siOBX; - Smithsonian Institution

108 BUEEAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 103
and the doomed man was informed that his presence would accordingly be
expected. He never failed to make his appearance at the appointed place
and hour, and all things being ready, a small red spot was painted directly
over his heart as a target for the executioner; and being placed in position,
[he] calmly received the fatal bullet, soon the grave closed over him and
thus the matter ended. Sometimes the condemned would request a short
respite, a few days extension of time, assigning as a reason for the desired
delay, that a grand ball-play, dance or hunt, was soon to take place, in which
he desired to participate, and as it did not take place until after the appointed
day of his execution, he requested the favor of postponing his little affair until
afterward. The request was seldom refused. The doomed man then designated
the day and hour on which he would return and attend to the matter under
consideration. He went to the ball-play, the dance, or the hunt, engaged in and
enjoyed his anticipated fun, then returned true to his promised word and paid
the penalty of the violated law, by calmly receiving the fatal shot. The rifle
was invariably used as the instrument of execution, for the soul of the Choctaw
who had been executed by hanging was regarded as accursed—never being
permitted to join his people in the happy hunting grounds, but his spirit must
forever haunt the place where he was hung. Hence their horror of death
by hanging, and the gallows has ever been unknown among them." If the
condemned should fail to appear, which was never known to be, at the time
and place of his execution, or should [he] manifest any emotion of fear
during his execution, it was regarded as a disgrace to himself, his relatives
and his nation as a Choctaw warrior, which no length of time could ever
efface ; hence their honor, resting upon their firmness in the hour of death,
was watched with jealous care. Never was a full-blood Choctaw known to
evade the death penalty, passed upon him by the violated law, by flight. If
he violated the law he calmly abided the consequences, hence all places of
imprisonment were unknown."
As noted elsewhere, suicide was looked upon as a contemptible
act, yet a kind of duel existed among these Indians which involved
the mutual suicide of the parties to it, when suicide was not only
honorable but practically enforced by popular opinion. The following
account of this custom is quoted by Cushman from a manuscript
left by the native missionary. Rev. Israel Folsom
They had duels too; but they were quite different from any that has been
practiced by any of the [other] Indians of the continent or the whites; and
which most commonly proved fatal to both parties. When a quarrel or diffi-
culty occurred between two warriors, a challenge was sent by one to the other
not to meet and take a pop at each other with pistols, as is the case in civilized
and refined Nations, but in reality, it was a challenge for both to die. It was
understood in no other way ; this was the mode of trying the man's bravery,
for they believe that a brave man, who possesses an honest and sincere heart,
would never be afraid to die : It was usual for each one to select his own friend
to dispatch him. If one should back out from the challenge, they considered
it as a great mark of cowardice and dishonesty in him, and he would be
despised by his relations and friends, and by the whole tribe. If a challenge
was given and accepted, it was certain to end in the death of both parties;
IS But cf. p. 110.
i« Cushman, Hist. Inds., pp. 217-218 ; Claiborne, Miss., I, p. 488.