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SWANTON] CHOCTAW SOCIAL, AND CEREMONIAL LIFE 113
came out and shook hands with the " Fumah " (whipi)ed), thus reinstating him
to his former position in society, and the subject was then and there dropped,
never to be mentioned again, and it never was."
The punishment varied in proportion to the vakie of the articles
stolen and the previous record of the culprit. I was told that for
stealing a horse the punishment for a first offense was one hundred
lashes and for the second offense hanging, while " only " thirty-nine
lashes were given for stealing a chicken.
Israel Folsom mentions fines among the punishments for minor
offenses.-^
Our appreciation of the native attitude toward theft is rendered
difficult owing to the fact that the estimates of most of our earlier
authorities have reference to thefts of property belonging to white
men, or at most Indians of other tribes, who were in a different
category, to the Indian manner of thinking, from individuals of
one's own group. On the other hand the later penalties have dis-
tinct traces of white influence. It should be said that almost all
early writers speak of the freedom from violation of the native
granaries and caches which was characteristic of almost all the
tribes of North America.
Failure to understand the Indians' point of view is also responsible
for many accusations of treachery and untruthfulness, which we
find on the pages of various early writers. Thus Adair gives an ex-
ceedingly biased view of the capacities of the Choctaw in this
direction in the following words
Those who l^now the Cholctah, will firmly agree in opinion with the French,
concerning them, that they are in the highest degree, of a base, ungrateful,
and thievish disposition—fickle, and treacherous—ready-witted, and endued
with a surprising show of smooth artful language on every subject, within the
reach of their ideas ; in each of these qualities, they far exceed any society
of people I ever saw.'"
He seems to have been highly impressed with the persuasive
powers of speech possessed by the members of this tribe, for he says
a little farther on
The Choktah are the craftiest, and most ready-witted, of any of the red
nations I am acquainted with. It is surprising to hear the wily turns they
use, in persuading a person to grant them tlie favour they have in view.
Other nations generally behave with modesty and civility, without ever
lessening themselves by asking any mean favours. But the Choktah, at every
season, are on the begging lay. I several times told their leading men, they
were greater beggars, and of a much meaner spirit, than the white-haired
Chikkasah women, who often were real objects of pity. I was once fully
»8 Cushman, Hist. Inds., pp. 218-219 ; cf. Claiborne, Miss., i, p. 493.
=»Cushman, Hist. Inds., p. 362.
») Adair, Hist. Am. Inds., p. 283.