Part 1 - Chapter 4

 

Discussion of the annual economic cycle of the Southeastern Indians - hunting, horticulture, & fishing; of the implements and technology in use; and of their dwellings and material possessions. 

The Indians of the Southeast except for a few of the Florida tribes were by necessity a combination of hunters, gatherers, tillers of the soil, and fishermen. This meant that for periods of time, the majority of the men or the whole tribe had to be absent from their main location in order to hunt and fish.1

A good indication of the Indians' way of sustaining themselves throughout the year can be found in the way the Natchez Indians divided their year.

They began their year in March at the first moon and called it "that of the Deer". The second moon was called "the Strawberry Moon" for it was a time to gather the first wild fruits. The third moon was "that of the Small Corn" for the crop of large corn was never enough for the entire year. The fourth moon was "that of the Water-melons". The fifth moon was "that of the Fishes" and, obviously, signified that the time was propitious for fishing. It also was the time to gather the wild grapes. The sixth moon was "that of the Mulberries". The seventh moon was "that of the Maiz" and indicated that finally the corn was ready to harvest. It was a time for feasting and celebrating the entire new harvest. The eighth moon was "that of the Turkeys". The ninth moon was "that of the Buffalo" and indicated that it was the time for the great annual buffalo hunt. The tenth moon was "that of the Bears". The eleventh month was called "the Cold-meal Moon" because during that month the men were forced to eat cold food while they were away from the camp hunting. The twelfth month was "that of the Chestnuts". However that is a misnomer because the chestnuts had already been gathered. The thirteenth month was "that of the walnuts" and signified that it was time to break apart the walnuts and add them to maiz to make bread for that month's feast.2

The basic foods found in the Southeast by the early Europeans were the following cultivated foods: corn, kidney beans, sunflowers, and varieties of pumpkins and squashes. The Indians also harvested: mulberries, strawberries, persimmons, onions, grapes, various roots including smilax, wild oats, and plums. They gathered: walnuts, hickory nuts, chinquapins, acorns, and chestnuts.

The animals that were hunted varied geographically; the most common fowl and animals hunted were: turkey, deer, bison, bear, rabbit, beaver, otter, and buffalo where available.

Fishing was also very prevalent; the method and types of fish caught varied, also, due to locale. The species of fish included: catfish (bagre), suckers, buffalo fish, bass, shad; and in the Southern waters, shell fish, whale, and turtles.3

Corn was one of the most widely used cultivated vegetables through out North America and the Indians grew many different varieties of it. Corn was roasted and also pulverized to make gruel, hominy, bread, grits, etc.

Fruits were eaten fresh and also dried for later use, and nuts were often pressed for their oil.4

Meat was always cooked and never eaten raw. It was roasted or boiled. It was also preserved, along with fish, by placing it on a grate made from canes and roasting it.5

Deer was used as a multi-functional animal by all the east coast Indians. The flesh was eaten either immediately or dried for future use. The skin was dressed and used for clothing. Its antlers were used, sometimes, for arrow heads and its sinews and entrails for string or thread. Its brains were, also, necessary for the tanning of leather.

The bear was a multi-purpose animal, too. Its tough hide was used for moccasins and its skin was used for heavy winter robes and bed coverings. Dried bear gut was a favorite for making bow strings. Bear claws were used for ornaments and bear fat was the principal grease or oil used by the Indians to rub onto their hair and bodies; it was also used for cooking and added flavor to the food.

Beverley noted that the Indians did not mix foods together but ate them separately even using different vessels.6

The Indians, before the coming of the Europeans, only drank water7 except for natural decoctions for spiritual purposes.

Salt or a substitute was an important item of the Indian diet. It was found naturally in salt licks or boiled from sea water. It was an item used for trade among the different tribes. If it wasn't readily available, the Indians substituted certain roots.8 An important horticultural product was tobacco. It was only used to smoke and was usually mixed with dried Sumac which gave it a good aroma.9

Bread was made from such natural fare as pulverized roots, nuts, corn, sunflower seeds, and oats.10

"After making a fire on the hearth-stone about the size of a large dish, they [the Cherokees] sweep the embers off, laying a loaf smooth on it; this they cover with a sort of deep dish, and renew the fire upon the whole, under which the bread bakes to as good a perfection as in any European oven."11

The Indian believerd in the doctrine that man is what he eats;12 "This idea was one of the cardinal principles on which their medicine was built".13 They felt certain foods were unclean while others were beneficial because of the innate nature of the food or plant. The Indians believed that:

  1.  a birds of prey and those of the night were unclean,

  2.  eating insects caused sickness,

  3.  eating an animal that died on its own would cause sickness,

  4.  carnivorous animals or those that eat "nasty" food likehogs, rats etc. would cause disease,

  5.  touching a mole could damage one's eye sight,

  6.  all amphibious quadrupeds were unsafe to eat,

  7.  the blood of an animal should not to be eaten.14 15

However, the Indians, also, believed in the reverse aspect of the notion of "unclean food". Positive attributes could be transferred by the process of eating certain foods.

"They believed that nature is possest [possessed] of such property, as to transfuse into men and animals the qualities, either of the food they use, or of those objects that are presented to their senses; he who feeds on venison, is according to their physical system, swifter and more sagacious than the man who lives on the flesh of the clumsy bear, or helpless dunghill fowls, slow-footed tame cattle, or the heavy wallowing swine."16

The Creek Indians believed certain foods should not be eaten and certain procedures should be followed to guarantee a state of well being.

"The first acorns or fruits gathered were not eaten. The corn in a cornfield where lightening had struck was not eaten, nor the first ripened corn. The first fish caught in a new fishweir was not eaten, but laid down beside it so that a great quantity of fish would come in with the tide. It was thought that if the first fish caught in a weir were thrown into hot water, no other fish would be caught. After eating bear's meat they drank from a different shell than that ordinarily used so that they would not fall sick."17

"Bones of animals caught in a trap were not thrown away but were hung up or placed on the roof of the house. If this ceremony were omitted, it was thought that the animals would not enter the snare or trap again."18

There were many other prohibitions regulating food as well as incantations that were thought to be propitious in certain circumstances. These taboos and rituals are just a sample of those found in the Indian culture.

"Prayer was offered - that is, a formula was repeated - over the first corn, and when the corn crib was opened, a formula was repeated over the first flour."19

The Indians could go for a long period of time without eating or they could consume large quantities of food of many different types when at a feast.20 They were not concerned at what time they ate, but they would eat when they were hungry.21

They would share their meals with anyone who came to visit. Likewise, if a member of their tribe was in want, they would share "the last part of their provisions even to a single ear of corn."22

"As a general rule, cooked food was served in common from which people ate whenever they were hungry. People ate together only on special occasions, such as feasts, or when engaged in group activities of some kind. Women prepared the food in the morning; one woman might do the cooking for several families. During general feasting, as on all other occasions, men and women ate separately. Men and boys were always served first."23

"We seldom see several of them eating at once, unless at feasts, when they all eat off of the same plate, except the women, the boys, and the young girls, who have each a plate to themselves."24

The utensils the Indians used were made from wood, clay, shell, and horn.

"Wooden dishes, ladles, and spoons seem to have been in use everywhere, and in some quarters were objects of trade. Dishes and spoons were also made of bison horn wherever such horn was to be had, and shells were utilized as spoons and knives by the coast tribes."25

The Indians ground their corn in wooden mortars made from logs hollowed out by fire and scraping. The pestles were also made of wood. Paddles of various sizes were made from wood and used to tan hides as well as to stir pots of corn soup.26

Clay vessels of various sizes and shapes were used to store corn and grain, for making salt, and as cooking pots, jars, etc.27

The basic division of labor in the Southeast required that the man do all the fishing and hunting while the woman took care of the domestic arena around their home site. She was mainly responsible for the tending of their crops, the fetching of the dead game, the making of pottery, baskets, clothing, etc. and all the domestic chores. The man, meanwhile, besides hunting, fishing, warring, made the bows and arrows, hollowed out canoes, created the wooden utensils, attended ceremonials, and went on trading expeditions.28

The women shared in the everyday heavy work on an equal basis with the men.

"An Indian town is generally so situated, as to be convenient for procuring game, secure from sudden invasion, having a large district of arable land adjoining it or in its vicinity.........Such a situation generally comprises a sufficient body of excellent land for planting...."29

The whole town usually was present for the initial preparation of the soil, seed sowing, and harvesting of the crop. During the actual growing season, among most of the tribes, the women were responsible for the tending of the crops.30

"About their houses they labor and till their ground, sowing their fields with a grain called Mahis [maize], where of they make their meal, and in their garden they plant beans, gourds, cucumbers, citrons, peas, and many other simples and roots unknown to us."31 32

Planting was started to coincide with the ripening of the wild fruits so that the birds would be distracted from eating the seeds. Adair stated that: "At such times, may be seen many war-chieftains working in common with the people."33

"About an hour after sun-rise, they enter the field agreed on by the lot and fall to work with great cheerfulness, sometimes one of their orators cheers them with jests, humorous old tales, and sings several of their most agreeable wild tunes, beating also with a stick in his right hand, on the top of an earthen pot covered with a wet and well-stretched deer-skin: thus they proceed from field to field, till their seed is sown."34

The dibble stick was the most widely used implement for planting and gathering. The stick was of wood and five to six feet long with a fire hardened point at one end.35

Even though the land was held communally, Bartram stated:

"...the part or share of every individual family or habitation, is separated from the next adjoining, by a narrow strip, or verge of grass, or any other natural or artificial boundary."36

Bartram continued to discuss crop management:

"[When] all the grain is ripe, the whole town again assembles and every man carries off the fruits of his labour, from the part first allotted to him, which he deposits in his own grainery, [granary] which is individually his own. But previous to their carrying off their crops from the field, there is a large crib or grainery erected in the plantation, which is called the king's crib; and to this each family carries and deposits a certain quantity, according to his ability or inclination, or none at all if he so chooses. This in appearance seems a tribute or revenue to the mico [town head], but in fact is designed for another purpose, i.e. that of a public treasury......to which every citizen had the right of free and equal access, when his own private stores are consumed."37

This did not mean that some tribes didn't pay tribute to their leader. The De Soto narratives state that the towns of "Mocoça, Ucita, and all they that dwelt along the coast paid tribute [to a chief named Paracoxi]."38

Hennepin wrote "The savages observe the time, the seasons, and the moons of the year for the better ordering of their hunting."39

They hunted the animals in different seasons according to the type of animal; and likewise, they used different methods to kill the animals. They never killed game for sport, nor did they throw any of it away.

"The whole deer was consumed: meat, skeleton, brain, tongue, liver, and heart...The deer's fat, marrow, brains, and sinew all had special uses. The mandible, antlers, hoofs, toes, leg bones, scapulae, and ribs were all carefully kept as stock for tools and jewelry. Only the backbone seems to have had no special application, though it was chopped out for stewing. Antlers provided projectile points, harpoons, hammers, beads, and tools for making flint items. Ribs were softened by boiling, then bent into circles to be polished and worn as bracelets. Some ribs were notched to serve as rasps for musical instruments. The radius, ulna, and femur served the greatest variety of purposes [marrow].....The remaining bones were made into fishhooks, gorgets, beaming tools, awls, needles, and rarely knives"40

Before a hunt was started, certain rituals were required to insure that it was successful. The Cherokee had a different formula for each type of hunt. Some formulas required fasting and purification and had to be performed over a period of a few days. Others, like the one for hunting birds, were performed the morning of the hunt while standing over the fire.41

Once the animal was killed, other rituals took place. Thanks to the animal was given42 and sacrifices or offerings were made. The size of the offering depended on the type and size of the animal that was killed.

"And they sacrifice in the woods, the milt, or a large fat piece of the first buck they kill, both in their summer and winter hunt; and frequently the whole carcass. This they offer up, either as a thanksgiving for the recovery of health, and for their former success in hunting; or that the divine care and goodness may be still continued to them".43

In North Carolina, the Keyauwees and their neighbors:

"Carefully preserve the bones of the flesh they eat, and burn them, as being of the opinion, that if they omitted that custom, the game would leave their country and they should not be able to maintain themselves by their hunting."44

Small game was usually killed by boys and young men using a blow gun which was a hollow cane seven to nine feet long and through which they blew darts from ten to twenty inches long. Larger game was killed with the bow and arrow. The latter being made out of sharpened cane, wood with points of flint, sharp bones, scales of the garfish, and other sharp objects.45

They killed the otter by means of traps, the elk by a gib around the neck, and the wild cats by felling the trees they had climbed and then, setting the dogs on them.46

Smith, in The De Soto Narratives, described a gib:

"The contrivance is a strong spring that lifts the animal off its feet,a noose being made of a stiff cord run about the neck, [and] passing hrough rings of cane that it may not be gnawed."47

They hunted either alone or in groups. When they went alone to hunt deer, they went dressed in deer skins with attached antlers and made motions and noises to simulate deer.48 However, this form of hunting was only done in sparsely populated areas in order not to mistake one of their own men for a deer.49

When they went in groups to hunt deer and small animals, they often encircled them with a ring of fire forcing them into a small area where they could be more easily killed. Sometimes the deer were forced into a river and slain while they swam.50

Hunting was usually started after the Busk festival or harvest in the late fall. Until planting time, the men had no other duties but to hunt, fish, and go to war. When large parties of men went far from the town, women and children often accompanied them while the elderly stayed in the town. The women were responsible for carrying the loads of grain, gathering firewood, cooking, etc. The men who were not good hunters erected the cabins and served as messengers. The women, also, used this time to weave baskets and mats, make pottery, and weave fabrics.51

If the women did not join the men in their hunting camp, they had the responsibility for doing all the work at the permanent settlement only aided by the old men in the village who were not able to hunt any longer.52

If the distance of the hunt was not too great, then the men, after making a kill, would mark the land where the animals had fallen and leave the collecting of the animals to the women and children.53

The Indians were skilled fishermen and used vines, nets, spears, bow and arrows, etc. to catch the fish. Hennepin wrote:

"The Southern people which dwell upon the River Mississippi are so crafty and have such quick and piercing eyes that tho' the fish swim very fast, they will not fail to strike them with darts at a great depth in the water which they shoot with a bow. Besides they have long poles sharp at one end which they dart most dexterously. In this manner, they kill great sturgeons and trout which are seven or eight fathoms in the water."54

Adair described the Indians using crails made with canes and hickory splinters to catch fish. 

"They lay these at a fall of water, where stones are placed in two sloping lines from each bank, till they meet in the middle of the rapid stream, where the entangled fish are soon drowned."55

The weapon most used by the Indians was the bow and arrow. According to Garcilaso, who authored one of the De Soto narratives, among the Florida Indians, :

"The bows are the same height as the men who carry them, and since the natives of Florida are generally tall, theirs are more than two yards in length and are thick in proportion... The bow strings are made with thongs of deerskin [moistened and twisted into a stout cord]... In order to shoot in safety, so that the bow string on being loosened may not injure the left arm, they trim the arm on the inner side with a half bracer of feathers, in this way protecting it from the wrist to the elbow."56

Indians also collected clams, crayfish, mollusks, and other crustaceans in the shallow coastal waters and in the lakes near the Gulf coast.57

The Indians utilized well the raw materials that were available to them. They used red ocher for paint, clay for pottery, and clay mixed with grasses for making wall and roofs. Stones were used to make implements for hollowing out canoes, for pounding, scraping, and polishing. Some copper was found in the southeast, but was usually obtained through trade from more northern tribes. It along with meteoric iron and hematite was used for making ornaments and decorations.

Feathers were used for decorations, symbols of accomplishments, weaving58  into mantles, fans, feathering arrows etc.59 The Indians used bison and opossum hair for spinning and weaving into "belts, garters, and other similar articles of attire".60 They also made "handsome" carpets out of the wild hemp that grew to be six feet tall. When it ripened in July, it was ready for use.

Besides clothes of dressed skins or skins with the hair left on, the Southeastern Indians wove cloth from the inner bark of the mulberry tree and other natural materials.61

The Natives lived together in townships, sometimes surrounded by a palisade ten or twelve feet in height. If the palisade did not encircle their whole town, it sometimes was constructed around the chief's house or just by itself. It was always big enough to harbor all of the town's inhabitants in time of siege.62

The houses, in the Virginia area were constructed by forcing saplings into the ground and bending them to meet in a point. They were fastened together by string made from fibrous roots or from the rind of trees. The smallest huts were conical in shape while the larger huts were built in an oblong shape. Both were covered by the bark from trees in the form of shingles. They had little holes for windows which could be covered by bark shutters in the winter. The house usually had only one room with a smoke hole at the apex and a small door which was covered by a mat. When the Indians were away from home, a log was placed in front of the door.63

The different regions of the southeast used different materials to build their houses; however, regardless of the region or materials used, certain tribes had two distinct sets of dwellings for each family - a summer house and a winter house. The Creeks, Chickasaws, and some of the Eastern Siouans had both types of houses.64 The Cherokees also had a summer and winter house with the latter being referred to as a hot house.65

The summer houses among the Carolina Indians were similar to open lounging pavilions while those of the Creeks and Chickasaws were elaborate structures of two rooms. Some of the Indians also had additional buildings for storage purposes.66 Adair described the function and construction of the winter or hot houses as such:

"The clothing of the Indians being very light, they provide themselves for the winter with hot-houses, whose properties are to retain, and reflect heat, after the manner of the Dutch stove........As they have no metal to reflect the heat, in the fall of the year, as soon as the sun begins to lose his warming power, some of the women make a large fire out of dry wood......When the fire is a little more than half burnt down, they cover it with ashes, and as the heat declines, they strike off some of the top embers."67

The roofs and walls of the houses were constructed using split saplings covered thickly with clay and grasses. The door was very small and connected to the inside by a winding passage so as not to admit the cold air every time someone entered.68

The shapes of these winter houses varied: round or oval in eastern Carolina, square among the Natchez, Choctaw, and Taensa.69

The sacred buildings of the Creek and their neighbors were similar to their private winter dwellings; however, the Creeks and Cherokees, also, had summer ceremonial grounds. The Timucua had long rectangular sacred houses similar to the Iroquois. The Virginia Indians, also, had a few long rectangular buildings divided into rooms by way of hanging mats.70 The Creek Indians placed their sacred houses in a specific manner around a square or yard with a fire placed in the exact center of the yard.71

Indian towns consisted of both private and public dwellings. The Chickasaw lived in compounds or households consisting of a winter house, summer house, corn storage building, and menstrual hut. In addition, each town had a log palisade, ball and ceremonial grounds, a council house, and a ceremonial rotunda.72

Many of the Indians of Louisiana did not have separate summer and winter houses. Their towns consisted of simple family dwellings, granaries and other storage buildings, mortuaries, dance houses, sweathouses for purification purposes, temples, and open arbors near the planting fields73.

The Florida Indians, also, had temples. They venerated these temples and used them for burial places and to hold their accumulated riches. "On the doors of them they placed the trophies of victories won over their enemies."74

The De Soto narratives, both by Garcilaso de La Vega and by Elvas described the towns and houses that they found in Florida.

"The Indians of Florida always try to dwell in high places, and at least the houses of their lords and Casiques  are so situated even if the whole village cannot. But since all of the land is very flat, and elevated sites which  have the various other useful conveniences for settlement are seldom found, they build such sites with the strength of their arms, piling up very large quantities of earth."75

The houses in the southern part of Florida were "built of timber and covered with palm-leaves" while those above Toali (in the present state of Georgia) were "roofed with cane, after the fashion of tile....... They are kept very clean. Some have their sides so made of clays to look like tapia."76

Even though the houses of the Southeast Indians differed in construction, the furnishing all bore a similarity.

"The inside of their [speaking of the Chickasaw, but relating to other tribes as well] houses is furnished with genteel couches to sit and lie upon, raised on four forks of timber of a proper height, to give the swarming fleas some trouble in their attack.....Their bedding consists of skins of wild beasts....which they dress with the hair on as soft as velvet."77

The beds were always placed around the walls of the house. Mattresses were made of split canes, Spanish moss, mats, etc. Pillows varied from wooden logs to soft robes.

The Natchez women, often wove mats of three colors to add to the beds. In the summer, these mats replaced the bear skins used as a mattress. 78 Other furnishings consisted of little wooden three-legged stools to sit upon.79

The Indians traveled far from their homes for visiting, warring, or for barter-commerce. There is evidence that Indians traveled from 1,000 to 2,000 miles to visit friendly tribes. They did not regard these trips as unusual.80

Trading expeditions among the Indians were very important for they brought Indians and their goods together from across the continent.

"In prehistoric America, as now, each section produced some desirable products which the others did not have. In the mounds in Ohio, Tennessee, and elsewhere objects from the Atlantic, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Pacific and from nearly every section of the interior of the United States have been found obsidian from the Rocky Mountain region, pipestone from the great red pipestone quarries of Minnesota or Wisconsin, steatite and mica from the Appalachians, copper from the region of the Great Lakes, and elsewhere, and shells from the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic, dentalium and abalone shells from the Pacific coast, and now and then artifacts which at least hint at some remote contact with Mexican Indian culture."81

Myer quoted Lafitau as saying:

"The savage nations always trade with one another. Their commerce is, like that of the ancients, a simple exchange of wares against wares. Each has something particular which the others have not. Their wares are grain, porcelain (wampum) [not European type porcelain], furs, robes, tobacco, mats, canoes, work made of moose or buffalo hair, and of porcupine quills, cotton-beds, domestic utensils - in a word, all sorts of necessaries of life required by them."82

The Southeast had its own trading patois called "Mobilian trade jargon" or "Chickasaw trade jargon". The jargon was formed by using mainly Choctaw words plus those of other tribes in the context of a simplified grammatical construction.83

Even though among the Indians simple barter was the method of trade, there did exist a standard of currency among the coastal tribes called Ronoak or Roanoke; and later, in the seventeenth century, another called Wampumpeak, Peak, or Wampum for short. These currencies were made from shells in the form of highly polished beads, also known as porcelan or porcelain.

"No doubt roanoke evolved from a favorite article of trade into a standard of value in the way that standards of value have evolved in other parts of the world. It is probable that trade in this and other coastal products tended toward the evolution of this standard and that the existence of such a standard in turn stimulated trade."84

These shells, found in the Carolina coastal areas, were made into beads and larger ornaments, gorgets, for example. The roanoke or peak (beads) were very small:

 "Four or five of these make an inch, and every one is to be drilled through and made as smooth as glass, and so strung as beads are, and a cubit of the Indian measure contains as much in length, as will reach from the elbow to the end of the little finger".85

For an engraved gorge[t] three or four ready dressed buckskins could be the value of exchange.86   Each bead or grain, as they were called, had specific exchange value. Wampum, also, was empowered with a mystic quality.87 The designs in wampum belts could tell a story or signify the importance of an event. Strings and belts of wampum were, also, used in diplomatic situations to signify war, peace, treaties, identify official messengers, etc.88 The practice of using wampum belts as a means of conveying peace was still used at the end of the eighteenth century.89


1. Swanton, BAE 137, pp. 255-256.

2. Le Page Du Pratz, The History of Louisiana, pp. 319-325.

3. All the foods are listed by Swanton, BAE 137, pp. 265-283.

4. Gibson, The Chickasaws, pp. 25-26.

5. Le Page Du Pratz, The History of Louisiana, p. 349.

6. Beverley, The History of the Present State of Virginia, §14, p. 12.

7. Ibid., §17, p. 16.

8. See Part one of this book which differentiates the cultural groups of Southeastern Indians by their use of salt or salt substitutes.

9. Cushman, History of the Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Natchez Indians, p. 174.

10. Kniffen et al, The Historic Indian Tribes of Louisiana, p. 205.

11. Timberlake, Memoirs of Lt. Timberlake, 1948. ed. p. 57.

12. Mooney, Myths of the Cherokees, p. 472.

13. Swanton, "Religious Beliefs and Medicinal Practices of the Creek Indians", BAE Annual Report 42, p. 518. This idea was, according to Swanton, shared by all Indian tribes.

14. Since, according to Adair, p. 140, the blood of an animal contained his life and spirit, the Indians would not eat any meat that was not well done. This prohibition extended to the eating of human flesh. The Indians of the Southeast were not cannibalistic.

15. Adair, History of the American Indians, 1930 edition. p. 138.

16. Ibid., p. 139.

17. Swanton, "Early History of the Creek Indians", BAE 73, p. 383.

18. Ibid., p. 284.

19. Ibid., p. 384.

20. Adair, History of the American Indian, 1930 edition. pp. 115-116.

21. Le Page Du Pratz, The History of Louisiana. p. 349.

22. Adair, History of the American Indian, 1930 ed. p. 18.

23. Kniffen et al, The Historic Tribes of Louisiana, p. 207.

24. Le Page Du Pratz, The History of Louisiana, p. 349.

25. Swanton, "Aboriginal Culture of the Southeast," BAE Annual Report 42, p. 689.

26. Kniffen et al, The Historic Indian Tribes of Louisiana, pp. 141-142.

27. Ibid., p. 165.

28. Tonti, An Account of M. de La Salle's Lost Expedition and Discoveries in North America, p. 13. and Swanton, BAE Annual 42, p. 700.

29. Bartram, Travels of William Bartram, Dover 1955 edition, p. 400.

30. Ibid., pp. 400-401.

31. Original spelling and punctuation of quoted text: "About there howses they laboure and till there ground, sowing there fildes with a grayn called Mahis, wherof the[y] make there meale, and in there gardens the[y] plant beans, gourdes, cowekcumbers, citrons, peasen, and many other simples and roots unknon unto us."

32. Jean Ribaut, The Whole & True Discouerye of Terra Florida, p 73.

33. Adair, History of the American Indians. 1930 edition, p. 436.

34. Ibid., p. 437.

35. Kniffen et al, The Historic Indian Tribes of Louisiana, p. 142.

36. Bartram, The Travels of William Bartram, Dover 1955 edition, p. 400.

37. Ibid., p. 401.

38. Smith, The Narratives of the Career of Hernando de Soto, p. 32.

39. Hennepin, A Continuation of a Vast Country in America, p. 104.

40. Knifen et al, The Historic Indian Tribes of Louisiana, p. 198.

41. Mooney, Sacred Formulas of the Cherokee, pp. 370-371.

42. Kniffen et al, The Historic Indian Tribes of Louisiana, p. 197.

43. Adair, History of the American Indians, 1930 edition, pp.123-124.

44. John Lawson, A New Voyage to Carolina, p. 52.

45. Hudson, The Southeastern Indians, pp. 272-273. Smith, De Soto Narratives, p. 26.

46. Hennepin, A Continuation of the Discovery of a Vast Country in America, p. 105.

47. Smith, The Narratives of the Career of Hernando de Soto, p. 145.

48. André Pénicaut, Fleur de Lys and Calumet, p. 112.

49. Lawson, A New Voyage to Carolina, p. 23.

50. Hudson, The Southeastern Indians, p. 276.

51. Rights, The American Indian in North Carolina, p. 252.

52. Swanton, "Social Organization and Social Usages of the Indians of the Creek Confederacy", BAE Annual 42, pp. 385-386.

53. Tonti, An Account of M. De La Salle's Last Expedition and Discoveries in North America, p. 11.

54. Hennepin, A Continuation of the Discovery of a Vast Country in America, p. 111.

55. Adair, History of the American Indians, 1930 ed. p. 432.

56. Garcilaso de la Vega, The Florida of the Inca, pp. 16-17.

57. Kniffen et al, The Historic Indian Tribes of Louisiana, p. 203.

58. There is a controversy among anthropologists about the meaning of the word weaving. Some use as a general term and others as a specific term differentiated from the term twining. This controversy will be discussed later in the book. In this case, the authors are using the term in its general sense.

59. Swanton, BAE 137, pp. 242-253 discussion of raw materials.

60. Swanton, "Aboriginal Culture of the Southeast", BAE Annual Report 42, p. 690.

61. Ibid., p. 690.

62. Beverley, The History and Present State of Virginia, §13, p. 11.

63. Ibid., §9, pp. 10-11.

64. Swanton, "Aboriginal Culture of the Southeast," BAE Annual Report 42, p. 687.

65. Timberlake, Memoirs of Lt. Timberlake, 1948 edition, p. 61.

66. Swanton, "Aboriginal Culture of the Southeast," BAE 42, p. 688.

67. Adair, History of the American Indian, 1930 edition, pp. 450-451.

68. Ibid., p. 451.

69. Swanton, "Aboriginal Culture of the Southeast", BAE 42,  p. 687.

70. Ibid., pp. 687-688.

71. Hewitt-Swanton, "Notes on the Creek Indians," BAE 123, pp. 129-133.

72. Gibson, The Chickasaws, p. 27.

73. Kniffen et al, The Historic Indian Tribes of Louisiana, p. 109.

74. Garcilaso del la Vega, The Florida of the Inca, p. 14.

75. Ibid., p. 170.

76. Smith, Narratives of the Career of Hernando de Soto, pp. 23 & 53.

77. Adair, History of the American Indians, 1930 edition, p.452.

78. Le Page Du Pratz, The History of Louisiana, p. 342.

79. Swanton, "Aboriginal Culture of the Southeast",  BAE 42, p. 689.

80. William Myer, "Indian Trails of the Southeast", BAE Annual Report 42, pp. 735-736.

81. Ibid., p. 736.

82. Ibid., p. 737. The original was from Lafitau, Moeurs des Sauvages Ameriquains, vol. II, p. 332.

83. Hudson, The Southeast Indians, pp. 24-25.

84. Swanton, "Aboriginal Culture of the Southeast",  BAE 42, pp. 722-723.

85. Lawson, A New Voyage to Carolina p. 194.

86. Ibid., p.193.

87. Wilbur R. Jacobs, Dispossessing the American Indian, p. 41.

88. Ibid., pp. 41-45.

89. Winfield Scott Collection. Folder #4,"Talk of the Tallassee King, 28th May, 1782," Thomas Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa, OK.