Handbook of American Indians north of Mexico / edited by Frederick Webb Hodge.

Date:
1907-1910
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Handbook of American Indians north of Mexico / edited by Frederick Webb Hodge. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    980/1000 (page 962)
    unit of the political as well as of the social structure was the clan, as in many Indian tribes, marriage heiiifi forbidden within the clan, and the children be- longed to the clan of the mother. Each town had its inde.j)endent government, its council being a miniature of that of the confederacy; the town and its out- lying settlements, if it had any, thus rej)- resented an autonomy sueh as is usually implied by the term “tril)e.” Every considerable town was provided with a “public Sijuare,” formed of 4 buildings of e(iual size facing the cardinal ]>oints, and each divided into .4 apartments. The structure on the k. side was allotted to the cliief councilors, probably of the administrative side, of the government; that on the s. sid(‘ belonged to the war- rior t'hiefs; that on the N. to the inferior chiefs, while that on thi‘ w. was used for the j)ara])hernalia belonging to the cere- mony of the black drink, war i)hysic, etc. The general ])olicy of the confederacy was guided by a council, composed of representatives from each town, who met annually, or as occasion required, at a time and place fixed by the chief, or head viivo. The confederacy itself was a polit- ical organization founded on blood rela- tionshi]), real or fictitious ; its chief object was mutual defense, and the powerwield- ed by its council was inirely advisory. The liberty within the bond that held the organization together was shown by the fact that j)artsof the confederacy, and even sejiarate towns, might and actually did engage in war without reference to the wishes of the confederacy. The towns, especially those of the Creeks, were di- vided into two classes, the White or Peace towns, whose function jiertained to the civil government, and the Red or War towns, whose officers assumed manage- ment of military affairs. The S(|uare in the center of the town was devoted to the transaction of all ])uh- lic business and to jnihlic ceremonic's. In it was situated the sweat house, the uses of which were more religious than medicinal in character; and here was the (dnmkey yard, devoted to the gaine from which ittakes itspoiadar name, and to the V. ),or so-called (Jn-en-corn dance. Such games, though not strictly of reli- gious significance, were affairs of ])uhlic interest, and wen^ attended by rites and ctwemonies of a religious natun'. In thes(‘ s<iuares strangers who had no ivla- tives in the town i. e., who j)ossessed no clan rights—were ))ermitted to encamp as the gu(>sts of the town. The settlement of dis])utes and the punishment of crimes were left ])ri- marily to the members of the clans con- cerned; secondly, to the council of the town or tribe involved. The husk was an important institution among the IMuskhogean people, and had its analogue among most, if not all, other American tribes; it was chiefly in the nature of an offering of first fruits, and its celebration, which occupied sevei-al days, was an oc- casion for dancing and ceremony; new fire was kindled by a priest, and from it were made all the fires in the town; all offenses, save that of murder, were forgiven at this festival, and a new year began. Artificial deformation oftludiead seems to have been practised to some ex- tent by all the tribes, but prevailed as a general eustom among the Chocdaw, who for this rea.son were sometimes called “Elatheads.” The IMuskhogean ])opulation at the time of first contact witli Europeans has been estimated at 50,000. Hy the census of 1S90 the nimdjer of jiure-hloods be- longing to the family in Indian Ter. was as follows;. Choctaw, 9,f)9(); Chickasaw, 5,4()4; Creek, 9,291; Seminole, 2,559; be- sides j)erhaj)s 1,000 more in Florida, IMis- sissippi, Louisiana, and Texas. In lt)05 their numbers were: Choctaw by blood, 17,160; hy intermarriage, 1,467; freedmen, 5,254; in ]Mi.«sissipj>i, 1,255. Chickasaw hy blood, 5,474; Ipv intermarriage, 598; freed- men, 4,695. Creeks by bloo<l, 10,185; freedmen, 5,758. Seminole by blood, 2,099; freedmen, 950; in Florida (1900), 558. The recognized languages of the stock, so far as known, each with dialectic vari- ants, are as follows; 1. IMuskogee (including almost half of the Creek confederacy, and its offshoot, the Seminole). 2. Ilitchiti (including a large jiart of the Lower Creeks, the Mikasuki band of the Seminole, and perhaps the anc-ient Apalachee tril)e). 5. Koasati (including the Alibamu, Wetum])ka, and Koasati towns of the Creek confederacy). 4. Choctaw (including the Choctaw, Chickasaw, and the following small tribes: Aeolapissa, Bayogoula, Chakchi- nma, Chatot, Chula, lluma, Ibitoupa, iMobile, IMugalasha. Naniba, Ofogoula, Tangiitahoa, Taposa. and Tohome). Totheabove the Natchez (q. v.) should probably be added as a fifth division, though it differs more from the other dia- h'ets than any of these differ from one another. The ancient Yamasi of the Georgia-South Carolina coast may have constituted a separate* grouj), or may have been a dialect of the Ilitcliiti. TheVama- eraw were* renegades from the Lower Creek towns and in the main were probably Ilitchiti. (n.w. n. .i.m.) >Chahtahs.—rrioliani, t'liys. Hist. Mankiml, v. ■I0;P 1S.17 (or, ('lioktahs or Flatlieads). =Chahta- Muskoki.—Tnimt'mll iji Jolinson's ryclopf»'6ia, II, 1156,1877. >Chahtas.—Gallatin in Trans. -Vm.