\.\."- ..

TRANSACTIONS

01' 'I'D

•••

AME'RICAN

VOL. III.-PART I~

NEW-YORK:

GEORGE P. PUTNAM, 10 PARK: PLACE.

ETHNOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

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I'OUlIDD A. D. 180,AIID Pllall.A.lIl1l1TL'IIISTABLISUIID 11', TUII CIT'I o~ III1W-'IOalt

EDW ARD ROBINSON, LL. D.

FBANOIB L. HAWKB, D. D. J. W. FBANOIS, M. D., LL. D.

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PRO:FE8S0R M. B. ANDERSON.

MR. EVERT A. DUYOKINK.

:MR. OHARLES WELFORD.

Address, care GJW. P. PuTN~ 10 Park Place.

TBB objects of this Booiety are :_"The prosecution of inquiries intothe origin, progress, and characterlstios of the various. races of man"­and especially into II the origin and history of the aboriginal Americannations, and the phenomena connected therewith; the diversity oflanguages, the remains of ancient art, and traces of ancient civiliza­~n in Mexico, Oentral America, and Peru; the- arts, soienoes, andmythology of the American nations; and the earth-works and othermonuments of the Mississippi Valley."

ARTICLE I.

OBSERVATIONS ON

THE CREEK AND CHEROKEE. INDIANS.

BY WILLIAM l)ARTRAM.

1789.

WITH PREFATORY.AND 8UPPLmNTARY NOTES.

BY Eo G. SQUIBB.

PREFATORY NOTE.

I.'

IN the year 1847; while engaged in the preparation ofthe work entitled" Ancient Monuments of the MississippiValley," subsequently published by the Smithsonian Insti­tution. I had placed in my hands a MS. volume belongingto the late lamented Dr. Samuel George Morton, of Phila­delphia, written by WILLIAM BARTRA.M, the last of theold school of picturesque travellers, and author of a workof travels in the Carolinas and Floridas, published in 1791.·

This MS. is without title, but from· an explanatoryletter of Bartram, which accompanies it, appears to havebeen written in 1789. It is in the autograph of the author,1:Il<!; consists of replies to certain qnestions from anotherhand, in relation to the Floridian Tribes of Indians, butparticularly to the Muscoglliges or Creeks, with an Appen­dix relating to the singular earth-works so frequently metwith, both in the states bordering the Gulf of Mexico, andin those of the Mississippi Valley. From this Appendix Iobtained several interesting facts, which are embodip.d inpp. 120-123 of the work to which I have alluded, andin pp. 135-140 of my supplementary work, also publishedby the Smithsonian Institution, entitled" Aboriginal Monu­menta of the State of New York"

• "Travels throngh North and South Carolina, Georgia, East and WestPlorida, etc;," by William Bartram. Philadelphia, 1791 j London, 1792.

The historyof this MS. is unknown, beyond that it wUsent to Dr. Morton from Mobile, by a gentleman whORename is forgotten, but who received it amongst the wastepaper used as slowage, in a box of boo~ from some north­ern city. It contains nothing to indicate at whose sugges­tion it was written, or to whom it originally belonged.­The questions were evidently framed by a man of learningand research, who had paid much attention to the subject ofAmerican Archreology: and as Dr. B. S. BARTON, at onetime Vice President of the Philosophical Society of Phila­delphia, and from 1789 to 1810 an active promoter of Na­tional Science in that city, in his Memoir on the" Originof the American Nations,'" p. 46, refers to a MS. by Bar­tram, on these subjects, in his possession, it can scarcely bedoubted that he was the author of the inquiries submittedto Bartram, and the original proprietor of the MS. in ques­tion.

At a meeting of the American Ethnological Society, inthe mpnth of September, 1850, I had the honor to call theattention of that body to this MS. Its importance, in allresearches which might be made into the history and cha­racteristics ofthe Flondian Indians, was at once ·recognized,and at the same meeting J was instructed to communic.ateWilh Dr. Morton; for the purpose of obtaining his assentto its publication amongst the Transactions of the Society.I introduced the subject on the occasion of my next' personalinterview with that distinguished scholar: who at once aB­

sented to the request made hy the Society, and volunteeredalso, to submit with the MS. a preliminary lIote, explana­tory of the circumstances under which it. came into hispossession, and containing his estimate of its archreologicalor scientific value. His sudden and lamented death inter­vened to prevent the execution of this purpos~, and the MS.is necessarily published without the advantage which itwould have derived from his illustrations.

The works of Adair, Du Pratz, and Romans, with the

PREJ'ATOllY NOTE. 5

incidental notices contained in the narrative of the Portu­guese chronicler of De Soto's daring expedition" in Garci­laso de la Vega's compilation also relating t9 that expedi­tion, and in CabeCi dela Vaca's narration, comprise aboutall that is known of thepfimitive condition of the.numerousand interesting Indian tribes or nations, which at the period'of the Discovery inhabited the fertile regions bordering the'Gulf of :Mexico on the north, and which predominatedthere for two centuries after that event. We know thatthey were, to a certain degree, fixed and agricultural intheir habits. with a comparatively systematized religion,and approximated nearer, in institutions and habits, to thesemi-civilized nations of the central parts of the continent,than did the tribes to the northward of them. How far theresemblances which they sustained towards the nations ofMexico may be ascribed to the relief afforded from the pres­sure of physical wants, resulting from a genial 'climate, afertile !loB, and abundant means of subsistence,-how farfrom communi~ation or from relationship, near or remote,­these are questions of interest to the ethnological student,and every fact which shall contribute towards affordingcorrect answers to them, or serve to fix the position whichthese Indians are entitled to occupy amongst the aboriginal

.families of the continent, must be both interesting and ac­ceptable to the scientific world. They are questions, theimportance of which was properly estimated by the authorof the inquiries addressed to Bartram j and, it is evident,were had constantly in view by him in framing them.

Bartram is chiefly remembered as a naturalist, and hisreputation has hitherto rested upon his labors as a botanist.It is conceded, however, that he was a close, accurate, andconscientious observer in other departments j and the fol­lowing pages may consequeutly be regarded, and no doubtwill be received, as a valuable contribution to our alreadylarge and rapidly increasing stock'of archmological andethnological materials.'. They were written in haste, and

8

as we learn by the author's preliminary Letter, under physi­cal disadvantages, which, while they enhance our admira­tion of 'his zeal, furnish an ample apology for all his errorsof composition. It has been thought best that the MS.should be published in its original form, and the antiquatedand somewhat quaint but generally clear and always ani­mated phraseology and style of the author have, therefore,been retained.

Among the Supplementary Notes will be found variousquotations from Bartram's other writings, more fully illus­trating some of the points touched upon in this Memoir, asalso some valuable references incidentally made to themby other observers, whose works are not generally accessible,or are yet unpublished.

'I'he~avings accompanying the Memoir, were madeto illustrate the extracts from it contained in the worksalready referred to, published by the Smithsonian Institu­tion, to whose liberality this Society is indebted for theiruse.

It will not be inappropriate here to introduce the fol­lowing brief sketch of the life and labors of Bartram, fromthe Encyclopredia Americana.

"WILLIAM BARTRAM, fourth son of John Bartram, washom, 1739, at the botanic gardetl,Kingsessing,Ptmnsylvania.At the age of 16 years, he was placed with a respectablemerchant of Philadelphia, with whom he continued sixyears j after which, he went to North Carolina, with a viewof doing business there as a merchant j but, being ardentlyattached to the study of botany, he relinquished his mer·cantile pursuits, and accompanied his father in a journeyinto East Florida, to explore the natural productions of thatcountry j after which, he settled on the river of St. John's,in this region, and finally returned, about the year] 771, tohis father's residence. In 1773, at the request of DoctorFothergill, of London, he embarked for Charleston, to ex­amine the natural productions of the Floridas, and the

'I

western parts of Carolina and Georgia, chiefly in the vege­table kingdom. In this employment he was engagednearly five years, and made numerous contributions to thenatural history of the country through which he travelled.His. collections and drawings were forwarded to DoctorFothergill j and, about the year 1790, he published anaccount of his travels and discoveries, in 1 vol. 8vo., withan account of the manners and customs of the Creeks,Cherokees and Choctaws. This work soon acquired ex­tensive popularity, and is still frequently consulted. Afterhis return from his travels, he devoted himself to sci.ence,and, in 1782, was elected Professor of BOtany in the Uni­versity of Pennsylvania, which post he declined, in conse­quence of the state of his health. In 1786, he was electeda member of the American Philosophical Society, and wasa member of several other learned ~ieties in Europe andAmerica. We are indebted to him for the knowledgeof many curious and beautiful plants peculiar to NorthAmerica, and for the most complete and correct table ofAmerican omithology, before the work of Wilson, who wasassisted by him in the commencement of his AmericanOrnithology. He wrote an article on the natural historyof a plant a few minutes before his death, which happenedsuddenly, by the rupture of a blood-vessel in the lungs,July 22, 1823, in the 85th year of his age.;'

E. G. S.Ne1D York, July, 1851.

LETTER.

Thus you have,SIR,

My observations and conjectures onthese matters, with all the truth and accuracy that myslender abilities will admit of, and without reserve. Ifthey should not answer your wishes and expectations, Idesire you will ascribe it to my misapprehension of thequeries, or lack of knowledge, etc., etc.

I doubt not but you will readily excuse bad writing,composition and spelling. My weakness of sight, I hope,will plead for me, when I assure you I have been obligedto write the greater part of this with my eyes shut, andthat with pain.

I do not mention this to claim any sort of obligationfrom you, Sir, for all that I knew concerning these mattersare due to you and to science.

I remain, Sir,With every sentiment of respect

and esteem, yourobliged friend,

WM. BARTRAM.1'BILADELPBI.l, Dec. 15, 1789.

THE CREEK AND CHEROKEE INDIANS.

•• •

I. HISTORY AND TRADITIONS OF THE KUSCOGULGES.

Query.

Have those tribes of Indians which yon have visited any traditioDlconcerning their Origin, their Progress, or Migratimu, which yon con­Bider worthy of notice? If they have, what are those TratliJirml1Which of the nations of which yon have any knowledge seem to havethe most accurate, and least suppicious, traditions concerning their origin,etc.? Have you any reason for oolieving that the Cherokees, Creeks, orany other of the Southern tribes with which you are acquainted, crossedthe river Mississippi, in their progress to the country whieh they now in­habit 7 If any of these tribes crossed thllt gnat river, do you think it ispossible to determint", with any degree ,of certainty, the period or periodswhen they did cross it? Can yon fonn any conjecture which part orparts of the country, bordering on the Mississippi, these tribes pu!!edthrough in their migrations towards the EtUt 1

Answer.

The Cricks," or, as they call themselves, Mu.rrcoges, or.Muscogulges,t are a very powerful confederacy,' consisting

• Cricks is a name given tbem by the English traders fonnerly, whenthey first began to trade amongst them. for the following reason, i. e., theyobserved that in their conversation, when they had oeculon to mentionthe name of the Indian nation, if any of the Indians were present, theyella­covered evident ligna of disgust. &8 lupposlng the traders were pIottlUClOme milchief against their nation, e~., 80 that they gave them this Dick­name, Cridl.

t "UlK' sfguifiOll a nation, or people, in their language, &8 SpanlBh-tllp,

12

of many tribes, or remnants of conquered nations, united;perhaps about sixty toWIIS, thirty of which speak the Mus­cogulge tongue, and are the progeny or descendants of apowerful band of a nation bearing that name, who, manyyears since (on their nation becoming very numerous, andfilling their native country with inhabitants, by which thegame and other necessary produce of their country becamescarce and difficult to procure) were induced to separatethemselves from, and go in search of, new and plentifulregions. They directed their migrations eastward, leavingwith great regret and difficulty their native land, contain­ing their relations and friends, which was on the banks ofa large and beautiful river, called the Red River, frompat quantities of red stone, of which they formed theirtobacco-pipes. Their migrations continued a long time,and under great hardships and embarrassments, they beingcontinually atta~ked by hostile Indian nations, till at lengththey arriveq at the banks of the Great River, i. e., thatwhich they crossed, when they began to think of establish­ing a permanent residence; but, being yet assaulted anddisturbed by surrounding nations, they pushed eastwardas far as the Ocka-mulge;* when, hearing of the settlements

English"!dge, ete. Elle likewise signifies Dation, or people, but wheth~r inanother tongue. or more extended se1lle, I know not. The lDlliU peoplethey call E3te-Hulke; the red m~n, or Indians. they call EilU-C!late; and soofth~ Spaniards, whom they call yellow 1IIt1l, EilU-Calll!; and black men. ornl'groes, Este- HtUte. Este seems a specific term for all mankind, compre­bendiog the Whole human race In four divisions, white, red, yeJlow;andblack. Ulge seems an iodlvidual designation of nations and tribes.

'" This river is the South. great branch of the AU4fl141ta, where are to beseen, to this day, admirable remains of a vast town, exten,ive plantationsand monuments of the labor, and skill, and industry of the ancients ~_"tl, terTaas. areas, etc., which the present generation of the Mu~co­gulges say are the ruins of their campa and first settlements: but thia Ican venture to deny, and suppose it a bout of the Creeks, to aggrandiaetheir name and nation i for these monuments dlacoY8r evident signs ofbeing of much more ancient date. However, it Is Ukely enongh that theMoscogulges might han expelled the tlIm inhabitant., taken poI8eIaion ofthe town, and fortified and established themaelye. there.

THE CREEK AND CHEROKEE INDIANS. 13

of the white people, i. e., Spaniards, at St. Augustine, theysent am bassadors to treat with them on terms of mutualfavor j but not being kindly received, and hearing of othernations of white people further to the N. E., i. c., in Caro­lina (the English at this time were founding the colony ofSouth Carolina at Charleston), they sent deputies or am­bassadors to Charleston, offering their friendship and alli­ance, to continue for ever (as long as the rivers flow andthe sun continues his course). A treaty immediately tookplace, and they joined their arms with the Carolinians, whoassisted them against the surrounding Indian nations,which were then in the Spanish interest, whom they atlength subjugated; and, in t.he end, proved the destmctionof the Spanish colony of East Florida. The Muscoglllges,by uniting the remnant tribes of Iheir conquered foes, grewstronger, and daily extended their empire. There arenow, besides the Muscogulge towns, or those towns whoseinhabitants speak that tongue, almost as many languagesor dialects as there are towns. It seems apparent, by thisaccount," that the Muscogulges crossed the Missillsippisome where about the Chickasaw county, below the con­flmmce of the Ohio, as they mention crossing but one largeriver, i. e., the Mississippi, or Great River.

'}'hey, the Natchez, Chickasaws, and Chocta~s, seem topossess a common origin, as they all "'peak a dialect of thesame country: and it is certain they all crossed the Missis­sippi, as they say of them!lelves, and long since the Spanishinvasion and conquest of Mexico j for these Indians, viz.,the Choctaws, say they brought with them across theriver those fine horses called the Chickasaw and Choctawbreeds. The Seminole horses, or those beautiful creaturesbred amongst the Lower Creeks, which are of the Anda-

• This account I had from the most ancient and respectable men of theMuscogulges, through the best old traders and good Interprekrs, at dijfer~nttimes and in various towns j and I believe it to be true as mere traditioncan possibly be.

14 TBB CDU. .AND OBDODB INDUN8.

lusian breed, were introduced by the Spaniardtl at St.Augustine.

As to the Cherokees, they are altogether a separatenation from the Muscogulges, of much more ancient estab­lishment in the regions they inhabit. I made no inquiryconcerning their original descent or migrations to thesepartR. But I tmderstood that they came from the West, or

,sun-setting. Their empire, or confederacy, was once very .strong and extensIve. Before the league of the Creeks·and Cllrolinians, their empire extended from within fortymiles of the sea-coast, N. W. to the Ohio, comprehendingall ihe region lying in the waters of the Cherokee river,quite to its confluence with the Ohio, and also of the greatEast branc,hes of the Ohio, upwards beyond the Cunhawa[Kenhewa), Sante, and Pede, north-ellstward. And it isremarkable that those great pyramidal or conical mountsof earlh, tetragon terraces, andcubican yarda, are to beseen in all this vast territury.t Yet it is certain they werenot the people who (',ollstructed them, as they own them­selves, nor were they built by the people from whom they

. took possession of the country.rrheir language is radically different from that of the

Creeks, sounding the letter R freqnently; in short, there isnot one word in their respective languages alike.

• When I speak of the Creeks and Moscogulges, I mean the samepeople.

t The largest of these I ever saw stands upon the banks of the Savannahriver. eight miles above Dartmouth, and abont ninety miles above Augusta,which was nearly the centre of the Cherokee Empire, at the most fiourish­iug period of Its histtJry.

There are many artificial mounts of earth along the _cO&~t throughCarolina and Georgia, about this distanctl trom It, and in the settlementsN. W.. which bear the name of Cherokee Mounts particnlarly one aboutten or twelve miles from Savanllah, near what are now called the CherokeePonds. Here, on the road to Augusta, are msny ponds and savannas.Indeed there are people yet living who remember to have ~een Cherokeetowns inhabitRd, but a few miles above the city of Sannnah, and after­wards possessed and inhabited by the Mwcogulges.

D. PROBABLE OBIGIN AND KBLATIONB.

Query.

Haw J01I anr r8U0US for believing that any or the tn'bes or IodIanI,which you have visited W91'f' derlflld from either the M:~CaDI or tilePeroviaDI , lC yoo have. what are thoee reI80US ,

AftIWr.

I have no reason, from what I have observed myself; orfrom infonnation derived from others, to suppose that anyof the nations or tribes· came {rom the old Mexicans orPeruvians, unless we believe the accounts which theNatchez give of themselves, as related by M. Du Pratz;and that aecount should, I imagine; be understood as re­ferring to New Mexico, because their aecount of theiroriginal country and migrations was from the west, orsun-setting, which would be west from their country onthe Mississippi. near about the latitude of Santa Fe, N.latitude 34: or 35.

The Spanish invasion of these regions and subsequentcolonization, after the discovery of the mines and theestablishment of forts, in order to possess the country,work the mines and extend their researches, would veryprobably cause many tribes of the nativAs to decamp, insearch of more peaceful abodes at a distance {rom suchtroublesome neighbors, and these nations, by a N. E.course, would likely, in their opinion, get at the greatestdistance from those dreaded bearded men, their commonenemy (not yet havmg heard of other colonies or inva­sions of the bearded men), and thus propel one .another.as waves driven before the winds. The ChickaaawB,Choctaws, and MUBCOgulges, appear to have arrived sometime since the Natchez; particularly the two former tribes,

and the Creeks last 'I'he Natchez might have come froma region nearest the borders of the empire of Old Mexico j

because it seems they were most polished and civilized,and were most tinctured with Mexican idolatry· andsuperstitions. They had a complex system of legislation,their princes were hereditary, their sovereignty absolute,and their power unlimited. The Natchez might havearrived soon after the Spaniards had conqnered the Mexi- .can Empire and beg-an to extend their conquests towardsthe north (for there is no mention of their bringing horseswith them, these creatures not being yet so increased as tobecome wild in the country, or 80 plentiful as to become anartiel" of commerce between the wild Indians and Span­iards).t For, according to Du Pratz, their Empire hadarrived at a prodigious latitude and strength some yearsbefore the French attempted to settle in their country,when it appeared to be. greatly on the decline. It musthave taken many years to have thus increased from awretched fugitive band, supposing that they had beenfrightened away from their original country by the Spanishinvasions and conquests.

It seems that the arrival of the Chickasaws and Creeks,as well as Choctaws, might have been about the time thatthe Spaniards, French, and English began their establish­ments in New England, Virginia, Carolina and Florida,

• For although tbe,. belieTed in a Great SpIrit, yet they adored theI1In and moon. They bad a temple dedicated to the s11l), where they kep'the eternal fire, guarded by a high priest and sacred Yirgius consecratedtbr that purpose. And though they did not offer human victims to theI1In, nor eat human fiesh, yet they burnt and otherwise put to death cap­tives taken In war. And though it does n~t appear that they pnt to deathIIaves or other persous at the demile at their princes, sovereigns, or S"",.JIlt their slaves, concubines or relations offered thelU8\llves to death, Iaorder to attend the souls of their sovereigns.

t Wild [lUiianl, such nations as were not conquered by the Old Mexi­cans and made tributary. which the1 callud CMt:1iIRGCI, aborigiDel orberbariaDl.

;.,

J

TJD 0BJm1: .AND OBlmOKEE .INDI.AN.S. 11

which I believe will appear to be about the period of theSpanish invasion, conquest, and eStablishment of power inNew Mexico. The Choctaws, I believe, came the last,~nd in co!lsiderable force. According to the account ofDu Pratz, derived from the Natchez, they appeared sud­denly, as if they rose out of the earth. The Creeks havemuch the same idea of their arrival,-like the arrival andsettling of a swarm of bees, as they express themseives onthe subject. Yet it is certain that all these nations orbands, i. e., the Natchez, Chickasaws, MUllcogulges, andChoctaws, were derived from the same region j for they allspeak dialects of the same language, generally so nearalike, that they ,are able to converse with each othet with­out the aid of interpreters. Thus we may conclud'e thattheir arrival in the country which they now possess, wasone after another, at so considerable a length of time inter­vening (perhaps a generation or .two), each contending forempire and the honor and glory of their tribes, that theyin part forgot or disregarded their ancient lineage andaffinity.

•••

_m. BIEROGLypmCAL SIGNS-PICTtIRE RECORDS.

Have you obserVed among any of the tribe. of lrrditnu which youhave ·vi.ited, any Painting. luperior in execution to those of the North­ern Indiana, al we find them on trees and rockl7 If you have, whatdid those paintings commonly represent 7 and among what tribes ofIndiana did you observe them 7 Are any .of the Indian tribes verycurioul in preserving the memory of events by paintings? If luchpaintings are made use of by the Indiana, do yOIl know, or do you IUppoee, •that they were acquainted with any lignl or symbols to denote attributesor qualitiea of variOOI kinds? Thu8, how would these Indiana convey anidea of Cl1Uf'fJlIe or of cowardice, of good or ml, etc. ?

2

•

The paintings which I observed among the Creekswere commonly on the clay-plastered walls of their houses,particularly on the walls of the houses comprising thePublic Square (see Plan on a subsequent page) or Areo­pagus j they were, I think, hieroglyphics, or mysticalwritings, for the same use and purpose as those mentionedby historians, to be found on the obelisks, pyramids, andother monuments of the ancient Egyptians, and much afterthe same style and taste, much caricatured and pictur- .esqlle j and though I never saw an instance of the chiaro­oscuro, yet the outlines are bold, natural, and turned ordesigned to convey some meaning, passion, or admonition,and thus may be said to speak to those who can readthem. The walls are plastered very smooth with red clay;then the figures or symbols are drawn with white clay,paste, or chalk; and if the walls are plastered with clay ofa whitish or stone color, then the figures are drawn withred, brown; or bluish chalk or paste.

Almost aU kinds of animals, sometimes plants, flowers,trees, etc., are the subjocts; figures of mankind in variousattitudes, some very ludicrous and even obscene i even theprivates of mell are sometimes represented, but neveran instance of indelicacy in a female figure.

Men are often depicted having the head and othermembers of different kinds of animals, as a 'Wolf, buck, hare,horse, buffalo, snake, duck, turkey, tiger, cat, crocodile,etc., etc. All these animals are, on the other hand, de­picted having the human head, members, etc. i and ani­mals having the head and other members of differentanimals, so as to appear monstrous.-

* [ am sensible that these apeclmeDB of their paintings will, to DB, whohave made such incomparable progress and refinement in the arts andsciences, appear trifling and ludicrous j but as you desired me to be par-

THE CREEK AND CHEROKEE INDIANS. 19

But the most beautiful painting now to be found amongthe Mnscogulges, is on the skin and bodies of their ancientchiefs and micos, which. is ofa bluish, lead, or indigocolor. It is the breast, trunk, muscnlar or fleshy part of.the anus and thighs, and sometimes almost every part. ofthe surface of the body, that is thus beautifully depicted orwritten over with hieroglgphics: commonly the SUD, moon,and planets occupy the breast j zbnes or belts, or beautifulfanciful scrolls, wind round the trunk of the body, thighs,anus, and legs, dividing the body into many fields ortablets, which are ornamented or filled up with innumer­able figures, as representations of animals of the'chase,-asketch of a landscape, representing an engagement or bat­tle with their enemy, or some creature of the chase,-and athousand other fancies. These paintings are admirablywell executed, and seem to· be inimitable. They are per­formed by exceedingly fine punctures, and seem like mezzo­.tinto, or very inge~ious impressions from the best exeouted

.engravingf'. They are no doubt hieroglyphics, or mysticalwritings or records of their tribes or families, or of memOJ'a­ble events, etc., etc.

When I was at Manchack on the Mississippi, at M'Gill­vany's and Swanson's trading-houses, I saw several buffalohides with the wool on them. The flesh side of the skinswas depicted and painted very beautifully j the perform­ance was admirable-I may say inimitable by the mostingenious artists among Europeans, or people of the OldWorld, unless taught by the Indians. The painted hideswere the work of the Illinois Indians, near Fort Chartens,where the Company had trading-houses and traders, whopurchased them of the Indians, and sent them down hereto go to Europe. I was asked six dollars apiece for them,which I thought cheap, considering their curiosity, but had

ticular and omit nothing, I hope to be exCUled. Yet I think they are thewretched remains ot IOmethl.nr of greater use and conseqnence amongsttheir aDcelltora.

20 THE CBEElt. AND CHEROKD INDIANS.

no opportunity of conveying one home. The subjects or•figures in the composition were much like those inscriptionsor paintings on the bodies of the chiefs and warriors.Their borders were exceedingly pleasing: red, black, andblue were the colors, on a buff ground.

•• •

IV. COMPARATIVE RELIGIOUS ADVANCEMENT

Query.

Which .of the tribes of Indians, visited by you, are the most polishedin their Religion, in their Manner" in their Language, in their Govern­ment, etc., etc. 7

Answer.

If adopting or imitating the manners and customs ofthe white people is to be termed civilization, perhaps theCherokees have made the greatest advance.

But I presume, if we are to form and establish ourjudgments from the opinions and rules laid down by thegreatest doctors of morality, philosophers, and divines,either of the ancients or moderns, the Muscogulges musthave our approbation, and engage our esteem.

Their religion is, perhaps, as pure as that which was. in the beginning revealed to the first families of mankind.They have no notion or conception of any other God butthe Great Spirit on high, the giver and taker away of thebreath of life: which is as much as to say that eternalSupreme Being who created and governs the universe.They worship none else.

They pay a kind of homage to the sun, moon, andplanets, as the mediators or ministers of the Great Spirit,in dispensing his attributes for their comfort and well-being

TBB CREEl: .AND 0lDB01:D INDIANS. 21

in this life. They haft some religious rites and forms,which are managed by their priests or doctors, who makethe people believe, by their cunnmg and craft, that theyhave a supematuralspiritual communication with invisiblespirits' of good and evil, and that they have the pow.er ofinvoking the elements and dispensing their attributes,good and bad. They make the people believe that, by con­juration, they can bring rain, fine weather, heat, coolingbreezes, thunder and lightning, bring on or expel and curesickness, ete., ete.

• ••

v. GOVERNMENT; emus AND PBIE8T8.

QverJ.

What appear to be the great outlines of the~ of the Cbero­ke('l, Creeks, and other bibea of Indians with which yOD are acquainted ,Are their governments in general elective, or are they 1Ieretlitary 1 Ifelective, is the pel'llOn elected choscD for Ilfe, or oo1y for a dtrtain time,or so long u he shall conduct himself to the satisfaction of the people?Ifhereditary. ill the power of the king or !l8chem very considerable? OrII it chiefly a nominal power? These are questions of considerablemagnitude. .

A1II1De1'.

The govemment or system of legislation amongst allthe nations of Indians I have visited, seems to be exactlysimilar.

It is the most simple, natural, and rational that canbe imagined or desired. The .same spirit that dictated toMontesquieu the idea of a rational government, se~ms tosuperintend and guide the Indians. And if I should sayno more upon the subject, perhaps you would be betterable to form to yourself a notion of their govemment.

All that I can say, from my own observation, wiUamount to little more than mere conjecture, and leave thesubject in a doubtful situation j for, at best, it will be butthe apprehensions or conjectures of a traveller fJ'C)m cursoryand superficial views, perhaps aided .and perhaps led astrayby the accounts given him by the traders or other whitepeople, who have resided among them. These, from motivesof avarice or contempt of the Indians in general, throughprejudice, seldom carry their observations or inquiries be­yond common report, which we may be assured is againstthe Indians. And as they improye their commerce withthem only for their immediate private interest, their storiescannot always be depended upon.

. The whole region of the Muscogulge Empire or Con­federacy comprehends a territory of at least 600 milessquare.· It embraces the Upper and Lower Creeks or.Seminoles, as also the UcAu, Alabamaa, Occonea, andmany more tribes, who, altogether, make between 60 and10 towns or villages. Every town and village is to beconsidered as an independent nation or tribe having itsMilxJ or Chief. Every individual inhabitant has an equalright to the soil and to hunt and range over this region, ex­cept within the jurisdiction of each to\vn or village, whichI believe seldom extends beyond its habitatiolls and plant­ing grounds. Perhaps the Uchea are to be excepted. Theyclaim an exclusive property, by right of a contract or treatymade when they entered into alliance with the Muscogulges j

but though they sometimes put the Creeks in.mind of thisprivilege, when their hunters make too free with theirhunting grounds, yet the dispute seldom goes further, asthe Confederacy are cautious of offending the Uches, andyield to their common interest and safety.

• 600 milea square; E. and W. t'rom Savannah river. to the Mobile,comprehending all its branch~. to their IOlll'CeI i and S. and N. from theextremity of the Peninsula of E. Florida to the Cherokee or AppalachlaDmountainB.

TIlB CRDJt AND OBDODK nmIANB. 28

The system of Government in eac~ town or tribe maybe described thus:-

18t.-The Mico or King.2d.-The greatWar-Ohief, ancient Warriors, or heads

of tribes or families, that constitute the town or nation.3(1.-The younger warriors or hunters, or the com­

monalty.The 'MiCQ is considered the first man in dignity and

power in the nation or town, and is the supreme civilmagistrate j yet he is, in fact, no more than president of thenational council of his own tribe and town, and has no exe­cutive power independeilt of the counci~ which is con:venedevery day in the forenoon, and held in the Public Square.

The great War-Ohief heads the army of the tribe, andherein consists his dignity and power. The elder warriors,ancient heads of families, and younger warriors compose

. tbe divan or daily national council,' where the Mica pre­sides j the great War-Ohief seated next to him, on the lefthand, at the head of the ancient and celebrated warriors j

and next to the Mico, on his right hand, is the seCondhead-man of the tribe, at the head of chiefs of tribes andfamilies; younger warriors, etc.

They show the king due respect and the most profound .homage, especially when assembled in the Great Rotundaor winter council-house. To him only they bow very low,almost to his feet, when the waiters hand ~him the shell ofblack drink j* but when out of the council any where, theyuse only common civility, and converse frt>.ely with him, aswith a common man. He dresses no better than an ordinarycitizen, and his house is in no way distinguished from the

... Blade drink, a strong decoction or infusion of the Ieavel and tendertops of the ca&Si1lil. or [lex yapOfl, which is drunk constantly every eveningby the chief and warriors ill the Great Rotunda, with great ceremony, per­haps religious. They call this CiUsi1lil the beloved tree. This infusion isperhapll one of the most active and powerful diuretics ot any vOglltableyetkDown.

24 TJIB CUB Am> OJDl:ItOID IBDIA.D.

rest, otherwill8 than by being larger, acconlingas his abilityor private riches may enable him, for he exacta no 1011 ortribute. He goes out to hunt with his family, and even goeeto the field with his axe and hoe to work every day duringthe season of labor. But he has the disposal of the comand fruits in the public or national granary. He is cOlD­plimented with the first fruits: and gives audience SO am­bassadors, deputies, audstrangers \'tho come to the town ortribe, receives presents, etc.· He alone hu the privilege ofgiving a public feast to the whole town, consisting ofbarbe­cued bear or fat bulls or steers, which he must kill himself;and this is called the king's feast, or royal feast. And whenhe intends to give this frolic, after a successful hunt, hesends messengers to prepare .the village. They displaythe king's standard in front and at one comer of his house,and hoift a flag in the Public Square, beat drums about thetow.n,and the inhabitants dress and paint themBelves, Corthere is dancing and frolicking all that night.

They have an ancient high-priest, with juniors inevery town and tribe. The high-priest is a person of greatpower and consequence in the state. He always sits incouncil, and his advice in atrairs of war is of the greatestweight and importance, and he or one of his disciplesalways attends a war party.

It sometimes happens that the king is war-chief andhigh-priest, and then his power is very formidable andsometimes dangerous to the liberty of citizens, aDd he mustbe a very cunning man if the tomahawk or ride do not cuthim short.

• The .power and dignltyot the king II tor liftl, or during good be­havior j he is elected, but iu what manner he is chosen I could not .tis­tadorily ucertaiD. It appeara to me the most mysterions part of theI1I1tem. It II not In a publio manner like our elections, or the traden .would have been able to tell me. Perhaps it is done In secret, In the Great.Rotunda, where the whites are not admitted i or in the Sanctorum, orbleh­prielt'. apartment, In the PnbUo Square.

TBB CREEK: .AND CBEROJtD INDUN& 25

And if I may be allowed, in this place, to venture aconjecture, the first Montezuma and the Incas, founders ofthe mighty empires of Mexico and Peru, were cunningusurpers of this stamp. Such were .tbe absolute kings ofthe ancient Floridians; for history tells us of the king ofCalOll in tbe Peninsula of Florida, who assumed a com­munion and familiarity with powerful invisible spirits, towhom he sacrificed captives, and thus he kept his subjectsin awe.

I myself was the other day present, when the greatwarrior-chief, King of the S~minoles, assumed the powerand dignity of a demi-god; when, at the head of his partyof warriors, with an air of surprising arrogance and pomp,he threatened Mr. MeLatche that, if he did not complywith his requisitions, he would command the thunder andlightning to descend upon his bead, and reduce his storesto ashes.

----VI. BELIGIOUS IDEAS -AND DOC"1'RI1O!:B.

Query.

What appear to be the great outlines of the Religion or Religiom ofthoRe tribes of Indi8D8 which yon have visited? Dolls the existence of •God appear to be generally received? Do you remember the nama orntlfM, by which any of the tribes call or designate their God? Does thedoctrine of the Immortality of the Soul, or a doctrine in any respect simi­lar to it, appear to be general? Have they any idea of the doctrine ofrewards and punishments in a Future State ?

An.tIDe1'.

After what I have hinted in my answers to your ques­tions, in a preceding section, upon the above subject, thereis little more to be said- concerning their religion.

sa TBIl oun: .AIm OBDODK nmun.

All that I observed was, that every nation I wasamongst seemed individually to believe in a Supreme Godor Creator, which, in their di1l"erent languages, they eallby a name signifying the Greal or Univer8al Spirit, 1Mgiver and laker away of 1M breath of life: thus thetraders all interpret the word or words which mean theone Elernal Supreme Creator, the &ul and GOfJernor of1M Universe. They have no appointed time to asse,:"bleand worship the Great Spirit, but they frequently, in wordand actions, address themselves to God in thanksgivingand adoration, as when escaping from some imminent dan­ger and calamity j they utter also ejaculations of praise andhomage at beholding extraordinary instances of the worksand power of God in the visible creation, or the harmonysndinduence of His attributes in the intellectual system.

But they worship no idola, either of their own forma­tion or the production of nature.

They assemble and feast at the appearance of the new·moon, when they seem to be in great mirth and gladness, .but, I ·believe, make no offerings to that planet.

They seem to do homage to the sun, as the symbol ofthe power and beneficence of the Great Spirit, or as hisminister. Thus at treaties, they first puff or blow thesmoke from the great pipe or calumet up towards thatluminary j they look up towards it with great reverence andearnestness when they confirm their talks or speeches incouncil, as a witness of their contracts j as also when theymake their martial harangues and speeehes at the head oftheir armies, when setting out, or making the onset. etc.

They venerate Fire, and have some mysterious rit.es andceremonies which I could never perfectly comprehend.

They seem to keep the Eternal Fire in the Great R0­tunda, where it is guarded by the priests.

In their great annual festival, called the Buaque orfeast of Firsl Fruits, they put out all the fires of the nationor town; and then the .high-priest, by friction of dry woods

THE CREEK .AND CHEROKEEINDIANB. 27

and the addition of resin, produces new fire in the GreatTemple or Rotunda, from whence the whole town is sup­plied. But so far are the Muscogulges from having acorps of 'consecrated virgins to guard and keep this fire,that the women are not allowed to step within the pale,Qfthe Rotunda, and it is death for any to enter it. None buta priest can carry the fire forth.

The Spiral Fire, on the hearth or floor of the Rotunda,is very curions j it seems to light up in a fiameof itself atthe appointed, time, but how this is done I know not.

All the Indians whom I have been amongst, are 80

confirmed in the doctrine of the Immortality of the Soul,that they would certainly judge any man to be out of hisreason that should doubt of it j they also believe that everycreature has a spirit or soul that exists in a future state.Some historians have gone so far' as to assert that a patternor spiritual likeness of every thin~ living, as well as inani­mate, exisls in another world.

They believe in rewards and punishments in a futureatate, just in the same manner which we do i that virtueand merit will be rewarded with felicity i and that wicked­ness, on the contrary, will be attended with infamy andmisery.

They believe in visiona, dreams, andtrancea. Theyrelate abundance of stories of men that hllve been dead orthought dead for many hours and days, who have revivedagain, giving an account of their transit to and from theworld of souls, and describing the condition and situation ofthe place and spirits residing Ihere. And these people havealways returned to life with doctrines and admonitionstending to encourage and enforce virlue and morality.

Vll. PHYSICAL CHARACTEBl8TICS.

Which is the faiNllt and moet comely tn"be of the South~m Indiana 'lAre the Indian _ generally fairer than the Indian men 'l Are theIndian children bom with the copper tinge or color 'l Or does this colorfirst make its appearance some days after birth'l We hear much inwriters of white and spotted IndilUlll, all at the Isthmus of Darien: haveyoo ever eeen or beard of soch white or spotted Indians' among any ofthe tribes with which you are acquainted 'l If you have, some account ofthese phenomena will be very interel!ting to me. Do you remember thenamea of any of the plant. that the Indians, which you have visited,make Ole of in painting or iltaining their skintl 'l Ie the &ccoon (the&mguinaN~ of Linnaeutl), one of the plants employed by theNorthem Indianllll a pigment, found all far IOUth .. the coontries of theCherokees, Creeb, etc. 'l '

Amwer.

The' Cherokees are the largest race of men I ever saw.They are as comely as any, and their complexions are verybright, being of the olive cast of the Asiatics j this is the ob:­vious reason which I suppose led the traders to give them theby':name of the Breeds, supposing them to be mixed With the~hite people. But though some of them are evidently adul­terated by the traders, yet the natural complexion is tawny.

The women are tall, slim, and of a graceful figure, andhave captivating. features and manners, and I think theircomplexion is rather fairer than the men's.

The MtI8CO{f'Ulgu are in stature nearly equal to theCherokees,' bave fine features, and are every way hand­some m8ll. Their uoses are very often aquiline; they arewell limbed, countenances upright, and. their eyes brisk andfiery j but their complexions are of a dark copper color.

Their women are very small, in appearance Dot. morethan half the size of the men j but they have regular and

TBB ClUEK AND CBlilROKElll INDIANS, 29

beautiful features, the eyes large, with high-arched eye­brows, and their complexions little, if any, brighter thanthose of the men.

There are some tribes in the confederacy which mUchresemble the CherQkees, in stature and color, ete., viz.: the(Jehea, SafJantlahs, and some of the Seminoles.

I have seen Iudian infants of a few weeks old j theircolor was like that of a healthy, male, European country­man or laborer of middle age, though inclining a little moreto the red or copper tinge j but they soon become of theIndian copper. I believe this change comes naturally,asI never, from constant inquiry, could learn that the Indianshad ~ny artificial means of changing their color.

The Indians who have commerce with the whitesmake very little use of colors or paints of the native pro­duction of their country, since they have neglected theirown manufactures for those supplied them cheaply and inabundance from Europe. I believe they are in generalignorant themselves of their own country's productions.The poccoon or Sanguenaria Gallium, bark of the Acerrubrum, To:ccodendron radicana, Rhustruph'!ldon, andsome other vegetable pigments are yet in use by the women,who still amuse themselves in manufacturing some fewthings, as belts and coronets for their husbands, feathercloaks, moccasons, ete.

I have never heard of any white, speckled, or pied pe0­

ple among them.It is reasonable to suppose that, anciently, when neces­

sity obliged them: the Indians were more ingenious andindustrious in manufactures than now. Therefore, we¢ust seek for their arts and sciences among nations fardistant from the settlements of the white people, or recoverthem by inquiry and experiments of our own.

There is one remarkable circumstance respecting thehair of the head of the Indians, which I do not know tohave been observed by travellers or historians. Besides

801

the lankness, extraordinary natural length, and perhapseoarseneB8 of the hair of the head, it is of a shining blackor brown color, showing the same splendor and change­ableness at different exposures to the light. The tradersinformed me that they preserved its perfect blackness andsplendor by the !l8e of the red farinaceous or fursy cover­ing of the berries of the comblon sumach (RAw glabrum).Over night they rub this red powder in their hair, as muchas it will contain, tying it up close with a handkerchief tillmorning, when they carefully comb it out and dress theirhair with clear bears' oil.

But, notwithstanding this care and assiduity, it must atlast submit to old age, and I have seen the hair of theextreme aged as white as cotton wool. I have observedquantities ohbis red powder in their houses.

•• •

vm. SOCIAL RELATIONS.

Qury.

What is the coDdition of the women among the tn'bes orIndiana whichyou visited., We are told by many writers that the condition or lItate ofthe Indian women ill the picture or misery and opp1'88lion; ill this actuallythe cue 'I Do the Indian women ever, 10 far u you know. pl'8lide at thecoaneil. of the SachelDl, 8lIpeciJl\Iy wben war and other mattelII or con­lequence are considered in their councils., Have you ever heard orknown or any ins~ce or instances of women who havepreeidedover anyDation or natioDl of Indiana .,

An11M'.

I 1l{lve every reasonable argument from my own obser­vation, as well as the accounts of the whites residingamong the Indians, to be convinced that the condition ofthe women is as happy, compared with that of the men, as

TBll: CREEX AND CHEROJCEE INDIANS. 81

the condition of women in any part of the world. Theirbusiness or employment is chiefly in the house, as it iswith other women, except at the season when their cropsare growing, when they generally tum out with their hus­.bands or parents, but they are by no mealls compelled tosuch labor. There .are not one·third as many females asmales seen at work in their plantations: for, at this seasonof the year, by a law of the people, they do not hunt, thegame not being in season till after their crops or harvest isgathered in,so the males have little else with which to em­ploy themselves i and the Indians are by no means thatlazy, slothful, sleepy people, they are commonly reported to.be. Besides, you may depend upon my assertion that thereis no people any where who love their women more thanthese Indians do, or men of better understanding in distin­guishing the merits of the opposite sex, or more faithful inrendering suitable compensation. They are courteous andpolite to the women, and gentle, tender and fondling, evento an appearance of effeminacy, to their offspring. AnIndian never attempts, nay, he cannot use towards a womanamongst them any indelicacy or indecency, either in actionoJ' language.

I never saw or heard of an instance of an Indian beat­ing his wife or other female, or reproving them in angeror in harsh language. And the women make a suitableand grateful return j for they are discreet, modest, loving,faithful, and affectionate to their husbands.

In the hunting season, that is in autumn and winter,the men are generally out in the forests, when the wholecare of the house falls on the women, who are then obligedto undergo a good deal of labor, such as cutting and bring­ing home the winter's wood, which they toat· on theirback or head a great distance, especially those of the

• Toat, or tote, to carry j a word of unknown origin, much mad in theSouthern State.. It has been-absurdly enough-derlved from the LatinIollit.-Barllett" lJiditmary of AIIlIricaIli.mu.-S.

n TJm~ .dD. OBDOXD DmUNS.

ancient large towns, where the common. and old field.extend some milea to the woodland. But this labor is inpart alleViated by the asaistance of the old men, who arepast their hunting days and no longer participate in thewal1lj who remain in the towns. They have likewise theaid of ·hoTBe8 in this work.· The women also gather anincredible amount of nuts and acorns, which they manu­facture into oil for annual consumption. They make allthe pottery or earthenware, which is very considerabie, assome of their pots hold near a barrel, and are of a tendermid fragile oompositionj you may see mouot&oC fragmentsof earthenware around their towns, Cor every fragment,however small, is cast into these heaps.

I neither knew nor heard of any instances of thefemaleabearing rule, or presiding either in council or the field j -but,according to report, the Cherokees and Creeks can boast oftheir Semiramis, Zenobia, and· Cleopatra. When I waspassing through the Cherokee cOlmtry, we crossed a veryfine st~am", a branch. of Tugilo Creek, which is calledWar-woman's Creek. I· inquired of my companion, anancient trader, the cause of so singular & name.· He an­swered, that it arose from a decisive battle which tbe Chera-·keea fonnerly gained over. their. enemies on the banks ofthis creek, through the valor and stratagem of an Indianwoman, who was present. .She was aftenvards raised tothe dignity and bonor of a Queen or Chief of the nation, asa reward for her superior virtues and abilities, and presidedin the State during, her life.

The Creeks speak to this day with the highestenCOomiums and pride of a widow of their grand Chief orMico, whose superior wisdom· interpoeed .between thesenations and· the English, about the time of the estab­lishment of the colony of Georgia (under the conduct ofof General' Oglethorp), and restored peace· between them,which grew firmer and stronger every·day till the disSolu­tion of the British govemmentin that ~on. This woman

't.B.E CREEK .AND OHEBOKU INDIANa. asmarried Rev. Dr. Bozemoth, of the new-founded. colony,a very worthy man, who had, as a dowry with his queen,a lnrge and fertile island on the coast of Georgia, togetherwith a territory on the main. If I mistake not, Dr. Boze­moth afterwards returned to England with his wife, whoeven there was esteemed a cele,brated woman for her vir­tues and talents,· The Seminoles, or Lower Creeks, alsoboast of a great queen or empress in former days, whoseempire, according to their account, must have been in EastFlorida, between the St. Mary's and St. Juan rivers andthe imperial city of Alachua. She was powerful andbeneficent, and so celebrated a beauty that all the kings toa vast distance round about, at certain seasons, annuallyresorted to her court with large trains of their chiefs, etc"bearing presents for the queen, not as tributaries, but out ofCompliment and respect to her merit. Great numbers ofthe kings,'chiefs, etc., continued for the stated period, re­presenting sports, feats of arms, and other divertisements,to divert and compliment this celebrated qu"'en. She wascarried. about under a rich canopy of feathers, on the shoul­ders of princes and nobles, etc.

, Her reign was about the time the Europeans firstvisited. the~e. coasts. The Spanish inhabitants of EastFlorida have got a tradition of these matters, and relateaccounts much like the above.

• AI to this latter part of the history, I am not certain whether she re­mained to the end of her life in Europe, or returned again to Georgia; andalso I may, perhaps, be incorrect &8 to the entire particulars of the story.But the main of the history is true, &8 ever'! Georgian and Indian knows,and rejoices at having the names of those persons mentioned. Any gentle­man of Georgia will avow to its anthenticlty. aild, perhaps, upon inquiry,wi1l give you a more accurate account than I can.

8

IX. CHUNKY-Y.ARDS, OR EARTHWORKS.

Query.

In the letter which yon wrote to me concerning the Mounu, etc., yonmake mention of the Chunky- Yard of the Cherokee Indian.. Whit illthe nature, Ole, etc., of thi. yud? 11 this Chunky-Yard confined to theCherokee Indiana? or have you observed it among the other tribes ofIndians? A sketch of the Chunky- Yarel will be very acceptable.

A1I6UIer.

The Chunky- Yard.t of the Creeks, so called by thetraders, is a cubifonn area, generally in the centre of thetown, because the Public Square and the Rotunda, or greatwinter Council-house, stand at the two opposite comers ofit. It is generally very extensive, especially in the largeold towns,· is exactly level, and sunk two, sometimesthree, feet below the banks or terraces surrounding it, whichare sometimes two, one above and behind the other, and areformed of earth cast out of the area at the time of its forma­tion; these banks or terraces serve the purposes of seatsfor the spectators. In the centre of the yard there is a lowcircular mount or eminence, in the centre of which standserect the chunky-pole, which is a high obelisk, or foursquare pillars declining upwards to an obtuse point, inshape and proportion much resembling the Egyptian obe­lisk. This is of wood, the heart or inward resinous partof the sound pine-tree, and is very durable j it is generallyfrom thirty to forty feet high, and to the top of this is fas­tened some object to shoot at with bows and arrows, therifle, etc., at certain times appoint9d. Near each comer of

.. The Chunky-Yards are of different sizes, according to the largeneuand fame of the town they belong to j BOrne are 200 or 300 yarda in leugih,and of proportionable breadth.

the lower and further end of the yard stands erect a lesspillar or pole, about twelve feet high: these are called the,lave-posts, because to ihem are bound the captives con­diunned to be burnt, and these posts are usually decoratedwith the scalps of their slain enemies j the scalps with thehair on them, and strained on a little hoop, usually five orsix inches in width, are suspended by a string six' orseven inches in length round about the top of the pole,where they remain as long as they last. I have sren somethat have been there so long as to lose all the hair, and theskin remaining white as parchment or paper. The pole isusually crowned with the white dry skull of an enemy. Insome of these towns I have counted six or eight scalpslluttering on one pole in these yards. Thus it appearsevidently enough that this area is designed for a publicplace of ,exhibition of shows and games, and formerlysome of the scenes were of the most'tragical and barbarousnature, as torturing the miserable captives with fire invarious ways, and cansingor forcing them to run the gaunt­let naked, chunked and beat almost to deatp. with burningchunks and fire-brands, and at last burnt to ashes.

I inqaired of the traders for what reason this area wascalled the Chunky- Yard j they were in general.ignorant,yet they all seemed to agree in a lame story of its origin­ating from its being the place where the Indians formerlyput to death and tortured their captives-or from the In­dian name for it, which bears such a signification.·

• According to Adair, Du Pratz, and other writers, the Cherokees, andprobably the Creeks, were much addicted to a singular game, played with• rod and pole, and a circular atone or disk, which was called c1ulIgk,.:Mr. Catlin describes this game as still existing under the name of II Tc.4u"8'­1m," amongst the Minitarees and other tribes on the Missouri. It alsoprevailed among some of the Ohio Indians. It has been suggest.l3d that theareas called c1ulIk or ck_ky yardJ by Bartram, derived their names fromthe circumstance that they were, amongst other objects, devoted to games,among which that of the ckulIgk, was prominent. This suggestion derivesaome support from Adair, who says, II They have, near their State HOU8ell,

The Indians do not now torture their captives after thaternel manner as formerly; but there are some old traderswho have been present at the buming of captives.

I observed no Chunky-Yards, chunky-pole, or slave­posts in use in any of the Cherokee towns: and when Ihave mentioned in my joumal, chunky-yards in the Chero­kee country, it must be understood that I have seen theremain.s or vestiges of them in the ancient ruins of towns;for in the present Cherokee towns that I visited, thoughthere were the ancient mounts and signs of the yard adjoin­ing, yet the yard was either built upon or tumed into agarden spot or the like.

Indeed, I am convin~ed that the Chunky-Yards now,or lately, in use amongst the Creeks, are of very ancientdate-not the formation of the present Indians. But inmost towns they are cleaned out and kept in repair, beingswept very clean every day, and the poles kept up anddecorated in the manner I have mentioned.

I ••

x. TENURE OF LANDS AND PBOPICBTY.

~.

Does there appear to be • community of good' among the tribes )'011

have vil'ited 7 Or have the members of each tribe their own ucluri1l/lproJJerty in lAndr, Produce of these 1.odB, etc. ?

As I have already observed, in answer to your fifthquestion, the soil, with all its appurtenances of the whole

a Iquare piece or ground, wen cleared; and fiDe aand is strewn over Itwhen requisite to promote a swifter motion to what they throw along i1."­(A.mt411 l1Wti4m, p. 402.) It is therefore not improbable that these1qU&re areu were denomlDated cAtvIIgke or cAlltiky yards.-E. G. S.

THE OREEK. .AND' CHEROKEE INDIANS. 81

Muscogulge Confederacy or Empire, is equally the rightand property of every individual inhabitant, except withinthe pale or precinct of each town, where meum and leum,or distinctions of property, take place. And though Ibelieve that the whole territory comprehended within theclaims of the Confederacy is divided by lines and bounda­ries amongst the different tribes (as, for instance, the Uchea,as mentioned 2d, 5th, the Savannah~, Alabamas, andother tribes who speak the Stinkard tongue, who make,perhaps, one-third of the Confederacy; the Muscogulges,who are the head or imperial tribe and founders of theConfederacy, and speak the Muscoge or national tongue,and whose towns and villages perhaps claim the other twothirds of the territory); vet every individual citizen of theConfederacy has the same eqnal right to hunt and range,where he pleases, in the forests and unoccupied lands, andto range stocks of cattle, horses, etc.

All that a man earns by his labor or industry belongsto himself; he has the use and disposal of it according tothe custom and usages of the people. He may clear, settle,and plant as much land as he pleases, and wherever hewill within the boundaries of his tribe. There are, how­ever, very few instances amongst the Creeks, of farms orprivate plantations out of sight of the town. I was at onebelonging to a chief of the town of the Apalachians, aboutsix miles from the town, on or near the banks of the river:I went to pay him a visit with au old trader, ·my fellowpilgrim, in consequence of an invitation to breakfast withhim. He is called the Bosten or Boatswain by the traders.As a prince, he received us with politeness and most per­fect good breeding.' His villa was beautifully situated andwell constructed. It was composed of three oblong uniformframe buildings, and a fOUlth, four-square, fronting the prin­cipal house or common hall, after this manner, encompass­ing one area. The hall was his lodging-house, large andcommodious; the two wings were, one a cook-house, the

other a skin or ware-house j .and the large square 'one wasa vast open pavilion, supporting a canopy of cedar roof bytwo rows of columns or pillars, one within the other. Be­tween each range of pillars was a platform, or what thetraders call cabins, a sort of sofa raised about two feet

FIr. I.

above the common ground, and ascended by two steps j

this was covered with checkered mats of curious manufac­ture, woven of splints of canes dyed of di1ferent colors j themiddle was a four-square stage or platform, raised nineinches or a foot higher than the cabins or sofas, and alsocovered with mats. In this delightful airy place we werereceived, and entertained by this prince. We had excel­lent coffee served up in china ware, by young negro slaves.We had plenty of excellent sugar, honey, choice warmcom cakes, venison steaks, and barbacued meat. Wespent the fore part of the day with him, and returned totown at evening, well pleased with the honors and distinc­tions shown us by that man of excellent character. Hehad near one hundred acres of fertile land in good fence,most of which is usually planted, and attended to by hisown family, which consists of about thirty people, amongwhich were about fifteen negroes, several of which weremarried to IndianS", and enjoyed equal privileges with them j

but they are slaves till they marry, wnen they become In­dians or free citizens.

This truly great and worthy man has acquired hisriches by trading with the white people. He carries hismerchandise on horses to the Altamaha river, where, hav­ing large and convenient boats, he descends the river to

THE OREEK .AND CHEROKEE INDUNS. 89

Frederica, and sometimes continues his voyage to Sunburyand Savannah, when he disposes of his goods (i. e., deer­skins, furs, hides, tallow, oils, honey, wax, etc., etc.), andwith the receipts thereof purchases sugar, coffee, andevery other kind of goods suitable to the Indian markets.I have dwelt so long on this subject, which may be calleda digression, because it may (amongst many more instancesI could produce, were it required of me) serve to convincethose prejudiced, ignorant, obstinate people, that assert thatit is impossible for the Creeks to be brought over· to ourmodes of civil society (though so contrary to their notionsof civilization, and, perh&ps, in some degree, irreconcilableto right reason). However, I am not for levelling thingsdown to the simplicity of Indians, yet I"may be allowed toconjecture that we may possibly better our condition incivil society, by paying some more respect to and impar­tially examining the system of legislation, religion, morality,and economy of these despised, persecuted wild people, oras they are learnedly called, bipeda-I suppose meaning acreature differing from quadrupeds.

But to return to the subject in question. Every townor community assigns a piece or parcel of land as near asmay be to the town, for the sake of convenience. This iscalled the town plantation, where every family or citizenhas his parcel or share, according to desire or convenience,or the largeness of his family. The shares are bounded by astrip of grass ground, poles set up, or any other natural orartificial boundary, so that the whole plantation is a collec­tion of lots joining each other, comprised" in one enclosureor general boundary.

In the spring, when the season arrives, all the citizens,as one family, prepare the ground and begin to plant, com­mencing at one end or the other, as convenience m~y directfor the general good, and so continue on until finished j

and when the young plants arise and require culture, theydress and husband them until the crops are ripe. The

·40 'l'Jm cmDE UD OIIDOXU Ilmun.

wort is directed. by an cweneer elected or appointed annu­ally, I IUppose in rotation throughout all the families of thetown. He rises at daybreak, makes his progress throughthe town, and, with a singular loUd cry, awakens the~pIe to their daily labors, who by sunrise aasemble at thePublic Square, each one with his hoe and axe, where theyform theDl881vea into one body or band, headed by· theirsuperintendent, who Iea:da them to the field in the sameorder as if they were going to battle, when they begin theirwork, and continue till evening. The. femalea do notIDilrCh out with the men, but follow in detached parties,bearing the provisions of the day.

When the fruita of their labors are ripe and in fit orderto gather in, they.all on the same day repair to the plan-·tation: each gathers the produce of his own proper lot,brings it to town, and deposita it in his own crib, al­lotting a certain portion (or the Public Granary, which iscalled the King's crib, because its contenta are at his dis­posal, though not his private property, but considered 88

the tribute or free contribution of the citizens of the State,at the disposal of the king.

The design of the common granary is for the wisestand best of purposes,· with respect to their people, i. eo, aIlote or resource to repair to in cases of necessity. ThUJwhen a family's private stores fall short, in cases of acci­dent or otherwise, they are entitled to assistance aDd sup-:ply from the public gmnary, by applying to the king.It also servea to aid other towns which may be in want;and affords provisions for their armies, for travellers, s0­

journers, etc., etc.Thus the Mico becomes the provider or Fot/&er of kU

People, or of mankind-the great.elt and most godlikecharacter upon earth.

Besides the general plantation, each inhabitant in thetown incloses a garden Bpot adjoining his house, where beplants com. rice, squashes, etc., which, by early planting

and close attention, aft'ords an earlier supply than the dis­tant plantations.

Now, although it appears that these people enjoy allthe advantages of freedom and private property, and havelaws, usages, and customs, which secure each one hisrights according to reason, justice, and equality, the wholetribe seems as one family or community, and, in fact, all~eir possessions are in common; for they have neitherlocks nor bars to their doors, and there is a common andcontinual intercourse between the families of a tribe; in­deed, throughout the Confederacy, they seem as one greatfamily, perfectly known and acquainted With each otherwhenever they meet.

If one goes to another's house and is in want of anynecessary that he or she sees, and says, I have need of sucha thing, it is regarded only as a polite way of asking for it,and the request is forthwith granted, without ceremony oremotion j for he knows he is welcome to the like generousand friendly return at any time. Indeed, they seem toconsider all the Indians of the earth as one great family orcommunity, who have separated themselves as convenienceor necessity have directed, and formed innumerable na­tions,-climates, situations, revolutions, renovations, or otherunknown causes, having marked the different nations andtribes by different stature, color, complexion, manners, cus.toms, language, etc., etc.

Their philanthropy and hospitality are perhaps the mostuniversal and liberal of any people we have any accountof; they call all men, either of their own land or of themost distant nations, by the name of brother. The Israelitescalled all of their ·own nation and religion brothers orbrethren. But the aborigines, or red men of America, offerthis salutation to every individual of every nation, color, orlanguage whatever; and this is universal throughout thenations of the continent, unless we are to except theEsqltemauz, who appear to be another race, and with good

42 TUB CBZD: ..urn OBEBODlII INDUNB.

reason are supposed to be an European colony, much laterthan the colonization of the red race, supposing them to benot absolutely aborigines. Such is their hospitality tostrangers, that I know a Creek Indian would not onlyreceive into his- house a traveller or sojourner, of whatevernation, color, or language (without distinction of rank orany other exception of person), and there treat him as abrother or his own child 80 long as he pleased to stay, andthat without the least hope or thought of interest or reward,but serve him with the best of every thing his abilities couldafford. He would divide with you the la.'lt grain of comor piece of fiesh, offer you the most valuable things ill hispossession that he imagines would be acceptable, nay,would part with every thing rather than contend for them, orlet a stranger remain or go away necessitous. And this to allenemy whom they know or suspect has come through his ac­cident or niisfortune among them, or fallen into their hands:in this case they would conduct him safe beyond theirfrontiers, and then tell him to go and take care of himself.

Even a white man, w1:Lom they have reason to know istheir most formidable, cruel, barbarous, and unrelentingfoe, they would cherish as long as he might choose to stay,or else guard him to his country. If he came peaceablyto his town, or even if he met him alone in the drearyforest, naked, hungry, bewildered, lost, the Indian wouldgive him his only blanket, half his provisions, and takehim to his wigwam, where he would repose securely andquietly, and in the morning conduct him safe back to hisown frontier-and all this, even though he had been theday before beaten, hntised, and shot at by a white man.Thus they are hospitable, forgiving, gentle, humane, andgrateful, without precept or scholastic education j and thisby nature or some other ,unknown cause, without the leastdesire or expectation of applaUlltl or reward.

XI. DISEASES.AND REMEDIES.

Qutry.

What appear to be the most common diseasu among the tribes ofIndians with which you are acquainted 7 What are their ffl7Iedie, forthose diseases? Have you any reasons for believing that the ...'t7Ief'ealdisease was known among the N. A. Indians before the discovery of thecontinent by the Europeana ? Is it a frequent or common disease at pre­mit among the Indians? If so, do they appear to be acquainted with Inyremedy or remedies for it 7 If any remedies, what are they ?

Answer.

The Indians seem in general healthi~r than the whites,have fewer diseases, and those they have not so acute orcontagious as those amongst us.

The small-pox sometimes visits them, and is the mostdreaded of all diseases.

Dysentery, pleurisy, intermittent fevers, epilepsy andasthma, they have at times.

The hooping-congh is fatal among their children, andworms very frequent. But (besides their well-knownremedy, spigelia antkelmintica), to prevent the troublesomeand fatal etf8cts of this disease, they use a strong lixiviumprepared from ashes of bean-stalks and other vegetables, inall their food prepared from com (zea), which otherwise,they say, breeds worms in their stomachs.

They have the venereal disease amongst them in someof its stages; but by their continence, temperance, powerfulremedies, skill in applying them, and care, it is a diseasewhich may be said to be uncommon. In some towns it isscarcely known, and in none rises to that state of virulencywhich we call a pox, unless sometimes amongst the whitetraders, who themselves say, as well as the Indians, that itmight be eradicated if the traders did not carry it with

them to the nations when they return with their merchan­dise; these contract the disorder before they set off, and itgenerally becomes virulent by the time they arrive, whenthey apply to the Indian doctors to get cured.

However, I am inclined to believe that this infernaldisease originated in America, from the variety of remediesfound among the Indians, all of which are vegetable. Iimagine that the disease is more prevalent, as well as moremalignant, among the northern tribes.

The vegetables which I discovered to be used as reme­dies, were generally very powerful catharties. Of thiselass are several species of the Iris, viz., Ir. versicolor, Ir."erna. And for the same purpose they have a high esti­mation of a species of either Croton or Styllingia, I am indoubt which; I tp.ink it is unknown to Europeans (Cr.tkcumb61l8) : it is in great account in the medicines of Dr.Howard, of N. Carolina, in curing the yaws, and is calledthe yaw-weed. A great number of leaning, simple stems,arise from a large perennial root; these stalks are furnishedwith lanciolate, entire leaves, both surfaces smooth. Thestems terminate with spikes of male and female dowers ;the latter are succeeded by tricoccous seed-vessels, each cellcontaining a single seed; the capsule, after excluding theseed, contracts and becomes of a triangular figure, muchresembling a cocked hat, which has given that name to theplant, i. e., the "cock-up-hat." In autumn, before thestems decay, the leaves change to yellow, red, and crimsOncolors, before they falloff.

I have been particulaJ; in the history of this plant, be­cause it is known· to posse~s very singular and powerfulqualities. It is common on the light, dry, high lands ofCarolina, Georgia, and Florida. .

Several species of Smilaz, the woody vines of Bignortiacrucigera, some of the bays (laurus), are of great accountwith the India.ns as remedies.

But the Indians, in the cure of all complaints, depend

THE CREEK AND CBEROX:U INDUNS. 45

most upon regimen, and a rigid abstinence in respect toexciting drinks, as well as the gratification of other pa~

sions and appetites.'I'he Cherokees use the Lobelia syphilitica, and another

plant of still greater power and efficacy, which the traderstold me of, but would not undertake to show it to me undertwenty guineas reward, for fear of the Indians, who endeavorto conceal the knowledge of it from the whites, lest its greatvirtues should excite their researches for it to its extirpa­tion, etc.

The vines or climbing stems of the climber (Bignoniacrucigera) are equally divided longitudinally into fourparts by the same number of their membranes, somewhatresembling a piece of white tape, by which means, whenthe vine is cut through an,d divided transversely, it presentsto view the likeness of a cross. This membrane is of asweet, pleasant taste. The conntry peoplf3 of Carolinachop these vines to pieces, together with china brier andsassafras roots, and boil them in 'their beer in the spdng, fordiet drink, in order to attenuate and purify the blood andjuices. It is a principal ingredient in Howard's famousinfusion for curing the yaws, etc., the' use and virtues ofwhich he obtained from Indian doctors.

The caustic and detergent properties of the white nettle(roots) of Carolina and Florida (Jatropha urena), used forcleansing old ulcers and consnming proud-lIesh,~and like­wise the dissolvent and diuretaut powers of the root of theconvolvulus panduratus, so much esteemed as a remedy innephritic complaints, were discovered by the Indians tothe inhabitants of Carolina."

I was informed, by the people, that in order to prepareand administer both these remedies, they dig up the roots

• The white nettle roots are good and wholesome food when rosstedandboiled: they are about the size of a large carrot when well grown, but fewof them are allowed to become large, the swine are so fond of them.

46 TBB ORBB .AND CHBBOXD INDIANS.

and divide and cut them into three pieces, in order for theirmore speedy drying in the shade, and then reduce them topowder, the former being plentifully spread over the ulcer,and the powder of the latter swallowed with any properliquid vehicle j they are the most efficacious if used asfresh as possible,-Isuppose losing their virtues by desicca­tion or being exposed to the air.

Through the emollient and discutient power of the8'lDamp lily (saurunu cernuua), and the virtues of the hypoor May·apple (podophyllum peltatum),-the root of whichis the most effectual and safe emetic: and also catharticand equally efficacious in expelling worms from thestomach,-the lives of many thousands of the people of theSouthern States are preserved, both of children andadults. In these countries it is of infinitely more valuethan the Spanish Ipecacuanha. I speak not only frommy own experience, having been relieved by it, but like­wise from numberless instances where I have seen itsalmost infallible good effects. The roots are dug up in theautumn and winter, and spread to dry in an airy loft, when&bey are occasionally reduced to powder by the usual tri­lUIation (for the roots will retain their efficacy when dried).Thirty grains of this fine sieved powder is sufficient tooperate on common constitutions, and half that quantity onchildren, but a weak dose is sufficient for a cathartic j

either way it never fails to clear the stomach of worms.In fine, I look upon this and the saurunu to be two as

valuable medicines as any we know of, at least in theSouthern States. The virtues of both were communicatedto the ,vhite inhabitants by the Indians.

Pana:c- ginseng and Nor~da, or white root (or "belly­ache root "),. perhaps angelica lucida. These roots are of

• The Creeks and Cherokees call it by a name signifYing U white root."InVirginia it Is called Norida. I suppose an Indian name. It is a plant highlyworthy of cultivation, grows naturally in a good, loose soil (moist), near toand all over the Cherokee and Apalachian mountains. My father (John

I

the highest esteem among the Cherokees and Creeks j thevirtues of the former are well known; of the latter, itsfriendly carminative qualities are well known for relievingall the disorders of the stomach, a dry belly-ache and dis-.orders of the intestines; colic, hysterics, etc. The patientchews the root and· swallows the juice, or smokes it whendry with tobacco.· Even the smell of the root is of goodeffect. The Lower Creeks, in whose country it does notgrow, will gladly give two or three buckskins for a singleroot of it. ---

xn. FOOD, AND DANS OF SUBSISTENCE.

Query.

Does the food of the Indians appear to be principally animal or vege­table? What are the principal vegetsbles employed for food by them?Wbat've~tsbleado tbeycultivate for food besides maize, different speciesor gourds, etc.? What are the principal vegetsbles of which they maketheir bread? Do you think the tribes you visited were acquainted withthe use of salt before they became acquainted with the Europeans '1 IfJOu think they were not, what substances did they employ as substitutes '1

Theil' animal food consists chiefly of venison, bears'llesh, turkeys, hares, wild fowl, and domestic poultry; liDdalso of domestic kine, as beeves, goats, and swine-neverhorses' flesh, though they have horses in great plenty j

neither do they eat the flesh of dogs, cats, or any suchcreatures as are usually rejected by white people.

Their vegetable food consists chiefly of corn (zea), rice,convolvulus hatalas, or those nourishing roots usuallycalled sweet or Spanish potatoes (but in the.Creek Con-

Bartram) planted it in his garden, where it flourished equally as well as init. native soil. .But the ground-mice, which are immoderately fond of itsroot, as well as that of the 0i1lM1l8, after several yeara destroyed it.

48 TJm OUR AND OBDODE INDUR

federacy they never plant or eat the Irish potato). Allthe· species of the pluueolU8 and 00lich08 in use amongthe whites, are cultivated by tbe Creeks, Cherokeetl, etc.,and make up a great part of their food. All the species ofcucurbita, as sqnashes, pumpkins, water-melons,. etc.; butof the cucumeru, they cultivate none of the species as yet,neither do they cultivate our farinaceous grains, as wheat,barley, spelts, rye, buckwheat, etc. (not having got the UII8

of the plough amongst them, though it has been introducedsome years ago). The chiefs rejected it, alleging that itwould starve their old people who employed themselves inplanting, and selling their produce. to the traders, for theirsupport and maintenance; seeing that by permitting thetraders to use the plough, one or two persons could easilyraise more grain than all the old people of the town coulddo by using ihe hoe. Turnips, parsnips, salads, etc., theyhave no knowledge. of. Rice (oryza) they plant in hillaon high dry ground, in their gardens; by this managementa few grains in a hill (the hills about four feet apart) spreadevery way incredibly, and seem more prolific than culti­vated in water, as in the white settlements of Carolina;the heads or panicle, are larger and heavier, and the grainis larger, firmer, or more farinaceous, much sweeter, andmore nourishing.- Each family raises eoough of this ex­cellent grain for its own ·use.

But, besides the cultivated fruits above recited, withpeaches, oranges,tplums (Chickasaw phlJns), figs, and

• The rice plantAsrs of N. Caroll1l& raiIe TfJl'1li~tle of their rice In lIoodeclfields (the Jl&turalsltuatioD Dftheir country DOt admitting of it). but plantin the riCh low lands on the borders of 1treamI, or lWampi j and thoughthis kind of agricnlture is more troublesome &Dd 9pIlIIIiYe: yet they findtheir advantage in a more tariDaceous grain; more aubfiantial and neater,inasmuch as their rice brings a.mnch higher price at the foreign markets.

t Oranges and figs are Dot much culth'ated In the NGliMJ or UpperCreekll j but in the Lower Creek COUDtry, near the JIe&oCOU~, ~hey are Ingreater abundance, particularly the orange. :Man11Ol1a are DOW becomewild all oYer Eat Florida.

THE CREEK. AND CHEROKEE INDUNS. 49

some apples, they have in use a vast variety of wild ornative vegetables, both fruits and roots, viz.: diospyro8,morns rubra, gleditsia, multiloba, s. triacanthus,. all thespecies of juglansand acorns, from which they extract avery sweet oil, which enters into all their cookery, and seve·ral species ofpalms, which furnish them with a great varietyof agreeable and nourishing food. Grapes, too, they have ingreat variety and abundance, which they feed on occa­sionally when ripe; they also prepare them for keepingland lay up for winter ·and spring time.· A. species of smi­lax (S. pselldochina) affords them a delicious and nourishingfood, which is prepa.red from its vast, tuberous roots.

They dig up these roots, and while yet fresh and fullof juice, chop them in pieces, and then macerate them wellin wooden mortars; this substance they put in vessels nearlyfilled with clean water, when, being well mixed with pad­dles, whilst the finer parts are yet floating in the liquid,they decant it off into other vessels, leaving the farinaceoussubstance at the bottom, which, being taken out and dried,is an impalpable powder or farina, of a reddish color: This,when mixed in boiling water, becomes a beautiful jelly,which, sweetened with honey or sugar, affords a mostnourishing food for children or aged people; or when.mixed with fine com flour, and fried in fresh bears' grease,makes excellent fritters.

I conclude these articles with mentioning a vegetablewhich I had but a slight opportunity of observing, just as Ileft the Creek country, on the waters of the Mobile river.It is a species of palma. It has no stalk or.stem aboveground; the leaves spread regularly all round, are flabelli­form when fuHy expanded, otherwise cucullated, their slips

... Vitia Vinifera j I call them 80 because they approach, &8 respects thelargenell of their fruit and their shape and flavor, much nean:r to thegrapes of Enrope and Asia, of which wine is made, and are specificallydUferent from our wild grape, and &8 4ifferent from the fox or bull grapeotPennsylvania and Carolina.

4:

very sbort, scarcely appearing at a slight view j in the cen­tre is produced a kind of dense panicle or general receptacleof the fruit, of the form and size of a sugar-loaf. Thereis a vast collection of plums or drupes, of the size andfigure of ordmary plums, which are covered with a fibrous,farinaceous, pulpy coating of considerable thickness j thissubstance, which, to the best of my remembrance, resemblesmanna in texture, color, and taste, if! of the consistence ofcoarse brown. sugar, mixed with particles or lnmps of loafsugar. It is a delicious and nourishing food, and diligentlysought after. There were several of these clusters broughtinto the Ottasse town just before I left it, of which I atefreely with the Indians, and think in substance and tasteit is most of any thing like manna j it is a little bitterishand stinging on the palate, at nrst using it, but soon becomesfamiliar and desirable.

I own I am not able to give an accurate botanical ac­count of this very curious and valuable vegetable, becauseit was disclosed to my observation just on my departure j

and although I saw several of the plants on the road, yetbeing obliged to follow the mad career of a man travel­ling with pack-horses, I had left the country of its nativegrowth before I had an opportunity or leisure to examineit,-an omission which I have severely regretted. I amconvinced it is an object of itself worth a journey to theseregions to examine.

•••

XIII. FOSSIL REMAINS.

Query.

Did you observe, in any part or put, of the countrit's through whichyou passed, any large teeth or bones, IimilllT to those which are foundDeBr the river Ohio, etc.? Have- the Indians, so far as you know, anytrldition concerning these bones? .Ifthey have, what is the tradition?

TUB ORKEK: .AND CBEBOXEE INDIANS. 51

AftIUIer.

I observed not the .least sign or mention of any largeteeth or bones of the kind you refer to, except some tradi­tioD of the same story recited concerning the big boDes onthe Ohio, which stories you are well acquainted with.

I, indeed, frequently in the forests of W. Florida andN. of Georgia, observed very large bones, as those of thethigh and tibia, and some remarkably large grinders (dent.mot); but suppose them to belong to the buffalo (urw).They were all unchanged bone, not petrified or fossil,which all the specimens of the ~reat bones I have seenappear to be.

•••

POSTSCRIPT.

I have added the following rough drawings of theAncient Indian Monuments, consisting of public buildings,areas, vestiges of towns, etc., which I hope may serve insome degree to explain or illustrate my answers and con­jectures. They are, to the best of my remembrance, asnear the truth as I could express. However, if I haveerred in any way, I hope they may be corrected and recti­fied by the observations of future and more accurate andindustrious travellers. But as Time changes the face ofthings, I wish they could be searched out and faithfullyrecorded, before the devastations of artificial refinements,ambition, and avarice, totally deface these simple and mostancient remains of the American Aborigines.

PLAN OF THE ANCIE...1IlT CHUNKY-YARD.

The Bubjoined plan (fig. 2) will illustrate the form andcharacter of these yards.

52 THE OREEX .AND CHEROKEE INDIANS.

A, the great area, surrounded by terraces or banks.B, a circular eminence, at one end of the yard, com­

monly nine or ten feet higher than the ground round about.Upon this mound stands the great Rotunda, Hot House, orWinter Council House, of the present Creeks. It was pro-

Pit. 2,

bably designed and used by the ancients who constructedit, for the same purpose.

C, a square terrace or eminence, about the same heightwith the circular one just described, occupying a positionat the other end of the yard. Upon this stands the PublicSquare.

The banks inclosing the yard are indica~ by the let­ters b, b, h, h; c indicates the II Chunk-Pole," and d, d,the II Slave-Post8."

Sometimes the square, instead of being open at the

TBlIl CREEK AND CHEROKEE INDUNB. 53

ends, as shown in the plan, is closed upoil all sides by thebanks. In the lately built, or new Creek towns, they donot raise a mound for the foundation of their Rottmdas orPublic Squares. The yard, however, is retained, and thepublic buildings occupy nearly the same position in respectto it. They also retain the central obelisk and the slave­posts.

TBlIl PUBLIC SQUARE.

The Publie Square of the Creeks consists of four build­ings of equal size, placed one upon each side of a quad­rangular conrt. The principal or Council House is dividedtransversely into three equal apartments, separated fromeach other by a lpw clay wall. This buil~~ng is alsodivided longitudinally into two nearly equal parts j theforemost or front is an open piazza, where are seats for thecouncil. The middle apartment is for'the king (mico), thegreat war chief, second head man, and other venerable andworthy chiefs an'dwarriors. The two others are for. thewarriors and citizens generally. The back apartment ofthis house is quite close and dark, and without entrances,except three very low arched holes or doors for admittingthe priests. Here are deposited all the most valuable pub­·lic things, as the eagle's tail or national standard, the sacredcalumet, the drums, and all the apparatus of the priests.None but the priests having the care of these articles areadmitted i and it 1s said to be certain death for any otherperson to enter.·

Fronting this is another building, called the "Banquet­ing House j" and the edifices upon either hand are halls toaccommodate the people on public occasions, as feasts, fes­tivals, etc. The three buildings last mentiOIied are very

• It is to be regretted that our author bas not given the dimensions orthe "Rotuuda." It would be interetlting to \mow how it would compare,in that respect, with the 110&11 circles 80 common throughout the Wesi.-S.

54 THIl CB.EEE AND OBDODlI: INDIANB.

much alike, and durer from the Council House only in nothaving the close back apartment

ARRANGEKENT OF THE PUBLIC BUILDINGS.

This is- the most common plan or arrangement of theChunky-Yard, Public Square, and Rotunda of the modemCreek towns.

"c. 3.

B

c

mi

A 'I ~iiiiiI

~A, the Public Square or area.B, the Rotunda j a, the door opening towards the

square j the three circular lines show the two rows ·of seats,sofas, or cabins j the punctures show the" pillars or columnswhich support the building j c, the great central pillar, orcolumn, surrounded by the spiral fire, which gives light tothe house.

0, part of the Chunky-Yard.

CREEK TOWNS .AND DWELLINGS.

The general position of the Chunk-Yard and PublicBuildings of the Creeks, in respect to the dwellings of the

Indians themselves, is shown in the following engravedplan:-

A is the Rotunda j B, the Public Square j 0, the grandarea or Chnnky-Yard. The habitations of the people areplaced with considerable regularity in streets or rll,nges, asindicated in the plan.

l'it·4-

ad ,,/1 tid i----! J ~ \ I\ ..g

~-_.~ "--l--,._j --'\--2 I-\~.;} e..oJ....,j De._'L.1

• ..,IL...L-..;i

0 I~O0 ..' .,,_a..-..._

• ,~ : I I! ! I~.n.:' I... .

7' 'T······.., CiT. rr l1/~'i#; I- I i......,1 I I I j.-.LI_-j11'--, • I • h j•J l ! d l- j -. L. L......

I I ! , ; ! 1 I, I ~. ,

. I ......1I •

The dwellings of the Upper Creeks consist of littlesquares, or rather of four dwelling-houses inclosing asquare area, exactly on the plan of the Public· Square.(8ee cut, fig. 1, p. 38.) Every family, however, has notfour of these houses j some have but three, others not morethan two, and some but one, according to the circumstancesof the individual, or the number of his family. Thosewho have four buildings hav~ a particular use for eachbuilding. One serves as a cook-room and winter lodging­house, another as a summer lodging-house and hall forreceiving visitors, and a third for a granary or provisionhouse, etc. The last is commonly two stories high, anddivided into two apartments, transversely, the lower story

66 THE CREEK .AND CHEROKEE INDIANS.

of one end being a potato house, for keeping such otherroots and fruits as require to be kept close, or defendedfrom cold in winter. The chamber over it is the council.At the other end of this building, both upper and lowerstories are open on their sides: the lower story serves for ashed for their saddles, pack-saddles, and gears, and otherlumber j the loft over it is a very spacious, airy, pleasantpavilion, where the chief of the family reposes in the hotseasons, and receives his guests, etc. The fourth house(which completes the square) is a skin or ware-house, ifthe proprietor is a wealthy man, and engaged in trade ortraffic, where he keeps his deer-skins: furs, merchandise,etc., and treats his c.ustomers. Smaller or less wealthyfamilies make one, two, or three houses serve all their pur-poses as well as they can. .

The Lower Creeks or Seminoles are not so regular oringenious in their building, either public or private. Theyhave neither the Chunky-Yard nor Rotunda, and the PublicSquare is an impelfect one, having but two or three housesat furthest. Indeed they do not require it j as their townsare small, and consequently their councils- just sufficientfor the government or regulation of the town or littl~ tribe:for in all great and public matters they are influenced bythe Nation, or Upper Creeks.

Their private habitations consist generally of two build­ings: one a large oblong house, which serves for a cook­room, eating-house, and lodging-rooms, in three apartmentsunder one roof j the other not quite so large, which issituated eight or ten yards distant, one end opposite the

Fig. 5. principal house. This is two stories

rn high, of the same construction, andp serving the same purpose WIth the

granary or provision house of theUpper Creeks.

The Cherokees, too, differ greatly from the Muscogul.ges, in respect to their buildings. They have neither the

Square nor the Chunky-Yard. Their Snmmer CouncilHouse is a spacious open loft or pavilion, on the top of avery large oblong building j and the Rotunda, or great Hotor Town House, is the Council House in cold seasons.

Their private houses or habitations consist of one largeoblong-square log building, divided transversely into seve­ral apartments j and a round hot·house stands a little dis­tance off, for a winter lodging-house.

ANCIENT REMAINS.

In the Cherokee country, all over Carolina, and theNorthern and Eastern parts of Georgia, wherever the ruins ofancient Indian towns appear, we see always beside theseremains one vast, conical-pointed mound. To mounds of

Fig. 6.

this kind I refer when I speak of pyramidal mounds. Tothe south and west of the Altamaha, I observed none ofthese in any part of the.Muscogulge country, but alwaysdat or square structures. The vast mounds upon the St.John's, Alacnua, and Musquito rivers; differ from thoseamongst the Oherokee with respect to their adjuncts andappendages, particularly m respect to the great. highwayor avenue, sunk below the common level of the earth, extending from them, and terminating either in a vast sa­vanna or nat.ural plain, or an artificial pond or lake. Aremarkable example oceurs at Mount Royal, from whenceopens a glorious view of Lake George and its environs.

Fig. 6, 18 a perspective plan of this great mound and itsavenues, the latter leading off to an expansive savanna or

fiB TJm cmDB: A.BD OBDODB INDUNB.

natural meadow. A, the mound, about forty feet in perpen­dicular height; B, the highway leading from the moundin a straight line to the pond C, about half a mile eli&­tanto What may have been the motive for making thispond I cannot conjecture, since they are situated close tothe banks of the river San Juan.* It could not, therefore,be for the conveniency of water. Perhaps they raised themound with the earth taken out of the pond. The sketchof the mound also illustrates the. character of the moundsin the Cherokee country; but the last have not the high­way or avenue, and are always accompanied by vastsquare terraces, placed upon one side or the other. Onthe other hand, we never see the square terraees accom­panying the high mounds. of East Florida.

• The IO-C&1led pond ill limply the eXC&fttion whence the earth for thecoDatruction of the mound and embankments W&II obtained. Similar ex­C&fttioDS are to be found in the nl'ighborhood of &1l the ancient worka ofthe West lUI weD lUI South, and haTe been the subject of much needlealpeCulation. Atwater, in hill Memoir on our Western Antiquities, calledthem "tlJdlI." B. G. S.

END OF )[B)[OIR.

NOTES.

'.'

NOTE TO PARAGRAPB: L

TIm account given by Bartram of the origin of the name Creek, is Dotvery clear. What he means to say undoubtedly is, that the bare men­tion of the name Mu~ by the whites (such was the jcalousy of theIndians) excited their sUspicion and alarm; and that, therefore, frommotives of policy, a conventional name, Creek, was adopted by thetraders. But admitting this to be fact, the ll88ential reason why theywere called Creeb, rather than by any other name, is stilt unexplained.

Hawkins states that .. the origin of the name is uncertain;" but that• the tradition is, that it was given by the white people from the numberof creeks and water-eoul'll8ll found in the country."

The word Elte wu sometimes written l,te, and signified man ratherthan nation or people; nor was it, as our author intimates, confined faliB application to the radical divisons of mankind-red, black, white, and.yellow. A Seminole was called 1,16-&mole, i. e., wild man.

That the MUlICogea and their affilisted tribes came from the West­ward, somewhere beyond the Millllissippi river, is the tenor of their con­current traditionL At what time they crolllled that river, under. wildImpulaea, and what wu the nature of their relations previously-whetherthey were then diltinct as when they first became known to EuropeaDllfor pertained to a Bingle nation from which they were split off by ll1IOo

ce&Bive migrations, all these are questions to which it is not likely weIIball ever be able to procure any but approximately accurate answer&.At the time of De Soto's expedition in 1541, some if not all of theeetribes were in the country, as appears from the names of tribes anclpluea preserved by his chroniclers. And Mr. Gallatin gives conelualveftUODB for· believing that the MUlICOge&, Cherokees, Chieasaa, aDd

Choctaws had, at that early period, subetantiaJly the same territorial re­lations which th~y JlOIlIl!lIIed one hundred SlId forty years later, whenthe French arrived at the mouth of the Mississippi, and which they pre­lIe1'Ved until their decline and expulaion from the country.

The aseertion of Bartram that the Chicuaa SlId Choctaws crollledthe MiBsissippi, W&II no doubt in conlOJ1ADC8 with the vague traditionacurrent amonglit the Indiana, at the time of his visit to Florida, almoetthree hundred years subeequent to De Boto's expedition. ~ut it is ut­ierly at variaDce with· facta, which admit of no diaputa, as may be &covered by reference to Mr. Gallatin's Memoir (" Transactions of theAmerican Antiquarian Society," voL ii., pp. 104, 106), where it will beleen not only that mIIly of the namee mentioned by the early chroni­clers were significant terms in the Museoge, Choctaw, SlId Cherokeelanguages, but also that lOme of these tribes had then the very designa-tiona which they now po88ClII. •

In respect to these mattera, Mr. Gallatin obeerves: " We maythence fairly, and I think conclusively infer that the Cherokees, Chi~saa, and ChocUlws occupied then (1541) nearly the same territories B8

at the present time; and that the MullCoges were then, as now (IS3ti),seated on the Coosa, to the eaat of the Choctaws. But we have noproof of the extent of their progrE'88 towards the Atlantic. Jt is indeedprobable, that the shores of Georgia, lIll wpJI &8 of West Florida, werethen occupied by dift'erent tribes now extinct. We know that theIndians of that peninsula were a distinct nation, or nationa, from theMoscoges; and that they were subeequently subjugated or destroyedby the Seminoles. The Coloosaa, the 1lIllt remnant of these FloridaIndiana, had been driven to lOme of the keys lying near the southernextremity of the peninsula. Even here the water did not protect themagainst the inroada from the Creeks; and in 1763, the remnant of thispeople, consisting of about eighty families, left this last posseBBion oftheir native land, and went to Havans."-(Gallatin,Tram. Am. Antiq.&C. vol. ii. p. 106; Roman', Florida, p. 291.)

Hawkins states: "The Creeks have a tradition that they came fromthe West; .that there are in the fork of Red River, I!ext to the MiBBia­sippi, two mounds of esrth; that at this place the Cus!l6tuha, Conetuha,SlId Chickll8llwS found them8Clves; that being distreBBed with wars withred people, they croBBed the MisaiBBippi river, and directing their courseeaatwardly croBBed the Falls of Tallapoosa above Tookaubatehe, ~t­tied below the Falls of Chattohooche, fIJld spread out from thence toOcmulgee, Oconee, Savannah, and down the aea.-eOllllt towards Charles­ton. Here they lint saw the white people; and from thence they have

..been eompelled to retire baek again to their preMnt aettlement&-­(Sketch oj Creek Cwntry, Trau lkorgitJ Hut. Soc.. voL iiL p. 19.)

NOTE TO PARAGRAPH V.

In respect to the system of government amongst the Creeks, andtheir regulations concerning war and peace, Hawkins hll8 presented U8

with BOme very interesting notices, which, in conjunction with Bartram'.aeeount, comprise about all that ill known on the subject. Mr. Gallatin,however, mention. a singular regulation, which is not recorded elll8­where, viz.: that the Creek towns were divided into what were calledthe White and Red towne; distingt1iehed from each other by poles ofthese colore. Whenever the queetion ot war or peIee WIl8 diecuued inthe national council, it wae the duty of the white towns to bring for­ward all the arguments which could be adduced in favor of peace.

Hawkins' Notes on the Creek System of Government are subjoined :

Go~ qf t1&e TOID7II.

"The towns, separately, have a government and eustoms, whichtbeyderive from a high BOutee. They have their public buildings, SI

well for business Il8 pleasure; every f.9wn has a chief who presidesover the whole; he is their Mic-cIJ, called by the white people 'King.'The grades from him are regular and uniform, throughout all the towns.In the description of the public buildings, these gradea will be explained.

TM Public Building•.

"Choo-eo-thlnc-eo (big house), the town honse or pnblic square,consists of four square buildings at one story, facing each other, fortyby sixteen feet, eight feet pilch; the entrance at each corner. Eachbuilding is a wooden frame, supported on posl.e set in the ground, cov­ered with slabs, open in front like a piazza, divided into three rooms,the baek and ends clayed up to, the plates. Each division is dividedlengthwise, into two seats; the front. two feet high, extending backhalf way, covered with reed-mats or Rlnbs; then a riee of on~ foot, andit extoods baek, covered in like manner, to the side of t.he building.On theae sea'" they lie or lit at ple:l8ure.

.. 1st. Mie-ul-gee in-too-pau, the Mic-co'. cabift.. This fronts theeat, and ie occupied by those of the highest rank; the centre of thebuilding iJII always occupied by the Mic-co of the town, by the -agentfor lndien a1fairB when he pays a viBit to a town, by the Mi~08 ofother town.. and by respectable white people.

.. The division to the right is occupied by the Mie-ug-gee (MiCCOl,there being IIPveral ao called in every town, from custom, the origin ofwhich i. unknown) and the counsellors. These two classes give theiradvice, in relation to war, and are in fact the principal counsellors.

.. The division to the left, is occupied by the .E-ne-~u rn.gee(people second in oommand, the head of whom iA called by the trader&,ateond-man). TJlese have the direction of the public worksappertaiD­jug to the town, such 88 the public buildings, building hOUl\e8 in townlor new settJertl, or working in the fields. They are perticularly chargedwith the ceremony of the Il-cee (a decoction of the casaine yupon,called by the traders black drink), under the direction of the Mi~o.

.. The Mie-co of the town 8uperintends all public and domestic eon­oem.. receives all public chamctere, hears their talk.. lay8 them ~lore the town, and delivers the talks of his town. The MiC-co of atown i8a1waY8 chosen from aome one family. The Mic-co of Tuck.an-batoChe is of the eagle tribe (Lum-ul-gee). After he is chosen andput on hie seat, he remaius for life. On his death, if his nephews arefit for the office, one of them takes hi8 "lace 88 his succell8Or; ifthey are unfit, one ie chosen of the next of kin, the descent beingalways in the female line. They have, in this town, a Mi~o of anotherfamily, the I8-po-co-gee Mic-co the ancient name of the town.

.. When a Mic-co, from age, infirmity, or any other cau8e, wanta anaasistant, he selects a man who appears tq him the beet qualified, andpropose8 him to the counsellors and great men of the town; and if heie approved of by them. they appoint him &8 an aaBiatant in publioaffairs, and he takes hi8 seat on thi8 cabin accordingly.

.. The Mic-co of a town generslly bears the name of the town, &8

CtI.setuh Mic-co. He ie what ie caned by the traders the CUBIOtuhKing.

.. 2d. TU8-tun-nug-ul-gee in-too.pan, the warriors' cobin. Thie frontathe south; the head warrior Bits at the west end of hie cabin, and in hisdivi8ion the great warriors Bit beside each other. The next in ranklit in the centre division. and the young warriors in the third. The

rile is regular, by merit, from the third to the first rlvision. The GreatWarrior, for that is the title of the head warrior, is appointed by thelfic-co and cCluneellon, from among the greatest war charactel'L

" When a young man is trained up and appears well qualified forthe fatiguee and hardahipa of war, and ill prolliising, the Mic-co ap­points him a governor, or, 88 the name imports, • lMder (I&-~puc-call­

chau); and if he distinguiehee himself, they give him a rise to the cell­

tre cabin. A man who diatinguishee himselt repeatedly, in warlikeenterprises, arrives to the rank of the Great Leader (Is-le-puc-cau-cballthlucco). This title, though greatly coveted, is seldom attained; 88 itrequires a long course of years, and great and numerous successee inwar.

" The second clau of warriors is the Tuwe-ki-ul-gee. All who goto war, and are in company, when a Bl'alp is taken, get a war name.The leader reports their conduct, and they receive a name accordingly.This is the TUll-se-ki-o-chif-eo, or war name. The term leader, as usedby the Indians, is the proper one. The war parUee all march in IndianlIe, with the leader in front, until coming on hoatile ground; he is thenin the rear.

"3d. Is-te-chl.gue-ul-gee in-to-pau, the ClJbin if eM 1Rlolled mm. Thisfronts the north.

"There are. great men who have been war leaders, and who, al.though of various ranks, have become estimable in a long course ofpublic service. They seat thamselves on the right division of the cabinof the Mic-co, and are his counsellol'L The family of the Mic-co, andgreat men who have thus diatinguished themselves, occupy this cabin otthe beloved men.

"4th. Hut-~mau-hug-gee in-too-pau, the ClJbin uf the young peopleand eMir a"ociates. This fronts the west.

The Conuention of eM Toum,

"The Mic-co, counsellors, and warriors, meet every day, in the pub­lic square; sit and drink lI.-eee, a strong decoction of the caMine yupon,called by the traders black drink; tslk of news, the public and domesticconcerns; smoke their pipes; and play Thla-chal-Iitch-eau (roll the bul.

'let). Here all complaints are introduced, attended to, and redresaed.They have a regular ceremony for making, as well 88 delivering theI.-cee, to all who attend the square.

"6th. Chooc-ofau thluc-co, the rotunda or assembly room, called bythe traders, "hot lunae." This is near the square, and is constructed

after the following Dianner: Eight po.ia are fixed in the ground, form­ing an octagon of thirty feet diamet«. They are twelve feet high, andlarge enough to eupport the roof. On the-e, five or Iix loge are placedof a tide, drawn in &8 they rille. On the-e, .Ioug poles or rafters, tonit the height of the building, are laid, the upper ends forming a point,and the lower end. projeetiDg out lix fHt from the octagon, and rest­ing on poets five feet high, placed in a circle round the octagon, withplatel on them, to which the rafters are tied with splits. The raf'rersare near together, and futenl'd with splits. These are covered withclay, and that with pine bark; the wall, six feet from the octagon, isclayed up; they have a Imall door into a IIID&l1 portico, CU"ed roundfor five or Iix feet, then into the houll8.

.. The epaoe between the octagon aDd 'the wall is one entire sofa,where the vieitore lie or ait at pleasure. It is covered with reed mat, oreplita.

.. In the centre of the room, on a BJDal1 rise, the fire is made, of drycane or dry old pine llabe, split fine, ancllaid in a epiral ci1'c1e. This isthe &BIembly room for all people, old aDd yooug; they &888mble everynight, and amuse themselves with dancing, einging, or conversation.And here, BOmetimea, in very cold weather, the old and naked Ileep•

.. In all tranllllCtions which require secrecy, the rulers meet here,make their fire, deliberate and decide. When they have decided on anycase of death or whipping, the Mic-co appoints the warriore who are tocarry it into eft'ect; or he gives the judgment to the Great Warrior(Toltunnuggee thlucco), and leaves to him the time and mauner of u­ecuting it.

w",.... This is alwaye determined on by the Great Warrior. When the

Mie-eo and counsellors are of opinion that the town baa been injured,he lifts the war hatchet against the nation which has injured them. But811 loon &8 it baa been taken up, the Mie-eo and oounsellore may inter.pose, and -by their prudent counsels stop It, and proceed to adjust themisunderstanding by negotiation. If the Great Warrior persists aDdgoes out, be Ie followed by all who are for war. It is eeldom a town isunanimous, the nation never is; ~d within the memory of the oldestman among them, it is not reoollected that more than one half thenation have been for war at the same time; or taken, • they express it,the war talk.

.. The Great Warrior, when he marchee, giV81 notice where he shallencamp, aDd lets out BOmetimes with ODe or two only. He fires oft' bia

gun and eete up the war whoop. This is repeated by all who tollowhim, and they are IOmetimes for one or two nights marching oft:

Peace.

.. Thil ia always determined on. and concluded by the Mie-eo andcouncillors; and peace-talks are always addrelllled to the cabin of theHIc.co. In lome ClIlI68, where the reaentment of the warriorS baa runhigh;the'1tfic.coand council have been much embarl'&lllelt

Marriage.

.. A man who wanta a wife never applies in perlOn; he lendl hiIalater, hiB mother, or lOme other female relation, to the female relatiollllof the woman he namea, they consult the brothers and uncles on th8maternal aide, and sometimes the father; but thiB iB a compliment only.as biB approbation or OPP98ition iB qf no avail. It the pUly applied toapprove of the match, they answer accordingly to the woman whomade the application. The bridegroom then gets together a blanket,and auch other articlea of clothing as he iB able to do, and senda themby the women. to the females of the family of the bride. If they acceptof them, the match is made; and the man may then go to her houseas loon as he choos8L And when he has built a house, 10wn hiIcrop and gathered it- in, then made biB hunt and brought home themeat, and put all this in the pO_8Bion of bia wife, the eeremony enda.and they are married; or,. as they IlZpresl it, the woman iB bound.From the firat going to the houae of the woman, till the ceremonyends, he fa completely in polBelBion of her•

.. This law baa been understood differently, by lOme hasty C~ckoldllo

who ~Bilt, that when they have 888iated the woman to plant her crop,the ceremony enda.· and the woman iB bound. A man never marries iDbiB own tribe.

Divort:&,

.. This fa at the ehoice ot either of the parties; the man may marryagain as lOon as he will; but abe is bound, till the BoosUtau ofthat year is over j eJl:cep~ in the eaaea of marriage and paiting inthe leUon when there)s no planting, or more properly apeaking, dor.iDg the _on the man reaides at the honae of the woman and has poa.llllion of ber, during the continuation of the marriage ceremony, in

5

&bat cue the WOIIIAD 11 equally he to CODDect henell U BOOn u IbepIeuea.

"There 11 an iDoouailteocy in the exception above; Iince in fad. in.-ch 1I8UOD, there· ean be DO marriage: but the cbiefa, in their repor&on this article, maintained it as an exception; and this P1'llCtice, in theeeeuee of ball marriage, prevails DDiverully All -elon u a man goea totile 001188 o.f hia bride, he 11 in complete JlOllII8II"ion of her, till the cere­aoay eDda; and during this period the exception will apply.

".Marriage gives no right to the huabaud over the propt'rty of hiawile; and when they part. she keeps the chDdren and property belongiDgto d1em.

Adultery.

"Thia 11 pDDiahed by the family or tn'be of the huabaDd. '.I'beycollect, couault, and decree. If the proof is clear, and they determineto puniSh the offenderB, they divide and proceed to apprehend them. Onehalf goes to the hoU88 of the woman, the reDiainder to the family b01l88

.of the adulterer; or they go together, &8 they have decreed. They ap­prehend the offenders, beat them severely with sticka, and then cropthem. They cut off the hair of the woman, which they carry to theaqU&re in triumph. If they apprehend but one of the offenders, andthe other escap8ll, they then go and take aat1afaction from the nearee&relation. If boththll offenders escape, and the tribe or family re­turn home, aud lay down the sticka, the rrime is satisfied. There11 one family only, the .. Wind" (Ho-tul.u}.g.ee), &bat can take 11'the sticka a 8E'Cond time. This .crime is satisfied in another .".." ifthe parties offending absent themselves till the Booa-ke-tau 11over. Then all crimes are done away except murder. And the baremention of them, or any occurrence which brings them in recollectionIs forbidden.

Murder•

.. If murder Ia committed, the family and tribe alone have the rightof taking sat1aflction. They collect,·conault, and decide. The rulenof the town, or the nation, have nothing to do or to say in the buai­D8IIL The relationa of the murdered person conault first among them­.lv8ll; and If the caae is clear, and their family or tribe are not likelyto anffer by their decision, they determine on the caae definitively. Whenthe tribe may be aft'ected by it, in a doubtful cue, or an old claim forMIWaction, the family thea conault with their tribe; and when they

THE ·OREEK AND OHEROKEE INDIANS. 8'1

bave deliberated and resolved on satisfaction, they take. the guilty one,if he can be got at. It he fties, they take the nearest of kin, or one ofthe family. In some caeea, the family which has. done the irij~ry pr0­

mises reparation, and in that caae they are allowed a reasonable time to .fulfil their promise; and they are generally' earnest of themselves, intheir endeavors to put the guilty to death, to save an innocent person.

" This right of judging, and taking 'satisfaction, being vested in thefamily or tribe, is the sole cause why their treaty stipulations on thishead never have been executed. In like manner, a prisoner tsken inwar is the property of the captor and Iiis family, it being optional withhis captor to kill or save him at the time. And this right must be pur­chased; and it is 'now the practice, introduced within a few years, forhis nation to pay. The practice has been introduced by the agent forIndian affairs, and he pays 00 the orders of the chiefs, out of the stipendallowed by the United 8tatea to the Creeks. Claims of this sort ofBeventeen years' standing, where 'the prisoner has been delivered to theorder of the chiefs, have been revived, allowed, and paid."

NOTE TO PARAGRAPH VI.

The festival which Bartram styles the BU8qtte, Will' a very singularinstitutiou. It prevailed, under other names, amongst all the Floridiantribes.· It is described at length, under the name of Boos-kt-fall, byHawkins, as follows:-

Boo..ke-tau.

"This annual festival is celebrated in the months of July or August.The precise time is fi.xed by the Mir...eo lind councillors, and is sooneror later,as the state of the affWrtl of the tOWD, and the coudition of theircorn, will admit. In Cussetuh, this ceremony lasts for eight days. Insome towns of less nok, it is but four days.

" FIRST DAY. In the morning, the warriors clean the yard of the&quare, Rnd sprinkle white sand, when the A-cee (decoction of the cas­line yupon) is made. The fire-maker makes the fire sa early in themorning as he can, by frictiou. The warriors cut and bring into thesqnare, four lop, as long each as a man can cover by extending his twoarms; these are placed in the centre of the square, end to end, forming• cross, the outer ends pointed to the cardinal points; in the centre of

88 ~ OBDE AlQ) OlIDOED .•11mUliB.

the croll the DeW file • made. DurlDg the finlt four daye they bani

oat thue foar lop... The piA-e-b1lll-pU (turkey dance) • c1aDeed by the women of the

turkey~; IDd while they are dancing, the .poeeau ill brewed. TbII.a poweri'al emetic. . '!'be potlII8u ill drunk from twelve o'clock to themiddle of the aftemOOlL After thia, the Toc-eo-yul~gau (tadpole) IIdaDcedby foar men and four women. (In the evening, the men daueeE-~hou. ban-gau, the dance of the people IeCOnd in colDlllADd.) TbIIthey dance till daylight.

.. SEOIID DAY.Thia day, about ten o'4I1oek, the women dance Ita­ho-bun-gau (gun-danee). After twelve, the men go to the new fire,take some olthe aahea, rub them on the chin, neck, and belly, IDd jampheId.foremoat into the river, and they return into the square. Thewomen having prepared the new com for the feast, the men take someof it and rub it between their hands, then on their face and breaatBt andthen they feaet.

.. TumD DAY. The men lit in the equare.

.. FOURTH DAY. The women go early in the morning and get thenew ~. clean out their hearths, aprinkle them with Mnd, and'maketheir fires. The men finish burning out the firSt four legs, and theytake ashea, rub them on their chin, neck, and belly, and they go into thewater. This day they eat aalt, and they dAnce Obangauchapco (the10Dg dance)•

.. FIrTH DAY. They get four new logs, and place them 18 on thefirst day, and they drink a-cee, a strong decoction of the ClIIIIIine yupoD.

.. SIXTH D":Y. They remain in the square.

.. SEVElfTH DAY. Is spent in like manner as the sixth.

.. EWHTH DAY. They get two large pots, and their physic plana:tal Mic-co-ho-yon-e-juh. 2. Toloh. 3. A-che-nau. 4. Cup-pau-poe­can. 6. Chu-liwau, the roote. 6. Tuck.thlnu.lus-te. 7. Tofe-cul.hiI,.Iis-ao-wau. 8. Chofeinsuck-caa-luck-au. 9. Cho-f~mus-see. 10. H1l­lis-hut-ke. 11. To-te-cuh chooc-his-aee. 12. Welau.nuh. 13. 0aJr,.ohon-utch-col. 14. Co-ha..le-wau-gee. These are all put into the potaand beat up with water. The chemists (E-lic-chul.gee, called by theiradel'8 physic-makel'8) blow in it through a small reed, and then it IIdrunk by the men, and -rubbed over their joints till the afternoon.

.. They collect old corn-cobs and pine-burs, put them into a pot, andbum them to aBhes. Four virgins who have never ,had their menllellbring aahes from their houaes, put them in the pot, and sUr all together.The men take white claf and mix it with water in two pans. One pill

of the clay and ODe of the ashes are carried to the cabin of the Mio-eo,

THE OREEK:. AND OHEBOltEE INDIANS. 69

and the other two to that of the warriors. They then rub themselveswith the clay and ashes. Two men nppointed to that office bring !\Qmeftowers of tobneeo of a small kind (Itch-au-ehu-Ie-puc-pug-gee), or, U

the name imports, the old man's tobacco, which was prepared on thefirst day, snd put it in a pan in the cabin of the Mie-eo, and they give ..little of it to every one ~resent.

.. The Mie-eo and councillors then go four times round th&- fire, andevery time they face the east, they throw some of the ftowera into thefire. They then go and stand' to the west. The warriors then repeatthe same ceremony•

.. A cane is stal'k up at the cabin of the Mie-eo with twp white fea­thers in the end of it. One of the Fish tribe (Thlot-Io-ul-gee) takesit just as the sun goes down, and goes off towards the river, all follow.Ing him. When he gets half way to the river, he gives the deathwhoop; this whoop he repeats four times, between the square and thewater's !!dge. Here they all place themselves, as close as they canatand, near the edge of the water. He sticks up the cane at the water'sedge, and they all put a grain of the old man's tobacco on their heads,'and in each ear. Then, at a tipal given, four different times, theythrow some into the river, and every man at a like signal plungesInto tne river, and picks up four st~nes from the bottom. Withthese they crop themselves on their breasts foar timee, each timethrowing a stone into the river, and giving the death whoop j they thenwlish t~emselves, take up the cane and feathers, return Ilnd stick it upIn the square, and visit through the town At night they dance O-bun.gan Hanjo (mad dance), snd this finishes the ceremony.

"This happy institution of the Boos-kfl-.tau restores a man to himself,to his family, and to his nation. It is s genersl amnesty, which not onlyabsolves the Indians from all crimes, murder only excepted, but seemsto bury guilt ip'illf in oblivion.

The ceremony if initiating Youth into Manhood.

" At the age of from fifteen to seventeen, this ceremony is u>luallyperformed. It is called Boos-ke-tau, in like manner as the annual Booa­ke-tau olthe nation. A youth of the proper age gathers two handfalls()f the soa-watch-eau, a very bitter root, which he eats a whole day j

then he steeps the leaves in water and drinks it. In the dusk of tqeevening, he eats two or three spoonfalls of boiled grit.s. This is re­peated for four days, and during this time he remains in a house. Thelou-watch-eau has the effect of intoxicating and maddening. Thefourth ~1 he goes out, but must put on a pair 'of Dew moeeasoDB (stil-

Ja.piea). For twelve moon.. b. abstain. from eating bucb, except oldODllI, and from turkey cock., towl., peal, lUJd salt. Daring ~is periodhe mDit not pick hi. ears, or acratch. hie bead with his flngera, but 1l8e •

1lllA1i &tlck. For four moons he must have a fire to himself, t'1 cook hisfood, aftd a .little girl, a virgin, may eook for him; his food is boiledgrit& The fifth moon, any peraon may cook· for him i but he must se"ehimself first, lIDd use ODe spoon and pan. Every Dew moon he drinbtor four days the pouau (button makeroot)..an emene, lUJd abstain. forthese days trom all food, except in the· evening,. litt4l boiled grits(bumpetuh hutke). The twelf\h moon he perform. tor four day. wbathe eommt'nced with on the fust. The flf'th day, he comes out of hiehouse, gat.hers com-eoba, bUlDs them to ashes, and with these rubs hisbody all over. At the eDd ot this moon he sweats under blankets,then goes into water, and this enda the ceremony. This ceremonyII sometimes extended to four, six, or eight mOOD., or even to twelveday. ouly, but the course ill the IllUDe.

.. During the whole of this ceremony, the physic i. administeredby the· Ie-te.puc-eau-ebau thlue-e~ (great leader,) who in speaking of• youth under initiation, say., .. I am physicking him" (lJoo-se.ji.jiteDut Ii-to-mise-cha), or .. I am teaching him ~I that is proper for himto know" (Nauko-mul.gau e-mue-e-thli-jite ..ul Iitomise cha). Theyouth, during this initiAtion, does not touch anyone except youngpersons who are under a like COUI'Ill with himself;, and if he dream.,he drinks the possau.

War Physic, Ho-ith-le Hil-lis-so-wau.

.. Wht'n young men are going to war, they go into a hothouse ofthe town made for the purpose, and remain there for four dnys. Theydrink the Mic-co-ho-yon-e-jau and the po_u, and they eat the son­watch-eau. The fourth day, they come out, have their bundle ready,Illld mareh.. This bundle or knapsack, is an old blanket, some parched .corn flour and leather to patch their mOCClUlons. They have in theirshot bags 1\ charm, a protection againat all ill., called the war physic,compoaed of chit-to gab.by and Ie-te.pau-pau, the bones ot the BDakelUJd lion.

.. The traditioll of thia phyaic ia, that in old times, the lion (Ie-to­pau-pau), devoured their people. They dug a pit and caught him init, just after he had killed one of their people. They covered him withlight-wood knots, burnt him ILnd reaerved his bones.

.. The anake was in the_water; the old people IlUJg, and he .mowed

TBB 0REBlt AND CHEROKEE INDIANS. '11

hlmeel! They BIlIg again, and he showed himself a little ant at thewater. The third time be sbowed his horns, and they ent one; againhe showed himself a fourth time, and they cut off' the other hom. Apiece of these horns and the hOnes of the lion, is the great warpbyBic.

The opinion rf Efau Ha.,po, great Mtdal Ch~ qf Took-au-.batoC1le,a1Ul Speaker for the Nation qf 1M National Council, on theM Cere­monies, giDt171 in _ 10 _ Querit. put to Aim.

II 1st. What is the origin of the new fire, and of the Booaketau!Am",". I,have been tanght from my infancy, that there is an &.san­ge-tuh E-mi8-8e8 (master of breath>, who gave these customa to theIndians, as necessary to them and suited to them; and that to followthem entitles the red people to hi.. care and .protection, in war and dim­cultiell. It is our opiniou that the origin of the Boosketau aud ourphysics, proceeds from the goodness of Esaugetuh E-mia-aee;. that hecommunicated them in old times to the red people, and impressed it OD

them to follow and adhere to them, and t.hey wonld be of service tothem.

.. 2d. Do the red people believe in & future existence! ArutDer.The old notion among us, is, that when we die, the spirit (po-yan-fie­chau) goes the way the sun goes, to the west. and there joins ita familyand friends who went before it.

~ 3d. Do the red people believe ina future state of rewards andpnnishmenis! ArutDer. We have an opinion that those who believewell, are taken under the care of E-811u-ge-tuh E-mia-see and assisted ;and that those who bavebehaved ill, are left there to shift. for them­selves; and that there is no other punishment.

"4th. What is your opinion of retaliation, 88 practised among. theIndians: can it be just to punish the innocent for the guilty; and doyou believe that thill custom of the Indi:lns proceeded from E_u-ge­tuh E-mia-aee! A7IItDer. I believe our custom did not proceed fromE-aau-~-tuh E-mis-aee, but from the temper of rash men, who do notconBider consequences before they act. It ia a bad custom.

.. 5th. What is yonr opinion of the custom of the red people, topunish for accidental death with the same severiLy 18 where there baabeen a manif..t intention to kill! .AnlWer. This custom of oure is abad one, blood for blood; but I do not believe it came from E-sau-p..tuh E-mia-aee, but proceeded from ourselves. Of a case of this aort Iwill give you my opinion, by my conduct. Lately, in Tookaubatche,

two promWngboya were playing and alinginr Item.. ODe of themlei slip his lUng, the ,tone flew back and killed bia companion. ThelImiJy of the deceased took the two boy., IIId were prepariIig to buryibem in the lI8!Ile grave. The !lnclel, who have the right to decide inI1fch cues, were sent for, and I was aent fOf. We arrived.t the sametime. I ordered the people to leave the house, and the two boys toremain together. I took the unules to my house, raised their spiri"with a little rum, and told them, the boy was a fiue boy, and would be1II8fui to us in our town, when he became a man; that he had no mwill against the dead one; the act was purely accidental; that it hadbeen the will of E-aau-ge-iuh E-mis-see to end Iris daye j and Itboughiibat the living one should remain, as taking away hia life would noiJive it to the other. The two unclel, after lOme reflection, told me, Allyou have advised us we will act; be shall not die, it was an accident."

But besides this festival, the Creeks, Cherokees, Choctaw., and theiraffiliated tribes, in common with the Aztecs and Peruvians, had a IIllriMof festivals corresponding to the hmations of the year, which were Goillnded with peculiar observances-with purification., dances, and BlCn.flees. There were otbers also, occurring at fixed periods, whicb weredeemed of more importance than tbe lunar festivals, and were celebratedwith greater form and ceremony. Occasional festivals were also obsel"f­ed by these nations, some of them happening at intervals of several years.

.. All these tribes," asys Adair, .. paid their religions devoir to Latal,hto-lwoltJ...ab.'I, 'tbe great, beneficent, supreme, boly Spirit of Fire,'wbo resides, they think, above the clouds, and on eartb among unpol­luted people. He is with them the sole author of warmth, light, and ofall animal and vegetable life.". He also states that the very names oflOme of these tribes indicat.e that they were aun or fire worabijlpera.Thus, Cherokee, or, as it is oCten written Clwake, .. is derived fromChebf'4, 'fire.' Hence they call their magi Cn-ra-ta1rge, 'men poe­aesaed of the divine fire.'" t

Firat on the Iiat of the greater festivals was the great Bolar Festival,or Feast of First Fruita, which was signalized by the lighting of theNew Fire, and was every where attended with peculiar and imposingrites. The time fixed for its celebl'lltion was the period of the maturityof the maize, and eonsequently varied under different latitudes. Amongdie eastern nations, this festival ia still continued, and is well known asdie .. Green 'Corn DanOllf' the ceremonies attending ii,however, retainHWe of their original eharaoter.

• N. ..t.1fuliMI, p.li. tlb.••.

This festival, as observed by tbelOuthem tribes, ia deeeribed atlength by Adair, who contrasts it ~ith the Hebrew PaIIOver, with whiuhhe SUpposel it to correspond. According to his account, it was inltt­tuted in acknowledgment of the fil'llt-truitsof the year, andW.I attendedwith the enti~extinguillhment of Old, and the lighting of the New Firea.J~ WIllI oblerved at the beginning of the fil'llt new moon after the combecame full-eared. The 88Cred square was awept bi· advance, and theII temple" placed in proper order and painted anew. II Every thingbeing thua prepared, the Arehbnagul ordered lOme of the religious at­tendanta to dig up·the old hearth or altar,and to aweep out1he remalnawhich by chance might either be left or have dropped down. Then he·placed a few roots or the button-anake herb, with aome green leaves otamall tobacco, and a little of the new ftufts.at the bottom of the fire­place. which WIllI COVl'red up with a white morly clay, and wetted overwith clean water." Ab.ove the .Itsr thua formed (and which mayex­plain the origin of thoae found in one cla88 of the ancient mounda of theUnited Statea) waa made an arbor of the green branches of. young trees.Meanwhile, the women cleaned out their heartha at home, and cleanaedtheir household utensil., preparatory to receiving the 88DCtified newtruits and the holy fire. None of tbe new f'rnlts could be lawfully used,until after thia featlva1 or ..crlfice. Sentinels were then placed at thefour cornerl of the holy square, who· kept out aU animals, and wouldallow no perlon to enter who had transgressed the law governing tbeuse of the fil'llt-fruits. For two days an unbroken faat was maintained,the devotees drinking decoctions of a bitter berb, used only on ..credoeeasldns, with a view to mortification and purification. On the mom­ing of the third day, a lIupply of old food waS introduced, all vestigeaof wbich were removed before noon. As the sun began to decline, thefirea were extinguiahed in. every but, and univerB81 silence prevailed.The chief prieat then kindled a fire by friction, and placed it on the altar j

when it was halled ,with aeelamation., aa the atonement for all puttransgression., except murder. A .basket of the new fruits was thenbrought, and the Bacrlflce 1I01DUleDced. The fire-maker walked threetimes around the fire, with a alow pace, atopping no\\' and then, anduttering myaterious word'; which none bl1t the initiated c0l11d undCf'o~nd. He then took a little of each aort of the new fruits, and COV6I\obig them with bears' greBBe, that they might bum the more freely.offered them, with lOme fillllh, On the altar, to II the oountlt'ul, holy Spiritof Fire." The penitential draugb' was allO consecrated, a portion of itbeing poured upon the altar. The women ranged ·tbemilelvea aroundthe IICred Iquare j wbere each· received, with variOUl ceremonlea and

iDj111letiOIl8, a portion of the new fire, with wbich the lodp.liIeI wereto be 1dndled anew.' Then came a ftlll abandonment to the enjoymentof the new fruita. Tbe warrion dreMed themeelvel in their wildea&martial array, aucl maintained their ItrIDge daDcee, to the melody ofequally atrimge IOnp and IOlemn monotonollll mullic, around the newftre, whiCh waS kept steadily bornin,. For eight day. tli818 ceremonieswere kept up, during wblch time abaohrt.e continence aucl varions ~Itrietiona wererigoronsly observed. The festival was ended by agener:Ll abilltion, aucl a grand general dance, in eireleJ, around the altar j

after which they departed iu joy and peace, under the belief that putmiseondpet was atoned for and fllture evila averted.

These forms were slightly varied among the Cherokees, who, inlater timet, 188m to have divided the great annual festival into threeparts, corresponding with the earliest new moon of spring, when theIOlar energy lint exbibitl iteelf and the grBIlI begina to grow; resumedwhen the promise of produetiveDe88 is confirmed, and the com becomeafit to be tasted j and conc)oded lOme forty or fifty days thereafter, whenthe com became toll and perfect.* The ceremonies attending thete

• Mr. Pa1l1e obse"etl, par8ntheticaJly. that "All nearly .. can be ascer­tained, at present, there WlUl anciently a regular IIIlries of feativalll--4ix in all­and eaoh with lignl1l.cant peoullarltiea. These were held in the national hep­tIgon, when the entire population of the seven tribes UIlembled nnder the11ImmOl1ll of the ldv (high prietlt), through hie Beven councillore, by whomthe ceremoniala were directed : and here, being the metropolis, every abode onweb oociaelonl WlIII open,. and every hOlpitality gratuitoull. Minor feetlvalawere a1ao celebrated every new moon-more eepecially at the beginning of eachqurter of the year;_ well u a regular ..ori1l.ce on every Beventh day. <»­cuional futivalll are likewise mentioned; the mOlt remarkable of which tookplace in remote timllll, once In Beven yeora.

&< The six greater featlva1a were observed In the following order:"·lllt. The Festival of the Firat New Moon of Spring, which ....all celebrated

about the time grua bef!'an to grow.2d. ~uk_, KI41Htih--Itul: j • preliminary or new green-com~

held when the yonng com lIrat became 1I.t to tillite."3d. TU"1l-fllJ1H:afl1-1uJlnJgA-Ai i mature or ripe green-com festival, ....hich

suooeeded the other In sowe forty or 1I.ft;y days, when ihe com had become hardand perfect.

"'th. l!tu"9~i great new-moon feast, which ooourred on the c.CIIlIion of the appearance of the :llrst Dew moon of autumn.

"6th. .dA-tmo1a.-tmg-M1& i propitiation or cementation featival, succeedlnrthe former iD about ten days.

.. 8th. ~May-_i the featlval of the uniting or bounding bulb,which lllIDle somewhat later."

THE OBEEX AND OBEBOKEE INDIANB. 115

feaatII are minutely described in an unpublished: MS. by Mr. J. H. Payne,from which the following facta relating to the Jas~named, or green-eomfestival, are gathered:

"Among the special instructions for thia particular occasion, andwhich were understood to have been enjoined with more than usualprecision by the Great Spirit, it was ordered that an arbor of greenboughs should be framed in the sacred square of the national heptagon,where a beautiful shade-tree was to be set, Hnd a large booth erectedand provided with seat&. This feast was preceded by a grand prelimi­nary dance j the day after which a messenger started to give notice,throughout the country, of the time fixed for this grand Festival; atwhich it was considered as having been with marked emphasis orderedby the Creator, that the entire nation should be convened. The even­ing prior to the festival day, the hunters and the people came in, allbringing their respective contributions o.f prepared meate and fruitS.The arbor and the booth were made ready; after which a beautiful.bushy-topped shade-tree was cut down close to the roots, and planted inthe very centre of the sacred square. Every man then pro\ided himselfwith 11 green bough; which preparations being completed, on the fol­lowing morning the feast begnn. It was one of unmeasured exultation;a sort of Harvest Jubilee. Men only were allowed to particiPate in thedance peculiar to this commemoration; and when in the morning aUmet in the square, each bore his green bush in his right hand, abovehis head. As the lender struck the music; and commenced the move­ment, all followed, with every expression of rapture; they went leaping,singing, and exulting, Il8 they rsn. Notwithstanding there was an ap.pearance of wildnesa and disQrder, whatever they did was in aecordancewith long settled rules. They were guided by a leader, who conductedthe whole party seven times, during each dance, successiveiy around thetree and underneath its shade. This festival continued four day.. Thewomen were not allowed to participate in the dances util sunset, andthen only in sU!lh as were regarded as merely social. They were alaorigidly excluded from the sscred square.II

Mr. Payne remarks that this festival has outlived all the rest, andthat il,s present form is not regarded as itS moat ancient onl\. Ii israther the consummation of the great annnalfeatival, preceded by p~fications, and tilstinga, and the ceremonial of lighting the new fire. Thefeatival of the first new moon of spring, in acknowledgment of the re­turn of the reproductive influence, WIl8 attended by very rigOrollB rites.The participants bathed formally in some adjacent stream, and mortifiedthemselvea in variOUI ways, drinking only of a certain bitter decoctiondenominated the" black drink.II In some instancea,they cut long gashes

up anll down their limbe with fUnte or fish-boDes, a pl'OOOl8 which theycall "lICJ'atching." At thia time, Mr. Payue oblervea, "the altar iD theceDtre of the national heptagoD was repeirOO. It was conatructed of acoDical shape, of fresh earth. A circle was drawn around the top to r&o

eeive the fire of ucrifiee. UPOD thili was laid, ready for 1l88, the iDDerblrkof seven different kiDds of trees. Thia bark was carefully choeenfrom the east aide of the trees, and was clear and free from blemish."Near the clqse of the festival the sacrifiCtlll were made,'with grea,t 10­

lemnity, as followlI :-" Thili day was devoted to fasting. Even m.rants were denied nourishment UDtil afternoon; adults until Dight. Ashort time before lunset the people again &lIlI8mbled in' the nationalheptagon. Near the altar, where the fire bad been kept burning all day,the white dressed buek, doe, and fawn skins had been replaced. Thepriest and bis aaaiatant DOW took their positioD to the eastward of thefire, faciDg the East. Behind aDd about them stood 'the seven pJ;imecouncillors, iD asemicircle. The priest raised the flowers of the old,wild tobacco from the buckskin, and flUDg them on the fire. Theyemitted a very singular odor. After this, the priest having cut oft" theend of the tongue of the buck which had been hrought in, put it intothe fire. Whilst burning, it was eyed with inteDse attention, 88 everything relative theret~ was deemed significant of life or death.

" The sacrifice being offered, the buck, which had been dressed whole,was cooked and placed by itself. A kind of thick mush W88 made ofnewly-pounded meal, to be eaten wil.h it, and no other accompanimentwas permitted. The meat W88 required to be so distributed 88 to giveeach persoD preseDt some portion of it; not a particle muatbe sutreredto see the next morning; all must be consumed. Other meat cookedlor the OO('88ion might be kept, but none of this. This Dight, oDly m.lanta were allowed to sleep. The women passed most of it in thefrieDd8hip danee. OD the following morDing the festival was consideredat aD end."

The kindling of the new fire took place not long after the abovefestival. The ceremoDies were 88 follow&. The day being fixed upon,.. early in the morning the seven persoD8 who were commissioned tokindle tbe fire commenced their operatioD&. One W&8 the officinl fire­maker; the remaining .8ix hi8 888i8taI!ts. A hearth W88 carefully clearedand prepared. A ronnd hole beiDg made in a block of wood, a smallquantity of the dry goldeD-rod weed W88 placed iD it. A etick, the endof which just fitted the opening, Wlul whirled rapidly, until the weedtook fire. The flame was ·theD kindled on the hearth, and thence takento every houle, by the women, who collectively waited for that purpoae.The old lrel haviDg been every where extinguiabed, and the htll1rth8

cleansed, new firea were lighted throughout the country, aDd a uerlfteewu IDl1de in each one of them of the fint meat killed afterwarda bythose to whom they respectively belonged."

The corrBl!lpoudiug fBl!ltival of the Azteea wu celebrated iu honor otXnmTEtrCTLI, the god of Fire, .. muter of the year," whose wife orcompanion, XOCIDTLI, waa, u her name signifiea, godd_ of the earthand com, .. she who supports us." To this deity were offered the fu:et­fruits of the year; and when they dined, the Mexicans made an offeringto him of the fint monel of their food snd the fint draught of theirdrink, by throwing them into the fire. This custom wu also common

PI,. 7.

amouget the North American tn1lee. The fint festival in honor ofXiv1lteuctli. wu held in August; on this ocCasion a large tree wubrought from the forest, and planted in the centre of the &re4 or connof the temple, which was regarded u the image of the god. The sue­ceeding night was spent in dancing and singing about the tree; andnut day the lIIICrificea, Bome of which were of human victims, were p8l'o

formed. . The second festival in honor of Xiuhteuctli, was held IDFebruary; the hUnten then went out and brought in game, which wupreeented to the priBl!lta. Part was ueed in burnt-offerings to the god,and the rest consumed by the people. On this occasion the fires in thetemple and in all the private habitations were extinguillhed, and~wards rekindled by friction, before the image of the god.

The foregoing engravin, (fig. '7) of the mod,e of lighting the new." amongst the MezicaDI, ja copied flOm one of the ancient MezIaan....

Coogle

It will be obee"ed that the ceremony ill repreeented as performedby a 'priest, 00 the beek of a lerpent-a eireulDlltance not without itallignifieanee. .

In the planting of a tree in the IIIICJ'ed area of the temple as a symbolof the vivifying god, the saerifice of the first fruita and of the produetllof the ehlllle, as also in the kindling of the Dew fire-indeed in all esaen­tiaI respects, the Festival of the First-fruitll, as obse"ed by the Chero­kees, Creeks, and other tribes, corresponded with the Aztec Festival inhODor of the god of Fire, the teJTe8trial representative of the Sun.

The great Raimic festival, or fllB8l. of Raimi, of the Pernvians, wuentirely analogous to that above described as commen to Mexico andFlorida. It was attended by preliminary faatings, by sacrifices bf allkinds of animals or representations of them in gold and silver, by kind­ling the new fil";! with lenses or by friction, and was concluded withfeasting and rejoicing. This festival was instituted in honor of the SUD,.. as the god by whose light and heat all living things were generatedand sustained."

E~mples of the intimate relation, if not absolute identity, of manyof the Azlec and Peruvian festivals and religious rites with those of theNorth American or hunter tribes, might be greatly. extended, were itconsilllent with our present purpose. It will not be uninteresting toremark, in this connection, the close resemblance of the lustrations prac­tised by the Peruvians and Cherokees. The fifth great festival of thelatter Wl1S called Ahtawhungnah, the Propitiation, .. Cementation," orPurific.'ltion Festival. )1r. Payne hIlS given, in IJis liS., a detlliled andhighly interesting account of it, which, howe,'er, is much too long to becopied here. It was celebrated shortly after the first new moon of au­tumn, and consisted of a multiplicity of rigorous rites, fllstings, ablu.tions, and purifications. Among the most important funetionllries onthe occasion were seven exorcisers or cleansers, whose duty it was, at a.certain stage of the proceedings, to drive away evil and purify the lown.Each one bore in his hand a white rod of sycamore. .. The leader, fol.lowed by the others, walked around the national heptagon, and comingto the treasure or store-house to the west of it, they lashed the eaves ofthe roofs with their rods. The leader then went £0 another house, fol.lowed by the othel'!\, singing, and repeated the SlIme ceremony, untilevery house wu purified." This ceremony was repeated daily duringthe continuance of the festivaL In performing their ablutions, theywent into the water, and allowed their old clothes to be carried awayby the stream, by which means they BUppoeed their impurities removed.

The Pernvian llllltration or porificatioofestival was held on the first

day ot the moon after the Autumnal Equinox, in time enetly corre­sponding with the festival of the Cherokees. The fatings and otherrites attending it, were analogol1s to those practised in Florida. Insteadof seven persons, four only were delegated to act a purifiers. Theywere armed "ith lan<leS, and pllll8ed through all the principal streets oftho city, the Inen, women, and children meanwhile standing at the doomof their housee and shaking their gannents, as if to free them from dust.The purifiem were supposed to drive all evil and disease before them.After cleansing the city, they went into the country round about for thediatsnce of several leagues, and there planted their lances in the gronnd,.. a kind of curdon ,anitaire, within which it wa supposed no malignitycould enter. Tht'owing fire-balls through the streets, and afterwardsputting them in a river and allowing them to tloat off, was another modeof banishing evil, quite 8S effective probably IIll more modem ceremoniesdirected to the same object.

In further illustration of the lustrations of the Pernvians, Acosta in­forms u!! that the Inca, after confeuion, .. walked into some adjacentstream, bidding the water receive his sins and carry them into the sea,80 that he might be for ever rid of them." And Herrara says that .. inYucatan the women, shortly after childbirth, were exorcised, and theirlins inclosed in a veMel of liquid, which a man carried out of the city,without looking back, to a specified distance."

NOTE TO APPENDIX.

In his published .. Travels in North and South Carolina," etc., Bar.tnun has some notices of the ancient monuments of the Creek andCherokee conntry, which form an appropriate 8upplement to the pas­agee, on the 8&IIIe subject, in the foregoing Memoir.

.. The pyramidal hills or artificial mounds, and highways or avenuesleading from them to art.ifieial lake!! or ponds, vast tetrogon terrace..chunk.yards,. and obelisks or pillars of wood, are the only monumentaof labor, ingenuity, and magnificence, that I have seen worthy of noticeor remark. The region lying between the Savannah river and Oakmulge

• Chunk·yard, a tenn given by the white traders to the oblong four­Iquare yards, adjoining the high mounds and rotundas of the modem ID­dians. In the centre of thelle stands the obelisk, and at each comer of thefkrtber end lItaDdll a slave-poet or strong stake, where the captiVOll thatare burnt aUve are bonnd.

eu&. and w-. and from the ~at to the Cherokee or ApellClhiMmeUDtaiDa nonh and BOUth, ia the most remarkAble for theee high com.oal hilll, tetnpD terraoN, and rhunk-yarda. This region .... po lIB rea.,. &be CherobeI,.mae the arriftl of the Europeaa j but they wereaftenrwd8 diapo_e nd by the IIUtlOplgee: and all that COUDtlJ ..~11, lIWIy agel preceding the Cherokee invuioD, inhabited by o.IIIIdon or eonfederaey, who were raledbl the laIIIe Iy.t.em of laWl,nItomI, and laDpap, but 10 auelent that the Cherok88l, Creeks, •the Dation they conquered, could render no lICCOunUor what pUpoIelbeIe monumentl were railed. The mollllda and enbieal yudI ad~iDr them, I88IIl to haye heeD I'Iiaed in put for ornament md~onj

IIId Hkewile to lI8lVe lOme other pablic parpoee,.me. ibey are al"'Ja• Iituatecl .. to eommaacl the lIIOI& uteDlive proepeet oyer 1he' townmd country adjacent. .The teVlgoa ternIeeI I88IIl to be 1hefo~tIon of a fortrMa; and perhapl the great pyramidal inonnda lI8lVed theparpoee of look-out to".., IIId high plIC8I for ucrifiae.· The lunkeD... ealled by white traden the ehllnk-yud, yery likely lI8lVed the ...oonyenieDcy that it hal been appropriated to by tho more modern andmID preeeoi natioDi of Indlanl tba& is, the place where they b1ll'llimd othenrile. tortured the unhappy eaptivtll that were condemned todie; .. the area ia lDITOunded by a bank, and IOmetimtll two of theID.one behind and above the jltber, ..Beata to aeeommodMe the epec_i..Ii8IICh tragie&llll8lllll, .. weD .. the uhibition ofgamet,.tlhOWI, and dauaaFrom the dyer 8t. luan lOutherly to the point or the penlnnla of Floadda, 118 to be I88n high pyramidal mound., with If*lloua ana ut.eDIIift&YeDUllI, leading from them out of the toWD, to an utifieiallake or pondof water; thtll8 were evidently deaignecl in pIrt for 0l'lllU¥8nt or mOD"mentl or magnificence, to perpetuate the power and grandeur of the ...tfoon-.cMl not lneonaiderable either, for they ubibi$ IICIlI* or]lOWWecl.grandeur, and mat haye been pUblic edificeL

• The great mounda, highway-. and arWieIallak. up 8t.. IIWl, OIl

the eaat ahore, juai at the entraDee of the great lAke George, one OIl

the oppoeite ahore on the bank of the Uttle lBe, another on Dunn'•.IalaDd & little below CUrlottelille, one on 1he larJe bealltiful iaIaDdjut without the Capel of lBe George in aight of lfoUDt Royal, and &

1pIci0ua one on the w8llt banb of the M:u.equito- mer near New8myrna, are the moat remarkable of tbia IOlt that oceurred to me j baiundoubtedly lIWIy more are yet to be diacovered fIIltber Bouth in thepeuinaula: however I obae"ed none westward, after I left 8t.. 1wm. OD

my journey to Little Sl luan near the Bay of Apalache... But in all 1he region of the Ifuaeogulge country lOuth-weat troll

the Oakmulge river quite to the Tallapoose, down to the city ofMobne,and thence along the eea-eoast to the Miuilsippi, I II&W no signs ofmountain. or highways, exeept at Taensa, where were several incon­aiderable conical mountains; but one inBtance of the tetragon terraces,which was at the Apalachucla old town, on the west bank of the river:here were yet remaining conspicuous monuments-as vast four.squareterraces, (,hunk-yards, &c., almost equalling those emineut ones at theOakmulge fields; but no high conical mounds. Those Indians have akadition that these remains are the ruins of an ancient Indian town andfortress, I was not in the interior parts of the Choctaw territories, andtherefore am ignorant whether there are any mounds or monumentsthere."

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