siOBX; - Smithsonian Institution

SWANTON] CHOCTAW SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL LIFE 97
Chiefs. If the Speaker be absent, the Chief himself opens the assembly, and
sometimes does so whether the Speaker be present or not. The Speaker is a
salaried officer, and his share of the annuity is only inferior to [that of] the
head chief. Any sub-chief or Mingo is then at liberty to give his opinion.
Ample time is allowed. After the debate has ceased, and the pipe has been
passed all around, the Head Chiff, or the Speaker, by his orders gives the
Big Talk, collecting the decision of the council from the opinions that have
been expressed, and giving his views as to how the conclusion arrived at is to
be realized. He speaks very deliberately, and at the end of each sentence, if
what he says be approved, the Mingos exclaim Ma! (yes) in a loud voice.
There is seldom any collision between the Chief and the subordinates. If the
superior be a man wise in council and bold in war, the counsellors usually
decide in consonance with his recommendations, and if he be a man of tact
he generally recommends what he finds, from their debates, is most agreeable
to them."^
After removal west of the Mississippi, the head chieftainship was
reestablished and lasted until the end of autonomous government.
The three districts were preserved and for a time a fourth district
was constituted out of the Chickasaw, but in 1855 they were formed
into a distinct republic.
Kegis du Roullet gives us some additional information regarding
the conduct of Choctaw councils. When he went to see the head
chief of the tribe in 1729 accompanied by two Chickasaw chiefs the
visitors found mats spread out for them in the shade of four great
trees. Presently the chief himself came thither " singing the calumet,"
and one of the principal honored men (consideres) approached
the Frenchman with a white or peace pipe in his left hand and a
burning torch in his right. He offered the pipe to his visitor and
after he had smoked presented it in turn to the two Chickasaw.
Then three of the honored men raised Du Roullet on their shoulders
and carried him to the council ground where an elaborate feast had
been prepared.
We learn that, before the Natchez outbreak, one of the chiefs of
the latter tribe had presented a Choctaw chief with a red calumet
" which is the token of a promise when one accepts it," urging him
to attack the French.^^^
Wlien De Lusser visited the Choctaw in 1730 to induce them to
take up arms against the Natchez he held a council at Kaffetalaya in
the western part of their territory, of which he gives us some details.
After speeches had been exchanged " a great feast consisting of
potatoes and bear's oil was held and then the dance followed. . . .
The dance of the men having come to an end, that of the women
began. They [the men] were all armed and daubed with paint,
with headdresses of eagle feathers. They danced the dance of the
Amediches [Nabedache, a Caddo tribe] who are Indians in the direc-
01 Claiborne, Miss., i, pp. 490-491.
•i» Journal of De Lusser in French Archives.