. 
 
 Wiwuxka, or Wiw6ka, Upper Creek town on Wiw6ka 
 creek, an eastern tributary of Coosa river, joining it 
 about ten miles above Witumka. The town was fifteen 
 miles above Odshi-ap6fa, and in 1799 numbered forty 
 warriors. Called Weeokee in 1 791; it means: "water 
 roaring,": u-i water, wo/kls it is roaring. 
 
 Woksoyu'dshi, an Upper Creek town, mentioned in the 
 Census List of 1832 as " Waksoyochees, on Lower Coosa 
 river, below Wetumka." 
 
 Yu chi , a town of foreign extraction belonging to the Lower 
 Creeks ; has branched out into three other villages. Cf. 
 Yuchi, p. 21. 
 
 Yufabi creek, an eastern tributary of Tallapoosa river, 
 joining . it a short distance from Tukabatchi. Nofapi 
 creek, mentioned in the legend, is now Naufaba creek, 
 an upper branch of "Ufaupee creek," joining it in a 
 southwestern direction. 
 
 Yufd la , (1) Y. or Yufala Hatchi, Upper Creek town on 
 Yufila creek, fifteen miles above its confluence with 
 Coosa river. Called Upper Ufala in 1791. 
 
THE INDIAN PATHWAYS. 151 
 
 (2) Upper Creek town on the west bank of Talla- 
 poosa river, two miles below Okfuski in the air line. 
 
 (3) town of the Lower Creeks, fifteen miles below 
 Sawokli, on the eastern bank of Chatahuchi river. In 
 1 799 the natives had spread out down to the forks of 
 the river in several villages, and many had negro slaves, 
 taken during the Revolutionary war. The Census of 
 1832 counted 229 heads of families. This name, of 
 unknown signification, is written Eufaula. 
 
 THE INDIAN PATHWAYS. 
 
 A correct and detailed knowledge of the Indian trails 
 leading through their country, and called by them warpaths, 
 horse trails, and by the white traders " trading roads," forms 
 an important part of Indian topography and history. Their 
 general direction is determined by mountain ranges and gaps 
 (passes), valleys, springs, water-courses, fordable places in 
 rivers, etc. The early explorers of North American countries 
 all followed these Indian trails : Narvaez, Hernando de Soto, 
 Tristan de Luna, Juan del Pardo, Lederer and Lawson, 
 because they were led along these tracks by their Indian 
 guides. If we knew with accuracy the old Indian paths of 
 the West, we would have little difficulty in rediscovering the 
 routes traveled by Coronado's and Penalossa's troops in New 
 Mexico and in the great wastes of the Mississippi plains. In 
 hilly lands these trails are, of course, easier to trace than in 
 level portions of the country. 
 
 The best-known trails leading from the east to the Creek 
 towns were as follows : 
 
 1. The upper trail or " warpath" crossed Chatahuchi river 
 at Che'lako-Nini by a horse ford, about sixty miles above 
 Kasi/ta; cf. Schoolcraft, Indians, V, 255, and Adair, History, 
 pp. 258. 368. 
 
 2. The "High Tower path" started from High Shoals on 
 Apalachi river, which is the southern branch of Okoni river, 
 
152 THE CREEK INDIANS. 
 
 and went almost due west to " Shallow Ford " of Chatahuchi 
 river, about twelve miles right north of Atlanta, Georgia, in 
 the river bend. 
 
 3. The southern trail crossed the Chatahuchi river, coming 
 from the Ok6ni and Okmulgi rivers, 1 at the " Broken Arrow," 
 'Le-katchka, while other travelers crossed it at the Yuchi 
 towns, which cannot have been distant from the "Broken 
 Arrow." The Tallapoosa river was passed at Tukabatchi; 
 cf. Schoolcraft, Indians, V, 254. 
 
 From Tukabatchi it crossed over almost due west, as repre- 
 sented in Em. Bowen's map, to Coosa river, which was passed 
 by a horse-ford, then followed the Coosa river up to Coosa 
 old town. This is the trail partly traveled over by the Kasi/ta 
 tribe, as described in the migration legend. 
 
 4. The trail leading from St. Mary's river, Georgia, to the 
 Creek towns went into disuse since 1783, and at the time of 
 Swan's visit (179 1) was difficult to trace. Cf. Schoolcraft, 
 V, 256. If correctly represented in Tanner's map of 1827, 
 a road then running from St. Mary's river to the Hitchiti 
 ford of the Chatahuchi river crossed that river at Hitchit- 
 ti'dshi. 
 
 THE CREEK GOVERNMENT. 
 
 The social organization of all the Indian nations of America 
 is based upon the existence of the tribe. The tribe itself is 
 based upon smaller units of individuals which are joined 
 together by a common tie; this tie is either the archaic 
 
 1 Bartram, Travels, p. 54, gives the following particulars : " On the 
 east bank of the Okmulgee this trading road runs nearly two miles 
 through ancient Indian fields, the Okmulgee fields . . . with artificial 
 mounds or terraces, squares, etc." This horsepath began at the Rock 
 Landing on Ok6ni' river, a British post just below Wilkinson and about 
 four miles below Milledgeville, Georgia, passed Fort Hawkins built upon 
 the Okmulgi old fields, then the site of Macon, on the shore opposite, 
 then Knoxville, then the old Creek agency on Flint river, then crossed 
 Patsilatka creek, the usual ford on Chatahuchi river lying between 
 Kasi^ta and Apata-i Creek. 
 
TRIBAL DIVISIONS AND GENTES. 153 
 
 maternal descent, or the more modern tie of paternal descent, 
 or a combination of both. Among the Indians of North 
 America east of the Rocky mountains, and also among many- 
 tribes west of them, the single groups descending from the 
 same male or female ancestor form each a gens provided 
 with a proper name or totem generally recalling the name of 
 an animal. 
 
 Among the Creeks, Seminoles and all the other Maskoki 
 tribes descent was in the female line. Every child born 
 belonged to the gens of its mother, and not to that of its 
 father, for no man could marry into his own gens. In case 
 of the father's death or incapacity the children were cared 
 for by the nearest relatives of the mother. Some public 
 officers could be selected only from certain gentes, among 
 which such a privilege had become hereditary. Regulations 
 like these also controlled the warrior class and exercised a 
 profound influence upon the government and history of the 
 single tribes, and it often' gave a too prominent position to 
 some gentes in certain tribes, to the detriment or exclusion 
 of others. The Hitchiti and Creek totems were the same. 
 
 The administration of public affairs in the Creek nation 
 can be studied to best advantage by dividing the dates on 
 hand into three sections : the civil government of the Creek 
 tribe ; the warrior class ; the confederacy and its government. 
 What we give below will at least suffice to give readers a 
 better understanding of some points in the migration legend. 
 But before we enter upon these points, let us consider the 
 basis of Indian social life, the gens. 
 
 TRIBAL DIVISIONS AND GENTES. 
 
 Parallel to the two iksa of the Cha'hta the Creeks are 
 divided into two fires (tutka), a civil fire and a military fire. 
 The term fire evidently refers to council fires, which had to 
 be kindled ceremonially by the friction of two pieces of wood. 
 The term fire was also applied by Shawanos and other North- 
 11 
 
154 THE CREEK INDIANS. 
 
 ern Indians to the States formed by the early colonists, and 
 is still used of the States now constituting the American 
 Union : the thirteen fires, the seventeen fires, etc. 
 
 Concerning the gentes (alaikita) of the Creek people, it is 
 important to notice that in their towns each group of houses 
 contained people of one gens only, 1 and these gentes are 
 often mentioned in their local annals ; and that the gens of 
 each individual was determined by that of his mother. 
 Some of the towns had separate gentes for themselves, all 
 of which had privileges of their own. 
 
 Marriage between individuals of the same gens was pro- 
 hibited ; the office of the miko and the succession to property 
 of deceased persons was and is still hereditary in the gens. 
 In the Tukabatchi town the civil rulers or mikalgi were 
 selected from the eagle gens; those of Hitchiti town from the 
 racoon gens only; of Kasi^ta from the bear gens ; those of 
 Taskigi probably from the wind gens. The beloved men or 
 istitchakalgi of Kasi/ta were of the beaver gens. 
 
 In adultery and murder cases the relatives of the gens of 
 the injured party alone had the right of judging and of 
 taking satisfaction ; the miko and his council were debarred 
 from any interference. This custom explains why treaty 
 stipulations made with the colonists or the Federal Govern- 
 ment concerning murders committed have never been 
 executed. 2 
 
 There is probably no Indian tribe or nation in North 
 America having a larger number of gentes than the Maskoki 
 proper. This fact seems to point either to a long historic 
 development of the tribe, through which so large a seg- 
 mentation was brought about, or to internal dissensions, 
 which could produce the same result. About twenty gentes 
 
 * A similar distribution is observed in the villages, hunting and war 
 camps of the Pani and Southern Dakotan tribes, and was very strictly 
 enforced by them. 
 
 2 Cf. Hawkins, p. 75. 
 
Owing to the absence of the Author on official 
 duties in the Indian Territory, the Map which 
 should accompany this volume has not been pre- 
 pared. It will therefore be issued with the second 
 volume. 
 
TRIBAL DIVISIONS AND GENTES. 155 
 
 are now in existence, and the memory of some extinct ones 
 is not lost in the present generation. 
 
 The list of Creek gentes, as obtained from Judge G. W. 
 Stidham, runs as follows : 
 
 Nokdsalgi bear gens ; from nok6si bear. 
 
 Itchualgi deer gens, from itchu deer. 
 
 Katsalgi panther gens ; katsa panther, cougar. 
 
 Koakotsalgi wild-cat gens ; koa-k6tchi wild-cat. 
 
 Kunipalgi skunk gens ; kuno, k6no skunk. 
 
 W6tkalgi racoon gens ; wo'tko racoon. 
 
 Yahalgi wolf gens ; yaha wolf. 
 
 Tsiilalgi fox gens ; tsfila fox. 
 
 Itch'hasualgi beaver gens; itch'hisua beaver. 
 
 Osanalgi otter gens ; osana otter. 
 
 Halpadalgi alligator gens ; halpada alligator. 
 
 Fusualgi bird gens ; ffiswa forest bird. 
 
 Itamalgi, Tamalgi, (?) cf. tamkita to fly. 
 
 Sopaktalgi toad gens; sopaktu toad. 
 
 Takusalgi mole gens ; taku mole. 
 
 Atchialgi maize gens ; atchi maize. 
 
 Ahala^algi sweet potato gens; aha sweet potato, long marsh- 
 potato. 
 
 Hutalgalgi wind gens ; hfitali wind. 
 
 Aktayatsalgi (signification unknown). 
 
 (-algi is the sign of collective plurality — the okla of 
 Cha'hta.) 
 
 The following gentes are now extinct, but still occur in 
 war names : 
 
 Pah6salgi; occurs in names like Pah6s'-hadsho. 
 
 Okilisa; cf. Killis-tamaha, p. 109. 
 
 'La'lo-algi fish gens ; 'la'lo fish, occurs in war names like 
 'La'lo yah61a, etc. 
 
 Tchukotalgi, perhaps consolidated with another gens ; it 
 stood in a close connection with the Sopaktalgi. Also pro- 
 nounced Tsu^6di ; Chief Chicote is named after it. 
 
156 THE CREEK INDIANS. - 
 
 Odshisalgi hickory nut gens ; 5'dshi hickory nut. Some 
 believe this gens represented the people of Otchisi town, p.71. 
 
 Oktchunualgi salt gens ; oktchunua salt. 
 
 Isfanalgi; seems analogous to the Ispani phratry and gens 
 of the Chicasa. 
 
 Wa'hlakalgi ; cf. Hu'li-wa'hli, town name. 
 
 Mu^lasalgi ; said to mean " people of Muklasa town "j cf. 
 Imuklasha, under Cha'hta. 
 
 The Creek phratries and their names were not fully re- 
 membered by my informants. The only points which could 
 be gathered were, that individuals belonging to the panther 
 and the wildcat gentes could not intermarry, nor could the 
 Tchukotalgi with the individuals of the toad gens or 
 Sopaktalgi. This proves that the two groups formed each a 
 phratry, which perhaps comprised other gentes besides. It 
 is possible that among the above totemic gentes some are in 
 fact phratries and not gentes ; and the two fires (or tutka) 
 of the Creeks are not real phratries, but formal divisions 
 only. 
 
 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE TRIBE. 
 
 Several gentes, with their families, united into one town or 
 settlement, live under one chief, and thus constitute a tribe. 
 The tribe, as far as constituting a politic body governing 
 itself^ is .called in Creek italua, which could also be rendered 
 by: community or civil district. Amitaluadshi is " my own 
 town, where I belong," amitalua "my own country." 
 , Italua also signifies nation. Another term, talofa, means 
 town- or village, city as a collection of houses without any 
 reference to its inhabitants. 
 
 The executive officer of each town is the tniko or chief, 
 formerly called "king" by the whites. His duty is to 
 superintend all public and domestic concerns, to receive 
 public characters, to listen to their speeches, the contents of 
 which were referred to the town, and to "deliver the talks" 
 of his community. The town elects him for life from a 
 
CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE TRIBE. 157 
 
 certain gens. When he becomes sick or old he chooses an 
 assistant, who is subject to the approval of the counsellors 
 and head men. When the miko dies the next of kin in the 
 maternal line succeeds him, usually his nephew, if he is fit 
 for office. 
 
 Next in authority after the miko are the mikalgi and the 
 counsellors, both of whom form the council of the town. 
 The council appoints the Great Warrior, approves or rejects 
 the nominations for a miko's assistant, and gives advice in 
 law, war or peace questions. 
 
 Next in authority after the council is the body of the hini- 
 halgi, old men and advisers, presided over by the hiniha 
 'lako. They are in charge of public buildings, supervise the 
 erection of houses for new settlers, direct the agricultural 
 pursuits and prepare the black drink. They are the " masters 
 of ceremonies," and the name hiniha, iniha, which is no 
 longer understood by the present generation, is said to signify 
 " self-adorner," in the sense of "warrior embellished with 
 body paint." Hiniha 'lako, abbreviated into Nia'lako, is 
 now in use as a personal name, and recalls the name of the 
 celebrated Seminole chief Neamathla (hiniha ima'la). In 
 the Hitchiti towns they were comprised among the class of 
 the beloved men. Before the broken days, nita^atska, they 
 consulted about the time of the busk, and during the busk 
 directed the performances. 
 
 Beloved men or isti-tch&kalgi follow next in rank after the 
 above. They are the men who have distinguished themselves 
 by long public service, especially as war leaders, and the 
 majority of them were advanced in age. C. Swan states that 
 the beloved men were formerly called mikalgi in white 
 towns. 
 
 Then follows the common people. For the tustSnuggi 
 'lako or Great Warrior, cf. "Warrior Class" and "Creek. 
 Confederacy." 
 
 Since Indian character expresses itself in the most pro- 
 
158 • THE CREEK INDIANS. 
 
 nounced, self-willed independence, the power of the authori- 
 ties was more of a persuasive than of a constraining or 
 commanding nature. This will appear still better when we 
 speak of the warrior class ; and it may be appropriate to 
 remember that no man felt himself bound by decrees of a 
 popular assembly, by edicts of chiefs and their counsellors, 
 or by treaties concluded by these with alien tribes or govern- 
 ments. The law exercised by the gens was more powerful 
 than all these temporary rulings, and, in fact, was the real 
 motive power in the Indian community. 
 
 The distinction between red and white towns is not clearly 
 remembered now, and there are very few Creeks living who are 
 able to tell whether such or such a town was red or white. As 
 soon as the agricultural interests began to prevail over the 
 military, through the approach of the colonial settlements, this 
 feature had to disappear, and the social order also changed from 
 the gens or <pbh\ into that of civitas. Adair,. Hist., p. 1 5 9, seems 
 inclined to identify the white (or "ancient, holy, old beloved, 
 peaceable towns ' ') with the ' ' towns of refuge, ' ' one of which 
 was Kusa. 
 
 THE WARRIOR CLASS. 
 
 The geographic position of the Creeks in the midst of 
 warlike and aggressive nations was a powerful stimulant for 
 making " invincibles" of their male offspring. The ruling 
 passion was that of war; second to it was that of hunting. A 
 peculiar incentive was the possession of war-titles, and the 
 rage for these was as strong among the younger men as that 
 for plunder among the older. The surest means of ascending 
 the ladder of honor was the capture of scalps from the enemy, 
 .and the policy of the red or bloody towns was that of fostering 
 the warlike spirit by frequent raids and expeditions. In some 
 towns young men were treated as menials before they had 
 performed some daring deeds on the battle-field or acquired 
 .a war title. 1 To become a warrior every young man had to 
 1 Milfort, MSmoire, p. 251. 
 
THE WARRIOR CLASS. 159 
 
 pass through a severe ordeal of privations called fast, puskita, 
 from the fifteenth to the seventeenth year of his age. This 
 initiation into manhood usually lasted from four to eight 
 months, but in certain rare instances could be abridged to 
 twelve days. 
 
 A distinction of a material, not only honorific character 
 was the election of a warrior to actual command as paka'dsha 
 or tustenuggi 'lako. 
 
 THE CHARGES OF COMMANDERS. 
 
 After the young man had passed through the hardships of 
 his initiation, the career of distinction stood open before 
 him, for he was now a tassikaya or brave} According to 
 Hawkins' Sketch, the three degrees of advancement in com- 
 mand were as follows : 
 
 The tassikaya, who after initiation appears qualified for 
 actual service in the field, and is promising, is appointed, 
 leader (isti paka'dsha, or paka'dsha) by the miko or chief of 
 his town. When he distinguishes himself, he obtains a seat 
 in the central cabin of the public square. When out on the 
 warpath the leader was called imisi, immissi, q. v., and when 
 initiated to the faculty of charming the approaching enemy 
 by physic and songs, ahopaya, q. v. 
 
 Warriors of the paka'dsha class, who had repeatedly dis- 
 tinguished themselves on expeditions, could be promoted, 
 when a general war was declared, to the charge of upper 
 leader, isti paka'dsha 'lako, or tustenuggi. 
 
 The highest distinction was that of the great warrior, 
 tustenuggi 'lako, of whom there was one in every town. This 
 dignitary was appointed by the miko and his counsellors, 
 and selected by them among the best qualified warriors. His 
 seat was at the western end of the mikalgi cabin in the 
 public square. In Milfort's time this dignitary had become 
 
 1 Tassik4ya, contr. taskaya, pi. taskialgi — in Cha'hta taska, in Apalache 
 taskaya, etc. 
 
160 THE CREEK INDIANS. 
 
 a civil and military officer, 1 and nowadays his functions are 
 those of a civil functionary only. 
 
 In cases when the towns had resolved upon a general war, 
 a leader for all the town-tustenuggis was appointed in the 
 person of a " generalissimo, ' ' called also paka'dsha, tustenuggi, 
 or tustenuggi 'lako. 
 
 Among the Creeks now inhabiting the Indian Territory 
 the nomenclature has been altered from the above. A young 
 man is called tassikaya after receiving the war-title and 
 having some employment during the busk; he becomes 
 tustenuggi after being declared as such by a vote of his town ; 
 but in aboriginal times a young man was not called tustenuggi 
 before he had shown his bravery by the taking of at least one 
 scalp. 
 
 WAR-TITLES. 
 
 War-titles are important distinctions bestowed in almost 
 every part of the world, for military achievements; but, to pre- 
 serve their distinctive value, are usually conferred only on a 
 small portion of the warriors. Among the Creeks war- 
 names are, however, so common that at present one is con- 
 ferred upon every young man of the people. According to 
 the old reports, a Creek warrior of the eighteenth century 
 could obtain a war-title only after taking one or several 
 scalps, but the traditions current among the modern Creeks 
 are silent on this point. In earlier days many warriors had 
 several, even four or five of these titles (tassikaya inhotchif ka), 
 and when participants of a war party were present in numbers 
 at the taking of a scalp, each of them obtained a war-title 
 according to the report of the fight made by the paka'dsha 
 on his return home. The war-titles were not always, though 
 most frequently, conferred upon the warriors during the 
 busk, or within the square. 
 
 Chief Chicote informs me, that the names in question were 
 
 1 Milfort, Memoire, p. 237 : " Aujourd'hui il est le premier chef de la 
 nation pour le civil et pour le militaire." 
 
WAR TITLES. 161 
 
 distributed by the "beloved men" or ist'-atsakalgi while 
 sitting in their cabins or arbors on two opposite sides of the 
 square. The ist'-atsakalgi called out young men from the 
 side opposite to them, and imparted one of the five titles to 
 be mentioned below, according to their free choice, and 
 simultaneously intrusted each with some office connected 
 with the busk. These offices consisted either in sweeping the 
 area or in carrying water, in building and keeping up the 
 fire in the centre, in setting up the medicine-pots or in help- 
 ing to prepare black drink. War-titles and busk-offices were 
 formerly given also to such who had never joined a war party. 
 The use of the other name, which every man had obtained 
 during childhood, was prohibited within the square. 
 
 To the five war-titles below, the totem of the gens was 
 often added, so that, for instance, one of the yaholalgi, who 
 offered the black drink, could be called itcho yahola hadsho, or 
 y. miko, y. fiksiko, etc. It is said, that anciently some titles 
 were limited to certain clans only. The idea that advance- 
 ment by degree was connected with these titles is an erroneous 
 inference from our own military institutions. Although 
 regarded as war-names at the present time, they seem to 
 have been mere busk-titles from the beginning, and are such 
 even now. In connection with itcho deer, a gens name, they 
 are as follows : 
 
 itcho tassikaya deer warrior. 
 
 itcho hadsho tassikaya deer crazy (foolish, mad, drunken) 
 ■warrior. 
 
 itcho fiksiko tassikaya deer heartless warrior. 
 
 itcho yahola tassikaya deer hallooing warrior. 
 
 itcho ima"la tassikaya deer {leading f) warrior. 
 
 Other war-titles were : hola'hta tustenuggi, miko tustenuggi, 
 hiniha, hiniha 'lako. Inhola'hti, plur. inhola/tagi figures in 
 war-titles, but stands in no connection with the busk. The 
 appellation of immikagi comprehends all the men of that 
 gens from which the miko in the town ceremonies, not the 
 
162 THE CREEK INDIANS. 
 
 miko as a political office-holder, is selected. The pronoun 
 im-, in-, i- in all these names (ihinihalgi, intastena^algi, 
 etc.), signifies that they "belong to the miko" of the tribal 
 ceremonies. 
 
 War-titles should be clearly distinguished from war-names 
 and other names. Any of the nine appellations contained in 
 the item above, and any name composed with one of them, 
 is a war-title ; all others, as Old Red Shoe, are simply names 
 or war-names. Women and boys never had but one name, 
 and whenever a warrior had, by successive campaigns, five 
 or six honorific titles conferred upon him, he became gen- 
 erally known by one or two of these only. 
 
 These names and war-titles are highly important for the 
 study of Creek ethnography, and have been already referred 
 to in the chapter on gentes. A brief list of war-names of 
 influential men is contained in Major C. Swan's Report, as 
 follows •} 
 
 " Hallowing King (Kawita) ; White Lieutenant (Okfuski) ; 
 Mad Dog (Tukabatchi miko) ; Opilth miko (Big Talahassi) ; 
 Dog Warrior (Naktche); Old Red Shoe (Alibamu and Koas- 
 sati). To these may be added the " dog king," Tamhuidshi, 
 of the Hitchiti, mentioned in the prooemium of the legend, 
 and " a war-leader, the son of the dog -king of the Huphale 
 town." 2 The Cha'hta war-titles frequently end in -abi, -api : 
 killer ; cf. the Creek term poyas, tip6yas I kill." 
 
 The Creeks often conferred war-titles on white men of note, 
 and made Milfort, who became a relative of the chief McGil- 
 livray by marriage, the chief warrior of the nation. The 
 ceremonies performed on that occasion are described at 
 length by himself. 8 
 
 1 1791 — Schoolcraft, Indians, V, 263. 
 
 2 Adair, History, p. 278. 
 
 » Milfort, Memoire, p. 41 sqq., 220 sqq. The council of the 
 nation, assembled at Tukabatchi, conferred this charge on him in May 
 1780. 
 
WAR TITLES. 163 
 
 We give a few instances of historical and recent Creek 
 war-names and war-titles : — 
 
 Abi/kudshi miko, Hutalg'-ima'la, Kawita tustenuggi, all 
 members of the Creek " House of Kings." 
 
 Assi yahola " the black drink hallooer j" Osceola, chief. 
 
 Hiniha 'lako hupayi "great hiniha charmer," a Creek 
 leader in the battle at Atasi and other engagements. 
 
 Hopu-i hl'l'-miko "good child-chief." 
 
 Hopu-i hi'li yah61a "handsome child yah61a"; a Creek 
 chief. 
 
 Hu'li 'ma'hti "war-leader," a frequently occurring war- 
 name; 'ma'hti is abbreviated from homa^ti. 
 
 Hutalgi miku "chief from wind gens;" is chief of Taskigi 
 town. 
 
 Ifa hadsho, or "dog warrior"; cf. Hawkins, p. 80. 
 
 Ispahidshi, name of a headman, and usually spelt Spie- 
 chee: "whooping, brawling" while taking off the 
 scalp. 
 
 Katsa hadsho " tiger-hadsho," a Seminole chief, erro- 
 neously called Tigertail. 
 
 Kosisti, abbr. Kosti; occurs in Kosti fiksiko, etc. The 
 signification is lost, but we may compare the town 
 Acostehe, visited by de Soto's army in coming south 
 from the Cheroki country. 
 
 'Lawa^aiki "lying in ambush; creeping up clandestinely." 
 
 Miko ima'la " chief leader. " 
 
 Nfikusi ili tchapko "long-footed bear," war- name of S. B. 
 Callahan, Creek delegate, to the United States Gov- 
 ernment. 
 
 Sutak'ha^ki "men fighting in a line." 
 
 Talua' fiksiko "heartless town;" presently judge of the 
 Wiwu^ka district, I. T. 
 
 Tassikaya miku "chief warrior;" president House of 
 Kings. 
 
 U^taha.-sasi hadsho "sandy-place hadsho;" chief. 
 
164 THE CREEK INDIANS. 
 
 Waksi, Cha'hta term referring to the drawing up of the 
 prepuce. . Occurs in Waksi hola'hta and other Creek 
 titles, perhaps also in the tribal name of the Waxsaws 
 on Santee river, S. C, and in Waxahatchi, town in 
 Alabama. The name conveyed the idea of a low, 
 unmanly behavior, but had no obscene meaning. 
 Other nations regard epithets like these (iiciXXat, verpt") 
 as highly injurious, and load their enemies with them, 
 as the Tchiglit-Inuit do the Tinn6 Indians of the 
 interior: taordshioit, ortcho-todsho-eitut. 1 
 
 WAR-CUSTOMS AND TACTICS. 
 
 A few notes on the war-customs of the Creeks, which 
 resembled those of most Southern tribes, may be useful for 
 shedding light on the early migrations of the people and 
 upon the tactics observed in their campaigns. 
 
 The principal motive for Indian wars being the conquest 
 of scalps, slaves, plunder and hunting grounds, the Creeks, 
 conscious of their great power, were not very particular in 
 finding causes for warfare, and did not even advance specious 
 reasons for declaring war. Thus, Adair gives as the true 
 cause of a long war between the Creeks and Cheroki, the 
 killing and scalping of two Chicasa hunters by a Shawano 
 " brave." This man took refuge among the Cheroki people, 
 and war was declared to them by the Creeks, because they 
 then had concluded a war alliance with the Chicasa (History, 
 p. 278). 
 
 It is rather improbable that a declaration of war always 
 preceded the attack, for the advance into the hostile 
 territory was made clandestinely 2 ; but the resolution- of 
 starting upon the warpath was heralded in the towns with 
 
 1 E. Petitot, Tchiglit, preface p. xi. 
 
 2 The Timucua of Florida declared war by sticking up arrows in the 
 ground around the town or camp of the enemy on the evening before the 
 attack (Ren6 de Laudonniere, " Histoire Notable"). 
 
WAR-CUSTOMS AND TACTICS. " 165 
 
 great ceremonies. Of these we shall speak under the heading : 
 Confederacy. 
 
 The Creeks of old were in the habit of carrying on their 
 warfare chiefly in small bodies, like other Indian tribes. 
 Small commands are better enabled to surprise the enemy or 
 his camps in clandestine or night attacks, or to cut off hostile 
 warriors, than large ones. There are instances that the 
 Creeks formed war-parties of four men only. Their leader 
 was then styled imisi, immissi or " the one carrying it for 
 them," this term referring to the battle-charm or war-physic. 
 War-parties of forty to sixty men are mentioned also. 
 
 When warriors started for the." field of honor" in larger 
 or smaller bodies, they were led by a commander (paka'dsha) 
 who simultaneously was an ahopaya or hopaya, " charmer at 
 a distance.' 1 Men of this order had, like other warriors, to 
 undergo, while quite young, a severe course of initiation 
 into manhood, which also comprised instructions in herb- 
 physicking. To become initiated they camped away from 
 other people, and had for their only companion the old con- 
 juror, who for four months initiated them and taught them 
 the incantations intended to act as charms upon the enemy. 
 To begin with, a fast of either four or eight days and the 
 eating of certain bitter weeds was prescribed, to purify the 
 system and to prepare the youth for a ready comprehension 
 of the objects of tuition. The whole process was sometimes 
 repeated for another four months, in the spring of the year 
 following, and differed in every town. The knowledge thus 
 acquired, it was believed, imparted to the person a full con- 
 juring power and charmer's influence over the antagonist, 
 and enabled him to conquer the hostile warriors at a distance 
 (hupa-i) and before reaching them, or to make them come 
 near enough for easy capture. 
 
 When the Great Warrior started on the warpath he gave 
 notice to the participants where he would strike camp that 
 night, and then set out, sometimes with one or two men 
 
166 THE CREEK INDIANS. 
 
 only. A war-whoop and the discharge of his gun were the 
 signals of his departure, and were responded to by his fol- 
 lowers by acting in the same manner. The other warriors took 
 their time, and went to rejoin him one or two days after. 
 A man taking part in a war-expedition was called hu'li-a'la. 
 
 A war party always proceeded in Indian file, each man 
 stepping into the footprints of the foregoing; to prevent the 
 enemy from knowing their number. This explains also the 
 episode of the legend referring to the tracks lost in the bottom 
 of the river, q. v. 1 The tracks, footprints, strokes of hatchets 
 visible on the bark of trees, etc., differed in every American 
 tribe. Among the Creeks the last man in the file often 
 sought to cover the tracks by placing grass upon them. A 
 considerable force of scouts hovered around the marching 
 file, to prevent surprises ; the leader marched at the head of 
 the file. 
 
 The attack was made in true Indian and savage fashion, 
 before daybreak. The warriors crept up as silently as pos- 
 sible, tried to dart their missiles from secret spots, and 
 never exposed their bodies to the enemy when they could 
 cover them by some eminence or rock, tree or bush. The 
 leader took a position in the rear. The Chicasa Indians 
 continually taunted the colonial troops upon the fearless but 
 useless exposure of their men to the battle-fire of the wary 
 Indian braves. Milfort relates that his men fought nude, 
 because they had noticed that the fragments of clothing 
 entering the body with the point of the missile rendered the 
 wound much more dangerous than the missile itself. 
 
 When making prisoners the Creeks habitually spared only 
 the lives of children, killing mercilessly the adult males and 
 females. They even burnt many of them at the stake, and 
 Milfort claims that this barbaric custom was abandoned 
 only through his influence (Mem., pp. 219-220). 
 
 1 Milfort, Mem., p. 217. 218. Walking through watercourses neces- 
 sarily destroyed all vestiges of a marching body of warriors. 
 
WAR-CUSTOMS AND TACTICS. 167 
 
 The food on which they subsisted, on their expeditions, 
 was pounded maize, contained in a small bag, which they 
 carried upon their bodies. 
 
 The encampments for the night (hapu) were round-shaped, 
 every man lying in contiguity to another in a circle, and 
 leaving only a small issue, which was guarded by the com- 
 mander. After the commander's signal no one was allowed 
 to move from his place. The same order was observed when 
 the army halted during the day, and the same arrangement 
 is conspicuous in the campings of the Southern Dakota tribes, 
 as Iowa, Ponka, Uga^pa, etc. 
 
 A graphic description of southern war-camps is found in 
 B. Romans, Florida, p. 65 : "A Choctaw war-camp is cir- 
 cular, with a fire in the centre, and each man .has a crutched 
 branch at his head to hang his powder and shot upon and 
 to set his gun against, and the feet of all to the fire; a 
 Cherokee war-camp is a long line of fire, against which they 
 also lay their feet. A Choctaw makes his camp, in traveling, 
 in form of a sugar loaf; a Chicasa makes it in form of our 
 arbours ; a Creek like to our sheds or piazzas, to a timber- 
 house. ' ' The Creek war-camps in the woods were constructed 
 in such a manner that the exact number of the party could 
 at once be ascertained. 1 
 
 After their return the warriors placed the scalps in the 
 public square, or divided them among their acquaintances. 
 Anciently the privilege of raising the scalp-pole (itu tchati) 
 belonged to two tribes only, the Kasi^ta and the Kawita. 2 
 The cause for this is shown in our half-mythic migration 
 legend. The tradition that the custom of scalping was but 
 recently imported among the Creeks from the Northern 
 Indians was manufactured for a purpose, and invented by 
 many other tribes also, to appear more human in the eyes 
 of the white settlers. Scalping and the drying of scalps had 
 
 1 Swan, in Schoolcraft V, 280. 
 
 1 Cf. Hu'li-Wa'hli, and the name of this town. 
 
168 THE CREEK INDIANS. 
 
 been observed in 'Florida as early as 1564 by Ren<§ de Lau- 
 donniere. 
 
 ORGANIZATION OF THE CONFEDERACY. 
 
 The Creek confederacy, or "league of the Muscogulgee" 
 was a purely political organization connecting the various 
 and disparate elements, which composed it, for common 
 action against external aggression. It had no direct influence 
 on the social organization of the tribes, and the most appro- 
 priate term for this, and other Indian confederacies as well, 
 is that of war-confederacy, war-league or symmachy. In 
 Creek the Maskoki confederacy is called isti Maskdki imiti- 
 halatka. 
 
 To call this loose assemblage of towns and tribes a military 
 democracy, in the sense that the majority of the votes decided 
 a question brought before the people in a manner that was 
 binding for the citizens, is entirely wrong and misleading, 
 for Indians regard their actions subject to their own decisions 
 only, or, at the utmost, to those of their individual gens. 
 Every Creek town or individual could go on the warpath or 
 stay at home, in -spite of any wish or decree issued by the 
 chiefs or assembled warriors. The young warriors, anxious 
 to obtain fame and war-titles, joined the war-parties on the 
 call of a leader. In questions of war unanimity was seldom 
 attained in the council of a town, much less in the whole 
 nation; "it is not recollected by the oldest man, that more 
 than one-half of the nation went to war at.the same time or 
 'took the war-talk.'" 
 
 "When the miko and his councillors are of opinion that 
 the town has been injured, the Great Warrior lifts the war- 
 hatchet, atasi, against the offending nation. But as soon as 
 it is taken up, the miko and his council may interpose, and 
 by their prudent counsels stop it, and proceed to adjust the 
 misunderstanding by negotiation. If the Great Warrior per- 
 sists and ' goes out,' he is followed by all who are for war." 
 
 These words, quoted from the "Sketch" of the United 
 
ORGANIZATION OF THE CONFEDERACY. 169 
 
 States agent, B. Hawkins, plainly show, that the initiative 
 for war rested with the civil authority, and not with the 
 military. But it is possible that Hawkins speaks of white or 
 peace-towns only, and not of the red towns (p. 72). He 
 continues as follows : 
 
 "Peace is always determined on and concluded by the 
 m.iko and councillors, and peace-talks are always addressed 
 to the cabin of the miko. In some cases, where the resent- 
 ment of the warriors has run high, the miko and council have 
 been much embarrassed." 
 
 All this proves that every town had the privilege to begin 
 warfare for itself, independent of the confederacy, provided 
 that the civil government consented to the undertaking. 
 This fact plainly shows the perfect independence of the 
 Indian tribe from the war-confederacy, and forms a striking 
 contrast to our ideas of a centralized state power. In some 
 instances the Creek towns left their defensive position to act 
 on the offensive principle, but they were not sustained then 
 by the Maskoki confederacy. 
 
 The chief of the confederacy had to advise only, and not 
 
 to command ; he was of influence only when endowed with 
 
 superior talent and political ability. The chief and principal 
 
 warriors had annual meetings in the public square of some 
 
 central town, on public affairs ; they drank assi, exchanged 
 
 tobacco, and then proceeded to debate. Time and place of 
 
 these conventions were fixed by a chief, and the space of time 
 
 between warning and that of assembly was called " broken 
 
 days." Major C. Swan, after whose report this passage is 
 
 quoted (Schoolcraft V, 279) states that the title of the chief of 
 
 the confederacy was the great beloved man, while Milfort, who 
 
 was himself invested with the charge of great warrior of the 
 
 nation, styles him " Le Tastanegy ou grand chef de guerre," 
 
 adding, however, that in his time he was the highest authority 
 
 in civil and military affairs (Memoire, Note to p. 237). The 
 
 English, French and Spaniards frequently called him the 
 12 
 
170 THE CREEK INDIANS. 
 
 Emperor of the Upper and Lower Creeks, a term which is 
 not entirely misapplied when taken in its original sense of 
 "military commander," the imperator of the Romans. 
 
 At a later period the meeting of the confederacy usually 
 took place at Tukabatchi, which had become the lafrgest 
 community. From the above it results, however, that the 
 Creeks had no capital town in the sense as we use this term. 
 Col. B. Hawkins, who attempted to introduce some unity 
 among the towns for the purpose of facilitating the transac- 
 tion of business of the nation, and their intercourse with the 
 United States Government, proposed various measures, as the 
 classing of the towns into nine districts ; these were adopted 
 at Tukabatchi by the chiefs of the nation, on November 27th, 
 1799. 1 
 
 The small degree of respect which the Creek towns paid 
 to international treaties (sitimfatchita) or other solemn engage- 
 ments made with the whites, as sales of territory, etc., is 
 another proof for the looseness of the "powerful Creek con- 
 federacy." After giving, a list of six influential headmen of 
 different towns, Major C. Swan declares that a treaty made 
 with these chiefs would probably be communicated to all the 
 people of the country, and be believed and relied upon 
 (Schoolcraft V, 263). Subsequent events have shown this to 
 be founded on a misapprehension of the Indian character, 
 which is that of the most outspoken individuality. 
 
 Major C. Swan, who only traveled through the country to 
 leave it again, makes the following interesting statement 
 concerning the political and social status of the disparate 
 tribes composing the Creek confederacy (179 1 ; in School- 
 craft V, 259. 260) : 
 
 " Their numbers have increased faster by the acquisition 
 
 of foreign subjects than by the increase of the original stock. 
 
 It appears long to have been a maxim of their policy to give 
 
 equal liberty and protection to tribes conquered by them- 
 
 1 Cf. his Sketch, pp. 51. 52. 67. 68. 
 
THE PUBLIC SQUARE. 171 
 
 selves, as well as to those vanquished by others, although 
 many individuals taken in war are slaves among them, and 
 their children are called of the slave race, ,and cannot arrive 
 to much honorary distinction in the country, on that 
 account." 
 
 THE PUBLIC SQUARE. 
 
 All the Creek towns, viz., the more populous settlements, 
 had laid out a square-shaped piece of ground in or near their 
 central part. It contained the only public buildings of the 
 town, the great house and the council-house, and, as an 
 appurtenance, the play-ground. The square was the focus 
 of the public and social life of the town ; its present Creek 
 name, intchuka' 'lako, is taken from the "great house" as its 
 principal portion. 
 
 From the eighteenth century we possess three descriptions 
 of the square and the ceremonies enacted in it, which are 
 entering into copious details; that of W. Bartram, describing 
 the square of Atasi town (about 1775); that of C. Swan, 
 describing that of Odshi-ap6fa, or the Hickory Ground (1 791), 
 and last, but not least, the description of the square at Kawita, 
 by B. Hawkins (1 799). All the towns differed somewhat in 
 the structure of the great house and of the council-house, 
 but in the subsequent sketch we shall chiefly dwell upon those 
 points in which they all seem to agree. Public squares still 
 exist at the present time in some of the pure-blood towns of 
 the Creek nation, Indian Territory, and the busk, in its 
 ancient, though slightly modified form, is annually celebrated 
 in them. The ground-plan of the square at the Hickory 
 Ground is represented in Schoolcraft's Indians V, 264. 
 
 Of other buildings destined for public use I have found no 
 mention, except of granaries or corn-cribs, which were under 
 the supervision of the miko. 
 
 'Wit great house, tchuku 'lako, also called "town-house," 
 "public square," like the square in the midst of which it 
 was placed, was formed by four one-story buildings of equal 
 
172 THE CREEK INDIANS. 
 
 size, facing inward, and enclosing a square area of about 
 thirty feet on each side. 1 They were generally made to face 
 the east, west, north and south. 
 
 These buildings, which had the appearance of sheds, con- 
 sisted of a wooden frame, supported on posts set in the 
 ground and covered with slabs. They were made of the 
 same material as their dwelling houses, but differed by having 
 the front facing the square open, and the walls of the back 
 sides had an open space of two feet or more next to the eaves, 
 to admit a circulation of air. Each house was divided into 
 three apartments, separated by low partitions of clay, making 
 a total of twelve partitions. These apartments, called cabins 
 (t6pa) had three 2 seats, or rather platforms, being broad 
 enough to sleep upon ; the first of them was about two feet 
 from the ground, the second eight feet above the first, and 
 the third or back seat eight feet above the second. Over the 
 whole of these seats was spread a covering of cane-mats, as 
 large as carpets. They were provided with new coverings 
 every year, just before the busk ; and since the old covers 
 were not removed, they had in the majority of the squares 
 eight to twelve coverings, laid one above the other. Milfort 
 states that each cabin could seat from forty to sixty persons 
 .(Memoire, p. 203). 
 
 Caleb Swan, who, in his above description of the cabins 
 'in the square, copied the original seen at Odshi-ap6fa or 
 'Little Talassie, where he stopped, differs in several particu- 
 lars, especially in the allotment of the cabins to the authori- 
 ties, from Hawkins, who resided in Kawita. Swan assigns 
 .the eastern building to the beloved men, the southern to the 
 warriors, the northern to the second men, etc., while the 
 .western building served for keeping the apparatus for cooking 
 black drink, war physic, and to store lumber. According to 
 
 1 Hawkins says : Forty by sixteen feet, eight feet pitch, the entrance 
 at each corner (p. 68). 
 • 2 Hawkins: two seats. 
 
THE PUBLIC SQUARE. 173 
 
 Hawkins, the western building, fronting east, contained the 
 mikos and high-ranked people; the northern building was 
 the warriors'; the southern that of the beloved men, and the 
 eastern that of the young people and their associates. "The 
 cabin of the great chief faces east," says Milfort, p. 203, "to 
 indicate that he has to watch the interests of his nation con- 
 tinually. ' ' The three cabins of the mlkalgi or old men, facing 
 west, are the only ones painted white, and are always orna- 
 mented with guirlands (at Kawita). On the post, or on a 
 plank over each cabin, are painted the emblems of the gens 
 to which it is allotted ; thus the buffalo gens have the buffalo 
 painted on it. 
 
 From the roofs were dangling on the inside heterogeneous 
 emblems of peace and trophies of war, as eagles' feathers, 
 swans' wings, wooden scalping knives, war clubs, red-painted 
 wands, bunches of hoops on which to dry their scalps, bundles 
 of a war-physic called snake-root {sinika in Cheroki), bas- 
 kets, etc. Rude paintings of warriors' heads with horns, 
 horned rattlesnakes, horned alligators, etc., were visible 
 upon the smooth posts and timbers supporting the great 
 house. In the "painted squares" of some of the red or war- 
 towns the posts and smooth timber were painted red, with 
 white or black edges, this being considered as a mark of 
 high distinction. Other privileged towns possessed a covered 
 square, by which term is meant a bridging over of the entrance 
 spaces left between the four buildings by means of canes laid 
 on poles. 
 
 In the centre of the area of the "great house " a perpetual 
 fire was burning, fed by four logs, and kept up by public 
 ministrants especially appointed for the purpose. The inside 
 area is called impask6fa, "dedicated ground." 
 
 The "square" was hung over with green boughs, in sign 
 of mourning, when a man died in the town; no black 
 drink was then taken for four days. When an Indian was 
 killed who belonged to a town which had a square, black 
 
174 THE CREEK INDIANS. 
 
 drink had to be taken on the outside of the square, and every 
 ceremony was suspended until the outrage was atoned for. 
 To each great house belonged a black drink cook, and from 
 the young warriors two or three men were appointed to 
 attend to those who took this liquid every morning ; they 
 called the townspeople to this ceremony by beating drums 
 (C. Swan). 
 
 After the close of their council-meeting in the council- 
 house, the miko, his councillors and warriors repaired to 
 the chiefs cabin in the "great house." They met there 
 every day, drank the assi or black drink, continued delibera- 
 tions on public and domestic affairs, attended to complaints 
 and redressed them; then conversed about news while 
 smoking, or amused themselves at playing "roll the bullet" 
 in a sort of ten-pin alley. The name of this game is 'li-i 
 tchallitchka. Bartram, p. 453, states that the chiefs cabin 
 at Atasi was of a different construction from the three other 
 buildings. 
 
 But besides being the central point of the town for all 
 meetings of a public character, the great house was the festive 
 place for the annual busk and the daily dance ; it occasionally 
 served as a sleeping place for Indians passing through the 
 town on their travels. The special locations allotted to the 
 persons in authority and the gentes on the cabin-sheds are 
 described under the heading : The annual busk. 
 
 The council-house or tchukofa 'lako stood on a circular 
 mound or eminence, in close contiguity to the northeast 
 corner of the "great house." It is variously called by 
 travelers :■ hot-house, sudatory, assembly-room, winter council- 
 house, mountain-house, 1 or, from its circular shape, rotunda. 
 Its appearance is generally described as that of a huge cone 
 placed on an octagonal frame about twelve feet high, and 
 covered with tufts of bark. Its diameter was from twenty-five 
 to thirty feet, and in the larger towns the building could 
 1 Adair, History, p. 421. 
 
THE PUBLIC SQUARE. 175 
 
 accommodate many hundred persons. 1 Its perpendicular 
 walls were made of thick posts, daubed with clay on the 
 outside. Contiguous to the walls, one broad circular seat, 
 made of cane-mats, was going around the structure on the 
 inside, and in the centre the fire was burning on a small 
 elevation of the ground. The fuel consisted of dry cane or 
 dry pine slabs spKt fine ; and, as if it were to give a concrete 
 image of the warming rays of the sun, these split canes were 
 disposed in a spiral line which exhibited several revolutions 
 around the centre. No opening was provided for the escape 
 of the smoke or the admission of fresh air, and the building 
 soon became intolerably hot ; but at dance-feasts the natives 
 danced around the fire in the terrible heat and dust, without 
 the least apparent inconvenience. 2 
 
 The council-house served, to some extent, the same pur- 
 poses as the "great house," but was more resorted to in the 
 inclement season than in summer. Every night during winter 
 the old and young visited it for conversation or dance, and 
 in very cold weather the old and destitute went there to 
 sleep. In all seasons it was the assembly-room of the miko 
 and his counsellors for deliberations of a private character ; 
 there they decided upon punishments to be inflicted, as whip- 
 ping etc., and entrusted the Great Warrior with the execution 
 of the sentences. Previous to a war-expedition the young 
 men visited the hot-house for four days, prepared and drank 
 their war-physic, and sang their war- and charm-songs under 
 the leadership of conjurers. 8 Milfort was installed into the 
 charge of "Great Warrior of the Nation" in the Kawlta 
 council-house by solemn orations, the smoking of the pipe, 
 
 1 Hawkins, Sketch, p. 71, Bartram, Travels, p. 448 sqq. 
 
 2 Bartram states that the Creek rotundas were of the same archi- 
 tecture as those of the Cheroki, but of much larger dimensions : Travels, 
 p. 449. 
 
 3 Hawkins, Sketch, p. 79. 
 
176 THE CREEK INDIANS. 
 
 the drinking of the assi-decoct and other ceremonies, 1 and 
 then conducted to the- "great house. "- 
 
 When the natives gathered in this structure for sweating, 
 either for promoting their health or as a religious ceremony, 
 they developed steam by throwing water on heated stones, 
 then danced around the fire, and went to plunge into the 
 chilling waves of the river flowing past their town. 
 
 The play-ground occupied the northwestern angle of the 
 public square, and formed an oblong segment of it, of rather 
 irregular shape. It was made distinct from the rest of the 
 square by one or two low embankments or terraces ; in its 
 centre stood, on a low circular mound, a four-sided pole or 
 pillar, sometimes forty feet high. A mark fastened on its 
 top served at appointed times as a target to shoot at with 
 rifles or arrows. Around the pole the floor of the yard was 
 beaten solid. 
 
 The play-ground, ta'dshu in Creek, was called by the white 
 traders chunkey-yard, chunk-yard, from the principal game 
 played in it. This game, the chunkey- or tchungke-game, 
 consisted in throwing a pole after the chunke, a rounded 
 stone which was set rolling upon its edge. Cf. Adair, Hist., 
 p. 401. 402. There was also a sort of ball play in use among 
 the Creeks and many other Indian tribes, by which a ball 
 (puku) was aimed at an object suspended on the top of a 
 high pole, or, as it is played now, at the top of two twin 
 poles (puk-abi), called sometimes "maypoles." In summer 
 time dances were also performed in this yard, and Bartram 
 saw "at the corner of each farther end a slave-post or strong 
 stake, where the captives that are burnt alive are bound." 2 
 
 1 Milfort, Memoire, p. 211. 2 Travels, p. 518. 
 
THE ANNUAL BUSK. 177 
 
 THE ANNUAL BUSK. 
 
 The solemn annual festival held by the Creek people of 
 ancient and modern days is the puskita, a word now passed 
 into provincial English (busk); its real meaning is that of 
 a fast. In the more important towns it lasted eight days ; in 
 towns of minor note four days only, and its celebration differed 
 in each town in some particulars. The day on which to begin it 
 was fixed by the miko and his council, and depended on the 
 maturity of the maize crop and on various other circumstances. 
 Its celebration took place mainly in the "great house" 
 of the public square, and from Hawkins' description, who 
 saw it celebrated in Kasi^ta, 1 we extract the following par- 
 ticulars : 
 
 In the morning of thejirst day the warriors clean the area 
 of the great house and sprinkle it with white sand, at the 
 time when the black drink is being prepared. The fire in 
 the centre is made by friction, very early in the day, by a 
 ministrant especially appointed for the purpose, called the 
 fire-maker. Four logs, as long as the span of both arms, are 
 brought to the centre of the area by the warriors, and laid 
 down end to end, so as to form a cross. Each end of this 
 cross points to one of the cardinal points of the compass. 
 At the spot where the logs converge, the new fire is kindled 
 and the logs are consumed during the first four days of the 
 puskita. The women of the turkey gens dance the turkey- 
 dance, pinua opanga, while the powerful emetic pa'ssa is 
 being brewed. It is drank from noon to mid-afternoon, 
 after which the tadpole-dance, tokiulka opanga, is danced 
 by four males and four females, who are called the tokiulka 
 or tadpoles. In the evening the men dance the dance 
 of the hiniha: hiniha opanga, and continue it till day- 
 light. 
 
 The second day begins with the performance of the gun- 
 dance, itch'ha opanga, danced by females about ten o'clock 
 1 Remember well that Kasijjfta is a white or peace town. 
 
178 THE CREEK INDIANS. 
 
 in the forenoon. 1 At noon the men approach the new fire, 
 rub some of its ashes on the chin, neck and belly, jump head 
 foremost into the river, and then return to the great house. 
 Meanwhile the females prepare the new maize for the feast, 
 and the men on arriving rub some of it between their hands, 
 then on their face and breast, after which feasting begins. 
 
 The third day the men pass by sitting in the square. 
 
 On the fourth day the women rise early to obtain a spark 
 of the new fire ; they bring it to their own hearths, which 
 were previously cleaned and sprinkled with sand, and then 
 kindle their fires on them. When the first four logs are 
 consumed, the men repeat the ceremony of rubbing the ashes 
 on their chin, neck and belly, and then plunge into water. 
 Subsequently they taste salt and dance the long dance, opanga 
 tchapko. 
 
 The fifth day is devoted to the bringing in of four other 
 logs, which are disposed and kindled as aforementioned, and 
 then the men drink assi. 
 
 On the sixth and seventh day the men remain in the "great 
 house." 
 
 The ceremonies of the eighth or last day in the square and 
 outside of it are of a peculiarly impressive character. Four- 
 teen species of physic plants are placed in two pots containing 
 water, then stirred and beaten up in it. After the aliktchalgi 
 or conjurers have blown into the mixture through a small 
 reed, the men drink of the liquid and rub it over their joints 
 till afternoon. The names of the medical plants were as 
 follows : 
 
 i. miko huyanl'tcha. 
 
 2. t61a or sweet bay. 
 
 3. atchina or cedar (the leaves of it). 
 
 4. kapapaska, a shrub with red berries. 
 
 1 The dance is called so, because the men fire off guns during its 
 performance; another name for this dance is taputska opanga; cf. 
 tapodshidshas I am shooting. 
 
THE ANNUAL BUSK. 179 
 
 5. tchul'-issa; signifies: "pine-leaves." 
 
 6. atak'la lasti, a shrub with black berries. 
 
 7. tutka hilissiia, the " fircphysic. " 
 
 8. tchufi insakka afaga, " rabbit-basket-string, ' ' a vine-like 
 
 plant resembling the strawberry plant. 
 
 9. tchfifi masi, a species of cane. 
 
 10. hilissua hatki, the "white physic "; abbrev. hilis'-hatki. 
 
 11. tutka tchokishi, a moss species. 
 
 12. u-i lani, " yellow water ": the Jerusalem oak. 
 
 13. oktchanatchku, a rock-moss. 
 
 14. koha lowagi "switch cane, limber cane." 
 
 To these plants the modern Creeks add, as a fifteenth one, 
 the pa'ssa ; cf. below. 
 
 Then another singular mixture is prepared, of which the 
 ingredients must have been of symbolic significance : Old 
 maize cobs and pine burs are placed in a pot and burned to 
 ashes. Four girls below the age of puberty bring ashes from 
 home, put them in the pot, and stir up all together, after 
 which the men mix white clay with water in two pans. One 
 pan of the wet clay and another of the ashes are brought to 
 the miko's cabin, the other two to that of the warriors, who 
 rub themselves with the contents of both. Two men appointed 
 to that office then bring flowers of "old man's tobacco," isti 
 atchuli pakpagi, prepared on the first day of the busk, in a 
 pan 10 the miko's cabin, and a particle of it is given to every 
 person present. Upon this the miko and his councillors 
 walk four times around the burning logs, throwing some of 
 the "old man's tobacco" into the fire each time they face the 
 east, and then stop while facing the west. The warriors then 
 repeat the same ceremony. 
 
 At the miko's cabin a cane having two white feathers on 
 its end is stuck out. At the moment when the sun sets, a 
 man of the fish gens takes it down, and walks, followed by 
 all spectators, toward the river. Having gone half way, he 
 utters the death-whoop, and repeats it four times before he 
 
180 THE CREEK INDIANS. 
 
 reaches the water's edge. After the crowd has thickly con- 
 gregated at the bank, each person places a grain of "old 
 man's tobacco " on the head and others in each ear. Then, 
 at a signal repeated four times, they throw some of it into 
 the river, and every man, at a like signal, plunges into the 
 water, to pick up four stones from the bottom. With these 
 they cross themselves on their breasts four times, each time 
 throwing one of the stones back into the river and uttering 
 the death-whoop. Then they wash themselves, take up the 
 cane with the feathers, return to the great house, where they 
 stick it up, then walk through the town visiting. 
 
 The mad dance, opanga hadsho, is performed after night- 
 fall, and this terminates the long ceremony. 
 
 The celebration of the puskita had a favorable influence 
 upon the minds of the people, for it was a signal of amnesty, 
 absolving the Indian of all crimes, murder excepted, and 
 seemed to bury guilt itself in oblivion. All former quarrels 
 and hatred were forgotten and man restored to himself and 
 to the community. Indians renewing past quarrels after this 
 solemn festival, were severely reprimanded by others. This 
 change of mind was symbolized by the custom of the women 
 of breaking to pieces all the household utensils of the past 
 year, and replacing them by new ones ; the men refitted all 
 their property so as to look new, and it was considered 
 extremely disgraceful, even for the most indigent, to eat any 
 of the new maize before the annual busk (Sketch, pp. 75-78). 1 
 
 The foregoing sketch would be incomplete without the 
 addition of another account of a four days' puskita, which C. 
 Swan witnessed at Odshi-ap6fa, near the confluence of the 
 Coosa and Tallapoosa rivers ; it explains and amplifies many 
 of the incidents related by Hawkins. 
 
 1 For further particulars of the medicine-plants, see the items in the 
 Notes and in the Creek Glossary. 
 
THE ANNUAL BUSK. 181 
 
 The account inserted in Swan's article (Schoolcraft, Indians 
 V, 267. 268) is signed "Anthony Alex. M'Gillivray," who was 
 then a chief of the nation, and related by marriage to Milfort. 
 We gather from his statements, that at Odshi-ap&fa or 
 "Hickory Ground," which is a white town also, the " priest, 
 or fire-maker of the town" had the privilege of determining 
 the days of the busk, and that in doing so he was led by the 
 ripening of the maize-crop and by the growth of the cassine- 
 shrub. At the break of the first day he went to the square, 
 unattended by others, dressed in white leather moccasins and 
 stockings, with a white dressed deer-skin over his shoulders, 
 and produced there the new fire, by the friction of two dry 
 pieces of wood. When the spark was blazing up, four young 
 men entered the area at the openings of its four corners, each 
 holding a stick of wood ; they approached the new fire with 
 high reverence, and placed the ends of their sticks to it " in 
 a very formal manner." Then four other young men came 
 forward in the same manner, each holding an ear of the 
 newly-ripened Indian corn, which the conjurer took from 
 them and with formalities threw into the fire. Then four 
 other men entered the square in the same manner, car- 
 rying branches of the new cassine, some of which the priest 
 threw into the fire, the rest being immediately parched 
 and cooked for ceremonial use. The mysterious jargon which 
 he muttered during this ceremonial act was supposed to form a 
 conversation with the great "master of breath." 
 
 The male population having in the meantime gathered in 
 the cabins, the prepared black drink is served to them, and 
 sparks of the new fire are carried and left outside the build- 
 ings for public use. The women bring it to their homes, 
 which they have cleaned and decorated the day before for 
 the occasion by extinguishing the old fires and removing 
 their ashes throughout the town. They are forbidden to 
 step into the square, but dance with the children on its 
 outside. On the second day the men take their war-physic, 
 
182 THE CREEK INDIANS. 
 
 a decoction of the button-snake root, in such quantities as 
 would produce strong spasmodic effects. The third day is 
 spent by the older men in the square, in taking black drink, 
 etc., by the young men in hunting or fishing for the last day 
 of the festival. The females pass the first three days in 
 bathing, and it is unlawful for the males to touch any of them 
 even with the tip of the finger. Both sexes are compelled 
 to abstain rigidly from any food, especially from salt. The 
 fourth day all classes congregate in the "great house" 
 promiscuously; the game killed on the previous day is 
 given to the public, and the women are cooking the provi- 
 sions brought in from all sides, over the new fire. After this 
 convivial day the evening dances conclude the annual fest- 
 ivity. Any provisions left over are given to the "fire- maker." 
 
 Less circumstantial descriptions of this curious ceremony, 
 which is frequently called from analogy the "green corn 
 dance," are contained in Adair's History, Argument VIII, in 
 Bartram, Travels, pp. 507. 508, in Milfort and many other 
 writers. It appears from all that the busk is not a solstitial 
 celebration, but a rejoicing over the first fruits of the year. 
 The new year begins with the busk, which is celebrated in 
 August or late in July. Every town celebrated its busk at a 
 period independent from that of the other towns, whenever 
 their crops had come to maturity. 
 
 Religious ideas were connected with the festival, for the 
 benefits imparted to mankind by the new fruits were the gifts 
 of the sun, which was symbolized by the fire burning in the 
 centre of the square. The new .fire meant the new life, 
 physical and moral, which had to begin with the new year. 
 Everything had to be new or renewed ; even the garments 
 worn heretofore were given to the flames. The pardon 
 granted to offenders gave them a chance to begin a new 
 and better course of life. It was unlawful to pass between 
 the fire in the area and the rising sun, for this would have 
 interrupted the mystic communication existing between the 
 
FURTHER ETHNOGRAPHIC NOTES. 183 
 
 two. The rigorous fasting observed also fitted the people 
 to prepare for a new moral life, and made them more recep- 
 tive for the supernatural ; the convivial scene which closed 
 the busk typified the idea that all men, whether low or high, 
 are born brethren. The black, drink was the symbol of puri- 
 fication from wickedness, of prowess in war and of friendship 
 and hospitality. 
 
 Although the ritual of the busk differed in every Creek 
 tribe, many analogies can be traced with well-known cus- 
 toms among the Aztec and Maya nations, whose "unlucky 
 five days" at the year's close equally terminated with rejoic- 
 ings, as the precursors of a new life. 
 
 FURTHER ETHNOGRAPHIC NOTES. 
 
 Abundant material for the study of ethnography is on hand 
 for the earlier and later periods of the Creek nation ; but' 
 here we have to restrict ourselves to some points which are 
 especially adapted to the illustration of the migration legends. 
 TheTrelation of husband to wife and family being the founda- 
 tion of all tribal, social and political life, should certainly 
 be treated as fully as it deserves, but in this context only 
 incident notes can be given on this subject. 
 
 Condition of Females. — Although succession among all 
 Maskoki tribes was in the female line, the females occupied 
 a subordinate condition among the Creeks, and in their 
 households were subjected, like those of other Indians, to a 
 life of drudgery. Divorces were of frequent occurrence. 
 
 On the first days of the busk females were not permitted 
 to enter the area of the square, nor were they admitted to 
 the council-house whenever the men were sitting in council 
 or attending to the conjurer's performances. The women 
 were assigned a bathing place in the river- currents at some 
 distance below the men. It is also stated that a woman had 
 the privilege of killing her offspring during the first lunation 
 after the birth, but when she did so after that term she was 
 
184' THE CREEK INDIANS. 
 
 put to death herself. 1 This may have been the practice in a 
 few Creek tribes, but it is doubtful that such was the general 
 law in all, except in regard to illegitimate offspring. 
 
 The occupations of Creek women are described by Cpt. 
 B. Romans, p. 96 (1775), in the following succinct form : 
 
 " The women are employed, besides the cultivation of the 
 earth, in dressing the victuals, preparing, scraping, braining, 
 rubbing and smoaking the Roe-skins, making macksens of 
 them, spinning buffaloe wool, making salt, preparing cassine 
 drink, drying the chammrops and passiflora, making cold 
 flour for traveling, gathering nuts and making their milk ; 
 likewise in making baskets, brooms, pots, bowls and other 
 earthen and wooden vessels." 
 
 Initiation. — Indian parents bring up their children in a 
 manner which better deserves the name of training than that 
 of education. They think children become best fitted for 
 future life when they can, for a certain period of their ages, 
 roam around at will and act at their own pleasure. They do 
 not reprobate or punish them for any wanton act they may 
 commit ; hence the licentiousness of both sexes up to the 
 time of marriage, and the comparative want of discipline 
 among warriors on their expeditions. But the boys were 
 taught to harden their constitutions against the inclemencies 
 of the seasons and the privations in war, and this result they 
 most successfully attained by the so-called initiation, and also 
 by continued bodily exercise before and after that solemn 
 period of their lives. B. Romans (1 775) sketches the training 
 of the Creek youths in the following words (p. 96) : " Creeks 
 make the boys swim in the coldest weather ; make them fre- 
 quently undergo scratching from head to foot, through the 
 skin, with broken glass or gar-fish teeth 2 , so as to make them 
 all in a gore of blood, and then wash them with cold water ; 
 
 1 Milfort, M6m., p. 251. 
 
 2 Also practiced once a year upon the Shetimasha warriors, on their 
 knee-joints, by men expressly appointed to this manipulation.- 
 
FURTHER ETHNOGRAPHIC NOTES. 185 
 
 this is with them the arcanum against all diseases ; but when 
 they design it as a punishment to the boys, they dry-scratch 
 them, /. e., they apply no water after the operation, which 
 renders it very painful. They endeavor ... to teach 
 them all manner of cruelty toward brutes," etc. 
 
 This sort of treatment must have been abundantly pro- 
 ductive of rheumatism and other affections, though we have 
 many instances of Creek Indians reaching a high age. Of 
 the initiation which the Creek boys underwent before attaining 
 their seventeenth year, B. Hawkins gives a full and circum- 
 stantial account, which shows that superstitions had entered 
 into the customs of private life of the Creeks as deeply as 
 they had into those of other Indian tribes. 
 
 The ceremony of initiating youth into manhood, says B. 
 Hawkins 1 , is usually performed at the age from fifteen to 
 seventeen, and is called puskita {Justing), like the busk of 
 the nation. A youth of the proper age gathers two handfuls 
 of the sowatchko plant, which intoxicates and maddens, and 
 eats this very bitter root for a whole day, after which he 
 steeps the leaves in water and drinks from this. After sunset 
 he eats two or three spoonfuls of boiled grits. 2 He remains 
 in a house for four days, during which the above performances 
 are repeated. Putting on a new pair of moccasins (stillipai/a), 
 he leaves the cabin, and during twelve moons abstains from 
 eating the meat of young bucks, of turkey-cocks, fowls, peas 
 and salt, and is also forbidden to pick his ears and to scratch 
 his head with his fingers, but must use a small splinter to 
 perform these operations. Boiled grits — the only food 
 allowed to him during the first four moons — may be 
 cooked for him by a little girl, but on a fire kindled 
 especially for his own use. From the fifth month any 
 person may cook for him, but he has to serve himself first, 
 using one pan and spoon only. Every new moon he 
 
 1 Sketch of the Creek Country, pp. 78. 79. 
 1 Maize pounded into grits. 
 13 
 
186 THE CREEK INDIANS. 
 
 drinks the pa'ssa or button-snake root, an emetic, for -four 
 days, and takes no food except some boiled grits, hu'mpita 
 hatki, in the evening. At the commencement of the twelfth 
 lunation he performs for four days the same rites as he did 
 at the beginning of the initiation, but on the fifth he leaves 
 the cabin, gathers maize-cobs, burns them to ashes, and with 
 these rubs his whole body. At the end of the moon he 
 elicits transpiration by sleeping under blankets, then goes 
 into cold water, an act which ends the ceremony. The herb 
 medicines are administered to him by the isti paka'dsha 
 'lako or "great leader," who, when speaking of him, says: 
 pusidshedshe'yi sanatchumitcha'tcha-is, 1 "I am passing him 
 through the physicking process repeatedly," or: naki omalga 
 imaki'la'dshayi sa'lit 6mas, tchi, "I am teaching him all the 
 matters proper for him to think of." If he has a dream 
 during this course of initiation, he has to drink from the 
 pa'ssa, and dares not touch any persons, save boys who are 
 under a like course. This course is sometimes shortened to i 
 a few months, even to twelve days only, but the performances 
 are the same. 
 
 The purpose of the initiation of boys, corresponding to 
 the first-menstruation rites of females, was the spiritual as 
 well as the physical strengthening of the individual. While 
 the physical exposures and privations were thought to render 
 him strong in body and fearless in battle, the dreams coming 
 upon him, in consequence of the exhaustion by hunger and 
 maddening by all sorts of physic, were supposed to furnish 
 him visions, which would reveal to him enchanting views for 
 future life, material riches and the ways to acquire them, the 
 principles of bravery and persistence, the modes of charming 
 enemies and game at a distance, of obtaining scalps, and pros- 
 pects of general happiness and of a respected position in his 
 tribe. 2 
 
 1 Slightly altered from the words given by Hawkins. 
 
 2 Cf. what is said of the initiation of the ahopayi and imisi,pp. 159. 165. 
 
FURTHER ETHNOGRAPHIC NOTES. 187 
 
 Commemorative Beads. — To perpetuate the memory of his- 
 torical facts, as epidemics, tribal wars, migrations, the Creeks 
 possessed the pictorial or ideographic writing, the material 
 generally used for it being tanned skins. Besides this, which 
 was common to the majority of Indian tribes of North America, 
 Milfort (pp. 47-49) mentions another mode of transmitting 
 facts to posterity, which shows a certain analogy with the 
 wampum-belts of the Iroquois and Algonkin tribes. 
 
 It consisted of strings of small beads, in shape of a narrow 
 ribbon {banderole) or rosary {chapelei). The beads are de- 
 scribed as being similar to those called Cayenne pearls in 
 Milfort's time, varying in color, the grains being strung up 
 one after the other. The signification of each bead was deter- 
 mined by its shape and the position it occupied in its order 
 of sequence. Only the principal events were recorded by 
 these beads, and without any historic detail ; hence a single 
 string often sufficed to recall the history of twenty or twenty- 
 five years. The events of each year were kept strictly distinct 
 from the events of any subsequent year by a certain arrange- 
 ment of the grains, and thus the strings proved reliable 
 documents as to the chronology of tribal events. The oldest 
 of the mikalgi (les chefs des vieillards) often recounted to 
 Milfort, who had risen to the dignity of "chief warrior" in 
 the nation, episodes of early Creek history, suggested to them 
 by these "national archives." 
 
 Many old traditions of historic importance must have been 
 embodied in these records ; but the only one given by Mil- 
 fort, referring to the emigration of the Creeks from their 
 ancient cave-homes along Red river, is so mixed up with 
 incredible matter, that the fixation of the events, as far as 
 then remembered, must have taken place many generations 
 after the arrival of the Creeks in their Alabama homes. 
 Milfort himself, at the head of two hundred Creek men, 
 undertook an expedition to that renowned spot, to gratify 
 himself and his companions with the sight of the place itself 
 
188 THE CREEK INDIANS. 
 
 from which the nation had sprung forth, and all this solely 
 on the strength of the belief which these bead-strings had 
 inspired in his companions. 
 
 Further notices on Creek ethnology may be found in 
 B.F. French, Hist. Collect, of Louisiana, III, 128-139, in the 
 "Notes;" also in Urlsperger's "Nachricht," "Vol. I, chapter 
 5, 859-868, a passage describing especially Yamassi customs. 
 
 NOTES ON CREEK HISTORY. 
 
 To offer a history of the Creek tribe from its discovery . 
 down to our epoch to the readers does not lie within the 
 scope of this volume, and for want of sufficient documents 
 illustrating the earlier periods it could be presented in a 
 fragmentary manner only. But a few notes on the subject, 
 especially on the Oglethorpe treaties, will be of interest to 
 the reader. 
 
 In the year following their departure from the West Indies 
 (1540), the troops led by H. de Soto traversed a portion of 
 the Creek territory, taken in its extent as known to us from 
 the end of the eighteenth century. De Soto's presence is 
 proved by the mention of Creek tribes bearing Creek names 
 in the reports of his three chroniclers. The most circum- 
 stantial report in topography is that of the Knight of Elvas. 
 He states that de Soto's army usually marched five to six 
 leagues a day in peopled countries, but when passing through 
 deserted lands proceeded faster. From Chiaha H. de Soto 
 reached Coste in seven days. From Tali, probably con- 
 tiguous to Coste, he marched for six days, through many 
 towns, to Coca, arriving there July 26th, 1540. Leaving this 
 town after a stay of twenty-five days, he reached Tallimuchase 
 on the same day, Ytava on the next, and had to remain there , 
 six days, on account of a freshet in the river. Having crossed 
 the river he reached Ullibahali town, fortified by a wooden 
 wall, and on the next day stopped at a town subject to the 
 lord of Ullibahali, to reach Toasi the dav after. Then 
 
NOTES ON CREEK HISTORY. 189 
 
 he traversed the Tallise "province," peopled 'with many- 
 towns, and entered the great pueblo of Tallise on September 
 18th, to stay there twenty days. Many other towns were 
 visible on the opposite side of the " maine river," on which 
 Tallisi 1 stood. On leaving this pueblo he reached Casiste on 
 the same day, and Tuscalusa, whose chief was lord of many 
 territories, after another march of two days. From there 
 Piache, on a great river, was reached in two days, and Mavila 
 in three days from Piache. De Soto arrived in Mavila on 
 October 18th, and the whole distance from Coca to Tuscalusa 
 is computed by the Knight of Elvas at sixty leagues, the 
 direction of the route being from north to south. In this 
 particular Biedma differs from him. 
 
 The villages of Chiaha (Chisca, Ychiaha, China, var. lect.) 
 and of Coste (Costehe, Acostehe) provinces were fortified 
 and stood on river-islands. This latter circumstance makes 
 it probable that they lay on Tennessee river, and hence were 
 held by Cheroki Indians. Tali is either the Creek term tali 
 dry, exsiccated, or the Cha'hta tali rock. Coca, then in a 
 flourishing condition, is the town of Kusa. Talli-muchasi, 
 or "Newtown," near Coca, is clearly a Creek term, and so 
 is Ytava, Itawa, which I take for the imperfectly articulated 
 italua, tribe. Toasi is, I think, the town of Tawasa, which 
 was one of the Alibamu villages, q. v., and lay on the. southern 
 shore of the Alabama river. 
 
 Tallisi is undoubtedly Talua-hassi, "old town," but which 
 one of the numerous settlements of this name it may have 
 been is now impossible to determine. Casiste resembles 
 Kasi'hta, but cannot have been Kasi/ta on Chatahuchi river, 
 for de Soto reached Tuskalusa or "Black Warrior," which I 
 take to be a town on the river of that name, within two days 
 from Casiste, traveling west. 8 Piache, if Creek, could be 
 
 1 Italisi, var. lect. 
 
 2 For Casiste compare K.6sisti, a term appearing in Creek war-titles;, 
 its signification is unknown. 
 
190 THE CREEK INDIANS. 
 
 api-udshi little pole, small tree. Garcilaso de la Vega states 
 that Tascalusa was on the same river (?) as Tallisi and below 
 it. The documents of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries 
 frequently give names of localities and tribes to the local 
 chiefs, as was done here in the case of Tascalusa, Mavila, 
 Alimamu and others. Chiaha is a Cheroki name, and is 
 explained elsewhere as "place of otters." Some modern 
 critics believe that de Soto's army did not cross the moun- 
 tains into what is now North Carolina and Tennessee, the 
 "over-hill" seats of the Cheroki people, but only skirted the 
 southern slope of the Apalachian ridge by passing through 
 Northern Georgia west into Northern Alabama, and then 
 descending Coosa river. In order to determine de Soto's 
 route in these parts, we have to decide first, whether the 
 days and directions of the compass noted by his chroniclers 
 deserve more credence than the local names transmitted in 
 cases when both form conflicting statements. The names of 
 localities could not be pure inventions ; they prove by them- 
 selves, that tribes speaking Creek or Maskoki proper were 
 encountered by the adventurous leader in the same tracts 
 where we find them at the beginning of this nineteenth cen- 
 tury. It follows from this that the Creek immigration from 
 the west or northwest, if such an event ever occurred within 
 the last two thousand years, must have preceded the time of 
 de Soto's visit by a long lapse of time. Thus the terms 
 italua, tal6fa, talassi belong to the Creek dialect only; had 
 H. de Soto been in a country speaking a Hitchiti dialect, he 
 would have heard, instead of these, the term 6kli, and 
 instead of talua mutchasi: okli himashi. 1 
 
 In 1559 another Spanish leader, Tristan de Luna, disem- 
 barked in or near Mobile bay, then went north in quest of 
 gold and treasure, reached Nanipacna, or "pueblo Santa 
 Cruz de Nanipacna," and from there arrived, after experi- 
 
 1 When stopping at Ullibahali, he was in the country of the Alibamu, 
 rfor 6la, ula is the term for town in their dialect. Cf. p. 85 (Note). 
 
NOTES ON CREEK HISTORY. 191 
 
 encing many privations and trials, among the Cocas, who 
 were then engaged in warfare with the Napochies (na n pissa? 
 cf. Chicasa). He made a treaty of alliance with the Cocas, 
 and deemed it prudent to return. The distance from Coca 
 to Nanipacna was twelve days, from there to the harbor 
 three days' march. 1 
 
 In 1567 Captain Juan del Pardo set out from St. Helena, 
 near Charleston Harbor, S. C, on an exploration tour with 
 a small detachment, following partly the same aboriginal 
 trail which had guided de Soto through the wastes of Georgia 
 and the Cheroki country. On leaving the banks of the Ten- 
 nessee river, he turned south, touching Kossa, a sort of a 
 capital (evidently Kusa), thenTasqui, Tasquiqui and Olitifar. 
 These are the only names of places mentioned by his chroni- 
 cler, Juan de la Vandera (1569), which refer to the Creek 
 country. Tasquiqui cannot be anything else but Taskigi, 
 near the junction of Coosa and Tallapoosa rivers. 
 
 From the beginning of the eighteenth century the French, 
 Spanish and British colonists endeavored to win over the 
 tribes of the confederacy to their interests. The Spaniards 
 established in Northern Florida paid honors to the "emperor 
 of the Cowetas," therewith hoping to influence all the Lower 
 and Upper Creeks, and in 1710 received Kawita delegates 
 with distinction at St. Augustine. After the conflict with 
 the Spaniards the British established Fort Moore for trading 
 purposes among the Lower Creeks. In 1713 chiefs of the 
 Alibamu, Koassati and other tribes visited the French colony 
 at Mobile, entered into friendly relations, invited them to 
 construct Fort Alibamu, also called Fort Toulouse, near 
 Odshi-apofa, q. v., and were helpful in erecting it. The 
 French entertained a small garrison and a trader's post there, 
 and subsequently the fort was called Fort Jackson. 
 
 1 Cf. Barcia, Ensayo, p. 37. The report is almost entirely devoid of 
 local names, which alone could give indications upon the route traveled 
 
192 THE CREEK INDIANS. 
 
 The first British treaty with the Creeks was concluded by 
 James Oglethorpe, Governor of the Carolinas. He set out 
 May 14th, 1733, from Charleston, his residence, and on 
 May 1 8th met in council the representatives of the Lower 
 Creek tribes at Savannah. During the meeting many facts 
 of interest were elicited. The Creeks then claimed the terri- 
 tory extending from the Savannah river to the Flint river, 
 and south to St. Augustine, stating that their former number 
 of ten tribes had been reduced to eight. Wikatchampa, the 
 Okoni miko, proclaimed that his tribe would peaceably cede 
 to the British all lands not needed by themselves. .The 
 Yamacraw chief Tomochichi, then banished from one of the 
 Lower Creek towns, spoke in favor of making a treaty with 
 the foreigners, and Yah61a 'lako, miko of Kawita, allowed 
 Tomochichi and his relatives "to call the kindred, that love 
 them, out of each of the Creek towns, that they may come 
 together and make one town. We must pray you to recall 
 the Yamasees, that they may be buried in peace among their 
 ancestors, and that they may see their graves before they 
 die; and our own nation (of the Lower Creeks) shall be 
 restored again to its ten towns." The treaty of land-cession, 
 commerce and alliance was signed May 21st, and ratified by 
 the trustees of the colony of Georgia, October 18th, 1733. 
 It stipulated a cession of the lands between the Savannah 
 and Altamaha rivers, and of some islands on the Atlantic 
 coast, to the British; it further stipulated promises to enter 
 into a commercial treaty at a later date, to place themselves 
 under the general government of Great Britain, to live in 
 peace with the colonies, to capture runaway slaves and deliver 
 them at Charleston, Savannah or Palachukla garrison for a 
 consideration. The treaty was confirmed by pledges on the 
 side of the Creeks, which consisted in a bundle of buckskins 
 for each town, whereas the English made presents of arms, 
 garments, etc. , in return. The Indians expressed a desire of re- 
 ceiving instruction through teachers, and the success obtained 
 
NOTES ON CREEK HISTORY. 193 
 
 in concluding this first treaty was mainly attributed to the influ- 
 ence of Tomochichi upon his fellow-countrymen. The eight 
 tribes represented were Kawita, Kasi/ta, Osutchi, Chiaha, Hi- 
 tchiti, Apalatchukla, Ok6ni, Yufala. The "two lost towns" 
 were certainly not those of the Sawokli and Yuchi, although 
 these do not figure in the list. Only one of the headmen 
 signing the treaty of 1733 figures in the prooemium of 
 our legend (written in 1735): "Tomaumi, head warrior of 
 Yufala, with three warriors;" he is identical with Tamokmi, 
 war captain of the Eufantees (in 1735). Chekilli is not 
 mentioned. 
 
 The above treaty is printed in : Political State of Great 
 Britain, vol. 46, p. 237 sqq; extract in C. C. Jones, Tomo- 
 chichi, pp. 27-37. 
 
 Although encouraged by this first successful meeting with 
 the Creeks> the colonists knew so well the fickleness of the 
 Indian character that they were distrustful of the steadiness 
 of their promises, and thus sought to renew the friendly rela- 
 tions with them as often as possible. 
 
 A convention was arranged with the chiefs of the Lower 
 Creeks at Savannah in 1735, during which the legend of the 
 Kasi^ta migration was delivered, but it does not appear 
 whether any new treaty stipulations were mooted or not at 
 that meeting. 
 
 Just after his return from England, Governor Oglethorpe 
 again came to Savannah on October 13th, 1 738, to meet in 
 council the mikos of Chiaha, Okmulgi, Otchisi and Apa- 
 latchukla, who were accompanied by thirty warriors and fifty- 
 two attendants. They assured him of their firm and continued 
 attachment to the crown, and notified him that deputies of 
 the remaining towns would come down to see him, and that 
 one thousand warriors of theirs were at his disposal. They 
 also requested that brass weights and sealed measures should 
 be deposited with the mikos of each town, to preclude the 
 traders settled among them from cheating. 
 
194 THE CREEK INDIANS. 
 
 On the 17th of July, 1739, Oglethorpe with a large retinue 
 started to meet the Creeks in their own country, at Kawita. 
 He traveled up Savannah river to the Yuchi town, twenty- 
 five miles above Ebenezer, then followed the inland trail, 
 for two hundred miles, without meeting any Indians. The 
 council lasted from August nth to 21st, and terminated 
 in a treaty, by which the towns renewed their "fealty" to 
 the king of Great Britain, and confirmed their cessions 
 of territory, while Oglethorpe engaged that the British 
 should not encroach upon their reserved lands, and that 
 their traders should deal fairly and honestly with the Indians. 
 The towns on Coosa and Tallapoosa rivers participated in 
 the treaty. 1 
 
 It may be regarded as a consequence of this compact, that 
 Creek warriors joined the British as auxiliaries in the expe- 
 dition against St. Augustine in 1742. 
 
 Important and detailed information on the relations of the 
 Creeks and all other Southern tribes with the British and 
 French settlers of colonial times may be found in the docu- 
 ments preserved at the State Paper Office, London. The 
 contents of such papers as relate more especially to South 
 Carolina are hinted at in numerous abstracts of them given 
 in a catalogue in Collections of South Carolina Historical 
 Society, Vols. I, II, Charleston, 8vo (Vol. II published in 
 1858); cf. II, 272. 297-298. 315-317. 322, etc. Compare 
 also W. de Brahm's writfngs, mentioned in : Appendices. 
 
 An incomplete and unsatisfactory, though curious list of 
 the elements then (17 71) composing the Maskoki confede- 
 racy and of its western allies is contained in B. Romans, East 
 and West Florida (p. 90). The passage first alludes to the 
 Seminoles as allies, and then continues : " They are a mixture 
 of the remains of the Cawittas, Talepoosas, Coosas, Apa- 
 lachias, Conshacs or Coosades, Oakmulgis, Oconis, Okchoys, 
 Alibamons, Natchez, Weetumkus, Pakanas, Taensas, Chacsi- 
 1 Cf. C. C. Jones, Tomochichi, pp. 113-119. 
 
NOTES ON CREEK HISTORY. 195 
 
 hoomas, Abekas and some other tribes whose names I do 
 not recollect." 
 
 An interesting point in early Creek history is the settle- 
 ment of Cheroki Indians in Georgia, and their removal from 
 there through the irruption of the Creeks. W. Bartram, 
 Travels, p. 518, in describing the mounds of the country, 
 states "that the region lying between Savanna river and 
 Oakmulge, east and west, and from the sea coast (of the 
 Atlantic) to the Cherokee or Apalachean mountains (filled 
 with these mounds) was possessed by the Cherokees sinoe 
 the arrival of the Europeans ; but they were afterwards dis- 
 possessed by the Muscogulges, and all that country was 
 probably, many ages preceding the Cherokee invasion, in- 
 habited by one nation or confederacy (unknown to the 
 Cherokees, Creeks) . . . etc." In another passage he gives 
 a tradition of the Creeks, according to which an ancient town 
 once built on the east bank of the Okmulgi, near the old 
 trading road, was their first settlement in these parts after 
 their emigration from the west. 
 
 The topographic names from the Cheroki language through- 
 out Georgia testify strongly to the presence of Cheroki Indians 
 in these countries. The tracts on the Ok6ni and Okmulgi 
 are nearer to the seats of the Elati Cheroki than the Creek 
 settlements on Coosa and Tallapoosa rivers, where Cheroki 
 local names occur also. 
 
 The legend reported by C. Swan (Schoolcraft V, 259) that 
 the Creeks migrated from the northwest to the Seminole 
 country, then back to Okmulgi, Tallapoosa and Coosa rivers, 
 deserves no credit, or applies to small bodies of Indians 
 only. 
 
 From an ancient tradition John Haywood 1 relates the 
 fact (pp. 237-241) that when the Cheroki Indians first settled 
 in Tennessee, they found no other red people living on Ten- 
 
 1 John Haywood, the Natural and Aboriginal History of Tennessee 
 (up to 1768). Nashville, 1823. 
 
196 THE CREEK INDIANS. 
 
 nessee river, except a large body of Creeks near the influx of 
 Hiwassee river (and some Shawanese on Cumberland river). 
 They had settled "at the island on the Creek path," meaning 
 a ford of the Great Tennessee river, also called "the Creek 
 crossing," near the Alabama State border. At first they lived 
 at peace with them, but subsequently attacked them, to drive 
 them out of the country. By stratagem they drew them from 
 their island, with all the canoes in their possession, to a place 
 where others lay in ambush for them, engaged them in battle, 
 took away their canoes to pass over to the island, and 
 destroyed there all the property of the tribe. The enfeebled 
 Creeks then left the country and went to the Coosa river. 
 
 The Broad river, a western affluent of Savannah river, 
 formed for many years the boundary between the Cheroki 
 and the eastern Creeks. It figures as such in Mouson's map 
 of 1773. 
 
 The Creeks remained under the influence of the British 
 government until after the American Revolutionary war, and 
 in many conflicts showed their hostility to the thirteen states, 
 struggling for independence. Thus they acted in the British 
 interest when they made a night attack on General Wayne's 
 army, in 1782, led by Guristersigo, near the Savannah river. 
 An attack on Buchanan's station was made by Creek and 
 Cheroki warriors near Nashville, Tenn., in 1792. Treaties 
 were concluded with them by the United States at New 
 York, August 7th, 1790, and at Coleraine, Georgia, June 29th, 
 1 796. An article of these stipulated the return of captured 
 whites, and of negro slaves and property to their owners in 
 Georgia. Trading and military posts were established among 
 them, and an agent of the Government began to reside in one 
 of their towns. Further cessions of Creek lands are recorded 
 for 1802 and 1805." 
 
 Instigated by the impassionate speeches of Tecumseh, the 
 Shawano leader, the Upper Creeks, assisted by a few Yuchi 
 and Sawokli Indians, revolted in 1813 and massacred the 
 
NOTES ON CREEK HISTORY. 197 
 
 American garrison at Fort Mimms, near Mobile bay, Ala- 
 bama, on August 30th of that year. General A. Jackson's 
 army subdued the revolt, after many bloody victories, in 
 the battle of the Horse-Shoe Bend, and by taking Pensacola, 
 the seaport from which the Spaniards had supplied the 
 insurrection with arms. A peace treaty was concluded on 
 August 9th, 1814, embodying the cession of the Creek lands 
 west of Coosa river. Surrounded as they were by white 
 settlements on all sides, this revolt, known also as the Red 
 Stick War, was the last consequential sign of reaction of 
 the aboriginal Creek mind against civilizing influences. 
 
 Previous to the departure from their lands in the Gulf 
 States to the Indian Territory (1836-1840), scattering 
 bands of the Creeks joined the Seminoles in 1836, while 
 others took arms against the United States to attack the 
 border settlements and villages . in Georgia and Alabama. 
 These were soon annihilated by General Scott. The treaty 
 of cession is dated April 4th, 1832, and the lands then granted 
 to them in their new homes embraced an area of seven mil- 
 lions of acres. On October nth, 1832, the Apalachicola 
 tribe renewed a prior agreement to remove to the west of 
 Mississippi river, and to surrender their inherited lands at 
 the mouth of the Apalachicola river. Only 744 Creeks 
 remained east of the Mississippi river. 
 
 At the outbreak of the Secession war, in 1861, the Creeks 
 separated into two hostile parties. Chief Hopo'li yahola 
 with about 8000 Creeks adhered firmly to the Union cause, 
 and at the head of about 800 of his warriors, aided by auxili- 
 ary troops, he defeated the Confederate party in one engage- 
 ment ; but in a second action he was defeated, and with his 
 followers fled into Kansas. Both rencontres took place in 
 the territory of the Cheroki Indians, in November and 
 December, 1861. 
 
 The statistic dates of the Creek population given before 
 B. Hawkins' time are mere estimates. In 1732 Governor 
 
198 THE CREEK INDIANS. 
 
 Oglethorpe reported 1300 warriors in eight towns of the 
 Lower Creeks (Schoolcraft V, 263. 278), and in 1791 all 
 the Creek "gun-men" were estimated to number between 
 5000 and 6000; the same number is given for these in the 
 census of 1832 (Schoolcraft V, 262 sqq.; VI, 333), living 
 in fifty-two towns, the whole population being between 25,000 
 and 30,000. In the same year the Cha'hta population was 
 conjectured to amount to 18,000 (Schoolcraft VI, 479). The 
 Report of the U. S. Commissioner of Indian Affairs for 1881 
 gives a Creek population of 15,000, settled upon 3,215,495 
 acres of land ; one half of these are tillable, but only 80,000 
 acres were cultivated during that year by these Indians. 
 
 THE CREEK DIALECT 
 of Maskoki is a harmonious, clearly vocalized form of speech, 
 averse to nasalization. In forms it is exceedingly rich, but 
 its syntax is very simple and undeveloped. An archaic form, 
 called the female language, exists outside of the common 
 Creek, and mainly differs from it in the endings of the verbs. 
 
 PHONETICS. 
 
 Creek possesses all sounds of the general Maskoki alphabet ; 
 but here and in Hitchiti the gutturals g, k, x are often pro- 
 nounced with the tongue resting upon the fore or alveolar 
 part of the palate. The alternating processes observed here 
 also occur in most other Indian and illiterate languages : tch, 
 dsh alternate with ts, ds, h with k, x> g with the other gut- 
 turals, b with p, d with t, a with e, o with u. The accent 
 shifts for rhetoric and syntactic causes, and many unaccented 
 syllables are pronounced long. In the pronunciation of the 
 natives there is a sort of singing modulation, which likes to 
 lengthen the last syllables of a sentence. 1 Syllables not final 
 generally terminate in a vowel. 
 
 1 Thus the Creek verbal ending -is, though short by itself, generally 
 becomes -Is, when concluding a sentence; also the Hitchiti ending -wats, 
 -tawats. 
 
THE CREEK DIALECT. 199 
 
 MORPHOLOGY. 
 
 The nominal inflection shows but three cases : The first in 
 -i (or -a, -o, -u), which may be called absolute j 1 the subject- 
 ive case in -t, -it (-at, -ut), and the objective in -n, -in (-an, 
 -un. The absolute case, when used as a vocative, often 
 lengthens or strongly accentuates the last syllable. The 
 suffix -n indicates the direct and indirect object, and also 
 sometimes the locative case. Diminutives are formed by 
 means of the suffix -odshi, -udshi. 
 
 Substantive. The substantive noun does not inflect for 
 number except in a few terms designating persons which form 
 a plural in -agi, -aki : miko chief, mikagi chiefs, to be distin- 
 guished from mikalgi class from which chiefs are chosen; 
 hunanwa man, hokti woman ; hunantagi, hdktagi. It is the 
 archaic form of -akls, the verbal ending of third person plural 
 of certain verbal inflections. Cf. -a'li in Hitchiti. 
 
 The suffix -algi, though sometimes used as a plural suffix, 
 designates collectivity : u-ikaiwa spring of water, u-ikaiwalki 
 place with water-springs, and u-ikai°alki people living at the 
 springs; aliktcha conjurer, aliktchalgi conjurers as one body, 
 taken in a body. 
 
 The parts of speech being but imperfectly differentiated, 
 tenses can be expressed in nouns by adding suffixes : miko 
 chief, mikotati, miko-o'ma one who was, has been chief; 
 miko-ta'lani a future chief; adsulagitati the defunct fore- 
 fathers. 
 
 Adjectives form a real plural by appending the suffix -agi, 
 -aki to the base. This applies, however, only to a limited 
 number of adjectives, like : 
 
 1 Absolute case has to be regarded as a provisional term only. I call 
 it absolute, because the natives, when giving vocables of the language 
 not forming part of a sentence,- mention, them in that case in Creek, in 
 Hitchiti, in Koassati, etc. In the sentence this case often corresponds, 
 however, to the status constructus of the' Hebrew. 
 
200 THE CREEK INDIANS. 
 
 atchula old, pi. atchulagi 
 hi'li good, hi'lagi 
 tchati red, tchataki 
 yiktchi strong, yiktchaki 
 
 The majority of the adjectives and of the attributive verbs 
 derived from them form derivatives, which in some instances 
 may be called distributive, in others frequentative and itera- 
 tive forms. They are formed by a partial reduplication of 
 the radix, when the basis is monosyllabic, or often of the last 
 syllable of the basis, when the word is polysyllabic. Exam- 
 ples: 
 
 lasti black, laslati black here and black there; verbified : 
 lanis, laslanis it is black. 
 
 hallui high, halhawi each of them high. 
 
 suf ki deep, sufsuki deep each, or deep in spots. 
 
 sulgi many, sulsugi many of each. 
 
 h61waki bad, holwah6ki each bad. 
 
 likwi rotten; lik'howi (animals), likliwi (vegetables). 
 
 kotchukni short, kotchuntchoki short in spots. 
 
 silkosi narrow, silsikosi narrow in places, from silki strip. 
 
 Adjectives are made negative by appending the privative 
 particle -go, -gu, -ko, -ku : itskisusi having a mother, itskisu- 
 siko motherless; hi'li good, hi'ligo not good, bad. 
 
 Gradation of adjectives and of attributive verbs formed 
 from these can be effected in different ways, which are more 
 perfect and expressive here than in those Indian languages 
 which can express gradation only by syntactic means. 
 
 A comparative is formed by prefixing isim-, isin-, isi-, 
 apheretically sim-, sin-, si- to the adjective or the attributive 
 verb, the two objects compared standing usually before the 
 adjective or verb. This prefix is composed of the particle 
 isi-, is- and the possessive pronoun im-, in-, i- of the third 
 person (s. and pi.), and corresponds somewhat to our 
 than, as. The object compared stands in the absolute case. 
 
THE CREEK DIALECT. 201 
 
 kat'tcha yaha. isin'lakit 6mis the panther (kat'tcha) is larger 
 
 ('lako large) than the wolf '(yaha ; 6mis is so). 
 tchatu tchitu-^unap-hatki (i-)sintchalatuit 6mis iron (tchatu) 
 
 is harder than silver. 
 ma tchi'panat ma h6ktudshi (i-)simmahis this boy is taller 
 
 than that girl. 
 A superlative is formed by placing i'li-, apheretically 'li-, 
 before the comparative : mahi tall, isimmahi taller than, 
 i'lisimmahi, 'lisimmahi, 'lisimahi tallest of, lit. "still taller 
 than the taller ones." 
 
 ma tsuku halhawat i'lisihalluit omis this house is the highest; 
 
 lit. "higher than the high ones." 
 A superlative may be expressed also by using the compara- 
 tive instead : ma tchipanat anhopuitaki omalgan isimmahis 
 "that boy is the tallest of all my children "; lit. "that boy is 
 taller than all my children. ' ' Or the superlative is expressed 
 by the augmentative adverb mahi : very, quite, greatly, largely 
 yiktchi mahi, the strongest, which at the same time means : 
 very strong, quite strong; 'lako mahi largest and very large ; 
 mahimahi tallest and very tall; the latter also being expressed 
 by a lengthening of the vowel : ma'hi very tall. 
 
 Minuitive gradation is effected by inversion of the sense 
 in the sentence and the use of the comparative ; they say : 
 "silver is costlier than iron," instead of saying: "iron is 
 less costly than silver." 
 
 What we call prepositions are generally nominal forms in 
 Creek, inflected like nouns and placed after their comple- 
 ments as postpositions, governing the absolute case : 
 
 unapa, subj. unapat, obj. unapan above, on the top of; 'lani 
 
 unapa (or : 'lani yuksa) on the top of the mountain. 
 tchuku-6fan laikas / stay within, in the house; -6fan, -ofa, 
 -ufa, -of is also temporal suffix : when, while, during: 
 ya o'lolopi-6fan in this year. 
 inukua atigin ak'hui'l he stands in the water up to (atigin) 
 
 his neck. 
 14 
 
202 
 
 THE CREEK INDIANS. 
 
 tsa'lki a'li^kan on account of my father. 
 
 tchuku ilidshan, under the house. 
 
 itu ilidshan, itu tchiskan under the tree. 
 
 Numerals. The cardinal numeral has a full form ending 
 in -in, and another abbreviated from it used in counting 
 objects, and not extending beyond ten; an ordinal, with 
 prefix -isa-, is-, apheret. sa-, s- ; a distributive substituting -akin 
 to -in of the cardinal, and an adverbial form in -a. 
 
 
 Cardinals. 
 
 Ordinals. 
 
 I 
 
 hamgin 
 
 haramai 
 
 ihatitchiska first 
 
 2 
 
 hok61in 
 
 bo'ko 
 
 sahok61at second 
 
 3 
 
 tut'tchinin 
 
 tut'tchi 
 
 satut'tchinat 
 
 4 
 
 o'stin, u'stin 
 
 o'sti 
 
 so'stat 
 
 5 
 
 tcha'hgipin 
 
 tcha'hgi 
 
 satcha'hgibat 
 
 6 
 
 ipakin 
 
 ipa 
 
 (i)sipakat 
 
 7 
 
 kolapakin 
 
 kolapa 
 
 iskolapakat 
 
 8 
 
 tchinapakin 
 
 tchinapa 
 
 istchinapakat 
 
 9 
 
 Ostapakin 
 
 6stapa 
 
 isustapakat 
 
 IO 
 
 palin 
 
 pa 
 
 ispalat 
 
 20 
 
 pali-hokolin 
 
 pali-hokolin 
 
 ispali-hok61at 
 
 00 
 
 tchukpi hamgin tchukpi hamgin 
 
 istchukpi hamgat 
 
 
 Distributives. 
 
 Adverbials. 
 
 I 
 
 hamgakin and 
 one to each 
 
 hamgahakin 
 
 ahamkutcha once 
 
 2 
 
 hokolakin and hokolahakin 
 
 ahokola twice 
 
 
 two to each 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 tut'tchinakin 
 
 • 
 
 atut'tchina 
 
 4 
 
 ustakin 
 
 
 o'sta 
 
 " 5 
 
 tcha'hgipakin 
 
 ■ 
 
 tcha'hgiba 
 
 6 
 
 ipakakin and ipahakin 
 
 ipaka 
 
 7 
 
 kolapakakin 
 
 
 kolapaka 
 
 9 
 
 10 
 
 20 
 
 IOO 
 
 tchinapahakin and tchinapakakin tchinapaka 
 
 ostapahakin and Ostapakakin ustapa^a 
 
 palakin and palahakin pala 
 
 pali-hokolakin pali-hok61a 
 
 tchukpi hamgakin tchukpi hamgat 
 
THE CREEK DIALECT. 203 
 
 tipa^6tchki "folded once" 
 tipa^6'hli o'stin " folded four times" 
 tipa^6'hli tchinapakin "folded eight times" 
 hamha^osi "one here and one there, scattered." 
 The personal pronoun is as follows : 
 / ani, subj. anit, obj. anin, abbr. am-, an-, a- 
 thou tchimi, tchimit, tchimin tchim-, tchin- 
 he, she, it imi, imit, imin im-, in-, i-, m- 
 
 we p6mi, pumi ; p6mit, pomin pom-, pum-, pon- 
 ye tehimitaki, etc. tchintagi 
 
 they imitaki, etc. intaki 
 
 Cha'hta distinguishes between the inclusive and exclusive 
 pronouns we, our, but Creek and Hitchiti do not. 
 
 The possessive pronoun is as follows: 
 my tcha- ; am-, an-, a- tchaka my head 
 
 thy tchi- tchika thy head, 
 
 his, her, its im-, in-, i- ika, his, her, its head 
 
 our punagi, pu-tagi, pu-, po- puka.tkki,p6ka.ourheads 
 
 your tchinakitaki,tchimitaki,tchi-tagi tchikatagi your heads 
 their inakitaki, imitagi, i-tagi ikataki their heads 
 
 The possessive relation is usually expressed : 
 (i) by the possessive pronoun prefixed to the object pos- 
 sessed : tchaka my head, anhopuitaki my children. 
 (2) when two nouns, especially substantives, stand in the 
 relation of possession, the possessor stands in the 
 absolute case before the object possessed, the pronoun 
 im-, in-, i- being prefixed to the latter, 
 isti Mashkoki imikana the land of the Creek men. 
 adshi intalapi ear of maize; lit. "maize its ear." 
 adsh' imapi stalk of maize. 
 ingi itchki his thumb; lit. "his hand its mother." 
 
 Other pronouns : 
 isti person is used as indefinite pron. : somebody; istika 
 somebody's head, a person' s head; stillipai/a boot, from 
 isti, ili, pai^a; isti hapu somebody's campingplace. 
 
204 THE CREEK INDIANS. 
 
 ista'mat, pi. istamataki ? who f 
 
 ist6mat? abbr. istat? (s. and pi.) which ? which one? 
 
 hia, ya, i-a this (close by); subj. hiat, obj. hian (in Chero- 
 ki: hia this, this one). 
 
 ma, mat, man this (further off). 
 
 asa, asat, asan that (far off). 
 
 Verb. The Creek verb is of the polysynthetic type, and 
 inflects by means of prefixes, infixes and (chiefly by) suffixes. 
 It possesses an affirmative, negative, interrogative and distrib- 
 utive form, which latter is used as a form for the plural of 
 the subject in the intransitive verbs ; it also has a large num- 
 ber of conversational forms usually derived by contraction, 
 ellipses, etc., from the regular or standard forms; and in 
 some of its inflections also a reverential besides the common 
 form. It is rich in modes, verbals and voices and may be 
 called extremely rich in tense-forms, when we compare to it 
 the poverty of many .other American languages. 
 
 The verb incorporates the direct and indirect pronominal 
 object and inflects for person. In certain conjugational forms 
 the personal affix is a prefix, in others a suffix. The historic 
 tense, a sort of aorist, is formed by the infix -h- and a change 
 of the radical vowel occurs at times, though not so often as 
 in Cha'hta. Intransitive verbs show special forms, according 
 to the number of the subject (singular, dual, plural). Very 
 frequently these latter forms are made from different roots, 
 as will be seen from the instances given below. Many transi- 
 tive verbs have, when their object stands in the plural, a 
 (distributive) form differing entirely or partially from the one 
 referring to an object in the singular; a few others show this 
 change, when their subject passes from the singular to the 
 plural number. Other transitive verbs are combining the 
 two inflections just described. 
 
 Adjectives can be verbified and then appear in the shape 
 of attributive verbs: hauki, pi. hauhaki hollow; haukas I am 
 hollow., hafckis it is hollow, hauhakis they are hollow. No 
 
THE CREEK DIALECT. 205 
 
 real substantive verb being extant, its want is supplied by 
 omas, m6mas, t6yas / am so, I am such; these are conju- 
 gated regularly, and when connected with the verbals in -t 
 (-at, -it, -ut) of any verb, compose a periphrastic conjugation 
 which displays itself in an almost infinite number of forms. 
 
 From all this it becomes evident, that the Creek verb sur- 
 passes in its large power of polysynthesis the Algonkin, Da- 
 kota and Kalapuya verb, and in the richness of its forms 
 approaches closely to the Iroquois verb, which is poorer in 
 tenses, but has an impersonal conjugation and fourteen per- 
 sons to each tense of the finite verb. Creek is likely to 
 surpass also the Basque verb, which has become proverbial 
 for the almost infinite number of its intricate verb forms. 1 
 
 I propose to. give below the inflection of the Creek verb in 
 its general outlines only, as far as necessary to give an idea 
 of the subject. The Creek conjugation is regular throughout 
 in its standard forms, though the conversational form has 
 introduced modifications. 
 
 Inflection of isita to take, carry, hold (one object) and of 
 tchawita to take (more than one object). Only three tenses 
 were given here as examples of tchawita, although it has as 
 many modes, tenses and other forms as isita. 
 
 Active Voice. 
 Affirmative conjugation. 
 Declarative mode. 
 Present: isa-is, or isas I am taking, 2 s. isitchkis, 3 s. isis; 
 
 1 pi. isis, isis, 2 pi. isa'tchkis, 3 pi. isakis. 
 tchawa-is or tchawas / am taking (more than one obj.), 
 
 2 s. tchawitchkis, 3 s. tchawis; 1 pi. tchawls, 2 pi. 
 tchawa'tchkis, 3 pi. tchawa'kis. 
 
 The preterit tenses : i'hsas I took, 2 s. i'hsitchkis, 3 s. i'hsis; 
 1 pi. i'hsis, 2 pi. i'hsa'tchkis, 3 pi. i'hsa'/kis. 
 
 1 " L'invincible vencido " is the title of the first conjugational system of 
 Basque, as published by Larramendi. 
 
206 THE CREEK INDIANS. 
 
 tcha'hwas I took (pi. of obj.), 2 s. tcha'hwitchkis, etc. 
 isayangis, I have taken, 2 s. isitchkangis, 3 s. isangis,-kis; 
 
 1 pi. isiyankis, 2 pi. isakatchkankis, 3 pi. isakankis. 
 tchawayangis I have taken (pi. of obj.), 2 s. tchawitchkan- 
 
 kis, etc. 
 isayatis I took (indefinite, aorist or historic past tense), 2 s. 
 
 isitchkatis, 3 s. isatis; 1 pi. isiatls, 2 pi. isatchkatis, 
 
 3 pi. isakatis. 
 isayantas / took (long . ago), 2 s. isitchkantas, 3 s. isantas, 
 
 etc. 
 isaimatas / had taken, 2 s. isitchkimatas, 3 s. isimatas, etc. 
 The future tenses : isa'lis I shall take, 2 s. isitchka'lis, etc. 
 isa'lanas I am going to take, 2 s. isa'lanitchkis, 3 s. 
 
 isa'lanis, etc. 
 isipayatita'lis I shall have taken, 2 s. isipitchkatita'lis, 3 s. 
 
 isipatita'lis, etc. 
 
 Conditional or subjunctive mode. 
 (6mati, omat if, when, connected with the verbal in -n.) 
 Present : isan 6mat(i) if I take, 2 s. isitchkin omat, 3 s. 
 
 isin 6mat, etc. 
 Preterit: isa'yatin omat if I had taken, 2 s. isitchkatin 
 
 omat, etc. 
 Future: isa'lanan 6mati'h if I am going to take, 2 s. 
 
 isa'lanitchkin 6mati'h, etc. 
 
 Potential mode. 
 isayis / can take, 2 s. isitchkls, 3 s. isls, isi-is, etc. 
 isa'lanayat talkis I must take, I have to take, 2 s. isa'lanitcha 
 
 talkis. 
 Isa/ant omatin omas I ought to have taken, 2 s. isa^ant omatin 
 
 6mitchkis. 
 isi waitayis I may take, 2 s. isitchki waitis, 3 s. isi waitls. 
 isa'lani waitayis probably I shall take (at some future time), 
 
 2 s. isa'lanitchki waitis/or waitayis. 
 isayi titiyls (abbr. tayis) I am able to take, 2 s. isitchki 
 
 titayls. 
 
THE CREEK DIALECT. 
 
 207 
 
 Imperative mode. 
 2 s. isas ! do thou take! (as a command). 
 2 pi. isakis ! do ye take! 
 
 2 s. isipas ! take! (reverential or exhortative). 
 2 pi. isipakis ! take ye! ye may take! 
 
 Verbals, or nominal forms of verb. 
 isita to take, the taking; tchawita (pi. of obj.) 
 
 Present: isa-i 
 
 2 s. isitchki 
 
 3 s. isi 
 
 i pi. 
 
 isi 
 
 subj. isa-i t, isat obj. isa-in 
 
 I taking, la taker. 
 isitchkit isitchkin 
 
 thou taking. 
 isit isin 
 
 he, she taking. 
 isit isin 
 
 we talcing, we takers. 
 
 2 pi. 
 
 isitchki 
 
 isitchkit isitchkin 
 ye taking. 
 
 3Pl- 
 
 isaki 
 
 isakit isakin 
 they taking. 
 
 Preterit : 
 
 isa'yati 
 
 isa'yatit isa'yatin 
 I having taken. 
 
 2 s. 
 
 isitchkati 
 
 isitchkatit isitchkatin 
 thou having taken. 
 
 3S- 
 
 isati 
 
 isatit isatin 
 he, she having taken. 
 
 i pi. 
 
 isakiyati 
 
 2. isakatchkati 3. isakati etc. 
 
 Future : 
 
 isa'lana-i 
 
 isa'lanan I going to take. 
 
 
 isa'lanitchki 
 
 isa'lanitchkin thou going to take. 
 
 
 isa'lani 
 
 isa'lanin he, she going to take. 
 
 pi. isa'lani,isa'lanatchki,isaka'lani, etc. 
 isakofan, abbr. isakof while taking. 
 isikofan, " isikof before he took. 
 isiga/kan, " isiga because he takes or took. 
 isa'lani^kan, " isa'laniga because he will take. 
 
208 THE CREEK INDIANS. 
 
 Interrogative conjugation (specimen). 
 
 isaya? do 1 take f 2 s. isitska?, 3 s. isa? 1 pi. isiya? 2 pi. 
 
 isatska? 3 pi. isa'ka? 
 tchawaya? do I take? (pi. of obj.), etc. 
 
 Negative conjugation: 
 
 isakasldo not take; 2 s. isitskigus, 3 s. isigus; 1 pi. isigus, 
 2 pi. isatskigus, 3 pi. isagigus. 
 
 tchawakus I do not take (pi. of obj.), etc. 
 Negative-interrogative conjugation : 
 
 isa'ko? do I not take I 2 s. isitskigo? 3 s. isi'go? 1 pi. isi'go? 
 
 2 pi. isatskigO? 3 pi. isagigS? (suffix -go often nasalized 
 into -g5 n , -ko°, -ku n ). 
 
 tchawa'ko ? do I not take? etc. 
 Conjugation with indirect object : 
 imisas / take for somebody, I take from somebody, 2 s. 
 imisitchkis, 3 s. imisis; 1 pi. imisls, 2 pi. imisatchkis, 
 
 3 pi. imisa'kis. 
 
 intchawas I take for somebody (pi. of obj.), etc. 
 Medial conjugation : 
 
 isipas J take for myself, 2 s. isipitchkis, 3 s. isipis; 1 pi. 
 
 isipls, 2 pi. isipatskis, 3 pi. isakipis. 
 tchawipas Hake for myself (jh. of obj.), etc. 
 
 Passive Voice. 
 
 It is formed from the active voice by inserting ho-, hu- 
 after the basis of the verb. From isas / take is formed 
 tchas'hoyas (for tcha-is-hoyas) I am taken; -s- being the only 
 sound of the radix remaining. 
 
 Present: tchas'hoyas lam taken, I am being taken; 2 s. 
 tchis'hoyas, 3 s. is'h6yas; 1 pi. putcha-uhoyas, 2 pi. 
 tchitcha-uhoyakas, 3 pi. tcha-uh6yas. 
 
 Past: tchas'hohyis, I was taken. 
 
 Future: tchas'hoya'lanis, I shall be taken. 
 
 Part. pass, ^artic. i'hsik; pi. of obj. a'hwak taken. 
 
THE CREEK DIALECT. 209 
 
 Other Voices. 
 
 Reciprocal voice : ititchawls we take each other. 
 
 u'hlatkas I fall on, upon: itu'hlatkas I attack, have a 
 scuffle. 
 Reflective voice : i-isas I take or carry myself. 
 
 yiklas I pinch; iyiklas I pinch myself. 
 Causative voice. This form had better be called a deriva- 
 tive form than a voice, as will appear from the following 
 instances : 
 
 isipuidshas / cause to take. 
 
 puskas I fast; puskipuidshas I make fast, puska'dshas 
 I make, cause to fast; puskidsha'dshas I cause to fast 
 for initiation. 
 hatkis it is white, hatidshas I whiten. 
 ki'las I know, ki'lidshas I inform, apprize, i-uki'l- 
 
 kuidshas I explain myself. 
 hui'las / stand, hui'lidshas I set up, place, make 
 stand. 
 Impersonal voice. A paradigm of an impersonal verb, in- 
 flected with its pronominal object, is as follows : 
 
 isanhi'lis it is good for me (hl'li good), 2 s. istchinhi'lis, 
 3 s. isinhi'lis; ispunhi'lis it is good for us, 2 pi. 
 istchinhi'lagis, 3 pi. isinhi'lagis. 
 
 Other -Conjugational Forms. 
 
 Paradigms of verbs inflected with the subject-pronoun 
 standing either separate or incorporated : 
 
 anit bvassldo, am the cause of antalgosis lam alone (for anit 
 
 algosis) 
 tchimit omadshksh tchintalg6sis thou art alone 
 
 imit 6mis intalg6sis 
 
 pomit omls we do puntalgosis awrfpuntalgosakis 
 
 tchintagit omadshksh tchintalgosakis 
 
 (i)mitagit omls intalgosakis 
 
210 THE CREEK INDIANS. 
 
 Objective or compound conjugation. 
 
 A transitive verb connected with its direct pronominal 
 object runs as follows : 
 
 yiklita to pinch, the pinching. 
 
 tchiyiklas I pinch thee. 
 
 yiklas I pinch him, her, it, or I pinch one object. 
 
 tchiyikla/as I pinch ye. 
 
 yikla/as I pinch them, or several objects. 
 
 tchayiklitchkis thou pinchest me. 
 
 puyiklitchkis thou pinchest us. 
 
 yiklis he, she pinches (another). 
 
 yiklakos, contr. yiklaks I do not pinch him, her, it. 
 
 yikb£ak5s I do not pinch them. 
 
 tchiyiklakos I do not pinch thee. 
 
 tchiyiklaya? do I pinch thee i 
 
 yiklaya? do I pinch him, her, it? 
 
 yiklakaya? do I pinch them ? 
 
 A transitive verb connected with its indirect pronominal 
 object conjugates in the same manner, unless there is in it 
 the idea/or the benejit of, or for the detriment of, or from, away 
 from somebody or something connected" with it. In this 
 case the pronoun im-, in-, i- is prefixed; paradigm given 
 above. 
 
 kaidshita to say, the saying, kaidshas I say. 
 
 tchikaidshas (for tchikaidsha-is) I say to thee. 
 
 kaidsha-is, kaidshas I say to him, her, it (to one person). 
 
 tchikaidshaka'-is I say to ye. 
 
 kaidshaka'-is I say to them (to several persons). 
 
 tchakaidshis he, she says to me. 
 
 tchikaidshis he, she says to thee. 
 
 kaldshis he, she says to (to another). 
 
 pukaidshis he says to us. 
 
 tchikaidshagis he says to ye. 
 
 kaidshagis he says to them (to several persons). 
 
 tchikaidshi-is we say to thee. 
 
THE CREEK DIALECT. 211 
 
 tchakaitchatchkis^ say to me. 
 
 tchikaitchakakls they say to ye. 
 
 kaidshakakls they say to them. 
 
 Intransitive Verbs. 
 
 Subject in the singular, dual and plural number : 
 
 ala/as / come, alahdkis we two come, ye'dshls we come. 
 
 6'las I arrive, o'lh6yis, o'la'-idshis. 
 
 homa^ta-is I am ahead, I lead, du. and pi. homa^'h6ti-is. 
 
 wakas I am lying, wak'hdgis, lumhis. 
 
 hui'las I stand, sihokis, saba^lis. 
 
 a'las I am about, wilagis, fullis. 
 
 tchiyas I enter, tchu^alagis, sidshiyis. 
 
 On a special use made of the verbal dual, cf. Ceremonial 
 
 allocutions. 
 
 Transitive Verbs. 
 
 Object in the singular and plural number ; the latter form 
 also marking a repetition of the act. 
 
 ilidshas I kill, pasatas. 
 
 hayas I make, hahaidshas; pi. of subject hayakis. 
 
 mutchasidshas I make new, mutchasakuidshas. 
 
 ki'la'dshas I cause to know, apprize, ki'lakuidshas. 
 
 tulas I/elKja. tree etc.), tultuidshas I fell repeatedly , or many 
 objects. 
 
 falapas I split; itun fala'hlidshas T split many sticks sepa- 
 rately. 
 
 nafkas I strike, nafnakas. 
 
 hopilas 1 inhume, hopilhuidshas and hopila*as. 
 
 tadshas I cut off, sever, wa'las. 
 Syntax. 
 
 Many conjunctions are formed from the auxiliary verbs 
 omas, m6mas and thus are in fact verbs, not particles. In 
 spite of the frequent use to which they are put they do not 
 relieve the sentence of its heaviness to any perceptible extent ; 
 for what we call incident clauses and also many co-ordinate 
 
212 THE CREEK INDIANS. 
 
 principal sentences are uniformly expressed by groups of 
 words, the verb of which stands in the -t or -n verbal, which 
 nearest corresponds to our participle in -tag; or to having 
 (h. gone, carried), sometimes five or six of them, followed at 
 the close by a finite verb. Instances of this our Creek text 
 affords almost on every page. This sort of incapsulation 
 greatly embarrasses interpreters in the rendering of Creek 
 texts in any of the modern European languages, which have 
 a tendency towards analytic and an aversion to synthetic 
 structure of the sentence, and therefore use conjunctions 
 freely. A conjunction corresponding in every respect to our 
 and exists in none of the Maskoki dialects. 
 
 The syntax is remarkably simple and uniform ; the multi- 
 plicity of grammatic forms precludes the formation of many 
 syntactic rules, just as in Sanscrit. The position of the words 
 in the sentence is: subject, object, verb. The adjective 
 when used attributively stands after the noun qualified. 
 
 Lexical Affinities. 
 
 Several Creek words possess a striking resemblance with 
 words of equal or related signification, pertaining to other 
 languages. Some of them are undoubtedly borrowed, while 
 others may rest on a fortuitous resemblance. A few of them 
 were pointed out by H. Hale, in Amer. Antiquarian V, 120. 
 I consider as being borrowed from Cheroki : 
 
 Cr. atasi war-club, in Cher, atsa, at'sa ; occurs in the Cher, 
 war-name : At'sa utegi the one throwing away the 
 war-club. It contains the idea of being bent, crooked ; 
 inata atassini the snake is crawling. 
 
 Cr. tchn'ska. J>ost-oah, H. tchiski ; Cher. tchusk6. 
 
 Cr. yenasa, Cha'hta yanash bison, buffalo; Cher, yanasa. 
 
 The Creek sulitawa soldier and the Cha'hta shulush shoe 
 were borrowed from the French terms soldat and Soulier 
 (from Lat. subtalare). 
 
 Alike in Creek and Cheroki, but of uncertain provenience 
 
THE CREEK DIALECT. 213 
 
 are tsiila, tchulajfo*, in Yuchi satchoni ; hia, i-a this, this one 
 (pron. dem.) Compare also Cr. nini road, trail with Cher, 
 na^nohi, na-£n6hi road. The Cr. words tiwa hair, scalp, and 
 wahu winged elm are said to be borrowed from foreign lan- 
 guages. It will be noticed, that names of plants, and 
 especially of animals hunted by man often spread over 
 several contiguous linguistic areas. 
 
 The Maskoki dialects, it must be acknowledged, have re- 
 mained remarkably free from foreign admixture. 
 
SECOND OR SPECIAL PART. 
 
 THE KASI'HTA MIGRATION LEGEND. 
 
 INDIAN MIGRATION LEGENDS. 
 
 There are events in the history of a people, which are 
 remembered with difficulty or displeasure and therefore soon 
 drop from the memory of men. But there are other incidents 
 which pass from father to son through many generations, and 
 the remembrance of them, though altered in many particulars 
 and variously recounted, seems to be undying. Events of 
 this kind are migrations, long warfare or decisive battles, 
 which resulted either in defeat or victory, alliances with 
 cognate or friendly tribes, times of abundance, of famines 
 and epidemics. To be of easy remembrance, there must be 
 something connected with these events which forcibly strikes 
 the imagination and in later times stands out as the principal 
 fact, while minor features of its occurrence disappear or 
 become subject to alterations in the progress of time. 
 
 This also shows the process, how historic legends and 
 traditions ,are forming among uncultured nations, which are 
 possessed of imperfect means only for the transmission of 
 ideas to posterity. Whenever this traditionary lore is written 
 down by a civilized people, then the gathering of these tales, 
 half mythic and half historic, forms a commencement of 
 historiography, and by later generations is regarded as valued 
 material for clearing up the dawn of history. 
 
 The historic legends of the different nations vary exceed- 
 ingly in their contents, at least as much as do the nations 
 
 214 
 
INDIAN MIGRATION LEGENDS. 215 
 
 themselves. There are some that speak of the chiefs only 
 and not of the people, or fill the tales with mythic heroes and 
 impossible events, while the more sober and intelligent restrict 
 the miraculous element to narrow limits, though never ex- 
 cluding it entirely. There are peoples and individuals who 
 will not give credence to a legend which does not contain 
 miracles. Many of the North American tribes, especially on 
 the Pacific coast, have no knowledge of early events in their 
 tribe, because a severe law prohibits them from calling their 
 dead relatives by their names. This superstition alone suffices 
 to destroy the historic sense in the population, but does not 
 seem to have operated among the Aztecs, Mayas and Quichhuas 
 to any noticeable degree. 
 
 All nations of the globe have migrated from earlier into 
 more recent seats, but with many of them these migrations 
 took place in epochs so far distant that they have lost all 
 recollections of them. These latter we call autochthonic ; 
 the .Kalapuya of Willamet Valley, Oregon, and the Washo 
 around Carson, Nevada, who claim to have originated from 
 bulrushes in the vicinity, belong to these. All tribes of the 
 Maskoki stock possess migration legends, and so do the 
 Dakota and Iroquois. Their migration legends are inter- 
 mingled with myths and mythic ideas; nevertheless, they 
 prove that the migrations took place in comparatively recent 
 times, and that these accounts are not pure astronomical or 
 other fictions; 
 
 A full knowledge of Maskoki mythology would certainly 
 help us in the understanding of their migration tales, but this 
 subject has not been investigated as yet. Their principal 
 mythic power is the " Master of Life " or " Holder of Breath, ' ' 
 in Creek Isakita immissi, a divine being, which is as thor- 
 oughly North American as Jahve, an ancient sun- and thunder- 
 god, is of Semitic, and Dyaus, Zeus, Jupiter, the Sky-god, is 
 of Aryan origin. The proper sense of the Creek name is 
 "the one who carries, takes the life or breath for them;" it 
 
216 THE CREEK INDIANS. 
 
 is the embodiment of the idea that a great, powerful spirit 
 gives life, or what is synonymous with it, breath to them 
 (to persons, animals), and takes it off from them at will 
 (isakita life, breath; im- pron. poss. 3d person, isas F take, 
 when the object stands in the singular) ; isi, issi taker, holder. 
 The Master of Life, also called Suta-laikati, "resident in the 
 sky," is not a pure abstraction, but has to be brought into 
 connection with the sun-worship of all Americans, which 
 again became associated with the cult of the fire-flame. The 
 idea that the Creeks knew anything of the devil of the Chris- 
 tian religion is a pure invention of the missionaries ; being 
 christianized, they call him now: isti futchigo "the man 
 acting perversely," taso^la'ya, or: isti nikle-idsha atsu'li "the 
 old person-burner ' ' (ani nikle-idshas I burn somebody, some- 
 thing); the Yuchi call him "the swinging man," just as they 
 call a ghost " a hunting man." The Shetimasha name for 
 the devil is neka, which properly means conjurer, sorcerer 
 and witchcraft. 
 
 In the eyes of the missionaries and Christian settlers, the 
 paramount importance and abstract character of the Master 
 of Breath made him appear as the centre of an almost mono- 
 theistic religion ; but on closer investigation it will be found 
 that the Creeks believed in many genii and mythic animals 
 besides, two of which were the isti-papa and the snake, which 
 furnished the snake horn as a war-talisman. It would be singu- 
 lar indeed, if the Creeks were the only Indians of America 
 who believed solely in the Great Spirit and not also in a 
 number of lesser conceptions of imagination, as dwarfs, giants, 
 ogres, fairies, hobgoblins and earth-spirits. 
 
 The myths referring to the origin of nations often stand 
 in close connection with myths accounting for the ages of 
 the world or successive creations, with migration legends, and 
 with culture-myths, explaining the origin of certain institu- 
 tions, manufactures and arts. 
 
 Many of these myths are etymological, as that of the 
 
INDIAN MIGRATION LEGENDS. 217 
 
 Greeks, stating that they originated from stones thrown, by 
 Deucalion behind himself Qda? stone, and la6$ people) ; that 
 of Adam, being created from earth; adam, in Hebrew, 
 signifies person and mankind, adorn, adum, fem. adumah red, 
 ruddy, bay-colored, adamah earth, ground, land, from its red- 
 dish color, admoni red-haired. 
 
 Although the origin from the earth is certainly, the most 
 natural that could suggest itself to primitive man, there are 
 a number of nations claiming provenience from the sky 
 (the Tukabatchi were let down from the sky in- a gourd or 
 calabash) : from the sun (Yuchi), from the moon, from the 
 sea, from the ashes of fire (Shawano), from eggs (Quichhua) 
 or certain plants. 
 
 The Aht, on the western coast of Vancouver Island, allege 
 that animals were first produced at Cape Flattery, Washington 
 Territory, and from the union of some of- these with a star, 
 which fell from heaven, came the first men, and from them 
 sprang all the race of Nitin-aht, Klayok-aht and Makah or 
 Klass-aht Indians. 1 
 
 Wherever a mythic origin from an animal, especially from 
 a wild beast, is claimed for man, it is usually done to explain 
 the totem of the gens to which the originators of the tale 
 belong. 
 
 Among the nations tracing their mythic origin to the earth, 
 or what amounts to the same thing, to caves, deep holes, 
 hills or mountains, are the Porno of Northern California, who 
 believe that their ancestors, the coyote-men, were created 
 directly from a knoll of red earth, 2 still visible in their 
 country ; the Nahua, whose seven tribes issued from Chicom- 
 oztoc or the "Seven Caves." 
 
 A tribe of the Y6kat group, the Tinlul in Southern Cali- 
 fornia, claims that their forefathers issued from badger-bur- 
 
 1 J. G. Swan, the Makah Indians, p. 56, in Smithsonian Contributions. 
 
 2 Stephen Powers, Tribes of California, p. 156. 
 
 15 
 
218 THE CREEK INDIANS. 
 
 rows, and they derive their tribal name from these holes, 
 which are extremely frequent through their country. 1 
 
 Six families representing the Six Nations of the Iroquois 
 are called out to the upper world from a cave on the Oswego 
 River by the "Holder of the Heavens," Tarenyawagon.' 
 
 Traditions on early migrations, which have originated in 
 the people to which they refer and bear the imprint of genu- 
 ineness, not that of a late fabrication by conjurers or mixed- 
 bloods, usually contain indications of importance which are 
 confirmed by archseologic and linguistic researches. The 
 tradition of the Hebrews, which tells of their immigration 
 into Palestine from the countries of the north across the 
 Euphrates, is substantiated by their tribal name ibri "one 
 who has crossed." The Hellenic, especially Doric tradition 
 of an immigration from Thrace and Macedonia through 
 Epirus and Thessalia into Greece is confirmed by linguistic 
 and historic facts, but the Roman legend concerning the 
 descent of the founders of the "Eternal City " from Troy 
 was acknowledged to be a pious fraud by the ancients them- 
 selves. 
 
 The Indians of the upper and middle part of the peninsula 
 of California claim descent from the Yuma population north 
 of them ; the TinnS- Apache of New Mexico and the Gila 
 river, Arizona, also point to an ancient home in the far 
 north, and both traditions are confirmed by the affinities of 
 their dialects. In many instances, though by no means in 
 all, the migrations are seen to follow the direction of the 
 longitudinal'axis of the continent. In North America another 
 line of migration is observed besides, that from west to east ; 
 nevertheless, the Yuchi and some Dakota and Iroquois tribes 
 have moved in a direction exactly opposite. 
 
 i Communicated by Dr. Walter J. Hoffman. Powers writes the name : 
 Tin-lin-neh. 
 
 2 The myth is given below in full; taken from E. Johnson, Legends, 
 etc. pp. 43, sqq. 
 
INDIAN MIGRATION LEGENDS. 219 
 
 It is erroneous to believe that a people had but one migra- 
 tion legend, because only one has come to our knowledge. 1 
 This would be a thorough misapprehension of the various 
 agencies which are at work in producing folk-lore. Every 
 tribe of a people or nation has its own migration myth or 
 legend, which in some points coincides, in others conflicts 
 with those of the neighboring septs. Conflicting traditions 
 will be noticed below, not only among the Maskoki nations 
 at large, but also within the narrower limits of the Creek 
 towns or tribes. 
 
 To the reproduction and critical examination of the differ- 
 ent Creek migration legends transmitted to us we premise a 
 short chapter on the mythic and legendary tales referring to 
 the migrations of the other Maskoki nations. 
 
 The account of the Cha'hta migration, as given in the Mis- 
 sionary Herald, of Boston, Vol. XXIV (1828), p. 215, was 
 referred to in a short extract in this volume, under Cha'hta, 
 pp. 106. 107. 
 
 The narrative of the interpreter, who seems to have been 
 somewhat imbued with the spirit of rationalism, continues 
 as follows : 
 
 " When they emigrated from a distant country in the west, 
 the Creeks were in front, the Cha'hta in the rear. They 
 travelled to a ' good country ' in the east ; this was the in- 
 ducement to go. On the way, they stopped to plant corn. 
 Their great leader and prophet * directed all their move- 
 ments, carried the hobuna or sacred bag (containing ' medi- 
 cines ') and a long white pole as the badge of his authority. 
 When he planted the white pole, it was a signal for their en- 
 campment. He was always careful to set this pole perpen- 
 dicularly and to suspend upon it the sacred bag. None were 
 allowed to come near it and no one but himself might touch 
 
 1 " Quod non est in scriptis, non est in mundo." 
 
 » Prophet, in Cha'hta, is hopayi and corresponds in his name to the 
 ahopaya, hopaya of the Creeks, q. v. 
 
220 THE CREEK INDIANS. 
 
 it. When the pole inclined towards the east, this was the 
 signal for them to proceed on their journey ; it steadily in- 
 clined east until they reached Nanni Waya. There they 
 settled." 
 
 This story does not mention any crossing by the Cha'hta 
 of the turbid waters of the mighty Mississippi, but accounts 
 quite satisfactorily for the mysterious inclination of the pole, 
 for the prophet must have been careful to suspend the satchel 
 with the war-physic always on the eastern side, so as to have 
 the pole brought down in that direction by the weight of the 
 pouch. The tale contains a similar motive as that of the 
 foundation of the citadel at Thebes by Kadmus, who was 
 ordered by an oracle to follow a wandering heifer until it 
 would settle in the grass, and then to found a city on the spot. 
 
 Follows the account of the Chicasa migration, as told by 
 their old men to the United States agent stationed among 
 them, and printed in Schoolcraft, Indians, I, 309 sq : 
 
 " By tradition they say they came - from the West ; a part of 
 their tribe remained in the West. When about to start east- 
 ward they were provided with a large dog as a guard and a 
 pole as guide ; the dog would give them notice whenever an 
 enemy was near at hand, and thus enable them to make their 
 arrangements to receive them. The pole they would plant 
 in the ground every night, and the next morning they would 
 look at it, and go in the direction it leaned. They continued 
 their journey in this way until they crossed the great Missis- 
 sippi river, and on the waters of the Alabama river arrived 
 in the country about where Huntsville, Alabama, now is. 
 There the pole was unsettled for several days, but finally it 
 settled and pointed in a southwest direction. They then 
 started on that course, planting the pole every night", until 
 they arrived at what is called the Chickasaw Old Fields, 1 
 
 1 The Chicasa Old Fields were, as I am informed by Mr. C. C. Royce, 
 on the eastern bank of Tennessee river, at the islands, Lat. 34 35' and 
 Long. 86° 31'. 
 
INDIAN MIGRATION LEGENDS. 221 
 
 where the pole stood perfectly erect. All then came to the 
 conclusion that that was the Promised Land, and there they 
 accordingly remained until they emigrated west of the State 
 of Arkansas, in the years 1837 and 1838." 
 
 "While the pole was in an unsettled condition, a part of 
 their tribe moved on east, and got with the Creek Indians, 
 but so soon as the majority of the tribe settled at the Old 
 Fields, they sent for the party that had gone east, who 
 answered that they were very tired, and would rest where 
 they were awhile. This clan was called Cush-eh-tah. They 
 have never joined the parent tribe, but they always remained 
 as friends until they had intercourse with the whites ; then 
 they became a separate nation." 
 
 "The great dog was lost in the Mississippi, and they 
 always believed that the dog had got into a large sink-hole 
 and there remained; the Chickasaws said they could hear 
 the dog howl just before the evening came. Whenever any 
 of their warriors get scalps, they give them to the boys to 
 go and throw them into the sink where the dog was. After 
 throwing the scalps, the boys would run off in great fright, 
 and if one should fall in running, the Chickasaws were cer- 
 tain he would be killed or taken prisoner by their enemies. 
 Some of the half-breeds, and nearly all of the full-bloods 
 now believe it." 
 
 " In traveling from the West to the Promised Land in the 
 East, they have no recollection of crossing any large water- 
 course except the Mississippi river ; they had to fight their 
 way through enemies on all sides, but cannot now remember 
 the names of them. When they left the West, they were 
 informed that they might look for whites and that they 
 would come from the East; that they should be on their 
 guard to avoid them, lest' they should bring all manner of 
 vice among them. ' ' 
 
 The end of this relation looks rather suspicious for its 
 antiquity, or may be a later addition. The throwing of the 
 
222 THE CREEK INDIANS. 
 
 scalps into the sink has to be considered as a sort of sacrifice, 
 although it is difficult to say which power of nature the dog 
 represented. The howling of the dog before evening and 
 the direction of the pole seem to indicate the state of the 
 weather and the moisture of the ground, which could give 
 origin to fevers. That the passage : " the dog was lost in 
 the Mississippi," should read : " the dog was lost in the State 
 of Mississippi," is plainly shown by the sentences following 
 the statement. 
 
 The migration legends now current among the Alibamu 
 and the Hitchiti are but short in form and have been referred 
 to under the respective headings. 
 
 MIGRATION LEGENDS OF THE CREEK TRIBES. 
 
 The following legends of the Creek Indians are the only 
 ones I have been able to obtain, although it may be taken 
 for certain, that every one of the larger centres of the Creek 
 nation had its own story about this. The legend in Url- 
 sperger and in Hawkins are both from Kasi'hta. Milfort's 
 was probably given to him at Odshi-ap6fa, and a fragment of 
 the Tukabatchi legend is inserted under Tukabatchi, p. 147. 
 
 Migration Legend as recounted to Col. Benj. Hawkins by Taskaya 
 
 Miko, of Apata-i, a branch village of Kasi'hta. " Sketch " 
 
 of B. Hawkins, pp. 81-83. 
 
 " There are in the forks (akfaski) of Red River or U-i tchati, 
 west of Mississippi River, U-i ukufki, two mounds of earth. 
 At this place the Kasi^ta, Kawita and Chicasa found them- 
 selves, and were at a loss for fire. They were here visited by 
 the hayoyalgi, four men who came from the corners of the 
 world. One of them asked the Indians, where they would 
 have their fire (tutka). They pointed to a spot; it was made 
 and they sat down around it. The hayoyalgi directed that 
 they should pay particular attention to the fire, that it would 
 preserve them and let Isakita imissi, the holder of breath, 
 
CREEK MIGRATION LEGENDS. 223 
 
 know their wants. One of the visitors took them to show 
 them the pa'ssa, another showed them the miko huyanl'dsha, 
 then the cedar or atchina and the sweet-bay or t61a. (One or 
 two plants were not recollected, and each of these seven 
 plants was to belong to a particular tribe, imalaikita. 1 ) After 
 this, the four visitors disappeared in a cloud, going in the 
 direction whence they came. 
 
 * ' The three towns then appointed their rulers. The Kasi/ta 
 chose the bear gens or nukusalgi to be their mikalgi, and the 
 Istanalgi a to be their iniha-'lakalgi or men second in com- 
 mand. The Kawita chose the 'la'loalgi or fish gens to be 
 their mikalgi. 
 
 "After these arrangements, some other Indians came from 
 the west, met them, and had a great wrestle with the three 
 towns ; they made ballsticks and played with them, with bows 
 and arrows, and with the atassa, the war club. They fell 
 out, fought, and killed each other. After this warring, the 
 three towns moved eastwardly, and met the Abika on Coosa 
 river. There they agreed to go to war for four years against 
 their first enemy ; they made shields, tupelukso, of buffalo 
 hides and it was agreed, that the warriors of each town should 
 dry and bring forward the ika halbi or scalps of the enemy 
 and pile them ; the Abika had a small pile, the Chicasa were 
 above them, the Kawita above them, and the Kasi/ta above 
 all. The two last towns raised the itu tchati, red or scalp- 
 pole, and do not suffer any other town to raise it. Kasijfta is 
 first in rank. 
 
 "After this, they settled the rank of the four towns among 
 themselves. Kasi^ta called Abika and Chicasa tchatchusi, 
 my younger brothers. Chicasa and Abika called Kasi/ta and 
 
 >■ alaikita means totemic gens, imalaikita one's own gens, or Us particu- 
 lar gens. 
 
 > No such gens or division exists among the Creeks now. 
 
 * The present Creek word for shield is masanagita. The tupelukso 
 consisted of a round frame, over which hides were stretched. 
 
224 THE CREEK INDIANS. 
 
 Kawita tcha'laha, my elder brothers. Abika called Chicasa 
 ama'hmaya or my elders, my superiors, and Chicasa some- 
 times uses the same term to Abika. 
 
 "This being done they commenced their settlements on 
 Coosa and Tallapoosa rivers, and crossing the falls of Talla- • 
 poosa, above Tukaba^tchi, they visited the Chatahutchi river, 
 and found a race of people with flat heads in possession of 
 the mounds in the Kasi^ta fields. TJjiese people used bows 
 and arrows, with strings made of sinews. The allktchalgi 
 or great physic makers sent some rats in the night-time, 
 which gnawed the strings, and in the morning they attacked 
 and defeated the flat-heads. They crossed the river at the 
 island, near the mound, and took possession of the country. 
 After this they spread out eastwardly to Otchisi-hatchi or 
 Okmulgi river, to Okoni river, to Ogltchi or How-ge-chuh 
 river, to Chiska talofa hatchi or Savannah river, called some- 
 times Sawanogi. They met the white people on the seacoast, 
 who drove them back to their present situation. 
 
 " Kasi^ta and Chicasa consider themselves as people of one 
 fire, tutk-itka hamkushi, 1 from the earliest account of their 
 origin. Kasi^ta • appointed the first miko for^the Chicasa, 
 directed him to settle in the large field (sit down in the big 
 savanna), where they now are, and govern them. Some of 
 the Chicasa straggled off and settled near Augusta, from 
 whence they returned and settled near Kasi/ta, and thence 
 rejoined their own people. Kasi/ta and Chicasa have re- 
 mained friends ever since their first acquaintance. ' ' 
 
 Extract from : " History of the Moskoquis, called to-day 
 
 Creeks ;" a chapter in " Memoire" of Milfort, pp. 229-265 : 
 
 Everybody knows, that when the Spaniards conquered 
 
 1 Ttitk-itka hamkushi: of one town, belonging to one tribe; literally: 
 " of one burning fire :" tutka_/f«, itkis it burns, hamkin one, -ushi, suffix : 
 belonging to, being of. 
 
MILFORTS MIGRATION LEGEND. 225 
 
 Mexico, they experienced but little difficulty in subduing the 
 peaceable nation inhabiting those southwestern countries by 
 means of their firearms, which proved to be far superior to 
 the bows and arrows of their opponents, and against which 
 courage availed almost nothing. The ruler Montezuma 
 saw the impossibility of resisting, and called to his aid the 
 neighboring tribes. At that epoch the Moskoquis formed 
 a powerful separate republic in the northwest of Mexico; 
 they succored him with a numerous body of warriors, . but 
 were frightfully decimated by the Spaniards, who dismem- 
 bered Montezuma's domain, and almost completely depopu- 
 lated it. The conquerors also extended their sceptre over 
 the territory of the Moskoquis, who, disdaining abject slavery, 
 preferred to leave their native country to regain their former 
 independence. 
 
 They directed their steps to the north, and having marched 
 about one' hundred leagues reached the headwaters of Red 
 river in fifteen days. From there they followed its course 
 through immense plains, blooming with flowers and verdure 
 and stocked with game, for eight days. Innumerable flocks 
 of aquatic and other birds congregated around the salt ponds 
 of the prairie and on the waters of Red River. Encountering 
 clumps of trees upon their way, they stopped their march. 
 Scouting parties were dispatched to explore the surroundings ; 
 they returned in a month, having discovered a forest, the 
 borders of which were situated on Red river, and contained 
 ample subterranean dwellings. The Moskoquis went on, and 
 on reaching the spot, discovered that these dwellings were 
 hollows made in the soft ground by buffaloes and other ani- 
 mals, which had been attracted by the salty taste of the earth. 
 The tribe concluded to settle at this quiet place and began to 
 sow the grains of maize which they had brought from their 
 Mexican home. Being in want of other tools, they managed 
 to cut and trim pieces of wood with sharp-edged stones; 
 these wooden sticks were then charred and hardened in the 
 
226 THE CREEK INDIANS. 
 
 fire, to serve as agricultural implements. Thereupon they 
 fenced in the fields selected for planting by means of rails 
 and pickets, so as to prevent the wild animals from eating 
 the maize-crop, and apportioned some of the land to each 
 family 1 in the tribe. While the young people of both sexes 
 were occupied at the agricultural work, the old ones were 
 smoking their calumets. Thus many years were passed in 
 happy retirement and abundance of material riches. 
 
 But soon their destinies took a downward turn, and forced 
 them to expatriate themselves for a second time. A number 
 of their men were killed by the Albamo or Alibamu, and the 
 young men sent after them were unable to meet the hostiles 
 and to chastise them. The mikos attributed this to the 
 want of unity in their military organization, and as a remedy 
 for it instituted the charge of Great Warrior or tustenuggi 
 'lako. His authority lasted at first only during the war- 
 expedition commanded by him, but within that time his 
 power was unlimited, and he could not be called to any 
 account. 
 
 Led by a tustenuggi of their choice, they pursued the Ali- 
 bamu, and finally caught up with them near a forest on the 
 banks of the Missouri river. The war-chief ordered the wind 
 gens, to which he belonged, to cross the river first, then 
 followed the bear gens, then the tiger gens, and so forth. 
 On their march the vanguard was formed by the young braves, 
 the rear-guard by the old men, and the non-combatants were 
 placed in the centre. They surprised the Alibamu, who then 
 inhabited subterranean dwellings (souterrains), and massacred 
 a large number of them ; then these retreated in haste along 
 the Missouri river, descending on its right or southern banks. 
 When again closely pressed by the pursuing Moskoquis, who 
 had defeated them more than once, the Alibamu crossed over 
 to the left side of the river ; but this did not save them from 
 pursuit, for the Moskoquis followed them to the opposite 
 1 Family is probably meant for gens, or totem-clan. 
 
milfort's migration legend. 227 
 
 side, defeated them in a sharp encounter, and drove them in 
 the direction of Mississippi river, in which many found a 
 watery grave in their hasty flight. 
 
 The two belligerent tribes now crossed Mississippi river, 
 and the Alibamu, having an advance of eight days over their 
 pursuers, fled before them into the interior parts to the east. 
 The Moskoquis discovered their tracks and followed them to 
 the Ohio river, north shore, thence to the influx of Wabash 
 river, then crossed Ohio river into what is now Kentucky, 
 continued their march in a southern direction, and finally 
 arrived in the Yazoo country, where they stayed for several 
 years. The caves in which they lived exist to the present 
 day; some of them were excavated by themselves, while 
 others were found ready for occupation. 
 
 In the meantime the Alibamu had remained in the fertile 
 tracts along Coosa river. Their warriors cut off and scalped 
 some of the Moskoqui scouts, who had come to ascertain 
 their whereabouts. This deed so embittered the injured 
 tribe, that their mikos resolved to dispossess the enemy of 
 their territory for the third time. They crossed Gumberland 
 and Tennessee rivers, followed Coosa river in marching along 
 its banks from south to north, 1 but were too late for the 
 Alibamu, who had previously left the country, partly for 
 Mobile, partly for the tracts held by Cha'hta Indians. 
 . The Moskoquis then quietly occupied the country which 
 they had conquered and spread out along the rivers Coosa, 
 Tallapoosa, Chatahutchi, Flint, Okmulgi, Great and Little 
 Okoni and Ogitchi, till they reached Savannah river at the 
 place where Augusta is now standing. 
 
 The Moskoquis, after taking possession of this wide extent 
 of territory, sent their warriors down Mobile river in pursuit 
 of the Alibamu, who had placed themselves under the protec- 
 tion of the French. The French commander sought to pre- 
 
 1 p. 262: " dans la direction du nord." Perhaps we have to add the 
 words: "austtd." 
 
228 THE CREEK INDIANS. 
 
 vent a war between the two bodies of Indians, and succeeded 
 in arranging a truce of six months and in determining with 
 accuracy the hunting grounds of both. Leaders and warriors 
 of the Moskoquis then descended the river and concluded a 
 lasting peace with the hostile tribe in the presence of the 
 French commander. They even invited the Alibamu to join 
 their confederacy by offering them a tract of land on what is 
 now Alabama river, with the privilege of preserving their own 
 customs. The Alibamu accepted the offer, settled on the 
 land, built a town on it, called Coussehate, and since then 
 form an integral part of the Moskoqui people, which now 
 assumed the name of Creeks. 
 
 As a sequel to his wonderful story of the pursuit of the 
 Alibamu by the Creeks and the final peaceable settling down 
 of both, Milfort adds some points on the early doings and 
 warrings of the Creeks, which had occurred but a limited 
 number of years before, his stay in the tribe, and were re- 
 counted to him by one of the mikos from their memorial 
 beads, like the legendary migration : 
 
 About the time of Coussehate' s foundation an Indian tribe 
 dismembered by the Iroquois and Hurons, the Tukabatchi, 
 fled to the Creeks, and asked for shelter. Lands were as- 
 signed and the fugitives built on it a town; which they 
 named after themselves, and where the general assemblies 
 of the entire people are sometimes meeting. This kind re- 
 ception encouraged the Taskigi and the Oxiailles (Oktchayi) 
 who were also annoyed by their warlike neighbors, to seek a 
 place of safety among the Creeks. Their request was granted 
 also. The former settled at the confluence of Coosa and 
 Tallapoosa rivers, the Oxiailles ten leagues to the north of 
 them, in a beautiful prairie near a rivulet. 
 
 Shortly after this event, the ■ small tribe of the Yuchi 
 (la petite nation des Udgis), partly dismembered by the 
 British, also fled to the Creek towns and were given a ter- 
 ritory on Chatahutchi river. Likewise did a part of the 
 
milfort's migration legend. 229 
 
 Chicasa apply for help ; they were assigned seats on Yazoo 
 river, "at the head of Loup river," 1 and- soon extended their 
 habitations up to the Cheroki boundaries. A few years after, 
 the unhappy Naktche took refuge among the Chicasa, who 
 by protecting them underwent the displeasure of the French 
 colonists. They attacked the Chicasa and in spite of their 
 superior artillery were disastrously beaten near Loup river. 
 A second attack of theirs was warded off by the tribe, by 
 acceding to the peace arrangements proposed by the French. 
 The Naktche then passed over to the Creeks and obtained 
 lands on Coosa river ; they built there the towns of Natchez 
 and of Abikudshi, near two high mountains having the ap- 
 pearance of sugar-loaves. The head men of the Creeks went 
 to New Orleans in order to arrange matters amicably with 
 the French and permitted them to erect a fort at Taskigi, 
 subsequently called Fort Toulouse, and the tribes were help- 
 ful in erecting it. 
 
 Jealous of the erection of this advanced trade-post by their 
 hereditary enemy, the British asked for permission to' build 
 a fort on Ogitchi river, twenty miles west of Augusta, Georgia, 
 but were roundly, and in unmistakable terms, refused by the 
 Creek towns. After the loss of the Canadian provinces, Fort 
 Toulouse was evacuated by the French. The Creeks, much 
 dismayed at the departure of their friends, and filled with 
 aversion against the British and Spaniards, were compelled to 
 open their towns to the English traders, to obtain the needed 
 articles of European manufacture. 
 
 Follows the recital of the incorporation of some families of 
 Apalachicola, Shawano and Cheroki Indians into the com- 
 munity of the Creeks (Mem., pp. 276-285). Unfortunately 
 the statement concerning the immigration of the Cheroki is 
 without any details, and therefore is of no avail in localizing 
 
 1 Better known as Neshoba river, State of Mississippi ; nesh6ba, Cha'hta 
 term for gray wolf. 
 
230 THE CREEK INDIANS. 
 
 the Cheroki towns or colonies within the Creek territory 
 (p. 285). The author states that the immigration was caused 
 by the pressure exercised upon the tribe by the English and 
 Americans ; it was therefore of a quite modern date, if Mil- 
 fort can be trusted. 
 
 In 1781, on the 1st of February, Milfort, great war-chief 
 of the Creeks, left his home at Little Talassi, half a league 
 above the ancient Fort Toulouse, at the head of two hundred 
 young braves, to visit the legendary caves on Red river, from 
 which the nation had issued in bygone times. They crossed 
 the territories held by the Upper Cha'hta, passed through 
 Mobile, the confluence of Iberville bayou with Mississippi 
 river, St. Bernard bay on 'the coast, and following a northern 
 direction, finally reached a forest on Red river, about 150 
 leagues above its junction with Mississippi river. They 
 crossed these woods, which were situated on an eminence on 
 the river side, and stood in face of the caves (cavernes), the 
 objective point of the expedition. 
 
 The noise of a few gun-shots brought out of these spacious 
 cavities a large number of bisons, wild oxen and wild horses, 
 which ran, frightened as they were by the unusual explosions, 
 head over heels, over precipices of more than eighty feet of 
 perpendicular height into the slimy waters of Red river. 
 The only description Milfort gives of these caves goes to 
 show that there were several or many of them, situated in 
 close vicinity to each other, and that those seen could easily 
 contain fifteen to twenty thousand families. The party con- 
 cluded to pass the inclement season in these grottoes, which 
 they had reached about Christmas time. Here they hunted, 
 fished and danced until the end of March, 1782, then started 
 for the Missouri, and subsequently for home, well supplied 
 with the products of the chase. 
 
REMARKS ON MIGRATION LEGENDS. 231 
 
 Remarks on Taskaya Miio's Kasthta Legend. 
 A closer study of this legend reveals many points of import- 
 ance for the better understanding of Tchikilli's narrative, 
 as both have evidently been derived from the same original 
 report. 
 
 The locality where the tribes of the Kasi^ta, Kawita and 
 Chicasa came from is placed here in the same point of the 
 compass as in Tchikilli's story, in the west. Whether the 
 forks of the Red river were supposed to coincide with the 
 "mouth of the earth" in the legend can be decided only 
 when we shall have a better knowledge of Creek folklore. 
 If Hawkins' informant used the passive form of hidshas to see, 
 when speaking of the appearance of the Kasi/ta, it would be 
 more appropriate to say originated, were born than the expres- 
 sion we find in the text: "found themselves." The subter- 
 ranean dwellings, mentioned and visited by Milfort as being 
 the legendary home of the "Moskoquis," are not mentioned 
 here; and in French colonial times the " Forks of Red river" 
 designated the confluence of Washita and Red rivers. 
 
 The hayoyalgi, coming from the four corners of the world to 
 light the sacred fire, the symbol of the sun, are the winds fanning 
 it to a higher flame, and the purpose of the story is to make an 
 oracular power of the sacred flame, by which the Holder of 
 Breath, or Great Spirit, could be placed in communication 
 with his Indian wards, and enabled to take care of them. 
 
 The notice that each of the seven plants distributed to the 
 Indians belonged, or was the emblem of a certain gens or 
 division of people, is gathered from this passage only, and 
 probably refers to the ingredients of some war-physic, which 
 only a limited number of the gentes may have been entitled 
 to contribute to the annual puskita. The precedence of some 
 favored gentes before others in regard to offices of peace 
 or war is frequently observed among Northern as well as 
 Southern tribes of Indians. 1 The number four is conspicuous 
 1 Cf. what is said of the wind gens in Milfort's migration legend. 
 
232 THE CREEK INDIANS. 
 
 here as well as in the legend related by Tchikilli ; we have 
 four hayoyalgi, four principal chieftaincies, four years of 
 warfare, etc. 
 
 The cause of "the warring, or the pretense for it, against 
 "some other Indians from the west" is curiously similar to 
 the rivalry in athletic sports, which took place between the 
 western Iroquois and their subdivisions, and finally led to the 
 destruction of the Erie or Ka'hkwa Indians (Cusick, John- 
 son). The names of "brothers, cousins, elders," which 
 occur here, are terms of intertribal courtesy, which we find 
 also, perhaps in a more pronounced manner, among the New 
 York Iroquois. The Creeks called the Delaware and Shawano 
 Indians grandfathers, because they regard their customs and 
 practices as older and more venerable than their own ; others 
 state, because they occupied their countries further back in 
 time than the Creeks did theirs. 
 
 The facts subsequently related are given without such 
 chronological dates as we find with the previous ones, but 
 the narrator evidently tried to condense into the space of a 
 few years what it took generations to accomplish. This is 
 very frequently observed in legendary tales. The spreading 
 out of the people from the Tallapoosa river to the Chata- 
 hutchi and from there to the Savannah must have involved 
 a warfare, struggling, migration and settling down of several 
 centuries, for the advance of the Maskoki proper in this 
 direction was tantamount to the formation of the- Maskoki 
 confederacy by subduing or incorporating the tribes standing 
 in their way, and to the still more lengthy process of settling 
 among them. What nation the flat-heads or aborigines of 
 the country may have belonged to, will be discussed in the 
 remarks to Tchikillis' tale. That there were Creek-speaking 
 Indians on the Atlantic coast as early as 1564, has been shown 
 conclusively in the article Yamassi ; but their expulsion from 
 there by the white colonists occurred but one hundred and 
 fifty years later. 
 
REMARKS ON MIGRATION LEGENDS. 233 
 
 A certain objective purpose is inherent in these legends, 
 which is more of a practical than of a historical character ; 
 it intends to trace the tribal friendship existing between the 
 Kasi^ta and the Chicasa, or a portion of the latter, to remote 
 ages. It must be remembered, that both speak different 
 languages intelligible to each other only in a limited number 
 of words. An alliance comparable to this also exists between 
 the Pima and Maricopa tribes of Arizona; the languages 
 spoken by these even belong to different families. 
 
 The period when the Chicasa settlement near Kasi^ta was 
 broken up by the return of the inmates to the old Chicasa 
 ■ country is not definitely known, but may be approximately 
 set down in the beginning of the eighteenth century. Later 
 on, a war broke out between the Creeks and Chicasa. Kasi/ta 
 town refused to march against the old allies, and "when the 
 Creeks offered -to make peace their offers were rejected, till 
 the Kasi/ta interposed their good offices. These had the 
 desired effect, and produced peace" (Hawkins, p. 83). 
 
 Remarks to Milforfs Legend. 
 Milfort's "History of the Moskoquis," as given above in 
 an extract, is a singular mixture of recent fabrications and 
 distortions of real historic events, with some points traceable 
 .to genuine aboriginal folklore. 
 
 Nobody who has the slightest knowledge of the general 
 history of America will credit the statement that the Creeks 
 ever lived in the northwestern part of Mexico at Montezuma's 
 and Cortez' time, since H. de Soto found them, twenty 
 years later, on the Coosa river ; and much less the other state- 
 ment, that they succored Montezuma against the invader's 
 army. 1 That they met the Alibamu on the west side of Mis- 
 sissippi river is not impossible, but that they pursued them 
 for nearly a thousand miles up that river to the Missouri, and 
 
 1 A Chicasa migration from Mexico to the Kappa or Uga^pa settle- 
 ments, on Arkansas river, is mentioned by Adair, History, p. 195. 
 16 
 
234 THE CREEK INDIANS. 
 
 then down again on the other or eastern side of Mississippi, 
 is incredible to anybody acquainted with Indian customs and 
 warfare. The narrative of the Alibamu tribal origin given 
 under : Alibamu, p. 86, locates the place where they issued 
 from the ground between the Cahawba and the Alabama 
 rivers. That the Creeks arrived in Northern Alabama in or 
 after the time of the French colonization of the Lower Mis- 
 sissippi lands, is another impossibility, and the erection of 
 Fort Toulouse preceded the second French war against the 
 Chicasa 4>y more than twenty years, whereas Milfort repre- 
 sents it as having been a consequence of that war. 
 
 It is singular and puzzling that Maskoki legends make so 
 frequent mention of caves as the former abodes of their own 
 or of cognate tribes. Milfort relates, that the Alibamu, 
 when in the Yazoo country, lived in caves. This may refer 
 to the Cha'hta country around "Yazoo Old Village" (p. 108), 
 in Neshoba county, Mississippi ; but if it points to the Yazoo 
 river, we may think of the chief Alimamu (whose name stands 
 for the tribe itself), met with by H. de Soto, west of Chicaca, 
 and beyond Chocchechuma. A part of the Cheroki anciently 
 dwelt in caves ; and concerning the caverns from which the 
 Creeks claim to have issued, James Adair gives the following 
 interesting disclosure ; " It is worthy of notice, that the Mus- 
 kohgeh cave, out of which one of their politicians persuaded 
 them their ancestors formerly ascended to their present terres- 
 trial abode, lies in the Nanne Hamgeh old town, inhabited 
 by the Mississippi-Nachee Indians, 1 which is one of the most 
 western parts of their old -inhabited country." The idea 
 that their forefathers issued from caves was so deeply engrafted 
 in the minds of these Indians, that some of them took any 
 conspicuous cave or any country rich in caves to be the 
 primordial habitat of their race. This is also confirmed by 
 a conjurer's tricky story alluded to by Adair, History, 
 pp. 195. 196. 
 
 1 Cf. Abiku'dshi, p. 125. Adair, History, p. 195. 
 
TCHIKIIXl'S KASl'HTA LEGEND. 235 
 
 A notion constantly recurring in the Maskoki migrations 
 is that they journeyed east. This, of course, only points to 
 the general direction of their march in regard to their starting 
 point. As they were addicted to heliolatry, it may be sug- 
 gested that their conjurers advised them to travel, for luck, to 
 the east only, because the east was the rising place of the 
 sun, their protector and benefactor. Cosmologic ideas, like 
 this, we find among the Aztecs, Mayas, Chibchas and many 
 other American nations, but the direction of migrations is 
 determined by physical causes and not by visionary schemes. 
 "Wealth and plunder prompted the German barbarians, at the 
 beginning of the mediaeval epoch of history, to migrate to the 
 south of Europe ; here, in the Gulf territories, the inducement 
 lay more especially in the quest of a country more productive 
 in grains, edible roots, fish and game. It may be observed 
 here, that from the moving of the heavenly bodies from east 
 to west the Pani Indians deduced the superstition that they 
 should never move directly east in their travels. 1 This, how- 
 ever, they rarely observed in actual life at the expense of 
 convenience. 
 
 TCHIKIIXl'S KASl'HTA LEGEND. 
 
 The Kasi'hta migration legend, in its detailed form as now 
 before us, has been transmitted in the following manner : 
 
 After Tchikilli had delivered it in the year 1735 at Savan- 
 nah, in the presence of Governor Oglethorpe, of the colonial 
 authorities and people, and of over sixty of his Indian fol- 
 lowers (cf. p. 193), the interpreter handed it over, written 
 upon a buffalo skin, to the British, and in the same year it 
 was brought to England. To these statements, the American 
 Gazetteer* adds the following particulars, which seem to be 
 
 1 John B. Dunbar, The Pawnees; in Mag. of Amer. History, 1882, 
 (3d article) g 10. 
 
 a London, 1762, vol. II, Art. Georgia; cf. Ch. C. Jones, Tomochichi, 
 p. 74. Brinton, Ch.-M. Legend, p. 5. 
 
236 THE CREEK INDIANS. 
 
 founded on authentic information : " This speech was curi- 
 ously written in red and black characters, on the skin of a 
 young buffalo, and translated into English, as soon as deliv- 
 ered in the Indian language. . . . The said skin was 
 set in a frame, and hung up in the Georgia Office, in West- 
 minster. It contained the Indians' grateful acknowledgments 
 for the honors and civilities paid to Tomochichi, etc." 
 
 Upon the request of Dr. Brinton, Mr. Nicholas Trubner 
 made researches in the London offices for this pictured skin, 
 but did not succeed in finding it. He discovered, however, 
 a letter written by Tchikilli, dated March, 1734, which is 
 deposited in the Public Record Office, Chancery Lane. 1 
 
 The chances of rediscovering the English original of the 
 legend are therefore almost as slim as those of recovering the 
 lost books of Livy's History. But a translation from the 
 English has been preserved in a German book of the period, 
 and the style of this piece shows it to be an authentic and 
 comparatively accurate rendering of the original. The Ger- 
 man book referred to is a collection of pamphlets treating of 
 colonial affairs, and published from 1735 to 1 741 ; its first vol- 
 ume bears the title: AiisfuehrlicheNachrichtvondenSaltzburg- 
 ischen Bmigranten, die sich in America niedergelassen haben. 
 Worin, etc. etc., Herausgegeben von Samuel Urlsperger, Halle, 
 MDCCXXXV. The legend occupies pp. 869 to 876 of this 
 first volume, and forms chapter six of the "Journal" of 
 von Reck, the title of which is as , follows : Herrn Philipp 
 Georg Friederichs von Reck Diarium von Seiner Reise nach 
 Georgien im. Jahr 1735. F. von Reck was the commissary 
 of those German-Protestant emigrants whom religious per- 
 secution had expelled from Salzburg, in Styria, their native 
 city. 
 
 1 Brinton, Ch.-M. Legend, pp. 5. 6. 
 
ISTI MASKOKI ADSHULAGI-TAtI INNA*UNA*AT OS: 
 
 Naki Tchikilli isti Masko'ki Hatchapala'h Hatchata 
 tipa'^ad immikut hamm&'kit opunayatis Sawa'na talofan, 
 o'h'lolopi 1735, momen i-atikoyatis moh'men yanas- 
 ha'lpin u#hutsa'hudsatis. 
 
 Tchikilli isti Masko'ki Hatchapala Hatchata tipakad 
 immikut; Antitchi Kawitalgi i'mmiko ma/it; Illidshi 
 mikko; Osta Kasi^talgi immikko; Tammidsho hu'li 
 mikko; Wali Apala'h'ltsuklalgi hu'li kapitani; Puipa- 
 edshi mikko; Tamhuitchi Yutchitalgi imifa mikko; 
 Mitikayi Oku'nalgi inhu'li mikko; Tuwidshedshi mikko; 
 Huyani Tchiyahalgin Qkmulgalgi tibajrad inhu'li mikko; 
 Stimalague'htchi Osotsalgi immikko; Hupi'li Sawoklalgi 
 immikko; Iwanagi mikko; Tamokmi Yufantalgi inhu'li 
 kapitani tun, tustano/algi pali-tut'tchinit apakin opunayit 
 okatis : 
 
 Momad nita o'dshin ikana idshokuat hasi-aklatgatin 
 o'dshit o'men hawajfladls; momof man Kasi'htalgi ikan- 
 dsho^uan a'sosa-id anakuasin inkakida hayatis tche. 
 Mu'mof ikanat tchapaka-ikit hopuitakin inlo/adis ; ma 
 mo'man akiiyi'htchit inha'-a^latkosin apo/adls; momas 
 apalluat isafuli'htchit matawan i-apokatis. Momis isti 
 sulgad i-upan fik'hunnatis muma/an hi'lit-we'tis koma- 
 kika. 
 
 Mumitu istomas i'kana hubuitagi inlo/atid imomitcha'- 
 dshin, inhi'likut hasi-ossatifatchan apiyatis. ( up !) 
 
 Mo'hmit apiyit oi-ua okii'fki tchikfit lipakfit waggin 
 use/tchit, hapu hayit f igabin uhhayatgadis. Isin hayatgi 
 apiyit nl'ta hamgad yafgadin uiwa tsa-atid waggin 
 
 237 
 
238 THE CREEK INDIANS. 
 
 u'le'htchadls. Moh'mit man apogit u'h'lolopi hokolin 
 'la'lotas man pasatit pipit apokatis. . Mumas wi-ka'wat 
 inhi'lagikun inhi'lagigadis. Uyuwa tchadad iyuksa fadsan 
 apiyadls, momof tini'tki o'kin impohatis nakitoha ko'hmet 
 u/'hapiadis. 
 
 Mumad ikodshi tchatit 'lanin ossit omatit okin hid- 
 shatis; momad ma'lani unapan yahaikida okid pohakatls 
 Nagitun omad hi'htchagls ka'/tchid isti u/tiitatis ; 
 miimatin totka sakid halluin aligapit omatit mat yahaikida 
 okit omin hidshakatis. f-a 'lani 'lani immikkun kaitchid 
 hodshifatls. Hayumas tinitki imiingls mo'men isti 
 impingalagi imungat o'mis. 
 
 Man isti italoa ma'la/la^a tut'tchinin itihidshatis 
 momad ma 'lani tutka ossi o'dshan ahitidshatit isfiillin 
 itihidshatis; mo'hmet man imahilissua omas inhitchkin 
 naki ita-u siilkin ahupu'llinakatls. 
 
 Ha'si-ossati fatsan atit tiitka hatkid immala'katis, 
 momas istomitchakigatis. Wahala fatsan atit tutka 
 okulatid immalakatis, mumas ma-o istomidshikatis. 
 Akelatka fatchan atit tutka lastid immalakatis, ma-o 
 istomidshikadis. Ispogi hunisa fatchan atit tiitka tcha- 
 atitut lanit immalakatis. Hia totka 'lani ahi'tki o'dshi 
 ahitidshi isfullatid itu^kalan; hia totkan hayomi atikas 
 o'dshit o's. Ma-o yaha-iki 6'mas odshid omls. 'Lani 
 unapan pukabit u/ui'lit omatit fik'hi'lkigut istuka'idhi 
 mahid omatin ista'mat isto'hmit omatin fik'hunnls ma^as 
 sigatis. Istudshi i'tski-susikon ma itun i'lanafaikit 
 ilihotchatis ; mo'hmet ma pukabi i'hsit ho'li apiyatas 
 isfiillatis. A'tassa omid omatis. Hayomis odshls ma- 
 omid, ito-u'h matawat omatis. Hiatawan naki i-alunga 
 ma'la/'la/a o'stid yahaigit istumitskatad i-u^ki'lkuidshit 
 odshin inhitchkadls ; ihatitchiska : passa; sahokolad: 
 
TCHIKILLl'S KASl'HTA LEGEND. 239 
 
 mikko-huyanidsha ; satot'tchinad : sawatsku'h; isustad; 
 hishi loputski ; hayomit inhitchkadls. 
 
 Imahilissua inhitchkadi ps'skat pissa mikko-hoya- 
 nidsha tipakan isiafastid omants. Hia piiskita o'h'lolopi 
 omalgan i-ilawidshit naki homa lokfsat atigat man 
 weyit omis. Ma imahilissua inhitchekadi ayat hiiktagides 
 ipuskis, momin omad tutka itaman i'la-itidshit apokin 
 nlta tsa^gipas, ipakas, kulapa^as 6'lin inhuyanad i'la-awld 
 omatis. Hian mumikun ii'mad imahilissuatas imahopanid 
 omika; momin hoktage-u'h tchafindshagigo hakitayid 
 omika. 
 
 Ma-6mofa mahin ista italuat adsuleidshitut omit 
 homa/'hotit innakmagit shihpki-titayiha komitan itimay- 
 oposkit isiho^atis. Italuat 6'sttga- pukaben tchaktcha- 
 hi'htchid: "faki dshadin istchaditchagi'hlis ; -lanitut 
 omasim nik'lufat tchatit omika makakadis. Mumih'tchid 
 ponho'li ili'tchkan apiagi'l mu'men ista italuat- atit 
 istigaha'lpi yaweikit, itu tchaktchahidshati ii'hlanin oniat, 
 mad atchiillld oma'lis " itiga'dshadis. 
 
 Omalgat momitchita komit, omasim Kasi/talgi ta'htit 
 yawaigit pokabi aksomidsha'^tchin hitchgigo ha^adls. 
 Momiga mat itallua adsulli mahad omis komhuyidadis. 
 Tchikasalgit awaihigadis, momen Atilamalgi i'la-aweihi- 
 gadis; miimas Abi/kagitawat u'hlani ayidshadshad isti- 
 to'lkua atikusi-tayin yawaigadls. 
 
 Ma-6mof fu'sua ok'holatid 'lakid a'latis; ihadshi 
 tchapgld, impafnita lamhi imantalidshid. Nita umalgan 
 alagit istin pasatit papit a'latis. Hokti ahakin hahit, 
 hia fusua a'latin ihuilaidsha/adis. Hia fiisua ma naki 
 inhahoyadi i'hsit isayipati'tut, hofonen i'lisala^atls. 
 Odshipin omad nakitas hitchkuidshi waitis komakatis. 
 
240 THE CREEK INDIANS. 
 
 Hofoni hakin tchissi tchatit hl'tchkatis momen ma fiisuat 
 i'lkito-aitis koma^atis. 
 
 Ma tchissin itimpunayagit istumidshakatit i'lgi imilid- 
 shagitayad itimpunayakatis. Ma fusua itcha-kuadaksin 
 in'ii apakln o'dshid omatis. 
 
 Momen ma tchi'ssit itsa kuadaksi ifakan kalagit 
 intadshatis istomit issi-imanaitchiko-tidayin hayatis; 
 momen man ilidisha/atis. Ma fiisua fusua omal immikkun 
 kaidsha/atis. Lamhi-u mikko 'lakid o'mis komagid 
 o'mis ; momiga hii'lidas apiyis adam hi'lka hakadas fiillis ; 
 momof lamhi-hadshi ko'htsaktsahidshid isfiillid omis. 
 Tchatad ho'lit omin hatgatit hi'lka ahopakat omis. 
 Ihu'Ht tafa hatkin isnihaidshit idshu'kuan hatidshit 
 awola'dshit lamhi okit hakin omat istofan ili'htchikos. 
 
 Hia nagi mu'hmof iyupan ma apokati inkapa/kit apiyit 
 nini hatkid wakin o'laitchatis; pahitas nak-omalgat 
 hatkusi-algid omatis. Momen istit fulli-hi'lit omadin 
 idshakadis. Ma nini itahualapi/tchit anakuasin nodsha'd- 
 shadis. Isafuli/shit nini istomid omad yihidsha/adis 
 momitisti istomid fiillit omati, ma ni'nin ati/git atchaka- 
 piyakatin isamumides 6'hmis komit omadls. Man atihaigit 
 apiyit Kolos'hatchi magidan ak'hadapidshatis; Kolos'- 
 hatchi kedshad tchadu-algid ikpdshid omeka. 
 
 Ma hatsi tayytchit apiyit hasi-ossati- fatchan Kosa 
 magida italluat apokin i'limu'laitchatis ; hian apokin 
 o'h'lolopi' ostad 6'ladis. Kosalgit okatit isti-papat tchatu 
 haiikin paikld istin pumpasatit omitutanks makatis. 
 
 Kosi^talgit okatit illidshida komid hidshi-is ma/adis. 
 Ikanan ku'la-it udshi ha'lpin hiiyan hahid isu/lanatis. 
 Mo'hmitto-lopotskin o'htalaitchatis ma isti-papa adshaka- 
 yigotitayin hahit u'hapiyadis, no'hmit sa-okan ma tchato 
 
TCHIKILLl'S KASl'HTA LEGEND. 241 
 
 haiikit isti-papa paikan i'limuhucikatis. Ma isti-papa 
 tsabakihi'lit a-osa'-iyit assidshatis afosalgat iti'laputit. 
 Isti hamkusit ilatin ahi'lit omls omalgi mahatin monks 
 ho'hmit, istudshi itski-sosikon imawaigakatis ikan-haukin 
 awolaidshit at ofan. Man isti-papa o'hlitaigit igan-haiiki 
 inhayakatin u'hlataikin, tsulikusua ahit'hukin isnafkit 
 ilidshajfatis. Ifiini hayumas isfolli imiingat o'mis. Pal- 
 hamgad tsatitun palhamgit ok'holatid omis. 
 
 Isti-papa nita iskulapak' omalgan i'laagit isti pasatit 
 omatis. Munga ma ili'htchuf matawan fik'hunnin nita 
 kolapagl 6'lin i'lietchatis. Ma isagi'letchkan ho'litas 
 apia'lanit i-ititakuitchat nita ipagin imaposkit iskulapa- 
 katin apiyid omatis. Ifonin i-ahu'lkasitchid isapi-in 
 omad ihitskihi'lin fiillid o'mis. 
 
 O'h'lopi o'stad 6'lin Kosa talofa apokati ingapa^kit 
 apiyat hatch! Nofapi ka-etchid u'laitchatis yomad Kalasi- 
 hatchi ka'hodshid hakitos. Man u'h'lolopi hokolin 
 fik'hiin-nadls. Momid adshidis odshikoka naki yelungan 
 'la'lun yomen humpa^atis, momlt itcha-kutaksi haheidshit 
 in'li-tati itchhasua iniitin 'lonotutis, yoman siyokfanfa- 
 edshit kuha-tukah'lin islafka hayatis. 
 
 Hia apokati inkapa/kit apiyad hatchi Watulahagi 
 makitan o'laitchatis. Watulahaki Hatchi kaidshad 
 watulat tidayit latkid omit hahokadin ahudshif it umho- 
 yadls ; man ni'hli hamgin nodsha'dshatis Hadam apiyad 
 hatchi oiwa u'hlatkid odshin u'laidshatis ; o-itiimkan 
 hotchifadis, I'lin hayatki hatchi hamgin u'laitchatis 
 Afosafiska ke'dshid. 
 
 I'lin hayatki ma hatchin tayi/tchit apiyad 'lani halluit 
 laikin hu'laitchadin-istit apokin hi'dshatis, nini hatki 
 hayi fullangid o'mis komatis. Mii'nga 'li-habkin hahi-it 
 isitch'hatis isti hi'laglt omin o'mad gi'lidan komidut. 
 
242 THE CREEK INDIANS. 
 
 Momas 'li hatki tchatakue'htchit i'lasidsh'hatis mu'hmen 
 immikun hidshe'dshajfadin hi'likugdos makatis; 'lit 
 hat'hagid i'lafulidshin o'mad u'hapihi-id ihaliwa umusas, 
 hupuitagi ihitchkuidshit i'lasawasa natchkatis, mumas 
 tchatiduga u'hapihiatskas kiidshatis. Momi istomas isti 
 istomid omakat hitchitan komit u'hapiyi sasatis ; mu'matin 
 sumitchipin o'laitchatls. 
 
 Ninit 6-i sakun akadapgid o'min hidsha^adis momadit 
 ma nini tabala i'lussigod omin hidshit ma isti uyuan 
 isaktchiyit omiga i'lasosa-igos komadis. 
 
 Man 'lanit liigid o'mis mo'terell magitat mu'madit 
 a'lkasatiilga nafhugls ma-iikid hakid omis, momin maisti 
 man apogit 6madsh5ks kiimhuid omis. Hu'lidas apiyit 
 fullin omofa hia inhagi istamaitas po'^ki algln pohagit 
 fullid omis. 
 
 Ma uyuan apa-idshidshit apiyit u'hlatkid odshin 
 o'laitchadin tchatu 'l'ak'lagid odshin hidshatis man 
 itcha-/udaksit o'hlomhin hidshadls ; momit ma isti nini 
 hatki hayi fullangid omadshuksh komatis. 
 
 Istofas istan apiyit fullati homan isti hokolin wilako- 
 idshit fullid omis. Hia hiima-wilakad 'lani halluin 
 o'htchimhokadin talofat odshin hidshatis, 'Li-hatkin ma 
 talofa isitch'hatis mu'mas ma isti talofa ati/kad 'li-i 
 tchatin asitch'hatis. 
 
 Momof kasih'talgi tchapak'ho^atis mu'hmit ma italuan 
 isapingalidshinomoftchokS isiti aipialis komatis. Tchadun 
 uyuan akpalatit taigagi titayin hahi-it u'htayidshatis 
 moh'mit talofa imisatis ma isti ika tapikstagid omajfatis 
 umalgan pasatit hokolgsgn ahusitcha'tchatls. Assitchi 
 isapiyad i'fa hatkin is'hih'tchit illidshatis. Hokolusi 
 aho'skadin assidshit isapiyad nini hatkid waggin 
 o'laitchadin talofat odsatchukit ikodshin ih'tchit, hia isti 
 
TCHIKILLI'S KASl'HTA LEGEND. 243 
 
 hidshida komi hopo-iyitangid omadshoks komatis. Hian 
 Palajftchuklalgi apokitos mo'men ma o/huanapsld 
 Tamodsa'-idsi omis. 
 
 Kasi'htalgi imagi'laitska tchati-palatkan i-adshid 
 emunkatis; momas Pala/tchuklalgit assin iskuidshatis 
 hi v lkida isahopakan mo'hmit imponayatis: "pofigi 
 hat'hagidos momintchime-u matapoma'lis podsu'shuadshi 
 tchati-algatin takuagi *tchit ; istchigi'lga'li tchinatakin 
 hat'h^edshaksh ! " gedshatis-ka-edshatls. 
 
 Momidu istomas podshu'shuadshin ayiktchi imiinkatis 
 momas Pala^tchuklalgit isawatchitchikut imi'hsit intuba 
 lidshan hopitaltis Pala^tchuklalgit tafatkin imatis mo'hmit 
 piimmikut hamgushikas kaidshatls; mu'hmati atigad 
 istofas ito/kalgit apoki imu'ngatatis.- 
 
 U-i 'lako palahamgin apoki sasin apaluat tapalan apoki 
 sasatis. Apoki ha'mgad Kasi^talgin ka/dshit; apawan 
 Kowitalgin kahodshid omis ; momas isti hamgusid omis 
 momit Hatchapala Hatchata tipa^ad isti Maskoki italua 
 homa^hotid omis. Momidu istomas Kasi/talgi ta^tit 
 ikuadshi tchati tutka tchati hidshatit omit italua tchati-u 
 hayatit omika, ifigi tchatadi waika'lungo imungat omis 
 muntumas palahamgad hatkidun palahamgit tchatidut 
 emasim. 
 
 Ha/yomat nini hatki maimat isihi'lit omati gi'lagidos. 
 TamodshaMshi talepo'lat omidatitas istungun inlopa'- 
 idshitad gi'lagitos. Squire Oglethorpe adshakkahid mikko 
 'lakon iThi^tchit oponayat i'limpo/it i'limunahin 
 pohagidut akasamagid omeka. 
 
\THE LEGEND^ 
 
 " What Chekilll, the Head-chief of the Upper and 
 " Lower Creeks said, in a Talk held at Savannah, 
 "Anno, 1735, and which was handed over by the 
 " Interpreter, Written upon a Buffalo-skin, was, 
 " word for word, as follows : 
 
 " ' Speech, which, in the year 1735, was delivered at Sd- 
 " ' vannah, in Georgia, by ChekUli, Emperor of the 
 " ' Upper and Lower Creeks ; Antiche, highest Chief 
 " ' of the town of the Cowetas, Eliche, King ; Ousta, 
 " 'Head Chief of the Cussitaws, Tomechaw, War King; 
 " ' Wali, War Captain of the Palackucolas, Poepiche, 
 " ' King ; Tomehuichi, Dog King of the Euchitaws; 
 " ' Mittakawye, Head War Chief of the Okonees, Tuwe- 
 " ' chiche, King ; Whoyauni, Head War Chief of the 
 " ' Chehaws and of the Hokmulge Nation ; Stimelaco- 
 "' weche, King of the Osoches ; Opithli, King of the 
 " ' Jawocolos ; Ewenauki, King ; Tahmokmi, War Cap- 
 " ' tain of the Eusantees; and thirty other Warriors. 
 
 " ' At a certain time, the Earth opened in the West, 
 " ' where its mouth is. The earth opened and the Cussi- 
 " ' taws came out of its mouth, and settled near by. But 
 " ' the earth became angry and ate up their children ; 
 " ' therefore, they moved further West. A part of them, ' 
 " ' however, turned back, and came again to the same, 
 " ' place where they had been, and settled there. The 
 " ' greater number remained behind, because they thought 
 " ' it best to do so. 
 
 244 
 
tchikilli's kasi'hta legend. 245 
 
 " ' Their children, nevertheless, were eaten by the 
 " ' Earth, so that, full of dissatisfaction, they journeyed 
 " ' toward the sunrise. 
 
 " ' They came to a thick, muddy, slimy river, came 
 " ' there, camped there, rested there, and stayed over 
 " ' night there. 
 
 "'The next day, they continued, their journey and 
 " ' came, in one day, to a red, bloody river. They lived 
 " ' by this river, and ate of its fishes for two years ; but 
 " ' there were low springs there ; and it did not please 
 " ' them to remain. They went toward the end of this 
 " ' bloody river, and heard a noise as of thunder. They 
 " ' approached to see whence the noise came. At first, 
 " ' they perceived a red smoke, and then a mountain 
 " ' which thundered ; and on the mountain, was a sound 
 " ' as of singing. They sent to see what this was ; and 
 " ' it was a great fire which blazed upward, and made this 
 
 singing noise. This mountain they named the King 
 
 of Mountains. It thunders to this day; and men are 
 " ' very much afraid of it. 
 
 " ' They here met a people of three different Nations. 
 " ' They had taken and saved some of the fire from the 
 " ' mountain ; and, at this place, they also obtained a 
 " ' knowledge of herbs and of many other things. 
 
 " ' From the East, a white fire came to them ; which, 
 " ' however, they would not use. 
 
 " ' From Wahalle, came a fire which was blue ; neither 
 " ' did they use it. 
 
 " ' From the West, came a fire which was black ; nor 
 " ' would they use it. 
 
 " ' At last, came a fire from the North, which was red 
 " ' and yellow. This they mingled with the fire they had 
 
 
246 THE CREEK INDIANS. 
 
 " ' taken from the mountain ; and this is the fire they use 
 " ' to-day ; and this, too, sometimes sings. 
 
 " ' On the mountain was a pole which was very rest- 
 " ' less and made a noise, nor could any one say how it 
 " ' could be quieted. At length, they took a motherless 
 " ' child, and struck it against the pole ; and thus killed 
 " ' the child. They then took the pole, and carry it with 
 " ' them when they go to war. It was like a wooden 
 " ' tomahawk, such as they now use, and of the same 
 " ' wood. Here, they also found four herbs or roots, 
 " ' which sang and disclosed their virtues : First, Pasaw, 
 " ' the rattle-snake root ; Second, Micoweanochaw, red- 
 " ' root ; Third, Sowatchko, which grows like wild fennel ; 
 " ' and Fourth, Eschalapootchke, little tobacco. 
 
 " ' These herbs, especially the first and third, they use 
 " ' as the best medicine to purify themselves at their Busk. 
 
 " ' At this Busk, which is held, yearly, they fast, and 
 " ' make offerings of the first-fruits. 
 
 " ' Since they learned the virtues of these herbs, their 
 " ' women, at certain times, have a separate fire, and re- 
 " ' main apart from the men five, six, and seven days, for 
 " ' the sake of purification. If they neglect this, the 
 " ' power of the herbs would depart ; and the women 
 " ' would not be healthy. 
 
 " ' About that time a dispute arose, as to which was 
 " ' the oldest and which should rule ; and they agreed, as 
 " ' they were four Nations, they would set up four poles, 
 " ' and make them red with clay, which is yellow at first, 
 " ' but becomes red by burning. They would then go to 
 " ' war ; and whichever Nation should first cover its pole, 
 " ' from top to bottom, with the scalps of their enemies, 
 " ' should be the oldest. 
 
TCHIKILLl's KASl'HTA LEGEND. 247 
 
 " ' They all tried, but the Cussitaws covered their pole 
 " ' first, and so thickly that it was hidden from sight. 
 "'Therefore, they were looked upon, by the whole 
 " ' Nation, as the oldest. 
 
 " ' The Chickasaws covered their pole next ; then the 
 " 'Atilamas; but the Obikaws did not cover their pole 
 " ' higher than the knee. 
 
 " ' At that time, there was a bird of large size, blue in 
 " ' color, with a long tail, and swifter than an eagle, which 
 " ' came every day and killed and ate their people. They 
 " ' made an image, in the shape of a woman, and placed 
 " ' it in the way of this bird. The bird carried it off, and 
 " ' kept it a long time, and then brought it back. They 
 " ' left it alone, hoping it would bring something forth. 
 " ' After a long time, a red rat came forth from it, and 
 " ' they believe the bird was the father of the rat. 
 
 " ' They took council with the rat, how to destroy its 
 " ' father. Now the bird had a bow and arrows ; and the 
 " ' rat gnawed the bow-string, so that the bird could not 
 " * defend itself; and the people killed it. They called 
 " ' this bird the King of Birds. They think the eagle is 
 " ' also a great King ; and they carry its feathers when 
 " .' they go to War or make Peace : the red mean War, 
 " ' the white, Peace. If an enemy approaches with 
 " ' white feathers and a white mouth, and cries like, an 
 " ' eagle, they dare not kill him. 
 
 " ' After this, they left that place, and came to a white 
 " ' foot-path. The grass and everything around were 
 " ' white ; and they plainly perceived that people had 
 " ' been there. They crossed the path, and slept near 
 " ' there. Afterward, they turned back to see what sort 
 " ' of path that was, and who the people were who had 
 
248 THE CREEK INDIANS. 
 
 " ' been there, in the belief that it might be better for 
 • " 'them to follow that path. They went along it, to a 
 " ' creek, called Coloosehutche, that is Coloose-creek, be i 
 " ' cause it was rocky there and smoked. 
 
 " ' They crossed it, going toward the sunrise, and came 
 " ' to a people and a town named Coosaw. Here they 
 " ' remained four years. The Coosaws complained that 
 " ' they were preyed upon by a wild beast, which they 
 ■" ' called man-eater or lion, which lived in a rock. 
 
 " ' The Cussitaws said they would try to kill the beast. 
 " ' They digged a pit and stretched over it a net made of 
 " ' hickory-bark. They then laid a number of branches, 
 " ' crosswise, so that the lion could not follow them, and 
 " ' going to the place where he lay, they threw a rattle 
 " ' into his den. The lion rushed forth, in great anger, 
 " ' and pursued them through the branches. Then they 
 " ' thought it better that one should die rather than all, 
 " ' so they took a motherless child, and threw it before 
 " ' the lion, as he came near the pit, The lion rushed at it, 
 " ' and fell in the pit, over which they threw the net, and 
 " ' killed him with blazing pinewood. His bones, how- 
 " ' ever, they keep to this day ; on one side, they are red, 
 " ' on the other, blue. 
 
 " ' The lion used to come every seventh day to kill the 
 " ' people. Therefore, they remained there seven days after 
 " ' they had killed him. In remembrance of him, when 
 " ' they prepare for War, they fast six days and start on 
 " ' the seventh. If they take his bones with them, they 
 "'have good fortune. 
 
 " ' After four years, they left the Coosaws, and came to 
 " ' a River which they called Nowphawpe, now Ccdlasi- 
 " ' hutche. There, they tarried two years ; and as they 
 
TCHIKILLI'S KASl'HTA LEGEND. 249 
 
 ' had no corn, they lived on roots and fishes, and made 
 ' bows, pointing the arrows with beaver teeth and flint- 
 ' stones, and for knives they used split canes. 
 
 They left this place, and came to a creek, called 
 ' Wattoolahawka hutche, Whooping-creek, so called 
 'from the whooping of cranes, a great many being 
 ' there. They slept there one night. 
 
 " ' They next came to a River, in which there was a 
 ' waterfall ; this they named the Owatuaka-river. 
 
 " ' The next day, they reached another River, which 
 ' they called the Aphoosa pheeskaw. 
 
 " ' The following day, they crossed it, and came to a 
 'high mountain, where were people who, they believed, 
 'were the same who made the white path. They, 
 ' therefore, made white arrows and shot them, to see if 
 'they were good people. But the people took their 
 ' white arrows, painted them red, and shot them back. 
 ' When they showed these to their Chief, he said that 
 ' was not a good sign ; if the arrows returned had been 
 ' white, they could have gone there and brought food 
 ' for their children, but as they were red they must not 
 ' go. Nevertheless, some of them went to see what sort 
 ' of people they were ; and found their houses deserted. 
 ' They also saw a trail which led into the River ; and 
 ' as they could not see the trail on the opposite bank, 
 ' they believed that the people had gone into the River, 
 ' and would not again come forth. 
 
 " ' At that place, 'is a mountain, called Moterell, which 
 ' makes a noise like beating on a drum ; and they think 
 ' this people live there. They hear this noise on all 
 ' sides, when they go to War. 
 
 " ' They went along the River, till they came to a 
 
 17 
 
250 
 
 THE CREEK INDIANS. 
 
 'waterfall, where they saw great rocks; and on the 
 ' rocks were bows lying ; and they believed the people 
 ' who made the white path had been there. 
 
 " ' They always have, on their journeys, two scouts 
 ' who go before the main body. These scouts ascended 
 ' a high mountain and saw a town. They shot white 
 ' arrows into the town ; but the people of the town shot 
 ' back red arrows. 
 
 " ' Then the Cussitaws became angry, and determined 
 ' to attack the town, and each one have a house .when 
 ' it was captured. 
 
 " ' They threw stones into the River, until they could 
 ' cross it, and took the town (the people had flattened 
 ' heads), and killed all but two persons. In pursuing 
 ' these, they found a white dog, which they slew. They 
 ' followed the two who escaped, until they came again 
 ' to the white path, and saw the smoke of a town, and 
 ' thought that this must be the people they had so long 
 ' been seeking. This is the place where now the tribe 
 ' of Palachucolas live, from whom Tomochichi is de- 
 ' scended. 
 
 " ' The Cussitaws continued bloody-minded ; but the 
 ' Palachucolas gave them black drink, as a sign of 
 'friendship, and said to them: Our hearts are white, 
 ' and yours must be white, and you must lay down the 
 ' bloody tomahawk, and show your bodies, as a proof 
 ' that they shall be white. 
 
 " ' Nevertheless, they were for the tomahawk ; but the 
 ' Palachucolas got it by persuasion, and buried it under 
 'their beds. The Palachucolas likewise gave them 
 ' white feathers ; and asked to have a Chief in common. 
 ' Since then they have always lived together. 
 
It t 
 
 TCHIKILLl'S KASl'HTA LEGEND. 251 
 
 " ' Some settled on one side of the River, some on the 
 other. Those on one side are called Cussetaws, those 
 " ' on the other, Cowetas ; yet they are one people, and 
 " ' the principal towns of the Upper and Lower Creeks. 
 " ' Nevertheless, as the Cussetaws first saw the red smoke 
 " ' and the" red fire, and make bloody towns, they cannot 
 " ' yet leave their red hearts, which are, however, white. 
 " ' on one side and red on the other. 
 
 " ' They now know that the white path was the best 
 " ' for them. For, although Tomochichi was a stranger, 
 " ' they see he has done them good ; because he went to 
 " ' see the great King with Esquire Oglethorpe, and 
 " ' hear him talk, and had related it to them, and they 
 " ' had listened to it, and believed it.' " 
 
 END OF VOL. I.