siOBX; - Smithsonian Institution

SWANTON] CHOCTAW SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL LIFE 107
It is natural to suppose that Hohtak Laliba " would have refused the offer of
his devoted mother. But custom denied him the privilege of any action what-
ever in the matter. If the offer was made and accepted hy the relatives of the
slain, he no longer stood condemned before the violated law, or in the eyes of
the avenger, and he or she, who had voluntarily assumed the position, could
alone make the atonement. The mother, in this case, had offered her life, a
voluntary sacrifice for that of her son's ; it had been accepted as a sufficiency
by the avenger, and, even as the law of the Medes and Persians that " changeth
not," so Tohto Pehali " could not reverse her accepted proposal, even if she
had relented, nor the son refuse, she must die, and Hohtak Lahba must live;
and the Amen was the response of the law.^
Nevertheless, Hohtak Lahba was not relieved from accusations of
cowardice and, stung by the constant taunts of his associates, he
finally murdered the son of his first victim and then shot himself
over a grave which he had already prepared.^^
During the civil war between the English and French parties a
body of Choctaw on the English side attacked Holihta asha, the vil-
lage of the head chief, but were repulsed and their leader, the chief
of Bokfoka, was " killed, disemboweled, and his intestines cast at his
feet, an insult unknown to the Choctaw before that." ^^^ Indeed, this
is the only case of mutilation of the body of a fellow tribesman that
has come to the author's notice.
In later years considerable modifications were introduced into the
criminal system of the Choctaw. To quote Cushman further:
Soon after the missionaries were established among them, a company of
armed and mounted police, called " Light Horse Men," were organized for
each district, in whom was vested the power of arresting and trying all vio-
lators of the law. 14 They were continually riding over the country settling
all difficulties that arose among parties or individuals, and arresting all vio-
lators of tiie law. The custom of leaving the murderer to be disposed of as
the relatives of the deceased saw proper, was then set aside, and the right
of trial by the Light Horse who acted in the three-fold capacity—sheriff,
judge, and jury—was awarded to all offenders. The Light Horse were composed
of a brave and vigilant set of fellows, and nothing escaped their eagle
eyes; and they soon became a terror to white whiskey peddlers who invaded
the Choctaw territories at that time. When caught, the whiskey was poured
upon the ground and the vendor informed that his room was preferable to his
company.
When a murder was committed, tlie Light Horse at once took the matter
into consideration, and after hearing all the testimony pro and con, pronounced
the verdict in accordance thereto. If the person accused was found to be
guilty, there and then, the time and place of his execution was designated,
10 .< Warm Pond."
" " Red Elm Seed."
^2 Cushman, op. cir., p. 265.
" Ibid., pp. 265-267.
1^" Miss. State Arclaive.s.
" Claiborne says tbey were originally organized by the chiefs Greenwood Le Flore and
David Folsom'.—Miss., i, p. 505.