Geer eee a= = eS aie ea Se 3 at See ee a Oe inte ane rane iy if seat at yes at a) a rn >, ~~ a> not ae ve" «2 Be “ ‘ OC : ‘& TS ‘ate a). Y Pass? hs ‘ re ; Aen eos Ra <> q : ai , be h 4 q . =i . 4 te ANTHROPOLOGICAL Ce PAPERS 2... |. SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION _BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 3 3 BULLETIN 123 _ AATWSONIAN IWS Foes Es Ta 7 haa wy a x4 PRET ND [ay on TAT ry, V Sey" hehe i eA ed Son AL MUSE As" eye etd Ce nN ORE & SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 123 ANTHROPOLOGICAL PAPERS UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON : 1939 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D.C. - - - - - - - Price 60 cents LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL SMITHSONIAN InstTITUTION, Burnau oF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY, Washington, D. C., June 26, 1938. Sir: I have the honor to submit the accompanying manuscripts, entitled “Archeological Investigations in the Corozal District of British Honduras,” by Thomas and Mary Gann; “Linguistic Classi- fication of Cree and Montagnais-Naskapi Dialects,’ by Truman Michelson; “Sedelmayr’s Relacion of 1746,” translated and edited by Ronald L. Ives; “Notes on the Creek Indians,” by J. N. B. Hewitt, edited by John R. Swanton; “The Yaruros of the Capanaparo River, Venezuela,” by Vincenzo Petrullo; “Archeology of Arauquin,” by Vincenzo Petrullo, and to recommend that they be published as a bulletin of the Bureau of American Ethnology. Very respectfully yours, M. W. Stirune, Chief. Dr. C. G. Axsor, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. III A 5" % “eo kd 6 Cae Mee uP nek Vaben Pane 7 j irs ie? , Maddy t wy wi str Praen: | Chas as Ae BAT | uhie# " i ie Part ‘ . aod ne, cP of tone F hn 7 hg i Netelia ab Woda a py tigate) fed lass A bangy, RHEIN, 2% dil af Lageqanpiie ht SER ey: aaroetia > oa <. seal y pan .% mtd aS eal a AS \rooa No. 10. No. 11. No. 12. Index_-_ CONTENTS . Archeological Investigations in the Corozal District of British Honduras, by Thomas and Mary Gann-___________-----____- Report on two skulls from British Honduras, by A. J. E. Cave__- . Linguistic Classification of Cree and Montagnais-Naskapi Dia- leets; iby Truman VMichelson.. 2. 222222226 2 S223 oe ee . Sedelmayr’s Relacion of 1746, translated and edited by Ronald Notes on the Creek Indians, by J. N. B. Hewitt, edited by John UO WA GO ee ee ee bine © ee Seen en mae ck ee ee The Yaruros of the Capanaparo River, Venezuela, by Vincenzo IBEtrUl Osea 2 Sree eee ere ye te ee eee Se ee Archeology of Arauquin, by Vincenzo Petrullo________.________ \'f Page VII 59 67 97 119 : ee = ie a ; atat wi bbtile 3 + sven ie tay i oe 4.) ean Amat : hile ome | haha Sanpete be Bele vs ca Miykat ial action. Wika al, fe meeey ey ao Gea Mess v vy Saale Pe ‘ ene 7 abo wily mitten r= we en ab Ri ain dd lure SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 123 Anthropological Papers, No. 7 Archeological Investigations in the Corozal District of British Honduras By THOMAS and MARY GANN oo 10. 11. ILLUSTRATIONS Text FIGURES . Rough sketch plan of Nohmul. a, Mounds and banks. 6, Mound to the west of camp showing excavation on its eastern side. c, Large substructure on which stood the burial mound. d, Burial mound. f, Camp. g, Low-lying swampy land. h, Arrow pointing to western water hole and swamp. k, Arrow pointing to lagoon. 1, Plazas__ . Polychrome dise found in fragments in chamber of Mound 1. 19% by 4Ve inches -. Ee BLACK [__] sure RED FIGURE 2.—Polychrome disc found in fragments in chamber Mound 1. 19% by 4% inches. wrists are strings of beads. His left hand holds two cords and his right a staff, or spear, decorated with a plume of feathers, in front of which is a very elaborate feather-decorated object, possibly part of the headdress of a second warrior standing in front of him (pl. 2, 7). Judging by the curve of this sherd the diameter of the vessel would have been about 18cm. It was unfortunate that the other fragments of this vase were missing, as it must have been one of the finest examples of polychrome pottery yet found in the Maya area. To the right of the skull were fragments of a large round poly- chrome lacquer dish, 50 cm in diameter and 12 cm deep, more frag- Gann] ARCHEOLOGY IN BRITISH HONDURAS 9 ments of which were found near the left foot, though not enough to complete the entire dish (fig. 2). It was decorated in red, yellow, and black, and on the interior, on a yellow background, a geomet- rical ornament was repeated four times. Apparently these two ves- sels were regarded as so valuable that even the fragments were buried with their owner, for too much of both vessels is missing for this to have been an instance of the usual “killing” of objects placed with the dead. By the side of both the right and the left arm were found a number of chert spear heads, similar to those found near the head, and over the front of the chest a pendant of exceptionally fine dark-green mottled jade (pl. 3, 7). This is 14 cm long by 2.5 cm broad, and is carved to represent a human figure, evidently the model of a Maya stela, though without a date, as on the sides and back are portrayed only the dress and ornaments of the individual. The headdress consists of the head of some myth- ological monster; the eyes are wide open and staring, the pupils formed by hooks; large oval ear ornaments are worn, and from the upper lip depends a hook-shaped labret. The forearms are held over the chest, the hands placed back to back. The maxtli is held up by a broad, elaborately decorated belt, and falls to the feet both in front and behind. The pendant has been bored with remarkable skill through its long diameter, the perforation from one end meet- ing that from the other almost exactly in the center. It closely resembles one found beneath a stela in Old Copan dating probably, according to Morley, from the second Katun of Bactun Nine. The unusual position of the hands, held back to back over the chest, is characteristic of the oldest monoliths at Copan, so that on stylistic grounds it would appear that this ornament belongs to a very early period, and that its provenance may have been the city of Copan, from whence it may have passed as a trade piece to Nohmul. The discovery of very fine pieces of jade carving at small provin- cial sites, too insignificant, one would suppose, to be able to afford such valuable jewels, and far removed from the great Maya cities where one would naturally expect to find them buried with im- portant personages, or with ceremonial caches beneath stelae, is often puzzling to the archeologist. There are two possible explanations: either they may have been dug up from their original sites by a later people or they may possibly have been robbed from merchants traveling along the trade routes which existed between such cities as Copan and Quirigua to the south, Palenque and Piedras Negras to the west, and Uaxactun and Tikal to the east. Close to the right side of the pelvis was a large, coarse, basin-shaped vessel full of charcoal and charred fragments of human long bones. It was par- tially buried in the sand layer, and on endeavoring to remove it, it 77118—39—2 10 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLb. 123 broke into innumerable fragments, so friable that it was found im- possible to join them, as the basin originally had been very im- perfectly fired. By the side of the right knee were two round buttonlike objects of shell, one plane and 3.5 cm in diameter, the other 2.5 cm in diameter, with a round boss on one side. In the same neighborhood an Indian digging a post hole found, about a foot below the surface, a similar shell disk with an elaborately decorated human head outlined upon it in shallow lines (pl. 3, 3). It measures 3.5 cm in diameter and resembled so closely one found at Holmul by Mervin that they are not improbably the work of the same artist. At the feet were a number of small pieces of jade, evidently frag- ments of broken ornaments, and at the extreme west of the chamber, buried in the sand covering the floor, nearly 200 obsidian knives and cores, two small cowrie shells perforated for suspension, and a string of 13 very small perforated red shell disks made from spon- dylus shells, with which was a single very thin circular ear plug of bright green translucent jade, 3.5 cm in diameter. It is curious that in opening Maya graves one so frequently comes across single ear ornaments; this may possibly be due to economy on the part of the friends and relations of the deceased; it is, however, I think more probable that a single ear plug was worn to designate the rank of the individual, for the same practice is still in common use among the Santa Cruz Indians of Yucatan, whose chiefs wear a single large gold ear pendant which differs in pattern according to their rank. The spear heads, the implement which, as suggested, may have been used in opening the chest of the sacrificial victim, and the obsidian knives were all freely smeared with a paint composed chiefly of red ocher, and the same substance in the form of powder had been scattered over them, though it was absent from the other objects. This mineral has been found at other Maya sites associated with flint and obsidian knives and weapons, and it may possibly have been used to symbolize the blood with which their use was usually accompanied. Almost the whole of this mound was later dug down. It was found to be solidly built throughout of blocks of limestone, the interstices between which were filled with friable mortar and marl dust. Near the summit of the south side was found a thimble- shaped object of jade with a narrow projecting rim around the opening, probably worn either as a labret or ear plug. Toward the center of the south side, buried in the structure of the mound, three rather remarkable vessels were found placed close together. The largest of these (pl. 4, 5) was a nearly spherical GANN] ARCHEOLOGY IN BRITISH HONDURAS 11 vessel made of thin, fine pottery covered with a lacquer of very pleasing dark orange color and so brightly polished that it appeared to have been glazed. The vessel was 27 cm high by 23 cm in its greatest diameter, the opening surrounded by a narrow rim 9 cm in diameter. The base was so pointed that the vessel could not stand alone, and was used necessarily with some sort of chuyub, or ring, such as the modern Maya employ for supporting utensils made from calabashes, though this, which may have been made of woven split cane or some such perishable material, was not found with it. That such a support was used is evidenced by the striations penetrating the lacquer all around the base of the vessel. The second vessel was a small bowl of hard, thin ware, 14 cm in diameter by 6.5 cm deep. The basic color is a bright orange red over which has been applied a black slip which has worn off, or been deliberately removed in places, producing a very pleasing mottled effect in two colors. Both the outer and inner surfaces of the bowl had been treated in this way, and both are polished. The third vessel (pl. 4, 7) is made of fine, thin pottery with a yellowish red veneer and high polish. It measures 17 cm in length and 11 cm in depth, and is an almost perfect reproduction of an Ampullaria insularum shell. On the upper part of the vessel, as if emerging from the shell opening, is a well-modeled human head wearing a conical headdress, with a twisted band around the forehead and large round ear ornaments. A similar vessel, but of much cruder workmanship, and belong- ing to the Maya Reoccupational Period, was found on an island in the Lagoon of Om, in British Honduras; this also represents a human head emerging from the opening of some univalvular shell. Mounp 2 This mound was situated to the east of Nohmul, close to the little Indian settlement of Santa Rita. It was 22 feet high, conical in shape, and its steep sides were covered with dense undergrowth which had to be removed before work began on it. The cap of the mound beneath the vegetal mold, which had collected to a depth of several inches all over it, was composed of irregular blocks of limestone, the interstices between which were filled with marl dust to form a very solid structure. This was removed to a depth of 5 feet 6 inches, where a floor of flat, smooth stucco, averaging 8 inches in thickness, was encountered. About halfway between the summit of the mound and the stucco floor a single interment was found, the bones of which were in a very poor state of preservation, as they were not enclosed in any cyst or chamber but were in direct contact everywhere with the mound structure itself. They were so fragmentary, indeed, that it 12 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLL. 123 was impossible to say in what position the body had originally been buried. Close to the skeleton was a single shallow dish, 32 cm in diameter. It was of the coarse pottery covered with a red slip such as was manufactured by the Maya from the earliest times until after the conquest. Beneath the stucco floor and in contact with its under surface was a layer of black earth varying from 3 to 6 inches in thickness, on re- moving which a row of large, roughly squared stones was discovered, forming the roof of a chamber running down through the center of the mound. The chamber measured 65 by 50 inches by 9 feet in height and was divided into four compartments, nearly equal in size, by three floors of flat stone flags placed across its lumen. All these compartments were loosely filled with fine marl sand, and each con- tained portions of human skeletons, so fragmentary that it was im- possible to determine the position of the corpse at burial. With each skeleton was a single pottery vessel but no other grave furniture of any description. In the uppermost cyst, immediately beneath the roof, was a very fine polychrome lacquer bowl, or dish (pl. 2, 5) 33 cm in diameter and 9 cm high. It is of composite silhouette outline with flat annu- lar base, and is decorated in red, yellow, and black. The interior is colored yellow throughout, and on the outer surface of the rim and the upper surface of the flange is a geometrical figure repeated twice, the two parts being joined by a highly conventionalized bird. This vessel was recovered whole. In the second cyst were found fragments of human long bones to- gether with a very fine polychrome lacquer bowl (pl. 2, 3 and 4) 25.5 cm in diameter by 13 em high. It is of composite silhouette outline with flat annular base, and is supported on four hollow py- ramidal legs. It is decorated in red, yellow, and black on an orange background. On the interior of the bow] are represented two inter- twined crested serpents, and both the interior and exterior of the rim are ornamented by geometrical devices repeated six times on the former and five on the latter. This bowl was unfortunately broken in excavating it, and had not been “killed” before burial as was the case with much of the ceramic material removed from this site. In a small recess on the north side of this cyst, which was filled with marl dust, were fragments of human bones together with a sin- gle black lacquer bowl of composite silhouette outline (pl. 4, 2) with flat annular base and spout for pouring out the contents. This bowl had not been “killed” before burial, but was unfortunately broken in removing it, owing to the narrowness of the recess in which it lay and the tightness with which it was packed in its bed of marl dust and fragments. It measured 17 cm in diameter by 11.5 cm in depth GANN] ARCHEOLOGY IN BRITISH HONDURAS 13 Almost exactly similar vessels, also in black lacquer, were found by Merwin at Holmul, and belong, according to Vaillant’s classifica- tion, to Holmul ITT Period. Fragments of human bones were found in recess 3 accompanied by a single small polychrome cylindrical vessel 11.5 cm high and decorated with geometrical devices in red, black, and yellow. In the lowest cyst, with fragments of human bones, was found a single shal- low plate of porous pottery, 34 cm in diameter and 5.5 cm deep, of simple silhouette outline, standing on a flat base. The outside of this vessel was unpainted. ‘The interior was colored and highly polished. On a dark-brown background were outlined in black a number of curious amoeboid objects, each differing from the others in shape. This is a form of ceramic ornamentation never previously encountered in the Maya area. The bottom of the lowest cyst was covered with a layer of large, roughly squared blocks of limestone beneath which was a layer of black alluvial earth varying from 2 to 6 inches in thick- ness. Below this the base of the mound was solidly constructed of irregular blocks of limestone and mar! dust. These layers of black alluvial earth, called “ek lum” by the Maya, of a type which is regarded by the modern Indians as the most suitable soil on which to cultivate their maize crops, were found in nearly all the large burial mounds, forming a thin layer either above or below the vault containing the corpse. They cannot have added to, but must rather have detracted from, the stability of the mounds, which were built of squared blocks of stone held together by loose mortar, or of irregular blocks of limestone the spaces between which were filled in with marl dust, and it is possible that they had some ceremonial significance, possibly connected with fertility, or sur- vival after death, which the exceptionally fertile earth may have symbolized. A curious incident occurred in connection with the excavation of this mound. Digging in the white marl under the grilling rays of the tropical sun is exhausting work, and the men had left a large tree on the side of the mound whose overhanging branches partly shaded the opening of the chamber while they were at work within it. One day a large hawk flew over, holding a small snake with its beak and one claw, and made toward the tree as if about to settle upon it and enjoy its meal, but spying the men, it dropped the snake and flew off with an angry scream. The snake, which proved to be a small 2-foot rattler, fell into the hole, to the consternation of the laborers, but was soon dispatched as it was too badly injured to be dangerous. Of the six burials which this mound contained, the bones of all were in such an advanced stage of decay that it was im- possible to say whether the interments were primary or secondary. 14 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 123 The burial which had taken place in the cap of the mound, between the summit and the roof of the burial chamber, was probably of later date than those in the chamber itself, though unfortunately the single vessel which accompanied it affords no basis for period fixing on stratigraphic lines, for this type of vessel is found throughout all periods of the Maya occupation. In the chamber itself the vessels found with the four upper burials belong undoubtedly to Vaillant’s Holmul III period, while the vessel found in the lowest cyst is unusual in shape and unique in decorative motif, though a bowl of this shape was found by Thompson at Tzimin Kax in the Cayo District of British Honduras. At the same site were also found polychrome bowls of compound silhouette outline closely resembling the vessel found in compartment 2 in the burial chamber of Mound 2, except that they stand on three and not four legs. It seems prob- able that all the burials within the cyst took place at the same period, and that the mound was built to contain the remains of five persons — who had been buried elsewhere. At a later date the height of the mound was increased by the addition of a cap of limestone blocks and marl dust in which a sixth burial was made, but how long after the first five it is impossible to tell. Mounp 3 This mound was situated close to Mound 2, in a corn plantation which had first been cleared of bush. It was in the shape of a trun- cated cone, 15 feet in height and 180 feet in circumference, and was very solidly built throughout of limestone blocks, rubble, and marl dust tightly packed together, which rendered its excavation very difficult. Near the center of the mound, at a depth of 8 feet from the surface, a smooth, hard, level stucco floor was encountered, 6 inches thick, and at a depth of 4 feet beneath this, tightly packed within the material of which the mound was constructed, three pot- tery vessels were found. The first of these (pl.2,2) was a polychrome vase decorated in red and black on an orange yellow background. It was spheroidal in shape with an unusually high, somewhat everted rim, and measured 13 cm in its greatest diameter by 12 cm in height. The rim was decorated by a band composed of alternate red and black rectangles, and on the outside of the body, also in red and black, were depicted two highly conventionalized serpents. The second vessel was a shallow polychrome bow] with composite silhouette out- line and low annular base, measuring 28 cm in diameter by 11 cm in depth. It was decorated in red and black on an orange background. Around the outer surface of the rim were depicted two highly stylized parrotlike birds and two ornamental geometrical devices (fig. 3). GANN] ARCHEOLOGY IN BRITISH HONDURAS 15 Within this bow] were 60 spheres of imperfectly baked clay, each 1.75 cm in diameter, which had probably been used as markers, or counters in some game, for not having been bored they could not have served as beads. The third vessel was a shallow circular orange- colored saucer, 15.5 cm in diameter. All these vessels were polished and the last two had evidently been broken before interment, as the fractured surfaces clearly indicated. This mound was excavated to the ground level but nothing further was discovered within it. Judg- ing from the analogy of other similar mounds excavated in the vi- cinity, notably at San Andres and Pueblo Nuevo, it would appear that this was originally a house mound, the stucco floor representing q7 Z FicurE 3.—Decoration on exterior of polychrome vessel from Mound 3. the floor of the house raised on a low, solid substructure. On the death of the owner, among the Maya, we know that not infrequently he was buried beneath the floor of his house with some of his pos- sessions, after which a mound was erected on the site of the house. Usually with burials of this kind bones are found, which in this case may have disintegrated so completely that not even the teeth, which outlast all other skeletal remains, survived. The absence of other objects, such as ornaments, weapons, and implements used by the deceased during his life and buried with him for use in the next world is, if this be a house-mound burial, far more difficult to explain. The second vessel appears to indicate that this burial belonged to the Holmul IIT period, though the spheroidal vessel with high rim does not occur at Holmul. 16 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [ BULL. 125 Mounp 4 This mound was situated about a mile to the east of Nohmul. It was roughly pyramidal, 30 feet in diameter by 5 feet in height, and beneath the cap of vegetal mold was constructed of tightly packed rubble, marl dust, and limestone blocks. Near the center, almost on the ground level, skeletal remains were found, in a very advanced stage of decay. The corpse appeared to have been buried lying on its back fully extended. With the bones were two rather curious vessels. The first was shaped somewhat like a champagne glass (fig, 4, 6) with a hollow cylindrical stem, It measured 18 cm across the rim of the cup and 15.25 cm in height. The lower end a b Fiaurp 4.—a, Vessel standing on high annular base, from Mound 4. 6, Champagne-glass- shaped censer from Mound 4. of the stem had evidently been closed at one time, as the edges were rough where the bottom appeared to have been broken away. The whole of the interior, both of the cup and the stem, was covered with the black deposit one finds in the interior of censers used for burning “pom”, or incense made from the gum of the white acacia, such as was employed by the pre-Columbian Maya in their religious ceremonies, and is still in use by their modern descendants. It was probably used as a hand censer, as it could not have stood upright on the narrow base afforded by the stem, unless this were much larger than the bore of the latter. The second vessel (fig. 4, a) was almost spherical in shape, with a round opening above and supported below on a high annular base the margin of which was everted to form a secure stand for the bowl to rest upon. The total height of the bowl was 15.25 cm. This is the only vessel supported on a high annular base found at this site. Similar vessels were found by Merwin in the oldest burials at Hol- GANN] ARCHEOLOGY IN BRITISH HONDURAS We mul, and by Thompson at Cahal Cunil. They are ascribed by Vail- lant to Holmul I Period. They were probably evolved from the pot with hemispherical base which could only stand upright on a ring stand of pottery, plaited split cane, or sisal. It would seem to have been simpler to make an ordinary flat-bottomed vessel, but it may be that some ceremonial significance was attached to this shape, as a good many of them bear traces of having been used as censers, and from them were undoubtedly developed the hourglass censers of the Maya Reoccupational Period. The interior of this vessel was also black- ened from the smoke of pom, and it had evidently been a small stand- ing censer. Both vessels were of rough unpainted pottery such as was used by the later Maya in the construction of the censers dec- orated with a human figure, or face, found so commonly associated with late burials all through this region. Vessels of both these types are extremely rare in the Maya area, and no other objects were buried with this individual who may possibly have been a Men or Maya village priest of the lowest order. Mounp 5 This mound was situated close to Mound 4, which it resembled closely in size and shape. It also was built of tightly packed rubble and marl dust beneath the superficial layer of vegetal mold. Near the center of the mound, on the ground level, parts of a human skeleton were found in a very fragmentary condition, beside which was a spheroidal bowl of red polished pottery 18 cm in diameter standing on a low annular base with a large round opening at the top. This vessel is almost exactly similar to those used by the modern Maya to keep their tortillas or corn cakes warm. The cakes are wrapped in a napkin and placed within the pot, the corners of the napkin being folded over them to retain the heat, and turned back every time the diner wishes to extract a fresh tortilla. Close to this pot was a very fine ax head of flint (pl. 1, 3, d) 25.5 cm in length by 7 cm in breadth, the cutting edge of which was still polished from use. Near the ax head was a small leaf- shaped spear or javelin head of flint 7.5 cm in length. This, from its contents, would appear to have been the burial mound of an adult male whose tortilla pot, ax, and spear head were placed beside his corpse. Mowunp 6 This mound was situated close to Mounds 4 and 5, which it closely resembled in size, shape, and construction. At the center of the 18 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLL. 123 mound, on the ground level, fragments of human bones were found, close beside which was a large shallow round bow] of polished red ware, 41 cm in diameter, resting on a low annular base. With this was the upper part of the figurine of a woman, from the waist up (pl 3, 2, c). Part of her headdress had been broken away, but enough remained to show that below a beaded band her hair was parted in the middle and brushed to each side over her ears. She wore large round ear ornaments in her ears and a high-necked gar- ment over which her arms were folded, the hands grasping some round object held over the center of her chest. This figurine had originally been painted blue over a white wash, but a good deal of the color had worn off, especially in the exposed places. It appears to have been originally part of a whistle, made in a mold, and is al- most exactly like those found in such large numbers at Lubaantun in the southwest of British Honduras, and may not improbably have been derived from that city, which appears to have been the center from which this type of whistle figurine was distributed over a wide area. It was found at Lubaantun that the sex of the occu- pant of a grave was frequently indicated by the sex of the figurine buried with them, which latter could always be determined by the nature of the clothing and ornaments. If this holds good for the Nohmul area, this mound would be the grave of a female. The three mounds last described form part of an extensive group in the same neighborhood. No other mounds in this group were ex- cavated, as they all appear to be burial mounds of persons of the lower class, with whom it is unlikely that objects of any great value or interest would have been buried. The soil in the neighborhood is very fertile, and particularly well adapted for the cultivation of maize. On and around it today are scattered a number of little Maya villages containing from 2 or 3 to 15 or 20 houses, whose in- habitants live entirely on the produce of their milpas, or corn plan- tations, in which they cultivate not only maize but sweet potatoes, beans, pumpkins, plantains, oranges, bread fruit, cotton, and to- bacco, which render them almost, and at a pinch entirely, self-sup- porting and independent of supplies from outside their own villages. Owing to its fertility this area has probably been occupied from early Old Empire days up to the present time, and the burial mounds scattered over it may cover a period of 10 centuries or more. Vaillant places vessels with higher annular base in Holmul I Period, the pottery of which possesses many characteristics of Lothrop’s Q complex class, to which he ascribes a very early date. The only ves- sel of this type found at Nohmul, however, belongs to a very late period, and may even be slightly post-Columbian. GANN] ARCHEOLOGY IN BRITISH HONDURAS 19 Mowunp 7 This was a small mound situated on the savanna to the east of Nohmul. It was 5 feet high and approximately 25 feet in diameter. In all these mounds it was difficult to estimate accurately their orig- inal size, for whereas the rains of many wet seasons had reduced their height by washing material from the top, they had at the same time added to their breadth by depositing it at the base of the mounds. The mound, beneath an outer covering of vegetal mold, was com- posed of rubble and marl dust, mingled with a good deal of soil. Resting on the summit, covered only by the mold which had accumu- lated over them since they were deposited there, were fragments of a human figurine in coarse pottery, which had evidently formed the exterior decoration of a late Maya censer. The body of the figurine and the censer to which it belonged had been broken into small pieces and scattered broadcast over the surface of the mound, but the head, which was well modeled, with applique ornaments and ear plugs, was almost intact (pl. 5, 2); 1t was 11.5 cm wide between the outer edges of the ear plugs. The upper part of the headdress was miss- ing; the lower consisted of a flat, tight-fitting cap with double rows of beads covering the forehead, from which descended on each side tassels reaching to the upper margins of the large round ear orna- ments. A stud was worn just over the nose which, unlike most noses found on the censers, was slightly retrousse; small labrets were worn at each angle of the mouth and the chin was remarkably pointed and prominent. This mound was excavated to the ground level, and about 2 feet from the surface, almost in the center of the mound, a human skele- ton was found, the bones of which were still in a moderately good state of preservation. The corpse had evidently been buried in the dorsal position and fully extended. The bones were those of a person of considerable age, certainly over 60 years, judging by the appearance of the inferior maxilla which was preserved almost en- tire. The body of this bone was greatly atrophied and the dental sockets completely obliterated, so that its possessor during life must have masticated his food with his gums alone. Moreover, the angle between the body and the ramus of the bone instead of being about 90° was about 130°. Not enough of the skull remained to render it possible to take accurate measurements, but enough was found to make it evident that it was decidedly brachycephalic in character. Beside the skeleton were a leaf-shaped flint spear head 15 cm in length, two small scrapers of chert, and a guitar-shaped copper de- pilatory 3.5 cm in length, covered with green incrustation. This 20 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [ BULL. 123 mound was certainly of much later date than most of the other burial mounds excavated, as the bones though placed under less favorable. conditions, i. e., nearer the surface and covered by a mixture of earth and marl dust, were in a far better state of preservation than those found in the others; moreover, copper was unknown to the Maya of the Old Empire, and was introduced at a comparatively late date to the inhabitants of this area, as is shown by the fact that none of the other graves, though their furniture was far more elab- orate, yielded a single object made of metal. The only other instance known in British Honduras of broad- bladed tweezers for the removal of hair being found associated with a burial was at Santa Rita, where it was discovered in the grave of a woman, with an iron pyrites mirror, red ocher powder, and other toilet requisites. Unpainted clay censers, usually hourglass shaped and decorated on their outer surfaces with an elaborately clothed and ornamented human figurine, appear to have been manufactured by the late Maya inhabitants of this region in great numbers. They sometimes show traces of having been painted blue over a white slip, but the paint has usually worn off except in very protected places, where traces of it may be still discerned. They are frequently associated with burial mounds, occasionally buried with the corpse, but more frequently broken and scattered over the surface of the mounds where after a time they have become covered with vegetal mold and so preserved both from the weather and from natives who pick them up as playthings for their children. They were invariably “killed”, sometimes by being broken up into small fragments and strewn broadcast, so that it is impossible to reconstruct either censer or figurine, but at other times merely by breaking off the arms, legs, and hands and leaving them on the sum- mit of the mound where they can be collected and partially restored. They are usually blackened inside by burning incense, and near San Andres one was found within a burial chamber still half full of unconsumed pom. But these censers were employed for other than funerary purposes, as at a point about halfway between San Andres and Nohmul there is a very large mound built over the ruins of a stone building, prob- ably a temple, all around the base of which innumerable fragments of both censers and figurines were found lying on the ground, covered only by a thin layer of vegetal mold, just as they were left by those who made sacrifice to their gods at the foot of the mound. Within a mile of this mound an Indian cultivating the soil near his hut came across a number of clay arms, legs, torsos, and other fragments, and we investigated the site. Over an area of from 60 to 100 square yards were scattered innumerable fragments of these censers, very Gann] ARCHEOLOGY IN BRITISH HONDURAS Di numerous toward the center of the area but becoming fewer and more scattered toward the periphery. We found fragments of at least 20 figurines, though there were probably many more; only in one case, however, were we able even partially to reconstruct the entire figure, so small and scattered were the fragments. It was 27 em in height from the heels to the double band which surrounded the forehead, above which the upper part of the headdress was miss- ing (pl. 5,7). The nose was long and hooked. In the right ear was a large round ear ornament; that on the left side was missing. The front of the chest was covered by two large round medallions, and from the sides of the arms, reaching to the elbows, projected ornaments possibly meant to represent feathers; around the right wrist was a wristlet composed of spikelike objects, and around the upper part of the legs garters of similar objects, possibly shells or teeth. The left forearm and the front parts of both feet were miss- ing. The right hand grasped what appeared to be the double handle of some object which had been broken off short. Mounp 8 This mound was situated about 3 miles east of Nohmul, and when first found was covered with thick bush which had to be cleared off before excavation began. It was pyramidal in shape, 35 feet high, and approximately 300 feet in circumference. Excavation was com- menced on the flattened summit and at a depth of less than 2 feet beneath the surface, covered by a layer of mixed rubble, marl dust, and blocks of limestone, a well-defined smooth stucco floor was dis- covered, from 4 to 6 inches thick, beneath which was a stratum of black earth also from 4 to 6 inches thick. Close to the under surface of this last layer, and near the center of the mound, a few decayed fragments of human bones were found, so disintegrated that it was impossible to tell from them the position of the corpse at burial; surrounding these bones and quite close to them, buried in the struc- ture of the mound without any trace of a burial cyst, were five pieces of pottery. The first of these was an unusually large bowl or dish of simple silhouette profile and oblique sides, orange red in color and polished. It was 47 cm in diameter by 6.5 cm deep. The second vessel was a polished black-ware bowl 37 cm in diameter by 7 cm in height, the sides of which were upright and the rim slightly everted. The third was a polished redware dish of simple silhouette profile, 35 cm in diameter by 7 cm deep. Its sides were slightly oblique and the rim everted. All three vessels were badly pitted, probably by humic acid, and as they were firmly wedged in the tightly packed structure of the 22 BUREAU OF AMERICAN HTHNOLOGY [ BULL. 123 mound, all were more or less broken during extraction. Pitting by humic acid takes place almost invariably in polished vessels placed superficially in mounds, where they come in contact with the earth, and are moistened by every shower of rain, but pitting of vessels buried at such a depth beneath the surface and protected in addi- tion by a layer of practically waterproof stucco is difficult to account for, except on the hypothesis that the vessels had first been exposed on the surface of the mound and later buried. All these vessels had been “killed” by means of holes punched in their bottoms. The fourth vessel was a round bowl 16.5 cm wide by 9.5 cm high. It stood on a low annular base and was made of polished red ware. Unlike the others, neither this nor the next vessel to be described showed any signs of pitting. The last vessel (pl. 4, 6) was a pol- ished redware jar with spheroidal body and upright rim standing on a low annular base. It was supplied with three looped handles, probably for suspension, and measured 30.5 cm in width by 27 cm in height. The wide opening of this vessel, which was probably used to contain water, was covered by a scutate lid, the handle in the center of the convex surface of which was formed by a well-modeled parrot’s head, the eyes of which were set far back in their sockets, and the pupils formed of small disks of pottery. Three feet beneath the first interment, also centrally placed in the mound, fragments of the bones of another skeleton were found tightly packed in the structure of the mound, and beside these in contact with each other lay five flint implements. The first of these was a large halbert-shaped weapon (pl. 1, 4) 47 cm in length by 20.5 cm in breadth, ending in a crescent above, below which on the opposite side of the weapon was a long keen-edged spikelike projection. The second was a broad, keen-edged knife, 20 em long, made from a single unworked piece of flint, triangular in section, struck straight from the core. The third was a triangular spear head 19 cm long, with a handle 5 cm long, which might possibly have been used as a dagger, hafted and held in the hand. The fourth was a narrow leaf-shaped spear head, and the last an ax head with rounded cutting edge, 16.5 cm long. Several exceptionally large eccentrically shaped flints very similar to the one above described were found a few years ago in a stone- lined burial chamber within a large mound in the neighborhood of Nohmul. Among these was a halbert-shaped implement 44 cm in length, similar in every respect to the one described, except that it was somewhat heavier and the crescentic projection, instead of be- ing placed above the sharp spikelike prolongation, was placed ex- actly opposite to it. The other objects consisted of the life-sized figures of a rabbit and a turtle, a very long spear head, an object 44 cm in length, the top Gann] ARCHEOLOGY IN BRITISH HONDURAS 23 of which is hooked, the bottom pointed, and both edges serrated, and a crescentic implement 26 cm long by 17.5 cm wide, from the convexity of which project a long central spine and two smaller lat- eral ones. The only pottery vessel found in this mound was a small nearly spherical pot from the side of which projected the head of an animal with a long pig-like snout. These are at the present time in the Liverpool Museum. Several very similar eccentrically shaped flint objects, the only history at- tached to which is that they were found in a cave on the Bay of Honduras toward the end of the eighteenth century, are now in the Wellcome Museum in London. It is not impossible that the provenance of these objects was the chamber within the great mound at Nohmul which, owing to a landslide on the side of the mound, had been exposed at some indeterminate period. From the chamber they may have been removed by the local Indians, from whom they found their way into the hands of mahogany cutters, for wood was being got out along the Nohukum River at that date, and there was no doubt considerable trade between the wood cutters and the Indians, some of whom worked for them clearing bush for truck passes. From the mahogany cutters they would probably have passed to the hands of some sailing ship captain by whom they were carried to England. A scutate pot lid with a parrot’s head as a handle was found by Merwin at Holmul, very similar to that from Mound 8, though the vessel to which it apparently belonged was a large round bowl of complex silhouette outline, with an external flange, standing on a flat annular base. A vessel shaped like a peccary’s head was also found there, very similar to that already referred to with a piglike head. Both of these vessels are placed by Vaillant in the Holmul ITI period. No eccentrically shaped flints were found at Holmul, but as they are found so closely associated with vessels of the Holmul ITT type, it is only reasonable to suppose that they also belong to the same period. Mowunp 9 About 2 miles to the southeast of Nohmul was situated a large mound, 50 feet in height and about 100 feet in diameter at the base, covered with dense bush which had to be removed before excavation was possible. Through the north side of the mound a trench was dug to the center, to a depth of 30 feet. Four feet below the top a thin stucco floor was encountered, beneath which was a layer of black earth varying a good deal in thickness. Above this the cap of the mound was composed of marl dust and rough blocks of stone, in which no potsherds were found. Five feet beneath the layer of black earth a second solidly made floor appeared, upon which stood 94 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 123 the ruins of a building constructed of blocks of cut limestone, measur- ing 26 by 24 feet. On the south side the floor upon which this build- ing stood extended beyond it as far as the edge of the mound, and it is possible that at one time the building was approached by a stairway leading up the south side of the mound, which has now completely fallen down or the stones from which were used in cover- ing the building and forming a cap for the mound. At a depth of 12 feet below the second stucco floor a wall-like structure was encountered covered with a layer of hard stucco, 18 inches thick and painted dark red. This structure can hardly be termed a wall, as while its north face was covered throughout with stucco its south face blended with the structure of the mound, here consisting of tightly packed marl dust and blocks of limestone, through an irregular layer of cut- stone masonry. The wall ran due east and west and its north face was divided as follows: At the top was a rounded cornice 16 inches in length and 4 inches in breadth, beneath which was a recess 14 inches long followed by a projecting shelf 36 inches broad, upon which were found four pottery vessels and a quantity of carbon; beneath this the wall continued for 56 inches sloping outward, to end in a second recess, 9 inches long, which terminated in the stucco floor at the base of the building (fig. 5). The ledge, C in the plan, had been covered with a layer of carbon averaging a quarter of an inch in thickness, above which was a layer of loose friable mortar, and standing on this were the four small vessels of pottery. All were of rather thick, clumsy ware painted a dark red and polished. It is possible that these vessels were not intended for everyday use, but solely as dedicatory offerings placed on the wall of the temple when the mound was erected over it, as they have been so imperfectly fired that the surface layers were scaling off, and so friable that it was almost impossible to get them out entire, a condition only found before in one bowl in Mound 1. The first was one of those curious spouted vessels somewhat resem- bling an ordinary teapot, except that the spout is usually longer and more vertical, fairly common in the Maya area (pl. 4, 3). It was 15.25 em high and 15.25 cm from the tip of the spout to the distal lip of the opening. The spout was connected by a short solid bar to the proximal lip of the vessel, and over the opening was placed a disk of thin red polished pottery, apparently chipped from a frag- ment of some large vessel. These spouted vessels are known as chocolate pots, though they must have been rather inconvenient to drink from, as the spout is often so nearly vertical, or even in some cases inclined inward toward the vessel, that it is impossible to do so without spilling the contents over the rim. The second vessel (pl. 8, 5) was 7 inches in height, its nearly spherical body rested Gann] ARCHEOLOGY IN BRITISH HONDURAS 25 on a flattened base and its opening was surrounded by a wide flaring rim, near the junction of which with the body was a looped handle, another similar one being placed on the opposite side near the base of the vessel. The third pot (pl. 3, 6) was similar in shape to the last, but half an inch higher. It also possessed two looped handles, both on the same side of the vessel close to the junction of the rim H Ficure 5.—Mound 9. Section through lower wall. a, Upper cornice. b, Recess. c, Ledge on which vessels were found. d, Sloping wall. e, Lower recess. f, Thick stucco layer covering wall. g, Cut-stone masonry. h, Stucco floor. k, Mound structure. with the body. The fourth pot was almost exactly like the third except that it possessed three instead of two looped handles. All these vessels were covered by round lids made from sherds of some large, thin, glazed red-ware vessel, and all held a considerable quantity of a grayish friable concretion, buried in which, in vessel No. 2, were small fragments of bone. It seems probable that all con- tained food offerings, which had disintegrated in the course of time, leaving nothing by which to identify them except a few fragments of bone. Work on this mound was discontinued for several weeks after the north surface of the wall had been exposed at the bottom of the id1s-—20- 6 26 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLu. 123 trench, and during this period some Indians from a neighboring village dug a large hole through the stucco and deep into the masonry at the back, continuing even through the structure of the mound itself. They were evidently in search of treasure, as they never appear to realize that any other motive could actuate us in our eternal digging than the discovery of treasure hidden by “los antiguos.” This has happened to us on several previous occasions when walls have been encountered at the bottom of excavations, so much so that where any probability exists of their forming boundary walls of burial chambers, a guard has to be kept over them to warn off unauthorized excavators. The excavation of the mound had not been nearly completed at the end of the season, nor had the extension of the stucco-covered wall to the east and west beyond the confines of the trench been exposed. There remains a vast amount of work still to be done on this mound in exposing the wall throughout its entire course and excavating the substructure. Owing to its large size and compact structure, it will probably require many weeks to explore it thoroughly. It is possible to trace at least four stages in the construction of this — mound. The first corresponds to the erection, on a pyramidal sub- structure of marl dust and blocks of limestone, of a building with walls covered by a thick layer of stucco painted red. At a later period this building was partially destroyed and over its ruins the original substructure was enlarged to form a second and loftier mound on the — truncated summit of which was erected a second building of cut-— stone blocks, which later was partly destroyed and over its ruins a | second addition made to the mound, the summit of which was covered by a stucco floor which may have supported a building of wood or adobe brick, which has completely disintegrated. Finally over this last floor a third addition was made to the mound to form its present summit. Movunp 10 About 1% miles north of Nohmul a large mound was partially excavated. It was conical in shape, 30 feet high, and approximately 50 feet in diameter at the base. It was constructed throughout of marl dust and blocks of limestone, forming a solid, compact mass very difficult to excavate. A trench was dug in the side of the mound reaching its center, and 10 feet below the summit the convex stucco-covered top of a wall was uncovered, running east and west. On clearing the wall it was found to be 32 inches in thickness, 714 feet in height, and covered throughout with grayish stucco, its base resting on a stucco floor. The space behind the wall was next cleared, and at a distance of 2 feet another wall was found, also covered with stucco, on which was molded a grotesque human face 8 feet in height. GANN] ARCHEOLOGY IN BRITISH HONDURAS pre This was unfortunately destroyed in the absence of the workmen, probably by Indians who made a hole in the wall in the hope of opening up a treasure chamber. Excavation was continued by the side of the first wall, to a depth of 614 feet through the substructure on which the walls rested, but nothing further was encountered. No artifacts of any kind were found at any level in this mound, with the exception of a few potsherds, chiefly of thick, rough domestic vessels, such as were in use among the Maya at all periods. Mounp 11 This mound was situated northeast of Mound 10 and close to it. It was 15 feet high, 30 feet long, and 18 feet broad, and was built of rubble, earth, and irregular blocks of limestone. Twelve feet below the surface a stucco floor was encountered, and resting on this, nearly in the center of the mound, were human bones and teeth. The bones were very fragmentary, but enough remained to indicate that the corpse had been buried in the fully extended position. By the side of the skeleton were two small roughly chipped ax heads of flint, one 9 cm, the other 4.5 cm in length, and the fragments of a round shallow polished dish of black ware, 30 cm in diameter. Nothing further was found in this mound. Mounp 12 This mound was situated about half a mile southwest of Mound 10, and was of almost exactly the same dimensions as Mound 11. It was built of marl dust, rubble, and earth. At a depth of 8 feet from the summit of the mound a stucco floor appeared, on which lay frag- ments of a skeleton in the full extended position. Beneath the pelvis was a curious object made from hard limestone, closely resembling the brazo of a hand corn mill, but rectangular in section with rounded angles. It measured 30.5 cm in length, 7.5 cm in width, and 4 cm in _ depth; accompanying it were fragments of a shallow red-ware dish, badly broken and incomplete. About 2 feet to the west of the bones, also resting on the stucco floor, was a portion of the brazo of a hand corn-rubbing stone, 25.5 cm in length, with which were incomplete fragments of a shallow black-ware dish. Mowunp 13 About 100 yards northwest of Mound 12 is a long, narrow ridge, or bank, near the center of which an excavation was made. It was composed of alternating layers of marl] dust, rubble, and black earth. At a depth of 5 feet from the surface a stucco floor appeared upon 28 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Buup, 123 which were found fragments of a human skeleton in the extended position. No artifacts whatever were found with this burial. Five feet south of the first burial, and beneath the stucco floor, a second interment was discovered in which the corpse had evidently been buried in a squatting position with the knees drawn up under the chin. Close beside it was a shallow polished red-ware dish, 41 cm in diameter, which had evidently been “killed” when the burial took place. Mounds 11, 12, and 13 appear to be burial mounds of people of the lower class, in which the owner was buried in his house and a mound subsequently heaped up over his remains. In burials of this kind among the Maya it was customary to place the corpse beneath the floor of the house, but here, with the exception of the second burial in Mound 18, all the corpses seem to have been merely laid on the floor and covered with a mound of earth, rubble, and marl. In all these mounds numerous potsherds were found, chiefly of rough, undecorated domestic pottery, probably picked up with the filler taken from the neighboring soil, but curiously enough no fragments were found of rough, unpainted censers so common in and on the burial mounds of the Maya Reoccupational Period, though the mounds themselves appear to be quite late in date. There are a considerable number of small mounds in the vicinity, all probably similar in function, and doubtless marking the former site of a village. Mounp 14 This mound was situated about half a mile southwest of Nohmul. It was pyramidal in shape, 50 feet in diameter and 9 feet high, and was covered with a layer of vegetal mold from 3 to 4 inches thick. The upper part of the mound was built of marl dust and blocks of limestone, and at a depth of 13 inches beneath this a hard stucco floor 12 inches thick was encountered, under which was a thin stratum of black earth. On continuing the excavation beneath this, through marl dust and limestone boulders, a small chamber was encountered situated almost exactly in the center of the mound. It measured 6 feet in length, 17 inches in breadth, and 15 inches in height. It was roughly built of small pieces of limestone held together by friable mortar and was roofed by large flat flags of limestone. Within the chamber was a human skeleton, the bones of which were in a bad state of preservation. The corpse had been buried lying on its back in the fully extended position. The face had been covered by a polished red-ware bowl 19 cm in diameter and 7.5 cm deep. The bones were evidently those of an elderly person, as most of the teeth had dis- appeared from both the upper and lower jaw and their sockets had GANN] ARCHEOLOGY IN BRITISH HONDURAS 29 become atrophied. The long diameter of the chamber ran east and west, the head being placed toward the east. Mounp 15 This mound was situated quite close to Mound 14. It was pyramidal in shape, nearly circular, 60 feet in diameter and 12 feet high (fig. 6). The excavation was begun in the center of the mound, and at a depth of 42 inches from the surface, through a layer composed chiefly of marl dust, the top of a stucco-covered wall was encountered. This proved to be the central wall of what had evi- dently been a building. At a depth of 50 inches the wall ended N<——— Figurn 6.—Sketch plan of ruined house in Mound 15. @, North chamber. 6, South cham- ber. ce, Cache containing broken flute, ete. d, Cache containing conch, etc. @, Site of burial cyst. f, Walls. in a stucco floor and on clearing the spaces above the floor on each side of the wall two small rooms were disclosed, A and B on the plan. Room A was filled with dark-colored rubble, evidently picked up from the land, among which were a great number of potsherds, chiefly of rough domestic pottery, but also showing examples of nearly every variety of ware found in the district, including very fine polychrome, zoomorphic figures in dark red on a light-red back- ground, black lacquer on a yellow ground, and red ware with incised designs painted black and polished. The most frequently recurring sherds were those of large, coarse oval jars decorated with oblique lines over the body, incised before the vessel had been fired, while the clay was still plastic. Chamber B was completely filled with marl dust. At a depth of 3 feet a stucco floor 2 inches thick ap- peared, and 14 inches beneath a second floor 4 inches thick con- tinuous with that of Chamber A, the space between the two being filled with marl dust. Resting on the lower floor, near the northeast angle of the chamber, lay the proximal end of a small broken pottery flute and a clay malacate or spindle whorl, geometrical figures 30 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLL, 123 roughly incised on both its upper and lower surfaces. On the same floor, at the point marked E in the plan, a second cache was found consisting of a small conch shell perforated in two places for sus- pension, having its apex smoothly cut off, probably for use as a trumpet, which purpose, notwithstanding its small size, it still serves; a small, poorly made leaf-shaped flint spear head 14 cm in length; a fragment of an obsidian knife, and a large concave segment of conch shell 17 cm in length, which may have served either as a vessel or a ladle for liquids. Within this were the fol- lowing’ objects: 125 small, smooth, water-worn pebbles of white quartz, 23 disks of mother-of-pearl averaging half an inch in diam- eter, a few of them bored through the center, two spherical balls of clay, blackened in firing, each half an inch in diameter, and a small, hard cylinder of clay, 2 cm long by 1 cm in diameter, dupli- cating one found in Mound 22. Similar hard-clay cylinders were found in a grave near Corozal accompanied by a large number of shell disks. The clay balls closely resembled the 55 similar ones found in Mound 8, from which they differ only in being slightly larger and better fired. It seems very probable that these objects were used in playing some game, as, though the nacre disks may have been employed as ornaments for the headdress or ear plugs, to which they could have been attached by some adhesive gum, it is difficult to imagine to what uses the pebbles and pottery spheres could have been put other than as counters or markers in a game. We know from Landa that a variety of games were played by the Maya before the arrival of Europeans, and the little pebbles are similar to those still used by the modern Maya in playing the game of chac, a species of knuckle bones. Excavation was carried on beneath the floors of chambers A and B, and to the west of both, through a layer composed of marl, sand, and boulders of limestone. Near the northwest corner of chamber B, at a depth of 34 inches beneath the floor, a small burial chamber was opened up. This was built of irregular blocks of limestone held together by a friable mortar, and was roofed by large flags of limestone. It measured 6 feet in length by 14 inches in breadth and 15 inches in height, the long diameter running due north and south, and not east and west, as in the case of Mound 14. Within the chamber lay a human skeleton in the extended dorsal position. Covering the face was a bowl of yellow ware, over which had been applied a black slip. It measured 18 cm in diameter by 13 cm in height. The skull was broken into a number of fragments, the fractures appearing to have been carried out at or before the burial of the corpse. No other grave furniture was present in this cyst, nor were the bones partly buried in marl dust as was the case in the burial cyst in Mound 14. GANN] ARCHEOLOGY IN BRITISH HONDURAS 31 Beneath the burial chamber lay a narrow stratum of black earth, under which the mound was built of the usual blocks of limestone and marl dust, to the ground level. In excavating the top of this mound a small human head was discovered, of red pottery, evidently made in a mold (pl. 3, 2, d). It measured 3 cm in height and width, and was so similar to those molded figurines from Lubaantun which adorn the whistles found at that site that it is quite possible it may have been imported from there as a trade piece. The upper part of the headdress has been broken away, as have most of the ear ornaments, but the lower part, consisting of a broad band with vertical stripes incised upon it, fol- lows the best Lubaantun tradition. This mound appears to have been constructed over the ruins of a small house the stone walls of which were stuccoed within and with- out. The two small chambers A and B were each only 6 feet square and when roofed must have been very dark, as the only light which could enter came through the rooms to the west of them, the sole vestiges of which now remaining are the two angular portions of walls shown in the plan on each side of the dividing wall between A and B. These rooms must also have been very small unless the substructure on which the original building stood was much larger than it is at present. Mounds covering the remains of stucco-covered stone buildings, beneath which burials have taken place, are found near San Andres in this region. The walls of these are never over 4 feet high, and their summits are rounded and stucco covered. The presumption is that the upper part of the house was constructed of wood and prob- ably thatched with palm leaf, a method of architecture found among the Itzas of Peten, the last independent Maya confederation to hold out against the Spaniards. The procedure in Mound 15 seems to have been as follows: On the death of the owner an excavation was made in the floor of one of the back chambers of his house, into the substructure, where a small burial cyst was constructed for the reception of the corpse, over the face of which a bowl was placed. This was next filled in, the floor remade, two small caches of his possessions placed upon it, and over it a second floor constructed, in this chamber only. Lastly, the house was partially wrecked and buried beneath the mass of stone and marl which forms the cap of the present mound. These two mounds, Nos. 14 and 15, appear to be examples of burials of the owners of houses in the substructure upon which their houses stood, followed by the erection of a new mound over the ruins of the house, but whereas in the case of Mound 15 the walls of the house were of stucco-covered stone, in Mound 14 they were 32 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Buns. 123 probably of wood or adobe brick, all traces of either of which would long since have vanished. Movunp 16 This mound was situated near Buena Vista, about 114 miles south- east of Nohmul. It was conical in shape, nearly circular, 40 feet in diameter and 10 feet high. It was dug down to the ground level. The cap of the mound was composed of a solidly packed mass of marl dust and rough boulders of limestone. At a depth of 4 feet a cement floor was encountered averaging 6 inches in thickness, be- neath which was a thin stratum of black earth in contact with the substructure of the mound which was built up of small stones, evi- dently collected from the surface of the surrounding land, as most of them showed distinct signs of weathering. Mixed with this rub- ble were great quantities of potsherds, the majority being of coarse domestic ware, many of which were those of cooking pots, as their outer surfaces had been blackened from contact with the fire. A con- siderable number of fragments of red polished ware were also pres- ent, with a few of polychrome, and black polished ware, one of the latter being decorated with part of a geometrical design incised on its outer surface. The stucco-topped substructure of this mound had probably once supported a wooden or adobe house, over which a cap 4 feet high had been erected at some subsequent period. It does not appear to have been used for sepulchral purposes, as neither human bones nor grave furniture were found within it, though the whole mound was dug down, and one can only suppose that the flattened summit of the added portion was used for a second dwelling the floor of which was of beaten marl] dust, commonly used by the modern Indians for this purpose. Mounp 17 This mound was situated close to Mound 16. It was 15 feet in height, nearly circular, and 45 feet in diameter. On excavating through the marl dust and limestone blocks which composed the flat- tened cap of the mound, at a depth of 4 feet a cement floor was re- vealed, 8 inches thick. Immediately beneath this, almost in the cen- ter of the mound, a small, very crudely constructed cyst was ex- posed, measuring 3 feet by 2 feet. It was half filled with marl dust and contained fragments of human bones so badly decayed that it was impossible to tell in what position the corpse had been buried, though owing to the small size of the chamber this could not have been in the usual dorsal fully extended manner. Mingled with the bones was a cylindrical vessel with straight sides and slightly everted rim, measuring 30.5 cm in diameter and 11.4 cm in height. It was colored GANN] ARCHEOLOGY IN BRITISH HONDURAS 33 dark brownish red, and highly polished both within and without. It appeared to have been imperfectly backed, as it was unusually friable. With it were the fragments of another exactly similar bowl. Both these vessels were of a shape very unusual in Maya pottery and are the only examples of their type taken from this district up to the present. Accompanying these vessels was a small henequen fiber cleaner of very hard limestone, 7.75 cm long by 5 cm broad and 2.5 em thick. It was roughened by scoring parallel lines on one surface and was convex on the other, while the sides were deeply grooved to hold in place a handle of liana or withy. The excavation was continued through the mar] dust and lime- stone boulders, of which the substructure of the mound was built, to the ground level, but nothing further was found. Very few potsherds were unearthed during the excavation of this mound, the reason being probably that the material of which it was constructed had not been taken from the surface but especially quarried to build it. It was evidently a house burial mound of the usual character, in which the dead man was buried in the substructure beneath his home, over which a second mound was raised later. Mowunp 18 This mound was situated close to Mounds 16 and 17. It was pyramidal in shape, 15 feet high and 46 feet in diameter. Excava- tion was begun on the summit, which was flattened and of consider- able extent. The upper part of the mound was very difficult to excavate, as it was composed of large blocks of limestone the inter- stices between which were filled with mortar, forming a solid block of masonry. Ata depth of 3 feet from the surface a segment of wall was encountered built of well-cut blocks of limestone, 2 feet high and about 6 feet long, broken off short at both ends, and evidently forming at one time part of a building. Beneath the wall was a cement floor 8 inches thick, under which the mound was composed of limestone blocks and marl dust for 18 inches, when a second ce- ment floor 6 inches thick was brought to light. Digging down for a further 3 feet through limestone blocks and marl dust, a third floor, also 6 inches thick, was discovered, beneath which the mound continued to the ground level. Nothing was found in excavating this mound with the exception of a very few potsherds, nearly all of which were of the rough, coarse, undecorated domestic variety. This would appear to be a house mound which had been added to and enlarged on at least three occasions. The first house was built on a stucco floor covering the top of a low stone substructure; 3 feet 34 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLL. 123 of masonry were added to this, on which a second house was con- structed on a stucco floor; later still, a second addition was made to the mound, 18 inches in height, covered with a stucco floor, but whereas the first two houses had probably been of adobe or wood, the last house was of stone. Finally this also was wrecked and covered in by a cap of masonry, on the flat summit of which it is probable that a fourth house was built, for, as the mound had not been used for sepulchral purposes it is only reasonable to suppose that there must have been some object in making the last addition to its height. It is impossible to determine just how long an interval elapsed between each enlargement of this mound. It may have been a few years or it may have been a century or two. The various periods of occupancy represent probably not cultural epochs but stages of local architectural elaboration. The recovery of entire vessels or potsherds at each level. might have afforded valuable data for strati- graphic dating. Unfortunately the ceramic content affords no clue of this nature, for not only were the sherds practically all of the domestic variety, but very few were found, and none below the middle floor. Movunp 19 This mound was situated close to Mounds 16, 17, and 18. It was pyramidal in shape, 36 feet in diameter and 5 feet high in the center, and was built throughout of rubble and earth. It was dug down to the ground level. Near the center, at a depth of 2 feet beneath the surface, portions of a human skeleton were found, the bones of which, owing to the material in which they were buried and their nearness to the surface, were in a poor state of preservation, though probably not of any great age. The corpse had been buried in the fully extended dorsal position, and over the face was placed a large shallow dish of reddish yellow ware, polished both within and with- out. It was 38 cm in diameter, 7.5 cm in depth, and stood on a low annular base. Both this dish and the skull which it covered were badly broken, owing probably to numerous tree roots which sur- rounded them. Beneath the southern margin of this mound a circular opening 2 feet in diameter was found, which at first appeared to be the open- ing of a chultun, or chamber hollowed out in the limestone, many of which are found in the district, but which proved on excavation to be the mouth of a cylindrical hole, probably an old well, 6 feet deep. It was filled with rubble and earth, among which were a few rough potsherds. Gann] ARCHEOLOGY IN BRITISH HONDURAS 35 Mounp 20 This was one of a group of four small mounds situated about 2 miles southeast of Nohmul, two of which were excavated. It was conical in shape, almost circular, 8 feet in height, 35 feet in diameter, and was constructed throughout of marl dust and rough blocks of limestone. Near the center of the mound, beneath the layer of vegetal mold which covered it, lay a small clay whistle (pl. 3, 2, a). This, which was made of rather coarse red pottery, 9.5 cm in height, rep- resented a human figure standing upright with the arms held straight down by the sides. The face closely resembled that from Mound 15, already described, and the forehead was in both cases covered by a vertically striated band. In this case, however, the upper part of the headdress was present and represented the face and upper jaw of some mythological animal. Small round ear plugs were worn in the ears and a very elaborate necklace of three rows of beads covered the front of the chest, from which depended a curious square orna- ment which rested on the front of the loin cloth, the free end of which fell almost to the ankles. The front of this figure, which had been turned uppermost, was much weathered, doubtless from ex- posure to the rain, before the formation of the layer of vegetal mold which later served to protect it. So great was the weathering that it had worn a hole through the wall of the whistle, just behind the left cheek. The back of the whistle was prolonged below into a mouthpiece, while above, two holes pierced the wall, by closing one or both of which three notes could be produced. Scattered over the surface of this mound immediately beneath the vegetal mold were numerous fragments of arms, legs, and torsos of the figures used to adorn the outer surfaces of large censers of coarse pottery, all of which were much weatherworn. The mound was dug down to the ground level, but nothing further was found within it. Movunp 21 This mound was situated close to Mound 20, of which it was almost an exact duplicate in size. On the summit, covered only by the vegetal mold, was found a small vase standing on 3 short legs, 8.5 cm long, in the form of a human face (pl. 6, 2). The headdress con- sisted of a band of round flat beads on one of which the fingerprint of the maker had been so clearly left upon the wet clay that, were he still alive, it would be possible to identify him by it. The nose is long and hooked, and over its root a projecting nose ornament is seen. At each angle of the mouth small round labrets are worn, and in the ears large eircular ear plugs. The face is modeled with 36 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Buuv. 123 considerable spirit and might well be a portrait, as there is a marked lack of symmetry between its two sides. The outer surface of this vase had been covered by a white slip, over which a coat of blue was painted. Most of both coats had been worn off by long exposure, but can be traced still in protected places. Within the vase were four malacates, three of stone, one of clay, and a very small sphe- roidal vessel measuring only 3 cm in diameter by 2 cm in depth. This may possibly have been used as a censer, as there are three small holes placed at equal distances from each other around the body of the vessel. One of the malacates is very unusual; made of hard, well-polished limestone, it is in the form of a water jar of composite silhouette outline and high neck with everted rim, while the hole through its center forms the worm of a screw. This is the only in- stance recorded of a malacate of this type found anywhere in the Maya area, indeed the only instance which would seem to indicate that the principle of the screw was known to the ancient Maya; which suggests that this mound may date from after the conquest. Moreover, the remarkable symmetry of the outline of this little object, especially when compared with that of the other malacates, suggests very strongly that it was turned on a lathe and may have been a trade piece of Spanish origin. Scattered over the surface of the mound, just under the vegetal mold layer, were numerous fragments of rough, figure-decorated censers, arms, legs, faces, and ornaments. These all showed the same technic as the face vase, and a few of them still retained traces of white and blue slip, in protected parts. The mound was dug down to the ground level, but with the ex- ception of a few sherds of rough domestic pottery nothing else was found within it. Mowunp 22 This mound formed one of a group of three situated about 214 miles southeast of Nohmul. It proved to be in many ways the most interesting of all the mounds in this district. It was 15 feet in height, and approximately 50 feet in diameter at the base. To the west of it was a long, low, crescentic ridge, from the northern horn of which it was separated by a small mound 12 feet in height by 30 feet in diameter. This last was completely dug down to ground level and was found to be built of marl dust, rubble, and limestone. A few fragments of pottery were found in its structure, including red ware, black ware, and polychrome. Nothing further was found in this mound, which, as its summit was flattened, may have formed the substructure for a small wood or adobe house. A small exploratory excavation was made in the southern horn of the crescentic mound. Within a foot of the surface, and buried Gann] ARCHEOLOGY IN BRITISH HONDURAS 37 in the marl dust and limestone blocks of which the mound appeared to be built, was a very neatly chipped triangular arrow head of flint, measuring 5.5 cm in length, with narrow indentations on each side half an inch from the base, no doubt to retain in place the cord which bound it to the shaft. This was the only arrow head found in the entire area. The bow and arrow do not appear to have been known to the early Maya, as arrow heads are not found at the oldest sites. In this case the mound may have been erected during the Maya Old Empire Period and used as a burial place during the Reoccupational Period, not an uncommon occurrence. With the arrow head was a roughly chipped triangular spear or javelin head of chert, 9.5 cm in length. Excavation was begun on the summit of Mound 22 and continued down for 3 feet through a layer of very solid material composed of blocks of stone, many of them squared, bound together by friable mortar. Later, excavation was begun at the western edge where the construction was similar to that on the summit, until at a distance of about 6 feet from the edge of the mound a pocket of soft sandy material appeared, on removing which two vessels were found buried within it. The first of these was a round bowl, or dish, 36.5 cm in diameter by 9 cm deep. It stood on a flat annular base, was of composite silhouette outline, and was colored a deep red throughout, and ornamented over the outer surface of the rim by black geometri- cal figures. This vessel had been “killed” before burial, by scraping a triangular hole in its bottom, an unusual method, as in most cases the hole is merely punched in the vessel to bring about its ceremonial demise. The second vessel (pl. 7, 7 and 4) was cylindrical in form, 22 cm high by 11 cm in diameter. It was made of very hard, thin, fine- grained yellow clay and was covered throughout, both inside and out, with a pale reddish-yellow wash, on which, as a background, were executed various devices in red, brown, purple, and black. Around the outer surface of the rim of the vessel is painted a broad purple band 2.5 cm deep, bordered above and below by thin black lines. Around the outer surface of the base is a decorative band 3.75 cm deep, composed above of two thin black lines and below of triangular spaces enclosed in thick, stepped black lines, each space holding a red oval with a black center. The central zone of the vessel has unfortunately been badly worn, but a seated human figure can clearly be made out holding some unidentified object in his hands. The face, presented in profile, is thoroughly un-Maya in character, as the eyes are oblique and the nose large, turned up, and shapeless. An enor- mously high and elaborate headdress is worn projecting backward in the form of feather decorations which blend with other feath- 38 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLw. 123 ered plumes and an unknown object to completely cover the entire surface of the zone. On continuing excavation from the center of the mound through very solid material, at a depth of 5 feet beneath the surface, the tops of several partly broken-down walls which had evidently formed part of a building were exposed. These were 18 inches thick and covered on both sides with yellow stucco. As shown in figure 7, they appear to have enclosed a small building whose opening faced toward the west. The interior of this building had been tightly packed with solid masonry composed of square stones and mortar. Through the north wall of the building an irregularly shaped hole, 2 feet 3 inches by 2 feet, had been made (fig. 7, B). The cement floor of the building rested on a thick layer of black earth. On each side of the opening in the north wall a flat flag was exposed, covering in both cases round openings in the black FicgurE 7.—Ground plan of building above subterranean chamber, Mound 22. a, Stucco- covered walls 18 inches thick. 6, Irregularly shaped hole in the wall measuring 2 feet 3 inches by 2 feet. c, Circular openings to underground chambers. earth and in the marl which underlay it. Each opening measured 2 feet 2 inches in width and 3 feet 10 inches in depth. Both opened below into a series of five small chambers hewn out in the marl, all of which were partially filled with sandy material, in and on which were found a great variety of objects (figs. 8 and 9). Chamber 1.—This chamber was formed by the bottom of the round hole to the north of the north wall of the building. It was circular in shape, 2 feet 2 inches wide, and the concave floor was 6 inches higher than those of chambers 3 and 2. The bottom of the chamber was filled with loose, finely divided material which ap- peared to be a mixture of sand, mar] dust, and humus, and the same material was found in all the other chambers. In it were buried 10 hootie shells, Ampullaria insularwm, and part of the rim of a large polished red-ware basin with a very everted rim. Chamber 2.—This chamber measured 6 feet 6 inches in length by 4 feet in breadth and 3 feet 2 inches at the highest point of the roof, which was vaulted. It was connected with chamber 1 by an oval opening just large enough to admit the passage of a man, and was Gann] ARCHEOLOGY IN BRITISH HONDURAS 39 Ficure 8.—Section through subterranean chamber, Mound 22, a, Body of the mound built of blocks of limestone and mortar to a height of 5 feet above the tops of walls Db. b, Stucco-covered walls of building, and opening. c, Layer of black earth 8 feet 7 inches thick through which are excavated d. d, Openings through black earth each 2 feet 2 inches in diameter and 3 feet 10 inches deep. e, Parts of shafts traversing the marl. f, Marl. g, Chambers excavated in the marl. FigurB 9.—Ground plan of subterranean chamber, Mound 22. Chamber 1 is 2 feet 2 inches wide, the floor 6 inches higher than Chambers 2 and 3. Chamber 2 is 6 feet 6 inches by 4 feet, and 3 feet 2 inches high. Chamber 3 is 8 feet 1 inch by 4 feet 7 inches, and 3 feet 2 inches high. At the point A is a circular opening through the roof and imme- diately beneath this is a circular well-like depression in the floor. Chamber 4 is 3 feet 8 inches by 2 feet 9 inches in height. Chamber 5 is 3 feet 5 inches in diameter. The opening to Chamber 4 is 2 feet 5 inches by 1 foot 4 inches. 40 BUREAU OF AMERICAN E'THNOLOGY [BuLn. 123 filled almost to the roof with soft sandy material, in which were found a number of hootie shells, and a few potsherds of red ware and polychrome pottery, but nothing else. Chamber 3.—This chamber was evidently the most important of all, as not only was it the largest, but it contained more artifacts than all the others combined. It measured 8 feet 1 inch in length, 4 feet 7 inches in breadth, and 3 feet 2 inches in height at the highest part of its slightly arched roof. It communicated with chambers 1 and 4 by means of narrow oval openings, and with the surface by means of the tubular shaft which opened above within the building. The chamber was filled almost to the roof with sandy material, in which were scattered irregularly at various levels a great variety of objects of pottery, flint, bone, obsidian, and shell. Ten complete or almost complete pottery vessels were found. The first of these was a small nearly cylindrical vessel of polished red ware with an everted rim (pl. 4, 4). It measured 9 cm across the mouth by 11.5 cm in height. Originally it had stood on three legs, but these had evidently been broken away some considerable time before it was buried, as the marks left on the base by their removal had worn quite smooth. This vessel had probably been used as a censer, as its interior for about 2 inches from the bottom was blackened by the smoke of in- cense. The second vessel was very similar to the first. It was of polished red ware, 14 cm in diameter by 12 cm high, and had been originally supported on three hollow legs. The third vessel was cylindrical in shape, 14.5 cm in diameter by 9.5 cm in height (pl. 7, 2 and 3). It stood on three oval hollow legs originally, the rough surfaces caused by the breaking away of which had been smoothed down from use after the fracture had occurred. A small piece was at some time broken away from the rim of the vessel and the rough surface left by this had been carefully smoothed. The vessel was of thin, hard, well-baked light-red pottery. After it had been baked there was incised in low relief on its outer surface a design consisting of a row of cartouches above, and below a nar- row band, unadorned. Between these the surface was divided into 6 panels by vertical lines. On three of them a monkeylike animal is depicted sitting on the ground, its legs drawn up, its long tail curled behind it. Over the tail of one monkey is a vacant space, over that of another, one oval dot, and over that of the third, two oval dots. Alternating with the monkey panels are three which appear to represent the highly conventionalized head of some myth- ological animal, but so overlaid with detail and ornamental designs used to fill in the background that it is difficult to be sure what the artist means to represent. When the carving on the side was com- plete a coat of black wash was applied to the vessel, both within GANN ] ARCHEOLOGY IN BRITISH HONDURAS Al and without. This was then polished so that only the raised parts of the carving took the polish, the sunken areas forming the back- ground remaining a dull black, in some places filled in with cross- hatching. The fourth vessel was a large round polished red-ware bowl 21.5 cm in its greatest diameter, 19.5 cm at its slightly everted rim, and 17.25 cm deep (pl. 8, 7). On one side is molded a human figure 18 em high. The head, which is in the round, projects slightly above the rim and is that of an individual with narrow eyes, large roman nose, and a chin so prominent as to suggest a short beard. The flat headdress is formed of some plaited material over the forehead, and in each ear is a large round ear ornament. Around the neck is a twisted band suggesting a rope. The limbs, which are represented in high relief on the side of the vessel, are long and thin, the arms bent at the elbows, the legs at the knees. The fingers are applique, and in the right hand is held a gourd with a long stem, such as was used for a rattle (pl. 8, 2). On the opposite side of the bowl is an almost exactly similar figure. In this case the flat headdress is orna- mented with a row of beads in front of the forehead, the ears are perforated with large holes but hold no ear ornament, around the neck is a string of large beads, the hands hold a small round bowl over the lower abdomen, and the legs are crossed over each other in a most unnatural position (pl. 8, 3). The interior of this vessel was half filled with sandy material in which the following objects were found buried (pl. 9, 2). A nine-pointed star of mother-of- pearl, 2.5 cm in diameter (pl. 9, 2, 7); the anterior half of a small cowrie (pl. 9, 2, 7); parts of four bone gouges or polishers, the cut- ting edges of two of them 2 cm broad, of one 1 cm, and one ter- minating in a sharp point (pl. 9, 2, 2); one borer, made by filing what appears to be the tooth of a young alligator to a fine point; a thimble-shaped object of bone (pl. 9, 2, d); a section, 11.5 cm long, cut from the hollowed-out long bone, probably of a large feline, nicely polished, possibly used as an ornament (pl. 9, 2, a); a very long canine tooth of some rodent, probably a gibnut (pl. 9, 2, b); two sections, each 2 cm long, cut from the rib of some large animal and hollowed (pl. 9, 2, e); a portion of the leg bone of some large bird from which the articular end has been neatly sliced; a portion of a similar bone evenly cut through below, polished and bored above, with two small holes evidently for suspension (pl. 9, 2, c) ; a smaller piece of bird’s bone 3 cm in length, polished and hollowed out; two crab’s claws, pierced for suspension both at the front and the base (pl. 9, 2, %); portions of a small thin bone plaque with geometrical devices engraved upon it in low relief and colored red. Unfortunately only a few pieces of this were recovered as the bone 717118394 42 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [ Buu. 123 was very badly decayed, but enough remained to indicate that the workmanship was very fine; a flat spindle-shaped piece of shell, 3 em in length, 1 cm in breadth, nicely polished all over, and possibly used as a borer (pl. 9, 7, »); four small clamshells averaging 4 cm in length, and all perforated near their upper margins by two small holes, evidently for suspension (pl. 9, 2, 7); part of the crown of a tooth of some graminivorous animal, possibly a deer. The fifth vessel removed from chamber 3 was a large, shallow, polished black-ware dish, 88 cm in diameter and 7.5 cm deep. The sixth was a polished red-ware dish, 33 em in diameter and 6.5 cm deep. It was decorated around the inner surface of the rim by a band of geometrical figures in yellow and red, outlined by thick black lines. The seventh vessel was almost exactly like the sixth, except that it was slightly smaller, measuring only 30.5 cm in diameter. The eighth was a polished red-ware dish measuring 35.5 cm in diam- eter by 7.5 cm in depth. The outer surface of the rim was decorated by a yellow band 5.5 cm in breadth on which the figures were painted in red and black. The last two vessels consisted of a pair of polished red-ware dishes each 33 cm in diameter by 6 cm deep, upon which no decorations were present. The last six vessels stood upon low annular bases, and all were of composite silhouette outline. In addition to the pottery the following objects were found scat- tered through the sandy filling of the chamber, at irregular intervals and depths: A large hootie shell perforated with 11 round holes of varying sizes. A perfect obsidian knife, 6.5 cm in length. Part of the leg bone of some large bird (pl. 9, 7, 0). A chair-shaped piece of red ocher, 2 cm in length, the surface of which exhibited marks all over of having been scraped (pl. 9, 7, %). A single tubular polished jade bead, 1.5 cm in length (pl. 9, 1,7). A cylinder of baked clay 2.5 cm in length by 1.25 cm in diameter (pl. 9, 7, p). The tarsal bone of a deer (pl. 9, 7,2). A section of bone, 2 cm long, evenly cut at both ends, which may have been taken from a human ulna (pl. 9, 7,m). A cylindrical object with very thin walls, 3.2 cm in length by 2.4 cm in diameter. It is smooth inside, but decorated outside by a number of incised oblique lines. Its present color is a deep black, but this had originally been covered by a white wash, over which was super- imposed one of red. It is difficult to determine the material from which this object was made, and its use is unknown, though it may possibly have been a somewhat unusually shaped ear plug. Three round plaques of shell, the largest of which was 4 cm in diameter, and perforated near the margin by two small holes placed close together; the other two were not pierced (pl. 9, 7, 6, d, e). Three Gann] ARCHEOLOGY IN BRITISH HONDURAS 43 plaques of shell in the form of six-rayed stars, the largest 3 cm in diameter, each pierced through the center by a large round hole and ornamented on the upper surface by lines and indentations (pl. 9, 7, a,c, g). A similar object in the form of an eight-rayed star, per- forated but not decorated (pl. 9, 7, f). The apex of a small conch shell which has been ground down, polished, and decorated with sunken lines. Three small triangular spear heads of flint. A flint knife, struck straight from the core, 20 cm long, which shows no indication of having ever been used. Two unfinished ax heads of flint, one 11.5 cm, the other 13 cm in length. An oval object, 7.5 cm in length, of hard limestone, shaped like an ax head with a blunted cutting edge, possibly used as a smoother. Four spindle-shaped objects of flint, varying from 13.5 cm to 10 cm in length and from 3.25 em to 8 cm in breadth (pl. 1, 3, a). The ends were chisel-shaped, and they may have been used in this way, or hafted as small axes for fine work. These implements, on both back and front, had evidently been subjected to a considerable amount of attrition, as the projecting ridges of the flint were worn down and polished. The same con- dition is frequently found in flint axes and is probably due to friction against the withy or split-stick haft. A smooth oval flat piece of slate, 6.5 em in length, possibly used as a polisher. The second circular shaft opened in the roof of this chamber 9, and immediately below this opening was a well-like hole in the floor, 3 feet deep, filled with the same sandy material as was found in the chamber. In this were buried, at various levels, the follow- ing objects. Twenty triangular-bladed spear heads of flint, varying from 13 to 22 cm in length (pl. 1, 2). These have all been struck from a core, and except for a little finishing necessary in some cases to bring the implements to a fine point, and the formation of the handle by which to haft them, little work was required in order to fit them for use. They may have been employed as spear heads, or as daggers for hand use, for which purpose they were perhaps even better adapted. A single leaf-shaped spear head, 20 cm in length, and a flint knife struck straight from the core and unaltered, measuring 21.5 cm in length. FAO LOS NEN SS NN were "7 LNOWL > oo P E lesa NVI yy Ee > oh A 2 ALMION, a __earns 5 2 7 ew AS Zz wee c09 33 Sv aH yt x ON > 9) Oak Bb cei aly FSNOH G¥OIXO “oS Xa N HL y} one > hy FOINOY VT IVT -FSS04P xs ed Cx x vi “wad uy phd hd MICHELSON] CREE AND MONTAGNAIS-NASKAPI DIALECTS 73 god)—all from a single informant of Shelter Bay (4é’tipeldahk, Godbout). Observe a moderately consistent n-speaker at Seven Islands gave la’lamisut “thunder” with false 7 in both cases (false because not historically justified; nor does it occur in the Lake St. John /-dialect). In this connection it should be noted that all the Montagnais-Naskapi /-dialects as well as the mixed n-group of which I have any knowledge, have variants of kassinu “all” which obvi- ously is a transformation of an early loan from the n-dialects (Plains Cree kahkiyaw : which shows that *kasszlu should be expected). All this goes on to show, if taken in conjunction with what has been said above, that a strictly genealogical classification of Algonquian languages breaks down. Nevertheless the accompanying map shows the essential distribution and interrelations of the Cree and Mon- tagnais-Naskapi dialects. In this connection it should be added that although it is commonly supposed that Cree is always more archaic than Montagnais-Naskapi, actually this is not so; it is true that Cree in many cases is more archaic, but Cree is not universally so; it follows, therefore, that neither is derived from the other, but both have so much in common that they both must come essentially from a single source within the Algonquian stock. True transition- dialects between Cree and Montagnais-Naskapi are unknown to me, if they actually exist. The boundaries seem very sharp outside of a possible few and altogether insignificant cases where either direct or indirect speech mixture is plausible. Characteristic of all Mon- tagnais-Naskapi dialects is the palatization of %, some vocalic har- mony, the weakening of some vowels and diphthongs, etc. The Montagnais of LeJeune (in the Jesuit Relations) shows mixture; and some words, and even one whole sentence, instead of being Montagnais is Algonkin proper. It should be borne in mind that #Az (and some variants) actually designate a sound usually transcribed by ¢e (which in Montagnais-Naskapi may be primary or secondary) : without this knowledge we should be obliged to assume some words were really Cree (Téte de Boule?) which would mean a large shift of population had taken place. This hypothesis is probably unnecessary.® This paper throughout presupposes knowledge of Bloomfield’s remarkable paper on the sound system of Central Algonquin (Language, I, pp. 180-156, 1925) and the literature therein cited. Attention may also be called to my “Preliminary Classification, etc.” (Twenty-eighth Ann. Rept. Bur. Amer. Ethn.) and to other scattered papers, mostly in the American Anthropologist and International Journal of American Linguistics. 7 See Appendix, p. 86, for footnotes. 77118—39——_6 74 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 123 Most of the phonetic shifts of Cree (and hence largely Montagnais- Naskapi) are known, and in their final promulgation are due to Bloomfield. It should be mentioned that a few are not and that these affect Montagnais-Naskapi as well as Cree. Thus the laws of shortening long vowels are unknown, e. g., Cree pipun “winter” has u where 6 is to be expected, and so in all Montagnais-Naskapi dialects of which I have any knowledge. So also the uw for ¢ in Cree nimusum [*nimisom expected] “my grandfather” (vocalic as- similation and shortening; cf. Fox neme’cdme’sa) and its corre- spondents in Montagnais-Naskapi. Also there have been extensive analogical levelings common to Cree and Montagnais-Naskapi. Thus, the original verbs in -@ -@ (kept in Fox) in the paradigms have been leveled to -é@; and the -@ (Cree -é) verbs leveled to -@ in the first persons and second persons of the indicative. Again, verbal stems containing original @ and 6 in the first syllable show “change” in participles, etc., as do also at least Ojibwa and Algonkin (Sauk, Fox, and Kickapoo do not; the “change” of *a to *a, and *u to “wa is proto-Algonquian in any event). It is likely that the dif- ference of the vocalism in the “change” of Cree (M-N also) *@ and Ojibwa-Algonkin is due to a phonetic shift (see my discussion of Cree kiydsk “gull” above), but the “change” of 6 in Cree (and M-N) analogical. There are also some lexical traits peculiar to Cree and Montagnais-Naskapi. Thus, correspondents to Plains Cree péyak “one” exist all over the area; so too correspondents to Plains Cree mahkésiw “fox” evidently did at one time, yet at present Ojibwa- Algonkin waguc has replaced the word in one Téte de Boule dialect. Noteworthy is Plains Cree néhkumis which means “my paternal uncle”; corresponds to this with this meaning (extended in some Montagnais dialects to mean “my maternal uncle”) exist in all Cree and Montagnais-Naskapi dialects of which I have any knowl- edge. [Historically the word should mean “grandmother.”] I do not think that correspondents to Plain Cree néstim with the value of “my cross-niece” are universal in the Cree area but they surely must be nearly so. Historically it should mean “my daughter- in-law” and it is used with this value over a wide area. In a few Cree and Montagnais-Naskapi dialects it is replaced by a variant for “my daughter-in-law.” Similarly the term (Plains Cree) nitihkwitim “my cross-nephew” structurally is peculiar to Cree and Montagnais-Naskapi; the distribution favors the asumption that it once was universal; but it is not now; I do not know whether wher- ever correspondents to this occur they can also be used with the sense “my son-in-law” but they certainly can in some dialects of Cree and Naskapi. I have been asked to give at least a word that in phonemic (not phonetic) transcription is characteristic of the MICHELSON] CREE AND MONTAGNAIS-NASKAPI DIALECTS 75 whole area, and occurs in no other Algonquian language or dialect. This is not an easy thing to do (per contra it is easy to cite char- acteristic words of Menomini which occur nowhere else, e. g., wéhnew “he, she names him, her,” 40’new “he, she fears him, her” [the last is preferable because an almost identic word for the first occurs in a Cree dialect], Sauk, Fox, Kickapoo, e. g., kinwadwa [phonemic orthography] and Peoria-Miami, e. g., A2/swa “sun” but I think in phonemic transcription niétahkusin “I am sick” is universal. On the other hand it is extremely easy to cite quantities of words which must be Cree and nothing else and which occur in every single Cree dialect as far as known. Such words in phonemic transcription are nikiwan “1 return,” pihtukéw “he enters,” ituhtéwak “they go thither,” péyak “one,” nistu “three,” nipthk “in the water,” uskiniki- wak “young men,” pipun “winter,” niwiwihkistén “I like the taste of it,” mdskistawéwak “they rush on them,” ntwapamawak “I see them an.,” ztwéwak “they said,” ékitimakisiyan “when you were in misery”; etc. If we extend this list to include also words which occur in identic form also in some though not all Montagnais- Naskapi dialects of course it will be much increased. It is easy to increase the list of words of identic form which occur in several Cree dialects but not all are included (e. g., mahkésiw “wolf”). At this point it should be pointed out that with the present material it is not possible to duplicate or approach the work that has been done on some European languages and more recently on American Eng- lish either as regards phonetic, morphological, or syntactical dif- ferences; or distribution of words. A single person can not even accumulate the necessary materials, to say nothing of interpreting it. It goes without saying the published missionary dictionaries of Plains Cree and grammars, as well as Bloomfield’s Plains Cree texts, and the Dictionaire Francais-Montagnais . . . et Grammaire Montagnaise by Geo. Lemoine and Montagnais sans Maitre by Luc Sirois (both essentially concerned with the /-dialects; the latter deals specifically with the Bersimis dialect) have materially light- ened my task. The simplist classification of the Cree dialects is based upon the transformations of original *7 shown on the map. The transformations of the original *27 in Cree and Montgnais- Naskapi are wholly independent; and similar independent changes have occurred elsewhere (e. g., the transformation of *7 to n; as long as this change occurs in Sauk, Fox, Kickapoo, Menomini, Ojibwa, Ottawa, Potawatomi, and modern Algonkin which are all geographically contiguous it is not likely that in this group the change is independent but has spread). Owing to lack of data it 1s quite impossible to tell with certainty as to whether the change to vr in Isle & la Cross, Kesagami (which is virtually extinct), and 76 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY (Buu. 123 Téte de Boule Cree is independent or not. A good “key” word for the /-dialects in the neighborhood of Moose Factory is kilawadw “ye.” For Moose Factory niydlal “five” is good because néydnal occurs near the Albany River. For “key” words in the other Cree dialects corre- spondents to Moose Cree kilawéw are better than to Moose Cree kila “thou” (which is not a good key word as in phonemic tran- scription it occurs in Shawnee and Miami-Peoria [unless Voegelin is correct in writing Shawnee 7 for 7]) because k?na in phonemic transcription also occurs in Sauk, Fox, and Kickapoo. [Similarly nila, nina, are best avoided; of course nzya is not good; ni6a is good enough, but £26awdw will conform to the other “key” words.] 6A pa th Om eA yl 5 = eh hiatal iy ‘inti baa (oauoFl ge wo birwoaD over toy ia eh ats As (aa ok F han nn eo nm shilinit Ae RHE ° eh eee nt NOTES ON THE CREEK INDIANS By J. N. B. Hewirr Edited by J. R. Swanton INTRODUCTION ° By J. R. Swanton In the administrative report of Dr. J. Walter Fewkes, Chief of the Bureau of American Ethnology, for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1921, Mr. J. N. B. Hewitt reported that he was “at work on some material relating to the general culture of the Muskhogean peoples, especially that relating to the Creeks and the Choctaw.” He went on to say that— In 1881-82 Maj. J. W. Powell began to collect and record this matter at first hand from Mr. L. C. Perryman and Gen. Pleasant Porter, both well versed in the native customs, beliefs, culture, and social organization of their peoples. Mr. Hewitt assisted in this compilation and recording. In this way he became familiar with this material, which was laid aside for lack of careful revision, and a portion of which has been lost; but as there is still much that is valuable and not available in print it was deemed wise to prepare the matter for publi- cation, especially in view of the fact that the objective activities treated in these records no longer form a part of the life of the Muskhogean peoples, and so cannot be obtained at first hand. In addition to this material, it is designed to add as supplementary matter some Creek tales and mythic legends collected by Mr. Jeremiah Curtin. At that time I was preparing my extensive Creek material for the press and suggested to Mr. Hewitt that he print his own notes first so that I could refer to them. But although the administrative report for the year following indicates continued work by Mr. Hewitt on his manuscript and it appears that he took it up again in 1926 for a time, it remained unpublished at the time of his death. Although Choctaw is mentioned in the administrative report of 1920-21 as well as Creek, the material is practically all Creek. The greater part of this Hewitt had copied, in a somewhat amplified form. I have checked his copies by the originals and have completed the copying. The material is not very extensive and in considerable measure it duplicates what I published in the Forty-second Annual Report of the Bureau, but there is some information which is unique. 123 124 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 123 The greater part of this material was obtained from Legus F. Perryman of the Okmulgee or Big Springs town and the remainder from Gen. Pleasant Porter, also of Okmulgee. Porter was at one time head chief of the Creek Nation and Perryman probably accom- panied him as his “interpreter”, though both appear to have been able to speak and write English, and most of these notes were origi- nally written down by them. Mr. Hewitt states that they were ob- tained at Jersey City in 1881-82, but on one sheet appears the address “Tremont House, Washington, D. C.,” and so it is probable that some additions were made in Washington. This would seem to be implied by Hewitt’s reference to Powell’s part in obtaining them. In 1881-82 Hewitt was working over Ircequois material with Mrs. Erminnie Smith, generally in New York State, but the place of residence of both was Jersey City. Some notes were evidently added in 1888. The editor met Mr. Perryman once in 1912, not many years before his death. In the 80 years that had elapsed between these two dates it is evident that much had dropped from Mr. Perryman’s mind. Be that as it may, many of the items in this paper have never been printed before and add some valuable details to our knowledge of the ancient Creeks, and this in spite of the fact that Okmulgee was one of the towns most rapidly affected by European influence. It was formerly one of those affiliated with the Hitchiti, speaking the Hitchiti language which was nearer to Choctaw than to Creek. The editor has preferred to risk some repetition of material already published in the Forty-second Annual Report of the Bureau and other papers rather than the omission of material that might be of service for a fuller understanding of the ancient Creek organization. Wherever the pronoun I appears it is the editor who is speaking, but it will not be difficult to separate the few comments that he has added. Towns?! At the time when Porter and Perryman were interviewed (1881- 82) they stated that there were 49 towns, each occupying a distinct territory, but that they had increased greatly after white contact and that tradition said there were originally but 18. These were all divided into two classes, one called the Italwalgi (Itulwuiki) and the other the Kipayalgi (Kipayulki, Kipoywulki, Kupahyulki).2 This 1See Forty-second Ann. Rept. Bur. Amer. Ethn., Washington, 1928; also F. G. Speck, Ethnology of the Yuchi Indians, Anthropological Publications of the University of Pennsyl- vania Museum, vol. I, No. 1, Philadelphia, 1909; and F. G. Speck, The Creek Indians of Taskigi Town, in Memoirs of the American Anthropological Association, n. 8. vol. I, pt. 2. 2 [talwalgi seems to mean ‘“‘his own towns’”’ and Kipayalgi or Inkipayalgi, ‘this opposites,” and it is believed that the applications of these would change with the individual. Perryman and Porter belonged to a White town and therefore their Italwalgi were Whites and their Kipaydlgi were Reds. Had they belonged to a Red town the appellations would have shifted accordingly. HEWITI-SwanTon] NOTES ON CREEK INDIANS 125 last is also given as Tipayulki but this form seems to be erroneous. The towns called Italwalgi had control of important matters relating to civil government. Their badge was white, the emblem of peace and wisdom. The towns (or tribes) called Kipayalgi had charge of mili- tary affairs, and their badge was red, the emblem of war and prowess. In many respects the former had executive functions, while those of the latter were legislative and judicial. The colors men- tioned were painted on doorposts and on various articles, and were used in bodily decoration. All of the people of a town, whether of White or Red clans, belonged as a whole to one of these two classes. Although the White towns were entitled to the civil offices, sometimes the Red towns obtained such dominion and power during war that they kept them when peace came. For instance, the White towns had civil control of the Creeks from time immemorial up to the Revolu- tion of 1776, and then the Red towns obtained power and kept it until 1861. Since the Civil War, 1861-65, the White towns have again been in control. The White towns took sides under McGil- livray with the British and this may have caused the change of power to the Red towns. The following list of the eighteen original towns with their daughter towns and the division of the nation to which each belonged is given by Perryman, but the more usual spellings of the town names have been substituted. WHITE Towns 2. Tulsa Atcina-hatehee (“Cedar Creek Tulsa” or “Little River Tulsa’). 3. Tulsa Kaniti (“Tulsa Canadian”’). 4. Lutcapoga (“Turtle Place’). Nos. 2 and 3 represent a division which took place after they migrated west. There is a note to the effect that the Tuskegee came from Tulsa but this is erroneous. : Otciapofa (‘In the hickory grove’’). NOMI ULL Ss ete at ee te ee 2. Kaniti Tuskegee (‘Canadian Tuskegee’). These two towns had divided only a short time before. 1. Tallahassee (“Old Town’’). 2. Tukpafka (“Spunk Town’’). 2a. Koasati. 3. Wakokai (“Blue Heron Town’—the place where they nested). 4. Wiogufki (“Muddy Water’). No. 1 is said to have been “the first.”’ No. 2a was inserted later and the insertion is erroneous. The name of No. 4 is also that of the Mississippi River. 1. Okfuskee. 2. Teatoksofka. 3. Abibkutci. 4. Nuyaka. E Oi-teadi Tuskegee (“Red Water Tuskegee”) VECO SkGe2 =. oe wee Se 126 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLL. 123 “These four were all one and this one was called Okfuskee. Before that they were all Tulsa and the Tuskegee were also at first Tulsa;* all the White towns were originally Tulsa. All came out of the ground at the Rocky Mountains.” No. 2 is said to have been modern, only 50 years old in 1882. 1. Talwa tako. 2. Okmulgee (or “Big Spring”). 3. Sawokli (extinct). 4. Okitiyakani (extinct). The first three were originally one town called Hitchiti. This is somewhat confusing for Hitchiti is also given among the numbered towns. VI. Kasibta. VII. Latogalga (“The fishery—fish pond’’). (5 Wiwohka (‘‘A-wo’-ka”) (“Roaring Water’’). Wey ELGt@b ith se oe oe eee ee 2. Okchai. No. 1 separated from No. 2. IX. Asilanabi (“When the tea stem is green” or “Place of green leaves.” The “tea” is said to have been from wintergreen leaves but this is doubtful). ’ 1. Abihka. X. Abihka, The gate 2. Talladega of the nation. 3. Kan-tcadi. There was only one square at first but “of late they have had three squares.” XJ. Pakan-tallahassee. From what town lately sprung is not known. Rep Towns I. Coweta_-------------------- 2. Likatcka. These two towns were formerly one. II. Tukabahchee. 1. Coweta. 7 1. Hotiwahali. ee eS 2. Eaptiko, 1. Kaialedji. TV ie A Re eee : 2. Hatchee tcaba. These were one and came from Tukabahchee. 1. Atasi. Ee Tal-muchasi. 1. Eufaula. 'e EKufaula hobai (“Eufaula far away’). 1. Chiaha. 2 Osochi. 3. Hotalgihuyana (“Whirlwind Track’). These three were one. Towns confederated with the Creeks but speaking other languages were the following: 1. Yuchi (adopted by the Kasihta). 2. Alabama. 3. Koasati. 4, Hitchiti. 8 This is certainly wrong. The Tuskegee were connected with the Alabama and Koasati rather than the true Creeks. HEWITI-SwantTon] NOTES ON CREEK INDIANS 27 The Yuchi language was very different from the Creek. The others resembled one another and were similar to Choctaw. The following tribes were conquered by the Creeks or were rem- nants of peoples incorporated with them: 1. Apalachicola. 2. Yamasalgi. 8. Nokfilalgi. 4. Natchez. These four were thought to be extinct but the first continued under the name Talwa lako, and there are a few Natchez even today. Per- ryman thought that the Alabama, Hitchiti, and Koasati had sprung from the Apalachicola and he is, indeed, supported by their languages. A note says that Alabama, Hitchiti, Koasati, and Natchez were like Choctaw but that is not true of Natchez, though Natchez is remotely connected with the Muskhogean tongues. The information above given corresponds in almost every detail with that which I obtained 30 years later, but, as already stated, Koasati was in no way connected with the Tukpafka group of towns, and the same may be said of Tuskegee. I did not learn of a town corresponding to Tallahassee from which the Tukpafka group are supposed to have come, and Perryman was clearly wrong, or misun- derstood, in separating Lalogalga from Okchai and Asilanabi. The relationship of these three is so well recognized that not a suggestion of any difference in origin reached me. On the other hand, I am not certain that Wiwohka belonged with them, though the connection is probable. It will be noticed that, although the group to which Kaialedji and Hatchee-tcaba belongs is made coordinate with Tuka- bahchee, it is stated specifically that the former came from the latter, but the information I received regarding Tal-muchasi would separate it from Atasi and align it with the Okfuskee towns. This I believe to be correct, because the connection is stated by Hawkins. Atasi, as well as Kaialedji, is commonly believed to have sprung from Tukabahchee. Either Perryman did not know that Apalachicola and Talwa lako were names for the same town or, what is more probable, he was misunderstood. The Yamasee were connected with the Hitchiti in language, and Gatschet was given to understand that Nokfilalgi was a name for the Timucua of Florida. A town was usually designated as a “fire,” for a council fire was always kindled in it in a prescribed place, and the houses of the village had to be built within a drumbeat of that. The man who had charge of the fire was an important official and was called Tutka-titca, signifying “fire maker.” Each town had a certain amount of land under cultivation and whenever a child was born it was proportion- ately increased, an extra allotment being made. At the annual fes- tival a census was taken by means of sticks (the “broken days”) and 128 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLt, 123 if it showed an increase in population, more land was taken in. This, of course, applies to the time when there was plenty of waste land around the towns. If they found they were decreasing—I suppose this means decreasing seriously—they attributed the calamity to the tythe (tie) snake and removed. Towns, like clans, were perpetuated matrilineally, each person belonging to the town of his or her mother. Cuans * Among the Creeks the clan was a body of kindred, actual or by the legal fiction of adoption, which did not embrace the entire body of persons represented in a community having a kinship system. The persons who belonged to a clan might be regarded as the descendants of a common ancestor, a woman, through women. Only the descend- ants of the women belonged to the clan. The descendants of the males belonged to the several clans with which they had intermarried. Thus, a group of brothers and sisters belonged to the clan of their mother; but only the children of the sisters remained in the clan; the children of the brothers belonged to the clans of their wives, as has just been said. The organization of the clan was based on kinship. The unit of the organization of the tribe was the clan, since each tribe was com- posed of a group of clans. The town was usually constituted of a number of segments of clans, each segment retaining its blood kinship rights and duties. Each household or fireside, of course, consisted of members of two different clans. The clans were separated into two divisions, one called Hathagalgi, “People of the White,” and the other Tcilokogalgi, “Foreigners,” who were enemies, fighters, bloody, red. One authority called the second of these “Olumhulkee”, probably intended for Lamhalgi, “Eagle People,” the Eagle clan, although now nearly extinct, having at one time been important. Each of these is said to have consisted of four principal clans from which the others had, theoretically, become separated, and these, along with some of their subdivisions, were given by Perryman as follows: HATHAGA (WHITE Morrty) I. Hotalgalgi, Wind Clan. a. Konalgi, Skunk Clan. II. Itchaswalgi, Beaver Clan. III. Nokosalgi, Bear Clan. a. Yahalgi, Wolf Clan. IV. Fuswalgi, Bird Clan. éForty-second Ann. Rpt. Bur. Amer. Ethn., Washington, 1928, pp. 114-119; F. G. Speck, Hthnology of the Yuchi Indians, Anthrop. Publs. Univ. of Pa. Museum. HewiTt-SwaNtow] NOTES ON CREEK INDIANS 129 Tcmnokoko (Rep(?) Morery) I. Aktayatcalgi, said to be the old name. a. Teolalgi, Fox Clan. II. Katealgi, Panther Clan. a. Kowakatcalgi, Wildcat Clan (all cat clans came from it). III. Ahalagalgi, Potato Clan. a. Halpatalgi, Alligator Clan. b. Wotkalgi, Raccoon Clan. ce. Sopaktalgi, Toad Clan. IV. Itcoalgi, Deer Clan. The arrangement by fours falls in line with a tendency noteworthy in Morgan’s treatment of clans among various tribes and might be attributed to him since his influence was all-powerful in the Bureau of Ethnology in its early years. This, however, would be a mistake. The number four is the cardinal ceremonial number among the Creeks and use of it may readily be attributed to that fact. Again, so far as the White clans are concerned, the data I got agrees precisely with that of Perryman. Even in this moiety it was probably a con- vention, as I learned from two or three good sources that the Ka- tealgi—of all clans—had formerly been on the White side. The ar- rangement of clans in the Red moiety is still more doubtful, outside of what has already been said of the Katcalgi. The Aktayatcalgi and Ahalagalgi were sometimes put together. More often the Tcolalgi were associated with the Ahalagalgi. On the other hand, the Wotkalgi were usually made one of the leading clans, or the leading clan of its group, and the Halpatalgi were generally given an independent position though classed with the Itamalgi, given by Perryman as an unclassified clan, and the Pinwalgi or Turkey Clan. The Sopaktalgi, however, I never before heard of associated with this group. They were always placed with the Takosalgi or Mole Clan and the Tcokotalgi, and sometimes these were put in one phratry with the Itcoalgi. Besides those clans already given, Perryman knew of two others, one called the Atcialgi or Corn Clan, of unknown affiliations. The other, the Panosalgi, is probably intended for Pahosalgi, a clan closely connected with the Deer. THe SquarRE Grounp > The Square or Yard was called Tokfi’tta (or Tokfi’kta), but some- times Paskofa (Perryman spelled it “Pas-cofar” or “Pars-cofer”). Three plans of Creek Squares are given, two of them evidently in- tended to represent the same, while the third seems to be distinct. As the descriptions given in the text and the notes accompanying the 5 Ibid., pp. 170-241; also cf. Smithsonian Misc. Colls., vol. 85, no. 8. Tokfi’tta contains the word fi’tta, “yard.” Paskofa means “the swept area.” 130 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY (Buu. 123 sketches disagree in some particulars, it is somewhat uncertain how many Square Grounds are in question. The third plan (fig. 13) bears a rather close resemblance in its arrangements to what we know of Kasihta and is probably intended for it. The four cabins erected toward the four cardinal points are indicated by A, A, A, A, and, in front of each, split logs are shown (B, B, B, B). The Chiefs (Mikagi) who belonged to White clans sat in the west cabin, the N FicuR®p 13.—Creek Square Ground or “Big House”, probably that of Kasihta. Warriors (Tastanagalgi) and Aspergers (Yaholagi), the former at least from Red Clans, in the north cabin, the Chief’s Advisers (Taski henihalgi) and Burden-bearers (Imalatgi) or Warriors’ Assistants in the south cabin, and the women and children in that to the east. The four cabins together were called the Big House (Tcoko lako). C is the “Round or Steep House” (Tcoko faski). The other plans, combined in figure 14, may be intended to represent the Okmulgee Square to which Pleasant Porter and Legus Perryman 6 See Forty-second Ann. Rept. Bur. Amer. Ethn., p. 266. Hewitt-Swanton] NOTES ON CREEK INDIANS 131 belonged but the only other plan of that Square I have been able to obtain resembles that of Kasihta.?. This also has four cabins but there is more detail regarding their construction. Each measured 30 by 10 feet and consisted of two long seats, one behind the other. The roof was raised on nine posts (though only six are shown in figure 13) and the ends were separated into two sections—in the minds of the Indians if not otherwise—by a median line from front to back ---. - - oo" “sec FicuRp 14.—Creek Square Ground or “Big House’, perhaps that of Okmulgee. connecting the three center posts. The cabins were oriented so as to form a perfect square facing inward, and twenty feet apart be- tween the nearest posts. The fire was kindled in the exact center of the enclosed space, and, as indicated in the diagram, at the inner ends of four main logs arranged in the form of a cross and oriented also toward the cardinal points. Close to the front posts of all the cabins except that to the east, which was for the women and children, were four seats for men of rank. The west cabin was that of the Chief (Miko) and in it sat, as numbered, (1) the Town Chief (Talwa TIbid., p. 269. 132 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLn. 123 Miko), and (2) the Speaker (Simiabaya). The Warriors (Tastana- galgi) sat in the north cabin and their leaders at the places numbered 3-5. The Henihalgi sat in the south cabin and on the fourth day of the annual busk the women (6) began their dance in front of the east end of this cabin facing the singers (7) placed there for them. The circle to the northwest marks the location of the “Round or Sharp House” said to be 100 feet in diameter and 50 feet high. The sweepings from the ceremonial ground made ridges of earth called tadjo which are indicated by the broken lines. The circle to the northeast represents a mound of earth heaped about a tree and de- rived from the dirt and rubbish in the Square which was scraped up annually and thrown there. The space intervening between this tree and the Square is evidently the Chunk Yard, though it is not so designated. The location of this was different in the different towns. According to the notes in the text the Sharp House was made around a tall tree or, if no suitable tree was available, a pole erected for the purpose. Other poles were leaned against this and we are here told that it might be carried up to 60 feet. This was to furnish a shelter in case of rain. A fire was maintained there and there is where they danced in bad weather. By an evident error the text locates this at the “southeast” corner. In the construction of all of these buildings, certain persons were assigned to the duty of procuring each of the timbers, and every clan had to provide a special number of poles for the Sharp House. This assignment was never varied. Every person knew his place in the Square. The west and south cabins were generally occupied by men of the White clans, but in one town we are informed that they used only part of the south cabin and had some seats in the east cabin instead. This exception may have been due to the fact that the Imalalgi, assistants of the Warriors, were seated in the south cabin in the first plan given. All of these Squares were arranged in accordance with certain measurements and the Indians were as precise about these as if their lives depended upon it. GOVERNMENT ° Perryman said that each town consisted of a number of clans or rather a number of segments of clans, and the Town Chief (Talwa Miko) was chosen from the principal one. Whenever another clan increased in numbers and importance so as to exceed that of the principal clan, a part or the whole of this clan would separate from 85, No. 8. § Forty-second Ann. Rept. Bur. Amer. Ethn., pp. 276-333; Smithsonlan Misc. Colls., vol. HEwItT-SwaNnTon] NOTES ON CREEK INDIANS 133 the village and establish a new one. This happened only when the people were so numerous and the leading men so popular that they could induce members of the other clans to unite with them in the enterprise. In this way the chiefs of the several tribes came to be widely distributed among the clans. This statement must, however, be taken with some qualification since a number of related towns are known to have been governed by the same clan. In the Red towns the leading officers were selected from the mili- tary line by the civil moiety, and the leading officers of the White towns(?) were selected from the civil moiety by the people of the military moiety, in whom inhered the military government and who to some extent took part also in civil affairs, as in a similar man- ner the civilians took part in military affairs. But questions of peace were decided by the people of the White towns, and civil officers were chosen from their body. Questions relating to war were settled by the people of the Red towns, and the military officers were chosen therefrom. There was yet another class of people in the state, namely, the prophets and medicine men or shamans. These constituted a priest- hood, and performed important functions. Every act of the Musko- gee government, or of the officers thereof, was considered a religious act. Councils were always convened with religious ceremonies and the installation of officers was always opened similarly. In the charge given to the officers at their installation, the religious customs were enjoined and the importance of these shown. The festivals held by the people were all religious festivals, were opened with religious ceremonies, and were intended to inculcate religious ideas, so that when a festival was held religious truths were always taught. Whenever punishment was inflicted, the religious reasons therefor were always explained to the culprit and to the people. All punish- ment was explained as a washing away of the wrong. Every officer of the government was also a religious officer and was virtually a priest, and these officers were supposed to be repositories of religious truth, so that the doctrines were handed down from officer to officer of the government from generation to generation, and the method of selecting officers long in advance of their installation was needful in order that the men might be trained in the governmental, and espe- cially in the religious, duties. In fact, Onan and religious duties were held to be one and the same. The principal chief of a town, called Miko or Talwa Miko, was chosen out of the domestic or White clans by the executive or Red clans. One class selected the leader from the. other class. In making the selection they considered the matter for a long time. They studied the character and qualifications of the best” men that: the 134 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLL. 123 particular group of clans had, and talked about the matter some- times for a week or more, finally selecting the man they regarded as wisest and best. They did not, however, take a formal vote. The names of a dozen men might be mentioned at first, and the number then narrowed down to one. Afterwards one of their number was chosen to deliver the decision. He might be called a member of the Executive Council. These Town Chiefs never held a higher office but the Executive Chiefs could be promoted. New members were added by the Executive Council itself, but a great many clans had no man fit for the position. They might number as many as 24 but were often fewer. The name of the new chief having been announced by these men, including a list of his virtues, a committee of these same clans notified him in a speech which lasted all night. He might refuse the honor absolutely. If he did they approached him again, but if he refused the third time they left him alone. However, a man of great prudence would refuse until the third time. He would not consent at once, but if he finally accepted he would say: “If tt is your will, then it must be so.” When he had accepted the office the opposite line of clans was notified of his acceptance. When it was thought to be necessary to change a chief, the matter was taken under consideration a long time. They would say: “This man is get- ting too old; his thoughts are getting short, and he cannot finish an idea; he cannot rule wisely. Let us select some younger man to learn the duties of the position.” Then, after a long conference, another man would be selected and notified. A man’s son was never made chief in his father’s stead. His uncle was the nearest kin, being his mother’s brother, and having the same blood as his mother. The installation of chiefs—When they installed a chief they put in his hand a white wing or a white feather. White was the emblem of civic rule. Sometimes they used the wing of a large white bird or white feathers from the wing of a turkey. The fan was placed in his left hand, and in his right hand he held a white staff. A long ritual speech was made by the celebrant to the officer who was being installed. The first idea presented to him was this: “Wa put you on your bench and put in your hands the white fan and the white staff of authority and we also put in your care our women, our children, and people without number.” They always used these ceremonial expressions, and also said, “We put the laws of our gov- ernment in your hands.” Then they told him that he must not occasion strife nor permit it, that he must not allow the “crossing of sharp instruments,” meaning any kind of internal tribal strife, and added, “We are under you; you must see to it that this great calamity does not take place.” They told him that he must not govern by sharp instruments, that is, by war, but he must govern by the law Hnwitt-SwanTon] NOTES ON CREEK INDIANS 135 of wisdom. They told him that his eyes must look downward, but that he must not see the ground. This meant that he must keep his people in view and not be influenced by anything around him. There is a great deal involved in the idea. He must look downward toward the ground but should see nothing crawling, crawling things being evils or dangers to the public welfare. He must consider only the interest of his people. The speech of installation was very lengthy. Two persons out of certain clans were appointed by the chiefs of the towns to install officers, and the people followed them two or four deep. They followed them about until they came and stood before the candidate, when these two men walked out before him, conducted him to his bench, and proclaimed the law to him. To be considered a person of great wisdom a man must be able, it was said, to discuss fully and completely four lines of thought. There appears to be some confusion in the statement of these, but it seems that the speaker first (a) gave all the objections raised by the oppo- nents of the solution he favored, then (b) he answered those objections, (c) stated all the other objections to his own ideas he could think of and (d) finally outlined his own position on the matter in hand. Usually this was done very elegantly by a skillful speaker, setting forth in succession as convincingly as he could the cases for the nega- tive and affirmative, and often he did it so well that one would believe he advocated the position opposed to his own.® Rather brief mention is made of “the Chief or Superintendent of the Council Square.” He seems to have been the man called in one place Tcoko-tako-miko, “Big House (i. e., Square) Chief.” His duties were mainly confined to matters within the Square Ground, as his name implies, but he was also a kind of lieutenant to the Town Chief and took his place on occasion. Therefore he was usually called Miko Apokta, “Second Chief,” and generally belonged to the same clan as the Miko. The chief’s adviser and spokesman was called Heniha or Taski Heniha. In one place it is said that he was “the Chief or Head Herald or Speaker whose duty it was to declare the decrees and judg- ments of the Principal Chief acting as the spokesman of the Council and through whom said Principal Chief always conveyed to the people the knowledge of the laws and decisions of the Council in the estab- lishment and enforcement of law and order.” He had charge of certain feasts and festivals. He was supposed to be an old man, thoroughly versed in the laws and traditions of the people. Some- times there was a fiction of age, for this office might be held by a ® The four lines of thought are recapitulated right afterwards and in a somewhat different manner. 136 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 123 young man. After a decision had been reached by the Council, the Town Chief called this man to him, and informed him of it, telling him just what he must say to the people, and then the other announced the decision in a loud voice to all present. Taski Heniha seems to have been the name of the principal speaker to distinguish him from the rest of the Henihas, for there were usually several, all drawn from one clan or one phratry. As defined by Perryman, the Heniha appears to have performed the functions elsewhere assumed by the Yatika, “Interpreter.” It is pos- sible that in the Okmulgee town, or perhaps among the Lower Creeks generally, this was usual, or it may have come about through a break- down of the organization. In the Okchai town, at least, the Heniha and Yatika were two different men, one sitting at the mght hand of the Miko, the other at his left, but it was the Yatika who spoke. The position of Heniha was, however, hereditary in a special clan, usually the Wind, and at least a White clan, while that of Yatika seems to have been attained by merit. It is possible that a Yatika was grad- ually introduced owing to the fact that the Heniha would not always be endowed with the necessary eloquence. The Tastanagi was a Military Chief whose duty it was to organize and have in charge the warriors in the town, 1. e., the men who were fit to take part in warfare. In one place there is mention of two Tastanagis, and we know that there were sometimes more than one, and that in such cases the principal warrior was called Tastanagi jako, “Big Warrior.” He was the Sheriff or Chief of Police within the town as well as the Head Warrior outside of it. The Imalas are called “burden carriers” and are said to have had certain duties to perform in the festivals. ‘They were in fact a war- like grade below the Tastanagis and acted as their lieutenants and messengers. Like the Tastanagis, they were selected from Red clans. The name Yaholagi is given to several messengers, evidently those selected to administer the Black Drink to the members of the Council. In these notes a more general function is indicated, “that of a crier or herald, or one who announces or conveys to others the decisions or orders of his superiors,” but their specific and original duty was probably as just given. The Chief Priest, Fire Keeper, or Fire Maker of the town (Tutka- titea), was also known as Medicine Maker (Hilis-haya). In making a fire he bored one stick into another until the fire started. Some- times 12 men cooperated, one boring at a time. At every Council the fire must be kindled by means of the fire drill and by the Fire Maker. He did not sleep on the night before he made the fire, being supposed to work upon it all night. He is said to have had as one of his duties that of calling the Council together by beating upon a drum at the HEWITI-SWANTON ] NOTES ON CREEK INDIANS 137 town house. He was selected on account of his recognized abilities and appointed his own subordinates. However, he seems usually to have belonged to the same clan as the Town Chief and I was told that this was due to fear of treachery. There was a Councilman or Elder Man who represented in the town council his clan or that segment of it which dwelt in his town. At times it became necessary for all the segments of a clan to as- semble to discuss and adjust affairs which concerned the entire clan. So many new towns came into existence in later times that it hap- pened that the jurisdiction and authority of the Elder Man or Head Man of a segment in an important town came to extend over two or more segments dwelling in contiguous towns, especially when these towns were only short distances apart. Usually each segment of a clan in the several towns had its special Elder Man but in some cases, where an original town had been divided into two or more, and such divisions occupied adjacent sites, there might be a common Elder Man for such segments, but the Elder Man of the entire clan was supreme over all, and an important case might be submitted to him from any segment. The clan regulated its own affairs, that is to say, the conduct of its members in relation to one another. The Elder Man was the chief and usually the oldest man, but if the oldest man had become in- capacitated by reason of senility, the next in age became the Elder Man. This officer was the teacher and counselor of the clan, and his authority was great. When minor offenses were committed com- plaint was made to the Elder Man, whose duty it was to advise and warn the offender. When offenses were more flagrant, or had been repeated after warning, complaint was made again to the Elder Man and the offender was punished in accordance with his judgment. Elsewhere it is said that this officer was called “the Ancient.” Though this office might be held by a person of any age and was sometimes occupied by a mere boy, yet he was always called the Ancient One. Nevertheless, an old man might lose his position on arriving at his dotage. When matters of importance to the segment of a clan arose, this Ancient might call a Council of the clan of all those who had arrived at years of maturity. The government and teaching of the youth of the clan belonged to this Ancient. It was his duty to instruct them, from time to time, in their duties and obli- gations to one another and to their elders and to the members of the clan. Punishment for even childish derelictions could not be meted out without his advice and consent, which was usually given in a formal manner. The boy or girl, the young man or young woman, was charged with the offense and the Ancient heard the evidence. He might decide that the charge was not well founded, and state 77118—39—10 138 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY (Buu. 123 that the offender had never been advised to shun the conduct charged against him. But if he decided that the offender had been duly ad- vised regarding such evil conduct as was specified in the charge, then the offender might be whipped by members of his own clan. If mat- ters of grave importance arose in the segment, the Ancient might call a large Council of the clan, composed of the members of two or more of the segments. At this Council the Ancient, or the one among the Ancients who was regarded as the wisest, presided and rendered judgment. A man’s status was indicated by his war or busk name. To the name of a chief was appended the word Miko, to that of a warrior of the first class the word Tastanagi, to that of an individual belong- ing to a privileged peace clan the word Heniha; and to the name of one of the second grade of warriors the term Imathla. According to the informants there were two grades beneath these, one indicated by the word Yahola, and a lowest which carried the name Fiksiko or Hatco. The arrangement is given as follows, reckoning from the lowest grade up: (1) Fiksiko and Hatco, (2) Yahola, (3) Imathla, (4) Heniha, (5) Tastanagi, “warrior,” “leader of warriors,” (6) Miko, “chief,” or “town chief.” And the following explanation is added: A lad on coming to maturity received his first name. He might be raised subsequently to the second grade, especially if he early man- ifested wisdom. The word employed for the second grade signified a crier or herald or one who announced or conveyed to others the de- cisions or orders of his superiors. If a lad belonged to a Red clan he might be raised to the third grade, and if to a White clan to the fourth grade. Later he might be raised from the third grade to the fifth or from the fourth grade to the sixth. The above statements are in line with those obtained by myself, except that my informants did not define the two lowest grades clearly and I do not feel certain that they were universally dis- tinguished. The names Fiksiko and Hatco were usually given to men known as common warriors (Tasikaya). In another place it is said that the Yahola title was higher than Imathla, and that is quite possible since the functions of the yahola criers were important and were concerned with the cult of a being supposed to preside espe- cially over the busk. The later statement is also evidently correct in claiming the yahola title particularly for the White clans. The Ancient of the clan or Elder Man seems to be confounded sometimes in the material at hand with the Simiabaiya (or Isimia- baya), which means “he who adds to,” or “he who keeps (a body of HEwitt-SwantTon] NOTES ON CREEK INDIANS 139 people) together.” In common usage it meant “a leader,” and he was usually described as “a chief who represents national interests,” one “who represents the town in the council of the confederacy and who represents the town council in matters relating to the confed- eracy.” This is borne out by what is said regarding the manner in which he was selected. We are told that the Simiabaiya came from the same section as the Chief of the town, and that when he attended the General Assembly he usually took with him one of the Tastanagis from the other bench. This is evidently on the assumption that the town Chief belonged to a White clan. In the contrary case, a leader among the Whites would probably be selected. Considerable is said about the manner in which new Simiabaiyas were selected but it leaves one in doubt whether the position was retained in the same clan or whether it was retained in two clans of opposite moieties and alternated between them. We read that if the Simiabaiya “is of the clan of the Deer, they will take another man from the Deer clan that has been schooled under him, or some old man of the same clan, and he will be taught under that man. The young man steps into his place from the same clan and the same family as the reigning Simiabaiya. Sometimes they have two or three in training at one time.” And yet some of the preceding sentences seem to imply that there was an alternation between the Red and White sides. Just above the Simiabaiya is identified with the Ancient of the clan and it may be imagined that the two offices were often combined in one man. Again, it is said that the clan chiefs were selected by agreement within the clans on the ground that the individuals so selected were the best and wisest men in the clan and therefore able to represent their interests and assert their rights before the chief. “They are selected usually without any vote, but by general consent of the constituents in consultation.” Tue Councrs ?° The Council was called Inlataka, tataka being a word which signi- fied “great men” or “officers.” The town council is said to have been composed of the Town Chief (Miko), the Square Chief (Tcoko-lako Miko), the “Speaker to the Chief,” who in this case seems to be identified with the head Tastanagi, and a Councilman from each of the clans, that is, its Ancient. Although it is not so stated, I feel that it must have included the other speaker for the chief, the Taski- heniha, though he may have been admitted to it as Ancient for his own clan. This, indeed, appears to be indicated in another place. ¥ See footnote 8. 140 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Buuw. 123 It is said that town councils were called together by the Fire Maker, presumably at the instance of the Chief. The Fire Maker would go to the town house and beat upon the drum, and then sum- mon the Town Chief, the Square Chief, the man who had charge of the Square Ground ceremonies, and three or four other Councilmen called “lawmakers.” These last (?) would then call the people to- gether and state the case to them. If a trespass, for instance, had been committed against some other town, the latter would appoint two persons to meet the others and agree upon some definite method of adjustment. Representatives of both parties would meet and set- tle the difference. It was the duty of the Ancient to call the clansmen together in council. If they dwelt near one another, he sent a messenger to notify them. If they lived far apart, he broke up a number of sticks and sent to each a bundle containing as many sticks as there were days between that time and the date of the Council. The one who received the sticks threw one away each day, and when he threw away the last one he went to the place of meeting. In the town they all lived within sound of the drum but they did not use it in calling the clan together. At least some of the people were privileged to petition the Town Chief to summon general gatherings. On such occasions the Taski- heniha, or the several Henihas, were also consulted. After the Coun- cil had assembled the Chief would set before its members the reasons for calling it, and tell them to take the subject matter into consider- ation. This was communicated to them directly by the Chief’s Speaker. In the case of a Council of the Confederation, the lalakas, or “officers,” included the Simiabaiyas, but it is uncertain how many others were added. It was their duty to bring with them the officers of their respective towns, but these were usually only listeners. There was commonly one presiding officer of this Council with a second chief under him, but sometimes there were two of each. The first usage was probably the original one, but it may have been changed to the second “owing to some difference of opinion.” The two principal chiefs had equal power and so did the subordinates, but the latter had no duties to perform, being merely in line of succession to the leadership. They would choose two others to succeed them when they became principal chiefs. The presiding officer of the Council informed the Town Chief of any decision that had been made, whereupon the latter would go over the matter with his own speaker in a low voice and the speaker would announce the decision to the officers of the town there met together. It was the duty of the officers to pay strict attention to this so that they could repeat it sub- Hewitt-SwanTon] NOTES ON CREEK INDIANS 141 stantially as it had been announced to them. The speaker would instruct them that on their return to their respective towns they must call their people together and communicate to them the laws or other matters that had been resolved upon at the General Council. They were also to say what the result of disobeying these would be. There was no set time for the meetings of the Confederate Council. Whenever these great men thought it necessary to call it together, it was summoned by direction of the Chief. This apparently means the presiding officer of the Council, who would then send the broken or split sticks to every town in the nation which was expected to attend the Council. Naming 24 The first personal name was given to a child at birth in commemora- tion of an important event which might have occurred then, or in remembrance of some good or ill fortune that had befallen one of the older clan people, some one of the mother’s brothers or sisters or their children. That is, it might refer to an event which was con- nected with the person’s immediate family or members of his clan. For instance, if some person, perhaps the father or mother, ran away or was thrown down, or if the father was on an expedition and a re- markable event happened, the child born soon afterwards was named from that occurrence. This was the first name. It was a baby name, and it did not amount to anything. It simply denoted the time of the child’s birth. Sometimes, when nothing unusual had occurred, the child was named from some peculiarity of the mother or father. But when the child reached puberty it became necessary to give it a new name, and the right to select this inhered, not in the members of its own clan or moiety, but in the members of the paternal clan or moiety on the other side of the Council Fire. Certain persons within that clan had the matter in charge because of their relationship. The proper notification of the need for giving one of their off- spring a name having been made to the officers of the paternal clan, a suitable name was chosen. A new name was not coined on each occasion, for each clan had a large number of names peculiar to it which were constantly in use, being bestowed again after the death of the bearer. On occasion two or more persons might have the same name. And so at the annual festival called poskita the Elder Man of the paternal clan stepped forth at the proper time and called out loudly a certain name four times in succession. The person to whom this name was to be given did not know that it was to be bestowed upon 11 S$ee Forty-second Ann. Rept. Bur. Amer. Ethn., pp. 97-106. 142 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY - [Boun. 123 him, and he was then informed. Thereupon he stepped forth in front of the said Elder Man and received the name along with a present. Sometimes the name indicated the rank conferred because certain names became attached to certain official positions, as has been explained elsewhere, and installation into an office carried with it the name attached thereto. If a young man was of great promise he might also receive a name belonging to the highest rank of clan chiefs, or the highest to which he might be entitled by reason of his clan relationship. A youth was likely to receive first the names hadjo or fiksiko. Hadjo signifies “excited,” “enthusiastic,” “mad,” “crazy,” and fiksiko “without a heart,” “brave.” Hadjo denotes a lively or active per- son, an athlete. Fiksiko means brave, courageous, literally “without feelings.” Bestowal of the first name meant that the youth was now worthy of manhood. The titles given subsequently, Imathla, Tastanagi, and Miko, have been described elsewhere. They carried with them official functions and special seats on the Square Ground. Often men acquired two names or titles. Hopayuki was the highest name of all. The bearer of it combined the qualities of a warrior and prophet and it was derived from hopayi which signifies “a prophet.” Perryman added that it signi- fied a traveled warrior, one who had been in foreign lands. A Civil Chief might also have this title. Those who had it “did the think- ing and the predicting,” but the warriors carried out their matured plans. MarriacE 2” When a man was considered by his clansmen entitled to a wife a conference was held by the elder men of the clan. The prospective groom must, however, have the following virtues. He must be a good hunter, a brave warrior, and an athlete. Having decided that he was old enough and fully capable of becoming the parent of chil- dren, a decision which gave him adult status, the elder men conferred with the elder women of the clan, saying to them in substance: “Our young man,” giving his name and qualifications, “should now have a wife. Heisnowaman. He should have the orderly opportunity of having offspring and strengthening our people thereby.” They and the women debated the question seriously and in the best possible spirit, and the women took the matter under advise- ment. It was naturally supposed that the women knew the qualifi- cations of the marriageable women of other clans better than the men. They selected some family in a clan which had a cousin relationship 3 Ibid., pp. 868-383. Hewitr-SwanTon] NOTES ON CREEK INDIANS 143 with their own and could intermarry with theirs and in which there were marriageable women. They asked this cousin clan to give them a wife for one of their men. At once the members of the cousin clan took the matter under consideration, the elder women consulting with the elder men, saying: “Our cousin clan so-and-so asks us to give them a wife from among our young unmarried women. What do you think of this request?” The men thereupon considered the matter carefully, and if they con- cluded that the young man was worthy of one of their daughters they permitted the women to return on their behalf an indefinite answer but nevertheless one of encouragement. Thereupon the young man was privileged to make a present to the clan of his prospective bride. It was not necessary to send the present directly to her very house, because the suitor was not supposed to know, and usually did not know, the woman who had been chosen as his spouse. If the clan elders accepted the present they sent it to the woman’s house. The suitor was notified and was then privileged to visit in that house. The woman’s maternal uncles then talked with him confidentially but frankly. Finally they told him to return to his own home and say that when they were satisfied that he was the right kind of man they would send for him. That meant that he had been accepted. On the appointed day they harangued him at length, telling of the duties he was about to assume in his new relation as husband. They made him understand the customs peculiar to the clan in which his children would be brought up, and they made him understand what position he would occupy with regard to the people of their clan. Finally they said: “You will find your wife in that house,” or “You will find your bed yonder,” indicating it with a gesture. She had purposely been placed there already. In former times it was customary to give away the oldest girl in the family first, however undesirable she might be, especially if the suitor was not considered a very desirable husband, but if he was liked she might be passed over. Sometimes a young man of great force of character would circumvent all the finesse of matchmaking and would manage his case so adroitly as to obtain the girl of his own choice. It depended upon his strategy. After that, being a married man, he could go and come whenever he pleased. The groom was expected to leave his wife’s house before sunrise every morning until his wife became pregnant. He might then re- main, but he must suspend sexual relations with her. In the interval before the birth of the child he was expected to build a house for himself, that is, if the house of her mother was not big enough to accommodate another family. He might erect it near the home of his parents-in-law or some distance away, depending upon his in- 144 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY (BULL. 123 clinations. Just before the child’s birth the young husband was ex- pected to go off on a hunting trip. He was not supposed to be at home on that occasion. But each clan had customs that were peculiar to itself. If the betrothed woman eloped, and was not retaken before the next annual busk when all offenses except murder were forgiven, she was free. But if she was recaptured within that time the penalty imposed was very heavy. If the offence was committed within the same clan it was not forgiven and meant death for both man and woman. When fornication occurred between individuals of different clans the matter was compounded by the clans concerned. Certain de- mands were made for the loss of the woman and these must be satis- fied, but the abductor seldom gave the woman up. Generally the penalty was a heavy fine as an equivalent for the loss of the woman and breach of the common law of marriage. The clan of the offender must pay for the offence. If adultery had been committed and the guilty pair were cap- tured, they were severely punished. The people of the man’s clan were called together to exact the penalty. The offenders were beaten with rods until they were insensible, and then the end of the nose was cut off or it was slit lengthwise, or one of the ears of each culprit was cut off or it was sawed with a dull knife, so that no one would be attracted by either in future. Mr. Perryman says that for the first offence both ears were cut off and for the second the nose, In reply to a question regarding the punishment for the violation of a widow, Mr. Porter said that the violator of a widow was pun- ished exactly as though her husband were living. She belonged to his clan. After the death of a married man the clan elders assembled and, after consultation, chose someone from their clan who was in duty bound under clan custom to marry the widow. If he did not wish to marry her he must nevertheless take her as his wife for one night, after which his claim to her was extinguished. Then the clan elders chose another man. One member of the clan had the right to select him. Although the man chosen already had a wife, clan law never- theless required him to take the widow. The old men said that the man who did not intend to marry a widow took her to his home and kept her there for a single night without having sexual relations with her. That would have been unjust, they said, if he had intended to turn her away immediately afterwards. Still, he could have such relations with her and then release her. When a man married a woman who had a sister or sisters younger than herself, he might claim the right to marry them, and if he had HEWITI-SwanTon] NOTES ON CREEK INDIANS 145 done well by the first he was entitled to the others, but he had nothing to say about giving them away. EpvucarIon 28 The father had no more to do with the discipline and education of his children than an alien. He could not punish their misconduct in any way, but he had such a right in some other man’s family, i. e., In the family of the man who had married his sister. It was the mother’s clansmen who might punish the children of their sister. The husband might sit around and talk in his wife’s house but he had no authority there. He had full authority if he wished to exer- cise it in the house of his sister and her husband. When children arrived at a certain age the sexes were kept strictly apart. This age was not definitely fixed, but probably it was when there might be danger that the children would think of having carnal intercourse with one another. The girls were controlled by the elder women. They had to sleep apart and to bathe in pools separate from those used by the boys. The girls had to bathe in streams of flowing water below the point at which the boys and men were bathing if necessity compelled them to use the same stream. The boys and men must not cross the path by which the girls and women went to the stream. The boys were kept strictly from the girls until they obtained wives or until they had passed the age of indiscretion. In every town there was an old man who taught the children. It is implied that there was only one in a town, but it is evident that he was identical with the Ancient or Elder Man mentioned above and that he was a clan functionary or functioned over a group of related clans. He went from house to house, gathering the children around him and telling them tales, singing songs, instructing them first in their duties at home, obedience to their superiors, their moth- ers, their uncles (the fathers were not often present), instructing them that they must not tell falsehoods, must not steal, must not injure anyone, must not fight, must not quarrel, must not kill, and so on. As soon as they were 6 years old the boys were instructed to bathe in a stream every morning before sunrise, especially in winter. They were taught to play ball, and once every year they were “scratched,” that is, the muscles of their calves and their thighs in front were scratched until the blood ran out in order to make them grow and to harden them. This was continued until they were 15 and it was regarded as an honor for a young man at the ball games to show his scratches in regular order on his arms and legs. 18 Ibid., pp. 358-367. 146 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY (Buy. 123 When he was 15 a boy on attendance at a night festival would hear a strange name called out several times and then his own name, after which some friend would come for him, take him from the shed of the women and children in the Square Ground, and conduct him to one of the men’s sheds, and after certain ceremonies an old man would give him some token, make him an address, and tell him that he was no longer a child but a man. The boy then waved the token over his head and uttered his first war whoop, shouting “Hi-yo-ke- toh,” the war whoop. The object of all instruction was to develop a fine body and a good character. The girls were instructed in their duties by the same old man, but they were not required to bathe every day. There was a girl’s game of ball, different from that of the men. It had a single pole and the ball was thrown by the hand at a mark on the pole, every hit counting one. When a boy had been detected in an offence, let us suppose it to be theft, he was brought up for trial and the question was put to the old man, “Has he been taught not to steal?” The reply might be, “Yes, over and over again. He is a bad boy and would not heed instructions.” And then, if he was proven guilty, he would be punished severely, generally with the “long scratch,” a deep and ugly incision extending from his arms down over his breast and down each leg, or down his back, or both. These scratches were readily distinguishable from those given boys at the annual festivals. But if the teacher said that the boy (or girl) had never been taught, no punishment would be inflicted. These teachers taught young people about the laws and the penal- ties attaching to the infringement of them, for though the children would hear the laws proclaimed at every festival, they would not understand them, and so the teacher had to explain them carefully. If it became evident that a teacher was neglecting his duty another would be put in his place. There was no formal appointment. The people simply sent for him to come and instruct their children. He was usually a medicine man. Sometimes a woman would study medicine and become a doctor but no woman held any office. Boys were early instructed in the ball play, as it was considered the best means of developing their muscles, since it was accompanied by running and wrestling. The old men said it was invented at a time when there was no war and therefore there were no enemies to fight. They called it the “Little War.” The name of it was Po-ko- its it-ten, “Hitting at a ball,’ and sometimes Ah-fats-kee-tah, “Amusement.” (Related by L. Perryman, December 14, 1882.) HmwiTt-SwanTon] NOTES ON CREEK INDIANS 147 CrIME 1* The fundamental idea regarding punishment was that it cleansed the culprit from the guilt of his crime. Criminals carried no guilt with them out of the world. After undergoing the prescribed punishment the culprit was innocent. It mattered not what he had done. If the law and custom had been enforced against him (or her) he was thereafter, to all intents and purposes, as innocent and as honorable as any other man in the community. If a person of one clan killed a member of another it was held that the crime had been committed against the entire clan, and it was the right and the duty of every member of the aggrieved clan to seek reparation from the other. The Ancients of the injured clan formally demanded satisfaction of the other. Two persons were generally selected to carry the news and make the demand. They dressed in a certain way and put certain marks on their persons. They always dressed in haste. Before they reached the edge of the town they rushed forward shouting and were perfectly safe when coming in this manner. No person might then interrupt them. No one might touch them. While on such mis- sions they were sacred. They then had a right to deliver the message, and no person could question them. If there was no dispute as to the facts, the clansmen adjusted the matter without an appeal to the higher authorities, by one of the following methods: Atonement by adoption and substitution—If the murderer was a man of consideration, a fine ball player, a valiant warrior, or a suc- cessful hunter, and an excellent man in every way, the clan of the murdered man, when they held their council, might say: “Had we not better save this man? We cannot bring back our own kinsman. Here are his mother, his family, his sisters who are dependent on him. Let us, then, save this man’s life.” Thereupon, he would be adopted to take the place and position of the murdered man. It was not always necessary for a prisoner of war to run the gauntlet before being adopted by some member of the clan. Sometimes the wife of the murdered man accepted the murderer as her husband after he had been adopted into the clan. In like manner, the mother of the murdered son or daughter might adopt the murderer in place of such a child. Atonement by heroie deeds.—If the injured clan had lost one or more of its members in war with another tribe and such injury was still unavenged, the murderer might volunteer to become the avenger, in which case, if the proposition was accepted, he might at once 4 Tbid., pp. 338-357, 148 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY (BULL. 123 proceed to perform his self-imposed task. To this usage Muskogee tradition attributed the origin of the custom of taking scalps as evidence of victory. Atonement by payment of wergild—If the murdered man was a person of low standing in the tribe, a warrior of no renown, a poor hunter, a generally worthless fellow, and the murderer was a man of high standing, and if the latter had a brother or cousin of the same standing as the murdered man, the brother of low degree was usually substituted for the real murderer. Atonement by death—Ilf the murderer himself was a man of small repute it often happened that his clansmen consented to his death, and then the clansmen of the murdered man were permitted to execute the sentence. If the members of the clans interested failed to settle the difficulty speedily the matter was usually brought up before the Council of the Town and settled there. Generally three men, but sometimes six, were selected to hear the evidence. The fact that a murder had been committed was sometimes called to the attention of the clan by the Town Chief. In case the parties to the murder belonged to different towns and the clansmen failed to adjust the difficulty the case was brought up before the Council of the Confederation. But if a man killed one of his own clansmen the matter was settled wholly within the clan. No compensation or other satisfaction was made by the clan itself; in this case, the only question that arose concerned the advisability of killing the murderer. The friends of the murdered man might claim their right to take his life, and they might proceed to the killing; but if the murdered man was of less eminence than the murderer, an attempt was usually made by the most closely related clansmen to placate with gifts the anger of the nearer relatives and friends of the murdered man by repeating to them what an injury to the clan it would be to lose a man of such high standing. When the murderer was a man of distinction he was executed with arrows, but the old women finished a man of no consideration with a war club, and a woman was also executed with a war club. Time was given before the execution to prepare for the death ceremonies. Sometimes the criminal was sent to a hostile town where he was executed by those who did not know him. If his own town decided to execute him it was done by certain officers who had this among their functions. It may be mentioned as a curious fact that if the executioners failed to kill their victim at the first attempt it was held that some mystic power had interposed, and the offender was adjudged in consequence to be innocent. It sometimes happened that another circumstance was interpreted as involving mystic interference. HEWITI-SWANTON] NOTES ON CREEK INDIANS 149 If a serious personal difficulty arose between members of different clans it was settled simply by agreement between the clans. All diffi- culties of this nature were settled by calling the town together. In case a member of one clan lost an eye by the act of a member of another clan, one of the other clan must also sacrifice an eye if reparation was not otherwise made. With respect to a very troublesome man, his own kinsmen, his own clan would kill him unless, after due warning, he mended his ways, for they had determined that he was not worthy of life, that he would corrupt the young men and cause them to do evil, and that he was not capable of raising good children, for these children would be bad hke him. If a man were outlawed no individual might kill him, but after they had related to him his evil deeds as a warning to others, he was executed by the collective body. If a man or woman stole an object, the injured clan through its own spokesman notified the clansmen of the culprit. After hearing the evidence the accused clan was obliged to bring forward a return or payment of equivalent value. Twofold was the custom of the Creeks; they never attempted to deny the theft if they were satisfied with the character of the evidence. The clan as a whole examined the evidence brought forward to support the charge. If they found the charge true (and their own honor made it necessary for them to find out the truth about it), they decided what should be done under the circumstances. Sometimes in making reparations they turned the culprit over to the offended clan for punishment, where he might be whipped or otherwise punished, although his own clan could pay for the stolen object. But if he was a good man in other respects they willingly paid for the stolen object. If the clan made the reparation by returning the object stolen with a good-will offering or by paying the equivalent of the stolen property, in making reparation the clans- men declared to him the law of theft, pointing out the different steps in wrongdoing which had brought him to this culpable act and the evil consequences of the act as well. The restitution or reparation being made, the offender was considered just as good as any other member of the clan; his physical punishment had the same effect. CEREMONIES 15 A number of festivals were held during the year determined by certain phases of the moon. Anciently it was customary to hold such meetings every month to give and receive counsel and also for en- joyment. There were two principal festivals, a lesser and a greater. The former took place in the spring, usually early in April, and 18 Ibid., pp. 534-613. 150 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY - ~— [ButL. 123 in the south generally at the time when berries, such as mulberries, were getting ripe. The town chief notified his people, and particu- larly the medicine man, when it was time to hold it. Then the people assembled at the busk ground after dark and danced all night— men, women, and children. In the morning the men swallowed the medicine (pasa) which soon caused violent vomiting, but the women and children merely washed their hands and faces in it. This was prepared during the night, the medicine man blowing into it and a weak solution of miko hoyanidja (red root) was prepared and carried home for those unable on account of sickness to be present. During the morning the people all went home carrying some of this medicine with them to the sick who were not required to take the strong emetic (the pasa). The assembly was dismissed after the rehearsal of the several duties which devolved upon each one. The great festival, called Poskita or Busk, which signifies “to fast,” was held when the corn was large enough for roasting ears, generally in July or August, and at a certain time of the moon. Towns dif- fered as to the time of the moon but each always held it at the same time annually. The town chief first called a meeting to dance and during the night of the dance he delivered bundles of sticks of seven each to the Tastanigi, who then proclaimed that the “broken days” were made, 1. e., that the time was appointed and the sticks ready for distribu- tion, and that the people must prepare to hunt before the great cere- mony took place. This was perhaps the assembly called Hilis-¢inet- kita, “Medicine overnight,” at which they took medicine to prepare their bodies for the reception of the maturing crops and the ripening fruits. At these meetings the same ritual was observed, an important feature being the rehearsal of the chief points of their laws, in the nature of an epitome. The speakers would point out in what respects they feared the young and unruly among them were going against the provisions of their laws, and the penalties that must follow such infractions. Each of the principal men for whom the bundles had been prepared took one, threw a stick away the first day and continued doing so until the seventh day, when all assembled at the Square Ground again and danced all night. They could hunt during the entire intervening period or at any time within it. On the next day, the eighth, the town chief again delivered bundles of sticks to the Tastanaigi and he an- nounced that the broken days were “made” for the Great Festival. They threw away one stick as they began to clean up the Square Ground, a proceeding which generally took them not more than an hour, and then they went home to breakfast. On the next day, the second of the busk series of “broken days,” all remained at home making preparations to move to the Square Ground. HEWITI-SwanTon ] NOTES ON CREEK INDIANS 151 On the third day the people assembled at the Square with the game which they had killed already prepared, like the rest of the provisions, so that it would keep during the busk. That night there was an ordi- nary dance, lasting about two hours, participated in by men, women, and children. There were no important dances on that night. On the morning of the fourth day a fire was kindled in the Square by the medicine man with the use of two sticks rubbed together, medi- cines also being used. The men then assembled in the Square and sat around, and the women brought provisions there and laid them down. The men ate in the Square that day but the women had to eat at their camps. The best of the provisions were supplied but no new vege- tables, no new corn. If persons from other towns were present they were also invited to eat. At midday, while the men were eating, the women danced the Its-hopunga, “Gun Dance,” each woman standing alone and circling about the fire. Before they began, a speech was made by the Great Tastanagi of the town, in which he rehearsed briefly the traditional history of the people, emphasized the impor- tance of the festival they were observing, and informed them that it had existed from immemorial times. He gave the traditional story of the founding of the town and the origin of the festivals, detailing briefly the rules governing them. He called the attention of the people to the importance of preserving them because they tended to preserve their health and prolong their lives. He exhorted his people to follow their leaders and keep in the ways of their fathers. He also told them that this was the right time for the festival. These speakers always referred to a long-past home in the east where the sun rises. This form of expression was used even when they lived in Georgia. In preparation for their dance the women put on their finest cos- tumes, with plumes, shells around their necks and ankles. There were three leaders who wore terrapin shells. Three men were stationed in the south cabin, and when the women leaders were ready these musi- cians began to sing, accompanied by drums and rattles made of terra- pin shells or a coconut filled with pebbles and provided with a handle. The women danced around the fire four times. Then they retired and rested, returned and danced around the fire four times more, and con- tinued in this way until they had danced four several and separate times, making four circles around the fire each time. The men sang and kept time to the music of the drum and shells, and the women kept time with their feet and by rattling their shells. It took about two hours to complete this dance. Meanwhile, after the chief had finished his address, a number of young men, who had been standing about a hundred yards away, - around the mound in the tadjo, gave a whoop and ran away to the prairie to obtain the medicine. In about an hour they returned bear- ing this on poles and delivered it to the chief medicine man. This 152 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY (Bub. 123 medicine was the pasa (button-snake-root) and it is a very violent emetic. That night there was another ordinary dance by the men, women, and children. The men sang as they danced but the women and chil- dren only whooped. On the fifth day no woman and no man who was not undergoing the purification was allowed to enter the Square Ground. The medicine being now ready, the fasting men drank it, beginning at daylight, certain chosen men bringing it to them. Each drank until he was full and vomiting was induced. That night the fasters danced and kept it up all night. They ate nothing all that day. Many different dances were performed and if anyone fell asleep he had to pay a fine. On the sixth day the men drank a decoction made from the leaves of the asi (Jlex vomitoria). This was taken at intervals until mid- forenoon, perhaps 9 o’clock, and they danced the Feather Dance. Then they ate, or rather drank, a thin gruel made of corn called sofki, the water and corn being simply cooked together. No salt must be used. They could now eat the new corn, but without salt, and melons and similar food might also be eaten. They continued to dance the Feather Dance during the rest of the day, but remained in the Square Ground and might not touch anyone who had not partaken of the medicine (pasa?). That night they slept in the cabins or on the Square Ground. On the seventh day they began dancing the Feather Dance early in the morning. Each dancer bore a pole decorated with feathers, half of them, belonging to the White Clan Cabin, having white feathers, and half, belonging to the Red Clan Cabin on the north side of the Square, having black feathers. There were two dance leaders and all followed them in two rows, a white-feathered pole being followed by a black-feathered pole, and so on. The men sang while they danced. After this the ground was swept clean, preparatory to admitting all the other people. The notes are confusing at this point, but I understand that the women now brought provisions into the Square, but nothing that had been cooked with salt. Two men were then sent out to tell the women to prepare to dance the Red War Dance, the War Dance, the Paint-Up Dance (“to paint up for war”), the native name of which is Its-atitska. Both men and women painted up but only the women danced. The singers painted one side of the face black and the other side red. This was the “War paint.” Just before the women began dancing another long speech was made telling of their wars, of their great warriors, and of their great deeds, in order to encourage the young men to become great warriors and leaders. Ifa war was on foot the warriors Hpwitt-SwanTon] NOTES ON CREEK INDIANS 153 would be ready to set out, being now purified. Then the women, without any men, came out and danced this War Dance. The three leaders had boards made in the shape of tomahawks, painted red, and decorated with black and white feathers, and they shook them as they danced. They danced around the fire and then rested, repeating this four times. In modern times some of the women have had guns or pistols which they discharged while dancing. This dance was like the first women’s dance. It was controlled by the Red Clans while the other was controlled by the White Clans. The great Feather Dance, however, was controlled by both jointly. This one dance lasted several hours. Then followed a Buffalo Dance by the men, stripped naked and wearing only their breechclouts, ornaments on their arms, tiger tails, and ornaments and buffalo horns on their heads. It followed the war dance by the women. One man sang and the rest grunted like buffalo, and they stooped down as they danced. They pretended to paw the ground and bellow. They feasted afterwards. Then came a rest until sunset. After nightfall they began the night dances with singing and whooping—no war dances—only peace dances. First they danced the Old Dance, participated in by men, women, and children who danced first around the mound in the Tadjo and then inside the Square. It was followed by common amusement dances or “stomp dances” which lasted all night. In these they imitated the cow, horse, quail, etc. They came to an end at daylight and then all left for their homes. Mention is made elsewhere of the Crooked Arrow Dance and the Dance with Knives. It is also said that they took medicine for four days while the above schedule allows for but three. Late in the autumn it was customary to assemble the people for the purpose of performing Medicine Dances which were like those performed in the spring. All these dances were not solely for the old men or solely for the ball players, but as well in order to give the young men and the young women enjoyment. One group of social units commonly sent a challenge to their opponents in ball-play in the following words: “Our young men have become lonesome for the lack of pleasure and for this reason we are sending to challenge you to a game of ball.” At all meetings there was dancing and enjoyment for young and old, and when it was time to separate a speaker of known ability ad- dressed the assembly with words of good counsel. First the speaker would say that they had assembled for amuse- ment and instruction and then he would follow with an outline of the general law of morals observed by the people. He pointed out 77118—89—11 154 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY (Bur. 123 _ the great danger to the peace of the community involved in for- getting or overstepping that law. The penalty for these transgres- sions was set forth in brief but forcible terms. Afterwards he an- nounced any new law or regulation adopted by the chiefs and coun- cilors with the injunction that it be carefully observed. He sum- marized the reasons which had moved their leaders to enact it after having given the matter due consideration, telling the people that their chiefs had discussed it at length. He admonished all to obey their leaders without question, for it was intimated that they knew best the principles of their moral law. 'The people thus received an outline of it and were instructed to carry it out. Usually the kindred towns were invited to these assemblies. Their representatives were assigned certain places in the Square and took part in the ceremonies performed there. It was merely a matter of courtesy to ask them to take part in the ceremonies. They had nothing to do with the internal affairs of the town that entertained them. In emergencies these kindred towns were sometimes asked in to aid if the town itself could not decide on the proper measures to take. Their decision was then accepted as the law of the town in question. There is a note to the effect that the women danced on each of the four days on which the men took medicine, but this seems to be an error. GUARDIAN Spirits Innutska is said to have been the name of the tutelary deity which came to a youth when he was fasting at the time of puberty. It seems to mean literally “What-comes-to-him-in-sleep.” The girls are said to have acquired their guardian spirits “through the medium of remarkable dreams” and so there may not have been much dif- ference between the two. Indeed, our text continues, “both male and female persons may acquire fetishes through such dreams or by adopting an object or a portion of an object which has impressed the partaker as exhibiting magic power, such as a fierce animal or strik- ing rock, or an element of some weird experience.” The editor has no parallel to this in his material. MepIcIne 2° When a person was taken ill his near kindred appointed one of their number to take an article he had worn to the prophet who sub- jected it to a searching examination (by means of certain drugs?) for the purpose of ascertaining the cause of the illness. If he suc- * Ibid., pp. 614-668. HwitT-SwanTon] NOTES ON CREEK INDIANS 155 ceeded he told his clients the name of it but he himself gave no medicine, Diseases were carefully classified, and as soon as the disease was known the remedy was known and recourse was had to a medicine man or a medicine woman. ‘This person possessed a pouch, usually made of the whole skin of some animal, which was well filled with the remedies known to him or her. Some were compounded from roots, leaves, or herbs as well as pebbles, shells, or other strange ob- jects, each of which had been acquired in accordance with certain esoteric formulae known only to an inner circle of the medical fra- ternity of the community. Each drug was prepared during the sing- ing of a song peculiar to it, and it is added that this took place during a meeting of the medicine men of the community, but I feel uncertain regarding this. Usually the words of this song describe the prepara- tion of the medicine in great detail, although in terms which are largely metaphorical. Many diseases were attributed to the influences of animals, such as the bear, buffalo, beaver, and deer. If a person had stomach trouble it might be said that the beaver had built a dam across it. If he was afflicted with boils it might be said that ants had raised small anthills on his flesh. Another animal was said to cause diarrhea. If a person touched an eagle without using the proper medicine he would have a wry neck. Rheumatism was caused by a fabulous monster. When one sneezed it was said someone was _ talking about him. In order to become a medicine man or a medicine woman a person must fast a certain number of days, must learn the prescribed songs, must prepare medicines (and charms) according to well-established formulae, must remain in seclusion at times, and must then use the medicines which had been thus prepared when called to minister to the sick. This process of instruction and initiation continued four moons in each year for four successive years. Each medicine must be learned in four days. Some practitioners would refuse to admin- ister remedies for certain diseases and would send the patient to another who was regarded as a specialist in that subject. Four was a sacred number among the Creeks. It wiil be remem- bered that the novice in medicine fasted for four days. One must sing a song for four days detailing the virtues of the medicine and teaching what it would do. Thus the number four appeared in numerous places. There were four days assigned in which to learn each remedy and four months in each year of a four-year period for completing the medical course. Again, a man might not have sexual relations with his wife for four months after the birth of a child. A sick man must use a remedy during four consecutive days. Mr. Porter said that certain herbs were collected one at a time on four 156 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 123 successive days, and successively on exposures toward the east, the south, the west, and the north. The medicine man or woman was exempt from all manner of work except the preparation and administration of remedies. The head medicine man of the town must prepare and kindle the council fire, although, in a figurative sense, this was supposed to be burning always. The chief prophet of the tribe (or town), who might be at the same time the medicine man, had charge of the war medicines, which are said to have been prepared at a secret conclave of the medical fraternity. He was much feared because of his supposed power to cure or cause fatal illnesses. It was believed that he had one medi- cine potent enough to make the ground quake, another to cause the enemy to lose their way, another to make the ground swampy, another to bring on a rainfall that would obliterate all tracks, others to lengthen or shorten distances, another to bring on heavy fogs, another to make arrows go straight to the mark, another to transform men into certain animals such as the wolf (fox) or owl, so that they might spy out the enemies’ camp without being detected, and still another, the greatest of all, to cause the warriors to have an aspect terrifying to their enemies. This great medicine man would stanch the flow of blood and heal wounds received in war. The first thing done to such a wounded man was to have him eat certain kinds of earth, one of which was the clay or mud brought up by the crawfish (fakkitali, ht. “raw dirt”). This crawfish earth was also applied to the wound externally. Then he was secluded so that no woman might see him, lest one in her catamenial period should lay eyes on him. It was believed that, if such a woman should lay eyes on him, his cure would be impossible. Grayson added that the medicine man could make a medicine capa- ble of transforming the human body into a sieve so as to allow an arrow or bullet to pass through him without occasioning injury. This condition of the body was known as K-sar-la-weatch-e-toh. It was commonly believed that a man who killed another was haunted by the latter’s spirit and would become insane, meaning “troubled by the spirit,” unless he was purified. It was also believed that a person who merely associated with an unpurified murderer must himself be purified lest he lose his sanity. Insanity was treated as follows. First, four clear white pebbles were selected and placed in a cup of clear water. Over this certain ceremonies were performed and certain songs sung. Then the medi- cine man took some of the water into his mouth and spurted it vio- lently upon the head of the insane man, also causing him to drink from the cup four times. It was believed that this performance gave the medicine man power over the insane person who thereafter was 11gWIT?—-SWANTON } NOTES ON CREEK INDIANS 157 compelled to do his bidding and was treated in various ways until finally cured. WircuHcrart * One of the duties of the medicine man was to apprehend sorcerers, witches, or wizards who had committed some offense against the wel- fare of the community, using arts and craft superior to theirs. When a person was convicted of such an offense—by well-established, many, and severe ordeals and tests—he was condemned to death. He was then placed in charge of the medicine man. It was said that a person under charge of witchcraft must show that he had greater powers than the medicine man, thereby proving, I suppose, that he had been falsely accused. “He would try to show a great fire and then vanish out of sight.” It was believed that wizards could take out their intestines con- taining their life spirit and transform themselves into owls, flickers, etc., after which they would fly through the air to perform their mis- deeds. Therefore owls and other birds of ill omen were held in great terror. The owl referred to is commonly the great horned owl. Sous 28 A man was believed to have two souls, first, the spirit which goes with him through life and talks to him in his dreams and is called the good spirit, being named inw’tska, which signifies “his talent,” “his ability,” “his genius.” It was thought to be seated in the head. There was also the spirit or soul of the dead person, yafiktca, lit. “his entrails.” Sentiments, passions, feelings of good and evil, are said to come from the latter; thought, planning, devising from the former. There seems to be some confusion in the text between heart and head, the former being 7X7, the latter fikici. It was declared that the “life spirit” resides in the intestines and does not leave them until after a person’s death. (See Witchcraft.) Some, however, believed that the life spirit could leave the body without bringing on death, as in sleep and dreams. The term /isakita, “the breath,” was applied to the agency of the great prophet above, but, according to one statement, was also applied to the life spirit. Story oF rHE Man Wuo Became A Tisk-SNAKE ?” Among Mr. Hewitt’s papers was a version of this story of which I have published five more. It was written down at Washington, D. C., June 24, 1883, perhaps by Porter or Perryman but more likely 7Tbid., pp. 631-636. 8 Ibid., pp. 510-514. 1 Bull, 88, Bur. Amer. Ethn.. pp. 30-34, 97, 154. 158 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY {Buut. 123 it was one of the tales collected by Jeremiah Curtin to which Hewitt refers in his report to the Chief of the Bureau. It runs as follows: Two Indians, one of whom was named Kowe, went upon a hunting expedition and were singularly unsuccessful. Before they killed any- thing their supplies of food became exhausted and they had nothing to eat. One evening, as they were walking along through the forests, feeling very hungry and dejected, Kowe noticing nearby the hollow stump of a tree which had been broken off near the ground, approached it and found that it contained water. Upon closer examination he found a few small fishes swimming about in this which he captured in order to use them as food. When night came on and they could not well proceed farther, the hunters halted and established a camp or resting place for the night. Dressing the fish and preparing them for the evening meal, Kowe invited his companion to join him in eating them. The latter, how- ever, declined, saying that, as the fish had been caught in a very unnat- ural place, he feared that they had become in some way unfit for human food, and would have a bad effect on anyone eating them. He advised Kowe himself not to eat them but the latter was very hungry and was not deterred by his friend’s fears. At the time they retired to rest no ill consequences showed them- selves, but late in the night Kowe was heard to groan and make sounds as if he were in great misery, so that his friend was awakened. On inquiring the trouble, Kowe replied: “You cautioned me last evening against eating those fishes, but I did not heed you and ate them, and that, I apprehend, is the cause of my present calamity. I am now spontaneously and steadily taking on a hideous form, an end which I can neither avert nor control, and it is distressingly painful. I wish you to get up and look at me, but I hope you will not be afraid of me, for no matter what my form proves to be, I shall never forget our friendship or harm you.” Upon this the friend got up and, lifting the covering from his unfortunate friend, found that he was gradually being metamor- phosed into a snake, a large portion being already coiled up in the bed. He replaced the covering and bore his grief in silence. When morning came and it was light Kowe had turned into a fully devel- oped snake of hideous appearance. He was, however, able to con- verse with his friend in human language and he solicited him to fol- low him back to a lake or pond of water which they had passed the day before. On their way thither the snake requested his friend to return home and inform his wife and all of his relations of the occurrence, and to tell them that he desired they should all come out to the pond to see him for the last time. He further directed that he should bring back a saoga or rattle to rattle on the bank so that HEWITI-SwanTOon] NOTES ON CREEK INDIANS 159 he would know that his wife and relatives had come to see him, whereupon he would appear to them. Having given these directions to his friend, he disappeared in the depths of the lake which they had now reached. The friend immedi- ately returned home and reported what had happened to him, deliv- ering also his message to his wife and relatives. As soon as possible the relatives and many others went to the pond to view the strange sight, the news of which was uppermost in every- one’s mind. On reaching the pond the friend began to shake his rattle and sing, calling “Kowe! Kowe!” as he had been instructed to do. Thereupon the waters of the pond began to roll and bubble and show considerable commotion, and presently an enormous snake appeared. Coming up to the shore where stood a great crowd of spectators, it laid its head on the lap of the woman who had been its wife during the days of its humanity. Its head was now surmounted by a pair of horns. It happened that the woman was provided with a sharp instrument and with this she cut the horns off as mementos of him who could no more be her companion. These horns were found to have value to anyone who had a portion of one, giving him luck and success in the hunt. It is said that a song or chant something like the following must be sung before going out with the horn to hunt: He coiled himself up He loosed himself out of his coil He straightened himself out He went in a zigzag way He glittered toward the sun He disappeared in the water The water bubbled. On account of the virtues attributed to it, this snake’s horn at once became a charm greatly desired by every hunter, and in course of time it was broken up into very minute pieces in order that its virtues might reach and benefit as many men as possible. I (1. e., the recorder of the story) have been informed by a friend who has a minute fragment of this so-called horn that it is a little red particle which will float if placed in water. Tue OrIGIN oF THE NATCHEZ INDIANS The Natchez have a tradition that they came from the sun, that. the sun is a woman who has monthly discharges, and that one of these dropped upon the earth and turned into a man. They think that when they die the sun will expire, and that it shines only for them. This origin story is identical with the origin myth of the Yuchi and it would be of very great importance if we could be certain that the Yuchi were in no way responsible for it. It is in keeping with the solar worship of both Natchez and Yuchi. SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 123 Anthropological Papers, No. 11 The Yaruros of the Capanaparo River, Venezuela By VINCENZO PETRULLO 161 CONTENTS Page SRT Cee ae ee a es ne RE ah Bn he hd A ee 165 PO CUUIC UOT maee er eee ene yen a ee ets a oe Pete ee 167 EAE arInos Ano Toei Country. 02020 5-522 ee oe nee ee 169 Neuro ailyalifemeees =e ea eee eS eee ee ee. eee 169 Mihnesiamnosmee eee ote eee el CE ee I eee 174 PMVsicaucharactenisticgee 2 2 52= 2 Eee 6 Ue eit ah ee ee ae 176 Bhysicaanthropolotyash==— ac -— a5. 8 oa ee eet ee 177 ACHE OLOP Va ae mee Soe Sebo eee SSS SES ot a ea 180 Bty journey to and life with the Yaruros_.--....< -2-_---2 ect 181 PICOHOMICH ITCH ee see oe oe Bu sed MERE A ESP US ES a eee ee ee 198 iti tine stermitories.. 2.525 2 ese ts es oe EE te bee 199 HG OG Shee Seats Ee a ae ee eee ee Bees | Pe ae er ee, 200 IPTODGRUV. ses fe a ee SS ee oe = ee ee ee 201 Division Ol DOR sen aoe 2. os ess 2 eee Sak oe PN a oe ee 202 RUMI ANG HSMN eer see oe co oe es ee et eee ie ee a 202 OOS EAUNETING athe 222k. of Re he es eee Lee ee 203 Materialiculturesees ee eile eee ee Se eee ee eee 203 CaN OCS ees Sa eS Bete fo oi Se Be ee CE eos pak 3 Soa 210 She iGreen ne ees tee fe tS a ee ee eee 211 cee ee Se ee of Sh ee BS oe Ue ee 211 Olu tiie eee rome a) ee Se ee ke Sek Oe Ph ey Ss Se eee 212 Welsusing, LOO ea json see. * 22k chee PERE DIES Lue yes ik SE 213 ARAM RNG ES ee ese oo Sev ote) see ky ae a ee eee 213 Riga tn ee eye Ee Sl ya Ser BO Se ee ees. 213 SiORIIR Ol LOOM seem Jae ea a a ae ee I eh Eee 214 Hecitlorgani7a on ang social CustOMs: .°.- 5. 5.-5255- 252222 oe Sas cecece 215 inalawarelations#e! 222 2fcoao2 Ss ane eee someone a ae ee ee 222, InberlvancerOte wives soca ce cose ee ee ee AE Se eee 223 WORE MCG serene Seo ee oe See ees oe ee Sue ee eee 224 Sst epee eye cies eee, eyes Sk ee eR ta ee oe Stee 224 Menstrua tions sec Soe oe a= see oe ae ee eee ee 224 MMBTRIS RO ee fee Se ee eee ee eee ee ee eee 225 SICKMeEsseaT Gudea them Ne tee Ne ee ee ae a ee eo 225 WSifeKartLeRIGGaR Une eae ee eae oe nore ae ees eee eee eee 227 Plea peas eee = er ee ee eA SS ee he Ue eee ete oes 227 TS een a a EN Se rad I wg a oo ay 228 IMVOTS eect GIGI CS epee eat a ee feces ee ee Dee en 228 Hiducationioieh | drense ey ea ae ae eee oe ee eee 233 cOGiniin ges) = se are en Le Sie) So bo ee Poor as 233 hen pIOn SNGushAMmaninmts ts 2a Se eS Sl see et as ei ae 234 ptr CM YsEL TUL OUNW OT Gio eee tla ee ates ri hs Bl kt nt 234 hhoeVArUronunivienses sees. oe eee aes on toe eet ceeece 235 ie renbionceend seer eae eee See Ba A oe koe aes 238 Ccrry] eee ee eee See NS ke etic a cae e eee 241 henandsomicum aaa soe aan eee ye ol Pe Le eee el eRe 244 hes androre hk Dero eee ee ate ens eos Abe beacons 244 164 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Buu. 128 Religion and shamanism—Continued. Page T SALOU a eee ek pee ee op eee ee ees ee a ES Se oe 244 NEV SGC Hi yi eee reg ee ae te = I ea ae earns ee ee 245 GGIAU Sree ee Te AE eR rs ee 245 Higodilegenas ots So. sts 2 eee eee ME f= se ee eee ee 245 Shamanism: 3) eee 8 eee a eae oe ee ee ees 247 Memaleishamanism se Se y5 ee ae aoe Se eee ee eee ee 252 Juan Bario onthe eventsof the night. 2222242224222 1-L.525s2422 256 Artiacshessleseetnesdstecense dh ehnal seedy eel esate eee ae eee 260 Music. tses22se2242 252252255 hee eee eae ee A ee ee eee 261 Summary=-+<2its2ssstdecnssssueeeds = ssc es eke ed ee Pee eee 263 haneuage-—2224exeeshst=se082 sess teases eee See a eee 265 Grammaricosssees ceases cee eos ee dees: 2. Ne ae ey 265 Mantandswomandanguapess==s= = 9=5= 25 mason eee alere ite eae 266 Partsvof thetbody=