Chapter III: The Creek Indians (2)

_Tukpáfka_, "Spunk-knot," a village on Chatahuchi river,
Toapáfki in 1832, from which was settled the town of
Niuyáχa, q. v. A creek of the same name is a tributary of
Potchus'-Hátchi, q. v. Tukpáfka, not Tutpáfka, is the
correct form; it means _punky wood, spunk, rotten wood,
tinder_.

_Tuχtu-kági_, or "Corn cribs set up" by the Okfuski natives
to support themselves during the hunting season, was an
Upper Creek town on the western bank of Tallapoosa River,
twenty miles above Niuyáχa. The trail from Hillabi to
Etowa in the Cheroki country passed this town, which is near
a spur of mountains. Mentioned as "Corn House" in the Census
list of 1832, as Totokaga in 1791. Túχtu means a _crib_;
kági is the past participle of kákīs, q. v.

_Tutalósi_, a branch village of Hitchiti town. Cf. Hitchiti, p.
77. The Creek word tutalósi means _chicken_, in
Hitchiti tatayáhi; its inhabitants, who had no town-square,
are called by the people speaking Hitchiti: Tatayáhukli.

_Úktaha-sàsi'_, or "Sand-Heap," two miles from Hillabi town, of
which it was a branch or colony. Cf. Hillabi. If the name
was pronounced Úktaha lási, it is "sand-lick."

_U-i-ukúfki_, Uyukúfki, an Upper Creek town, on a creek of the
same name, a tributary of Hatchet creek (Hawkins, p. 42);
Wiogúfka (1832). The name points to muddy water: o-íwa
_water_, ukúfki _muddy_; and is also the Creek name for the
Mississippi river. Exists now in Indian Territory. Cf.
Potchus'-hátchi.

_Wako-káyi, Waχoká-i_, or "Blow-horn Nest," an Upper Creek
town on Tukpáfka creek, a branch of Potchus'-Hátchi, a
water-course which joins Coosa river from the east. Also
written Wolkukay by cartographers; Wacacoys, in Census List
of 1832; Wiccakaw by Bartram (1775). Wáko is a species of
_heron_, bluish-grey, 2' high; káyi _breeding-place_.
Another "Wacacoys" is mentioned, in 1832, as situated on
Lower Coosa river, below Witúmka.

_Watúla Hóka hátchi._ The location of this stream is marked by
Watoola village, which is situated on a run joining Big
Yuchi creek in a southern course, about eighteen miles west
of Chatahuchi river, on the road between Columbus, Ga., and
Montgomery, Ala.

_Wí-kai `láko_, or "Large Spring," a Lower Creek or Seminole
town, referred to by Morse under the name Wekivas. From u-íwa,
abbrev. ú-i _water_, káya _rising_, `láko _great, large_.
A Creek town in the Indian Territory bears the same name.

_Witumka_, (1) Upper Creek town on the rapids of Coosa river,
east side, near its junction with Tallapoosa. Hawkins does
not mention this old settlement, but Bartram, who traveled
from 1773 to 1778, quotes Whittumke among the Upper Creek
towns speaking the "Stincard tongue," which in this instance
was the Koassáti dialect.

(2) A branch town of Kawíta Talahássi, and twelve miles from
it, on Witumka creek, the main fork of Yuchi creek. The
place had a town-house, and extended for three miles up the
creek. The name signifies "rumbling water;" from ú-i,
abbrev. from u-íwa "water," and túmkīs "it rumbles, makes
noise."

_Witumka Creek_, called Owatunka river in the migration legend,
is the northern and main branch of Yuchi creek, which runs
into the Chatahuchi river from the northwest, and joins it
about 32° 18´ Lat. The other branch was Little Yuchi creek
or Hosapo-läíki; cf. Note to Hawkins, p. 61.

_Wiwúχka_, or Wiwóka, Upper Creek town on Wiwóka creek, an
eastern tributary of Coosa river, joining it about ten miles
above Witumka. The town was fifteen miles above Odshi-apófa,
and in 1799 numbered forty warriors. Called Weeokee in 1791;
it means: "water roaring,": ú-i _water_, wóχkīs _it is
roaring_.

_Woksoyū′dshi_, an Upper Creek town, mentioned in the
Census List of 1832 as "Waksoyochees, on Lower Coosa river,
below Wetumka."

_Yuchi_, a town of foreign extraction belonging to the Lower
Creeks; has branched out into three other villages. Cf.
Yuchi, p. 21.

_Yufábi creek_, an eastern tributary of Tallapoosa river,
joining it a short distance from Tukabatchi. Nofápi creek,
mentioned in the legend, is now Naufába creek, an upper
branch of "Ufaupee creek," joining it in a southwestern
direction.

_Yufála_, (1) Y. or Yufála Hátchi, Upper Creek town on Yufála
creek, fifteen miles above its confluence with Coosa river.
Called Upper Ufala in 1791.

(2) Upper Creek town on the west bank of Tallapoosa river, two
miles below Okfuski in the air line.

(3) town of the Lower Creeks, fifteen miles below Sáwokli, on
the eastern bank of Chatahuchi river. In 1799 the natives
had spread out down to the forks of the river in several
villages, and many had negro slaves, taken during the
Revolutionary war. The Census of 1832 counted 229 heads of
families. This name, of unknown signification, is written
Eufaula.

THE INDIAN PATHWAYS.

A correct and detailed knowledge of the Indian trails leading through their country, and called by them warpaths, horse trails, and by the white traders "trading roads," forms an important part of Indian topography and history. Their general direction is determined by mountain ranges and gaps (passes), valleys, springs, water-courses, fordable places in rivers, etc. The early explorers of North American countries all followed these Indian trails: Narvaez, Hernando de Soto, Tristan de Luna, Juan del Pardo, Lederer and Lawson, because they were led along these tracks by their Indian guides. If we knew with accuracy the old Indian paths of the West, we would have little difficulty in rediscovering the routes traveled by Coronado's and Peñalossa's troops in New Mexico and in the great wastes of the Mississippi plains. In hilly lands these trails are, of course, easier to trace than in level portions of the country.

The best-known trails leading from the east to the Creek towns were as follows:

1. The _upper_ trail or "warpath" crossed Chatahuchi river at Che`láko-Nini by a horse ford, about sixty miles above Kasiχta; cf. Schoolcraft, Indians, V, 255, and Adair, History, pp. 258. 368.

2. The "High Tower path" started from High Shoals on Apalachi river, which is the southern branch of Okóni river, and went almost due west to "Shallow Ford" of Chatahuchi river, about twelve miles right north of Atlanta, Georgia, in the river bend.

3. The _southern_ trail crossed the Chatahuchi river, coming from the Okóni and Okmúlgi rivers,[93] at the "Broken Arrow," `Lé-kátchka, while other travelers crossed it at the Yuchi towns, which cannot have been distant from the "Broken Arrow." The Tallapoosa river was passed at Tukabatchi; cf. Schoolcraft, Indians, V, 254.

[Footnote 93: Bartram, Travels, p. 54, gives the following
particulars: "On the east bank of the Okmulgee this trading road
runs nearly two miles through ancient Indian fields, the
Okmulgee fields ... with artificial mounds or terraces, squares,
etc." This horsepath began at the Rock Landing on Okóni river, a
British post just below Wilkinson and about four miles below
Milledgeville, Georgia, passed Fort Hawkins built upon the
Okmúlgi old fields, then the site of Macon, on the shore
opposite, then Knoxville, then the old Creek agency on Flint
river, then crossed Patsilāíka creek, the usual ford on
Chatahuchi river lying between Kasíχta and Apatá-i Creek.]

From Tukabatchi it crossed over almost due west, as represented in Em. Bowen's map, to Coosa river, which was passed by a horse-ford, then followed the Coosa river up to Coosa old town. This is the trail partly traveled over by the Kasiχta tribe, as described in the migration legend.

4. The _trail_ leading from St. Mary's river, Georgia, to the Creek towns went into disuse since 1783, and at the time of Swan's visit (1791) was difficult to trace. Cf. Schoolcraft, V, 256. If correctly represented in Tanner's map of 1827, a road then running from St. Mary's river to the Hitchiti ford of the Chatahuchi river crossed that river at Hitchitū′dshi.

THE CREEK GOVERNMENT.

The social organization of all the Indian nations of America is based upon the existence of the _tribe_. The tribe itself is based upon smaller units of individuals which are joined together by a common tie; this tie is either the archaic maternal descent, or the more modern tie of paternal descent, or a combination of both. Among the Indians of North America east of the Rocky mountains, and also among many tribes west of them, the single groups descending from the same male or female ancestor form each a _gens_ provided with a proper name or _totem_ generally recalling the name of an animal.

Among the Creeks, Seminoles and all the other Maskoki tribes descent was in the female line. Every child born belonged to the gens of its mother, and not to that of its father, for no man could marry into his own gens. In case of the father's death or incapacity the children were cared for by the nearest relatives of the mother. Some public officers could be selected only from certain gentes, among which such a privilege had become hereditary. Regulations like these also controlled the warrior class and exercised a profound influence upon the government and history of the single tribes, and it often gave a too prominent position to some gentes in certain tribes, to the detriment or exclusion of others. The Hitchiti and Creek totems were the same.

The administration of public affairs in the Creek nation can be studied to best advantage by dividing the dates on hand into three sections: the civil government of the Creek tribe; the warrior class; the confederacy and its government. What we give below will at least suffice to give readers a better understanding of some points in the migration legend. But before we enter upon these points, let us consider the basis of Indian social life, the _gens_.

TRIBAL DIVISIONS AND GENTES.

Parallel to the two íksa of the Cha'hta the Creeks are divided into two _fires_ (tútka), a civil fire and a military fire. The term _fire_ evidently refers to council fires, which had to be kindled ceremonially by the friction of two pieces of wood. The term _fire_ was also applied by Sháwanos and other Northern Indians to the States formed by the early colonists, and is still used of the States now constituting the American Union: the thirteen fires, the seventeen fires, etc.

Concerning the gentes (aläíkita) of the Creek people, it is important to notice that in their towns each group of houses contained people of one gens only,[94] and these gentes are often mentioned in their local annals; and that the gens of each individual was determined by that of his mother. Some of the towns had separate gentes for themselves, all of which had privileges of their own.

[Footnote 94: A similar distribution is observed in the
villages, hunting and war camps of the Pani and Southern Dakotan
tribes, and was very strictly enforced by them.]

Marriage between individuals of the same gens was prohibited; the office of the míko and the succession to property of deceased persons was and is still hereditary in the gens. In the Tukabatchi town the civil rulers or míkalgi were selected from the _eagle_ gens; those of Hitchiti town from the _racoon_ gens only; of Kasiχta from the _bear_ gens; those of Taskígi probably from the _wind_ gens. The beloved men or ístitchakálgi of Kasiχta were of the _beaver gens_.

In adultery and murder cases the relatives of the gens of the injured party alone had the right of judging and of taking satisfaction; the míko and his council were debarred from any interference. This custom explains why treaty stipulations made with the colonists or the Federal Government concerning murders committed have never been executed.[95]

[Footnote 95: Cf. Hawkins, p. 75.]

There is probably no Indian tribe or nation in North America having a larger number of gentes than the Maskoki proper. This fact seems to point either to a long historic development of the tribe, through which so large a segmentation was brought about, or to internal dissensions, which could produce the same result. About twenty gentes are now in existence, and the memory of some extinct ones is not lost in the present generation.

The _list_ of Creek gentes, as obtained from Judge G. W. Stidham, runs as follows:

Nokósalgi bear gens; from nokósi bear.

Itchúalgi deer gens, from ítchu deer.

Kátsalgi panther gens; kátsa panther, cougar.

Koákotsalgi wild-cat gens; kóa-kótchi wild-cat.

Kunipálgi skunk gens; kúno, kóno skunk.

Wótkalgi racoon gens; wō′tko racoon.

Yahálgi wolf gens; yáha wolf.

Tsúlalgi fox gens; tsúla fox.

Itch'hásualgi beaver gens; itch'hásua beaver.

Osánalgi otter gens; osána otter.

Hálpadalgi alligator gens; hálpada alligator.

Fúsualgi bird gens; fúswa forest bird.

Ítamalgi, Támalgi, (?) cf. támkita to fly.

Sopáktalgi toad gens; sopáktu toad.

Tákusalgi mole gens; táku mole.

Atchíalgi maize gens; átchi maize.

Ahalaχálgi sweet potato gens; áha sweet potato, long
marsh-potato.

Hútalgalgi wind gens; hútali wind.

Aktäyatsálgi (signification unknown).

(-algi is the sign of collective plurality--the ókla of
Cha'hta.)

The following gentes are _now extinct_, but still occur in war names:

Pahósalgi; occurs in names like Pahós'-hádsho.

Okílisa; cf. Killis-tamaha, p. 109.

`Lá`lo-algi fish gens; `lá`lo fish, occurs in war names like
`Lá`lo yahóla, etc.

Tchukótalgi, perhaps consolidated with another gens; it stood in
a close connection with the Sopáktalgi. Also pronounced Tsuχódi;
Chief Chicote is named after it.

Odshísalgi hickory nut gens; ō′dshi hickory nut. Some believe
this gens represented the people of Otchísi town, p. 71.

Oktchúnualgi salt gens; oktchúnua salt.

Isfánalgi; seems analogous to the Ispáni phratry and gens of the
Chicasa.

Wá'hlakalgi; cf. Hú`li-wá'hli, town name.

Muχlásalgi; said to mean "people of Muklása town"; cf.
Imuklásha, under Cha'hta.

The Creek _phratries_ and their names were not fully remembered by my informants. The only points which could be gathered were, that individuals belonging to the panther and the wildcat gentes could not intermarry, nor could the Tchukótalgi with the individuals of the toad gens or Sopáktalgi. This proves that the two groups formed each a phratry, which perhaps comprised other gentes besides. It is possible that among the above totemic gentes some are in fact phratries and not gentes; and the two _fires_ (or tútka) of the Creeks are not real phratries, but formal divisions only.

CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE TRIBE.

Several gentes, with their families, united into _one_ town or settlement, live under one chief, and thus constitute a _tribe_. The tribe, as far as constituting a politic body governing itself, is called in Creek itálua, which could also be rendered by: community or civil district. Amitáluadshi is "my own town, where I belong," amitálua "my own country." Itálua also signifies _nation_. Another term, talófa, means _town_ or _village, city_ as a collection of houses without any reference to its inhabitants.

The executive officer of each town is the _míko_ or _chief_, formerly called "king" by the whites. His duty is to superintend all public and domestic concerns, to receive public characters, to listen to their speeches, the contents of which were referred to the town, and to "deliver the talks" of his community. The town elects him for life from a certain gens. When he becomes sick or old he chooses an assistant, who is subject to the approval of the counsellors and head men. When the míko dies the next of kin in the maternal line succeeds him, usually his nephew, if he is fit for office.

Next in authority after the míko are the míkalgi and the counsellors, both of whom form the _council_ of the town. The council appoints the Great Warrior, approves or rejects the nominations for a míko's assistant, and gives advice in law, war or peace questions.

Next in authority after the council is the body of the _hinihálgi_, old men and advisers, presided over by the híniha `láko. They are in charge of public buildings, supervise the erection of houses for new settlers, direct the agricultural pursuits and prepare the black drink. They are the "masters of ceremonies," and the name híniha, íniha, which is no longer understood by the present generation, is said to signify "self-adorner," in the sense of "warrior embellished with body paint." Hiniha `láko, abbreviated into Nia`láko, is now in use as a personal name, and recalls the name of the celebrated Seminole chief Neamáthla (híniha imá`la). In the Hitchiti towns they were comprised among the class of the beloved men. Before the broken days, níta χátska, they consulted about the time of the busk, and during the busk directed the performances.

_Beloved men_ or _isti-tchákalgi_ follow next in rank after the above. They are the men who have distinguished themselves by long public service, especially as war leaders, and the majority of them were advanced in age. C. Swan states that the beloved men were formerly called míkalgi in white towns.

Then follows the common people. For the tustĕnúggi `láko or Great Warrior, cf. "Warrior Class" and "Creek Confederacy."

Since Indian character expresses itself in the most pronounced, self-willed independence, the power of the authorities was more of a persuasive than of a constraining or commanding nature. This will appear still better when we speak of the warrior class; and it may be appropriate to remember that no man felt himself bound by decrees of a popular assembly, by edicts of chiefs and their counsellors, or by treaties concluded by these with alien tribes or governments. The law exercised by the gens was more powerful than all these temporary rulings, and, in fact, was the real motive power in the Indian community.

The distinction between red and white towns is not clearly remembered now, and there are very few Creeks living who are able to tell whether such or such a town was red or white. As soon as the agricultural interests began to prevail over the military, through the approach of the colonial settlements, this feature had to disappear, and the social order also changed from the _gens_ or φύλη into that of _civitas_. Adair, Hist., p. 159, seems inclined to identify the white (or "ancient, holy, old beloved, peaceable towns") with the "towns of refuge," one of which was Kúsa.

THE WARRIOR CLASS.

The geographic position of the Creeks in the midst of warlike and aggressive nations was a powerful stimulant for making "invincibles" of their male offspring. The ruling passion was that of war; second to it was that of hunting. A peculiar incentive was the possession of war-titles, and the rage for these was as strong among the younger men as that for plunder among the older. The surest means of ascending the ladder of honor was the capture of scalps from the enemy, and the policy of the red or bloody towns was that of fostering the warlike spirit by frequent raids and expeditions. In some towns young men were treated as menials before they had performed some daring deeds on the battle-field or acquired a war title.[96] To become a warrior every young man had to pass through a severe ordeal of privations called _fast_, púskita, from the fifteenth to the seventeenth year of his age. This _initiation_ into manhood usually lasted from four to eight months, but in certain rare instances could be abridged to twelve days.

[Footnote 96: Milfort, Mémoire, p. 251.]

A distinction of a material, not only honorific character was the election of a warrior to actual command as pakā′dsha or tustĕnúggi `láko.

THE CHARGES OF COMMANDERS.

After the young man had passed through the hardships of his initiation, the career of distinction stood open before him, for he was now a tassikáya or _brave_.[97] According to Hawkins' Sketch, the three degrees of advancement in command were as follows:

[Footnote 97: Tassikáya, contr. taskáya, pl. taskiálgi--in
Cha'hta táska, in Apalache taskáya, etc.]

The tassikáya, who after initiation appears qualified for actual service in the field, and is promising, is appointed _leader_ (isti pakā′dsha, or pakā′dsha) by the míko or chief of his town. When he distinguishes himself, he obtains a seat in the central cabin of the public square. When out on the warpath the leader was called imísi, immíssi, q. v., and when initiated to the faculty of charming the approaching enemy by physic and songs, ahopáya, q. v.

Warriors of the pakā′dsha class, who had repeatedly distinguished themselves on expeditions, could be promoted, when a general war was declared, to the charge of _upper leader_, isti pakā′dsha `láko, or tustĕnúggi.

The highest distinction was that of the _great warrior_, tustĕnúggi `láko, of whom there was one in every town. This dignitary was appointed by the míko and his counsellors, and selected by them among the best qualified warriors. His seat was at the western end of the míkalgi cabin in the public square. In Milfort's time this dignitary had become a civil _and_ military officer,[98] and nowadays his functions are those of a civil functionary only.

[Footnote 98: Milfort, Mémoire, p. 237: "Aujourd'hui il est le
premier chef de la nation pour le civil et pour le militaire."]

In cases when the towns had resolved upon a general war, a leader for all the town-tustĕnúggis was appointed in the person of a "generalissimo," called also pakā′dsha, tustĕnúggi, or tustĕnúggi `láko.

Among the Creeks now inhabiting the Indian Territory the nomenclature has been altered from the above. A young man is called tassikáya after receiving the war-title and having some employment during the busk; he becomes tustĕnúggi after being declared as such by a vote of his town; but in aboriginal times a young man was not called tustĕnúggi before he had shown his bravery by the taking of at least one scalp.

WAR-TITLES.

War-titles are important distinctions bestowed in almost every part of the world, for military achievements; but, to preserve their distinctive value, are usually conferred only on a small portion of the warriors. Among the Creeks war-names are, however, so common that at present one is conferred upon every young man of the people. According to the old reports, a Creek warrior of the eighteenth century could obtain a war-title only after taking one or several scalps, but the traditions current among the modern Creeks are silent on this point. In earlier days many warriors had several, even four or five of these titles (tassikáya inhotchífka), and when participants of a war party were present in numbers at the taking of a scalp, each of them obtained a war-title according to the report of the fight made by the pakā′dsha on his return home. The war-titles were not always, though most frequently, conferred upon the warriors during the busk, or within the square.

Chief Chicote informs me, that the names in question were distributed by the "beloved men" or ist'-atsákalgi while sitting in their cabins or arbors on two opposite sides of the square. The ist'-atsákalgi called out young men from the side opposite to them, and imparted one of the five titles to be mentioned below, according to their free choice, and simultaneously intrusted each with some office connected with the busk. These offices consisted either in sweeping the area or in carrying water, in building and keeping up the fire in the centre, in setting up the medicine-pots or in helping to prepare black drink. War-titles and busk-offices were formerly given also to such who had never joined a war party. The use of the other name, which every man had obtained during childhood, was prohibited within the square.

To the five war-titles below, the totem of the gens was often added, so that, for instance, one of the yahólalgi, who offered the black drink, could be called ítcho yahóla hádsho, or y. míko, y. fíksiko, etc. It is said, that anciently some titles were limited to certain clans only. The idea that advancement by degree was connected with these titles is an erroneous inference from our own military institutions. Although regarded as war-names at the present time, they seem to have been mere busk-titles from the beginning, and are such even now. In connection with ítcho _deer_, a gens name, they are as follows:

ítcho tassikáya _deer warrior_.

ítcho hádsho tassikáya _deer crazy_ (foolish, mad, drunken)
_warrior_.

ítcho fíksiko tassikáya _deer heartless warrior_.

ítcho yahóla tassikáya _deer hallooing warrior_.

ítcho ima′`la tassikáya _deer (leading?) warrior_.

Other war-titles were: holá'hta tustĕnúggi, míko tustĕnúggi, híniha, híniha `láko. Inholá'hti, plur. inholáχtagi figures in war-titles, but stands in no connection with the busk. The appellation of immíkagi comprehends all the men of _that_ gens from which the míko in the town ceremonies, not the míko as a political office-holder, is selected. The pronoun im-, in-, i- in all these names (ihinihálgi, intastĕnaχálgi, etc.), signifies that they "belong to the míko" of the tribal ceremonies.

War-titles should be clearly distinguished from war-names and other names. Any of the nine appellations contained in the item above, and any name composed with one of them, is a war-title; all others, as _Old Red Shoe_, are simply names or war-names. Women and boys never had but one name, and whenever a warrior had, by successive campaigns, five or six honorific titles conferred upon him, he became generally known by one or two of these only.

These names and war-titles are highly important for the study of Creek ethnography, and have been already referred to in the chapter on _gentes_. A brief list of war-names of influential men is contained in Major C. Swan's Report, as follows:[99]

[Footnote 99: 1791--Schoolcraft, Indians, V, 263.]

"Hallowing King (Kawíta); White Lieutenant (Okfuski); Mad Dog (Tukabatchi míko); Opilth míko (Big Talahássi); Dog Warrior (Náktche); Old Red Shoe (Alibamu and Koassáti). To these may be added the "dog king," Tamhuídshi, of the Hitchiti, mentioned in the prooemium of the legend, and "a war-leader, the son of the dog-king of the Huphale town."[100] The Cha'hta war-titles frequently end in -ábi, -ápi: _killer_; cf. the Creek term póyäs, tipóyäs _I kill_."

[Footnote 100: Adair, History, p. 278.]

The Creeks often conferred war-titles on white men of note, and made Milfort, who became a relative of the chief McGillivray by marriage, the chief warrior of the nation. The ceremonies performed on that occasion are described at length by himself.[101]

[Footnote 101: Milfort, Mémoire, p. 41 sqq., 220 sqq. The
council of the nation, assembled at Tukabatchi, conferred this
charge on him in May 1780.]

We give a few instances of historical and recent Creek war-names and war-titles:--

Abiχkúdshi míko, Hútalg'-imá`la, Kawíta tustĕnúggi, all
members of the Creek "House of Kings."

Ássi yahóla "the black drink hallooer;" Osceola, chief.

Híniha `láko hupáyi "great híniha charmer," a Creek leader in
the battle at Átasi and other engagements.

Hopú-i hí`l'-míko "good child-chief."

Hopú-i hí`li yahóla "handsome child yahóla"; a Creek chief.

Hú`li 'má'hti "war-leader," a frequently occurring war-name;
'má'hti is abbreviated from homáχti.

Hutálgi míku "chief from wind gens;" is chief of Taskígi town.

Ifa hádsho, or "dog warrior"; cf. Hawkins, p. 80.

Ispahídshi, name of a headman, and usually spelt Spiechee:
"whooping, brawling" while taking off the scalp.

Kátsa hádsho "tiger-hádsho," a Seminole chief, erroneously
called Tigertail.

Kósisti, abbr. Kósti; occurs in Kósti fíksiko, etc. The
signification is lost, but we may compare the town Acostehe,
visited by de Soto's army in coming south from the Cheroki
country.

`Lawaχaíki "lying in ambush; creeping up clandestinely."

Míko imá`la "chief leader."

Núkusi íli tchápko "long-footed bear," war-name of S. B.
Callahan, Creek delegate to the United States Government.

Sutak'háχki "men fighting in a line."

Tálua fíksiko "heartless town;" presently judge of the
Wiwúχka district, I. T.

Tassikáya míku "chief warrior;" president House of Kings.

Uχtáha-sasi hádsho "sandy-place hádsho;" chief.

Wáksi, Cha'hta term referring to the drawing up of the prepuce.
Occurs in Wáksi holá'hta and other Creek titles, perhaps
also in the tribal name of the Waxsaws on Santee river, S.
C., and in Waxahatchi, town in Alabama. The name conveyed
the idea of a low, unmanly behavior, but had no obscene
meaning. Other nations regard epithets like these (ὰπελλαι,
_verpi_) as highly injurious, and load their enemies with
them, as the Tchiglit-Inuit do the Tinné Indians of the
interior: taordshioit, ortcho-todsho-eitut.[102]

[Footnote 102: E. Petitot, Tchiglit, preface p. xi.]

WAR-CUSTOMS AND TACTICS.

A few notes on the war-customs of the Creeks, which resembled those of most Southern tribes, may be useful for shedding light on the early migrations of the people and upon the tactics observed in their campaigns.

The principal motive for Indian wars being the conquest of scalps, slaves, plunder and hunting grounds, the Creeks, conscious of their great power, were not very particular in finding causes for warfare, and did not even advance specious reasons for declaring war. Thus, Adair gives as the true cause of a long war between the Creeks and Cheroki, the killing and scalping of two Chicasa hunters by a Shawano "brave." This man took refuge among the Cheroki people, and war was declared to them by the Creeks, because they then had concluded a war alliance with the Chicasa (History, p. 278).

It is rather improbable that a declaration of war always preceded the attack, for the advance into the hostile territory was made clandestinely[103]; but the resolution of starting upon the warpath was heralded in the towns with great ceremonies. Of these we shall speak under the heading: Confederacy.

[Footnote 103: The Timucua of Florida declared war by sticking
up arrows in the ground around the town or camp of the enemy on
the evening before the attack (René de Laudonnière, "Histoire
Notable").]

The Creeks of old were in the habit of carrying on their warfare chiefly in small bodies, like other Indian tribes. Small commands are better enabled to surprise the enemy or his camps in clandestine or night attacks, or to cut off hostile warriors, than large ones. There are instances that the Creeks formed war-parties of four men only. Their leader was then styled imísi, immíssi or "the one carrying it for them," this term referring to the battle-charm or war-physic. War-parties of forty to sixty men are mentioned also.

When warriors started for the "field of honor" in larger or smaller bodies, they were led by a commander (pakā′dsha) who simultaneously was an ahopáya or hopáya, "_charmer at a distance_." Men of this order had, like other warriors, to undergo, while quite young, a severe course of initiation into manhood, which also comprised instructions in herb-physicking. To become initiated they camped away from other people, and had for their only companion the old conjuror, who for four months initiated them and taught them the incantations intended to act as charms upon the enemy. To begin with, a fast of either four or eight days and the eating of certain bitter weeds was prescribed, to purify the system and to prepare the youth for a ready comprehension of the objects of tuition. The whole process was sometimes repeated for another four months, in the spring of the year following, and differed in every town. The knowledge thus acquired, it was believed, imparted to the person a full conjuring power and charmer's influence over the antagonist, and enabled him to conquer the hostile warriors at a distance (hupá-i) and before reaching them, or to make them come near enough for easy capture.

When the Great Warrior started on the warpath he gave notice to the participants where he would strike camp that night, and then set out, sometimes with one or two men only. A war-whoop and the discharge of his gun were the signals of his departure, and were responded to by his followers by acting in the same manner. The other warriors took their time, and went to rejoin him one or two days after. A man taking part in a war-expedition was called hú`li-á`la.

A war party always proceeded in Indian file, each man stepping into the footprints of the foregoing, to prevent the enemy from knowing their number. This explains also the episode of the legend referring to the tracks lost in the bottom of the river, q. v.[104] The tracks, footprints, strokes of hatchets visible on the bark of trees, etc., differed in every American tribe. Among the Creeks the last man in the file often sought to cover the tracks by placing grass upon them. A considerable force of scouts hovered around the marching file, to prevent surprises; the leader marched at the head of the file.

[Footnote 104: Milfort, Mém., p. 217. 218. Walking through
watercourses necessarily destroyed all vestiges of a marching
body of warriors.]

The attack was made in true Indian and savage fashion, before daybreak. The warriors crept up as silently as possible, tried to dart their missiles from secret spots, and never exposed their bodies to the enemy when they could cover them by some eminence or rock, tree or bush. The leader took a position in the rear. The Chicasa Indians continually taunted the colonial troops upon the fearless but useless exposure of their men to the battle-fire of the wary Indian braves. Milfort relates that his men fought nude, because they had noticed that the fragments of clothing entering the body with the point of the missile rendered the wound much more dangerous than the missile itself.

When making prisoners the Creeks habitually spared only the lives of children, killing mercilessly the adult males and females. They even burnt many of them at the stake, and Milfort claims that this barbaric custom was abandoned only through his influence (Mém., pp. 219-220).

The food on which they subsisted, on their expeditions, was pounded maize, contained in a small bag, which they carried upon their bodies.

The encampments for the night (hápu) were round-shaped, every man lying in contiguity to another in a circle, and leaving only a small issue, which was guarded by the commander. After the commander's signal no one was allowed to move from his place. The same order was observed when the army halted during the day, and the same arrangement is conspicuous in the campings of the Southern Dakota tribes, as Iowa, Ponka, Ugáχpa, etc.

A graphic description of southern war-camps is found in B. Romans, Florida, p. 65: "A Choctaw war-camp is circular, with a fire in the centre, and each man has a crutched branch at his head to hang his powder and shot upon and to set his gun against, and the feet of all to the fire; a Cherokee war-camp is a long line of fire, against which they also lay their feet. A Choctaw makes his camp, in traveling, in form of a sugar loaf; a Chicasa makes it in form of our arbours; a Creek like to our sheds or piazzas, to a timber-house." The Creek war-camps in the woods were constructed in such a manner that the exact number of the party could at once be ascertained.[105]

[Footnote 105: Swan, in Schoolcraft V, 280.]

After their return the warriors placed the scalps in the public square, or divided them among their acquaintances. Anciently the privilege of raising the scalp-pole (itu tcháti) belonged to two tribes only, the Kasíχta and the Kawíta.[106] The cause for this is shown in our half-mythic migration legend. The tradition that the custom of scalping was but recently imported among the Creeks from the Northern Indians was manufactured for a purpose, and invented by many other tribes also, to appear more human in the eyes of the white settlers. Scalping and the drying of scalps had been observed in Florida as early as 1564 by René de Laudonnière.

[Footnote 106: Cf. Hu`li-Wá'hli, and the _name_ of this town.]

ORGANIZATION OF THE CONFEDERACY.

The Creek confederacy, or "league of the Muscogulgee" was a purely political organization connecting the various and disparate elements, which composed it, for common action against external aggression. It had no direct influence on the _social_ organization of the tribes, and the most appropriate term for this, and other Indian confederacies as well, is that of war-confederacy, war-league or symmachy. In Creek the Maskoki confederacy is called ísti Maskóki imitihalátka.

To call this _loose assemblage_ of towns and tribes a military democracy, in the sense that the majority of the votes decided a question brought before the people in a manner that was binding for the citizens, is entirely wrong and misleading, for Indians regard their actions subject to their own decisions only, or, at the utmost, to those of their individual _gens_. Every Creek town or individual could go on the warpath or stay at home, in spite of any wish or decree issued by the chiefs or assembled warriors. The young warriors, anxious to obtain fame and war-titles, joined the war-parties on the call of a leader. In questions of war unanimity was seldom attained in the council of a town, much less in the whole nation; "it is not recollected by the oldest man, that more than one-half of the nation went to war at the same time or 'took the war-talk.'"

"When the míko and his councillors are of opinion that the town has been injured, the Great Warrior lifts the war-hatchet, átăsi, against the offending nation. But as soon as it is taken up, the míko and his council may interpose, and by their prudent counsels stop it, and proceed to adjust the misunderstanding by negotiation. If the Great Warrior persists and 'goes out,' he is followed by all who are for war."

These words, quoted from the "Sketch" of the United States agent, B. Hawkins, plainly show, that the _initiative_ for war rested with the civil authority, and not with the military. But it is possible that Hawkins speaks of white or peace-towns only, and not of the red towns (p. 72). He continues as follows:

"Peace is always determined on and concluded by the míko and councillors, and peace-talks are always addressed to the cabin of the míko. In some cases, where the resentment of the warriors has run high, the míko and council have been much embarrassed."

All this proves that every town had the privilege to begin warfare for itself, independent of the confederacy, provided that the civil government consented to the undertaking. This fact plainly shows the perfect independence of the Indian tribe from the war-confederacy, and forms a striking contrast to our ideas of a centralized state power. In some instances the Creek towns left their defensive position to act on the offensive principle, but they were not sustained then by the Maskoki confederacy.

The chief of the confederacy had to advise only, and not to command; he was of influence only when endowed with superior talent and political ability. The chief and principal warriors had annual meetings in the public square of some central town, on public affairs; they drank ássi, exchanged tobacco, and then proceeded to debate. Time and place of these conventions were fixed by a chief, and the space of time between warning and that of assembly was called "broken days." Major C. Swan, after whose report this passage is quoted (Schoolcraft V, 279) states that the title of the chief of the confederacy was the _great beloved man_, while Milfort, who was himself invested with the charge of great warrior of the nation, styles him "Le Tastanégy ou grand chef de guerre," adding, however, that in his time he was the highest authority in _civil and military_ affairs (Mémoire, Note to p. 237). The English, French and Spaniards frequently called him the _Emperor_ of the Upper and Lower Creeks, a term which is not entirely misapplied when taken in its original sense of "military commander," the _imperator_ of the Romans.

At a later period the meeting of the confederacy usually took place at Tukabatchi, which had become the largest community. From the above it results, however, that the Creeks had no _capital_ town in the sense as we use this term. Col. B. Hawkins, who attempted to introduce some unity among the towns for the purpose of facilitating the transaction of business of the nation, and their intercourse with the United States Government, proposed various measures, as the classing of the towns into nine districts; these were adopted at Tukabatchi by the chiefs of the nation, on November 27th, 1799.[107]

[Footnote 107: Cf. his Sketch, pp. 51. 52. 67. 68.]

The small degree of respect which the Creek towns paid to international treaties (sitimfátchita) or other solemn engagements made with the whites, as sales of territory, etc., is another proof for the looseness of the "powerful Creek confederacy." After giving a list of six influential headmen of different towns, Major C. Swan declares that a treaty made with these chiefs would probably be communicated to all the people of the country, and be believed and relied upon (Schoolcraft V, 263). Subsequent events have shown this to be founded on a misapprehension of the Indian character, which is that of the most outspoken individuality.

Major C. Swan, who only traveled through the country to leave it again, makes the following interesting statement concerning the political and social status of the disparate tribes composing the Creek confederacy (1791; in Schoolcraft V, 259. 260):

"Their numbers have increased faster by the acquisition of foreign subjects than by the increase of the original stock. It appears long to have been a maxim of their policy to give equal liberty and protection to tribes conquered by themselves, as well as to those vanquished by others, although many individuals taken in war are slaves among them, and their children are called of the slave race, and cannot arrive to much honorary distinction in the country, on that account."

THE PUBLIC SQUARE.

All the Creek _towns_, viz., the more populous settlements, had laid out a square-shaped piece of ground in or near their central part. It contained the only public buildings of the town, the great house and the council-house, and, as an appurtenance, the play-ground. The square was the focus of the public and social life of the town; its present Creek name, intchúka `láko, is taken from the "great house" as its principal portion.

From the eighteenth century we possess three descriptions of the square and the ceremonies enacted in it, which are entering into copious details; that of W. Bartram, describing the square of Átasi town (about 1775); that of C. Swan, describing that of Odshi-apófa, or the Hickory Ground (1791), and last, but not least, the description of the square at Kawíta, by B. Hawkins (1799). All the towns differed somewhat in the structure of the great house and of the council-house, but in the subsequent sketch we shall chiefly dwell upon those points in which they all seem to agree. Public squares still exist at the present time in some of the pure-blood towns of the Creek nation, Indian Territory, and the busk, in its ancient, though slightly modified form, is annually celebrated in them. The ground-plan of the square at the Hickory Ground is represented in Schoolcraft's Indians V, 264.

Of other buildings destined for public use I have found no mention, except of granaries or corn-cribs, which were under the supervision of the míko.

The _great house_, tchúku `láko, also called "town-house," "public square," like the square in the midst of which it was placed, was formed by four one-story buildings of equal size, facing inward, and enclosing a square area of about thirty feet on each side.[108] They were generally made to face the east, west, north and south.

[Footnote 108: Hawkins says: Forty by sixteen feet, eight feet
pitch, the entrance at each corner (p. 68).]

These buildings, which had the appearance of sheds, consisted of a wooden frame, supported on posts set in the ground and covered with slabs. They were made of the same material as their dwelling houses, but differed by having the front facing the square open, and the walls of the back sides had an open space of two feet or more next to the eaves, to admit a circulation of air. Each house was divided into three apartments, separated by low partitions of clay, making a total of twelve partitions. These apartments, called cabins (tópa) had three[109] seats, or rather platforms, being broad enough to sleep upon; the first of them was about two feet from the ground, the second eight feet above the first, and the third or back seat eight feet above the second. Over the whole of these seats was spread a covering of cane-mats, as large as carpets. They were provided with new coverings every year, just before the busk; and since the old covers were not removed, they had in the majority of the squares eight to twelve coverings, laid one above the other. Milfort states that each cabin could seat from forty to sixty persons (Mémoire, p. 203).

[Footnote 109: Hawkins: two seats.]

Caleb Swan, who, in his above description of the cabins in the square, copied the original seen at Odshi-apófa or Little Talassie, where he stopped, differs in several particulars, especially in the allotment of the cabins to the authorities, from Hawkins, who resided in Kawíta. Swan assigns the eastern building to the beloved men, the southern to the warriors, the northern to the second men, etc., while the western building served for keeping the apparatus for cooking black drink, war physic, and to store lumber. According to Hawkins, the western building, fronting east, contained the míkos and high-ranked people; the northern building was the warriors'; the southern that of the beloved men, and the eastern that of the young people and their associates. "The cabin of the great chief faces east," says Milfort, p. 203, "to indicate that he has to watch the interests of his nation continually." The three cabins of the míkalgi or old men, facing west, are the only ones painted white, and are always ornamented with guirlands (at Kawíta). On the post, or on a plank over each cabin, are painted the emblems of the gens to which it is allotted; thus the buffalo gens have the buffalo painted on it.

From the roofs were dangling on the inside heterogeneous emblems of peace and trophies of war, as eagles' feathers, swans' wings, wooden scalping knives, war clubs, red-painted wands, bunches of hoops on which to dry their scalps, bundles of a war-physic called snake-root (_sínika_ in Cheroki), baskets, etc. Rude paintings of warriors' heads with horns, horned rattlesnakes, horned alligators, etc., were visible upon the smooth posts and timbers supporting the great house. In the "painted squares" of some of the red or war-towns the posts and smooth timber were painted red, with white or black edges, this being considered as a mark of high distinction. Other privileged towns possessed a covered square, by which term is meant a bridging over of the entrance spaces left between the four buildings by means of canes laid on poles.

In the centre of the area of the "great house" a perpetual fire was burning, fed by four logs, and kept up by public ministrants especially appointed for the purpose. The inside area is called impaskófa, "dedicated ground."

The "square" was hung over with green boughs, in sign of mourning, when a man died in the town; no black drink was then taken for four days. When an Indian was killed who belonged to a town which had a square, black drink had to be taken on the outside of the square, and every ceremony was suspended until the outrage was atoned for. To each great house belonged a black drink cook, and from the young warriors two or three men were appointed to attend to those who took this liquid every morning; they called the townspeople to this ceremony by beating drums (C. Swan).

After the close of their council-meeting in the council-house, the míko, his councillors and warriors repaired to the chief's cabin in the "great house." They met there every day, drank the ássi or black drink, continued deliberations on public and domestic affairs, attended to complaints and redressed them; then conversed about news while smoking, or amused themselves at playing "roll the bullet" in a sort of ten-pin alley. The name of this game is `li-i tchallítchka. Bartram, p. 453, states that the chief's cabin at Átasi was of a different construction from the three other buildings.

But besides being the central point of the town for all meetings of a public character, the great house was the festive place for the annual busk and the daily dance; it occasionally served as a sleeping place for Indians passing through the town on their travels. The special locations allotted to the persons in authority and the gentes on the cabin-sheds are described under the heading: The annual busk.

The _council-house_ or tchukófa `láko stood on a circular mound or eminence, in close contiguity to the northeast corner of the "great house." It is variously called by travelers: hot-house, sudatory, assembly-room, winter council-house, mountain-house,[110] or, from its circular shape, rotunda. Its appearance is generally described as that of a huge cone placed on an octagonal frame about twelve feet high, and covered with tufts of bark. Its diameter was from twenty-five to thirty feet, and in the larger towns the building could accommodate many hundred persons.[111] Its perpendicular walls were made of thick posts, daubed with clay on the outside. Contiguous to the walls, one broad circular seat, made of cane-mats, was going around the structure on the inside, and in the centre the fire was burning on a small elevation of the ground. The fuel consisted of dry cane or dry pine slabs split fine; and, as if it were to give a concrete image of the warming rays of the sun, these split canes were disposed in a spiral line which exhibited several revolutions around the centre. No opening was provided for the escape of the smoke or the admission of fresh air, and the building soon became intolerably hot; but at dance-feasts the natives danced around the fire in the terrible heat and dust, without the least apparent inconvenience.[112]

[Footnote 110: Adair, History, p. 421.]

[Footnote 111: Hawkins, Sketch, p. 71, Bartram, Travels, p. 448
sqq.]

[Footnote 112: Bartram states that the Creek rotundas were of
the same architecture as those of the Cheroki, but of much
larger dimensions: Travels, p. 449.]

The council-house served, to some extent, the same purposes as the "great house," but was more resorted to in the inclement season than in summer. Every night during winter the old and young visited it for conversation or dance, and in very cold weather the old and destitute went there to sleep. In all seasons it was the assembly-room of the míko and his counsellors for deliberations of a private character; there they decided upon punishments to be inflicted, as whipping etc., and entrusted the Great Warrior with the execution of the sentences. Previous to a war-expedition the young men visited the hot-house for four days, prepared and drank their war-physic, and sang their war- and charm-songs under the leadership of conjurers.[113] Milfort was installed into the charge of "Great Warrior of the Nation" in the Kawíta council-house by solemn orations, the smoking of the pipe, the drinking of the ássi-decoct and other ceremonies,[114] and then conducted to the "great house."

[Footnote 113: Hawkins, Sketch, p. 79.]

[Footnote 114: Milfort, Mémoire, p. 211.]

When the natives gathered in this structure for sweating, either for promoting their health or as a religious ceremony, they developed steam by throwing water on heated stones, then danced around the fire, and went to plunge into the chilling waves of the river flowing past their town.

The _play-ground_ occupied the northwestern angle of the public square, and formed an oblong segment of it, of rather irregular shape. It was made distinct from the rest of the square by one or two low embankments or terraces; in its centre stood, on a low circular mound, a four-sided pole or pillar, sometimes forty feet high. A mark fastened on its top served at appointed times as a target to shoot at with rifles or arrows. Around the pole the floor of the yard was beaten solid.

The play-ground, tă′dshu in Creek, was called by the white traders chunkey-yard, chunk-yard, from the principal game played in it. This game, the chunkey- or tchungke-game, consisted in throwing a pole after the _chunke_, a rounded stone which was set rolling upon its edge. Cf. Adair, Hist., p. 401. 402. There was also a sort of ball play in use among the Creeks and many other Indian tribes, by which a ball (púku) was aimed at an object suspended on the top of a high pole, or, as it is played now, at the top of two twin poles (puk-ábi), called sometimes "maypoles." In summer time dances were also performed in this yard, and Bartram saw "at the corner of each farther end a slave-post or strong stake, where the captives that are burnt alive are bound."[115]

[Footnote 115: Travels, p. 518.]

THE ANNUAL BUSK.

The solemn annual festival held by the Creek people of ancient and modern days is the púskita, a word now passed into provincial English (busk); its real meaning is that of _a fast_. In the more important towns it lasted eight days; in towns of minor note four days only, and its celebration differed in each town in some particulars. The day on which to begin it was fixed by the míko and his council, and depended on the maturity of the maize crop and on various other circumstances. Its celebration took place mainly in the "great house" of the public square, and from Hawkins' description, who saw it celebrated in Kasiχta,[116] we extract the following particulars:

[Footnote 116: Remember well that Kasiχta is a _white_ or
_peace town_.]