siOBX; - Smithsonian Institution

SWANTON] CHOCTAW SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL LIFE 115
war physick as they term it, when news was brought to the nation of my
arrival at Mobile.^^
Bossu says that " although they are barbarous and fierce, it is
necessary in order to keep their confidence to keep one's word scrupu-
lously when one has made them any promises. Otherwise they will
treat you with the greatest scorn, telling you haughtily that you
are a liar, an epithet which these savages have bestowed on the
present governor whom they call Oulabe-Mmgo [Holabi mi°ko],
that is to say, the Liar Chief." ^*
Of the few Choctaw surviving near Bayou Lacomb in 1908-9
Bushnell says that they " bear a good reputation among the people
of the surrounding country for honesty and truthfulness. They
regard lying as a crime and they have no respect for a person whom
then can not believe." ^^
Claiborne, when acting as United States Commissioner to the
Choctaw, encountered one Indian who professed to have no beliefs
in regard to a good or bad spirit or a future state of existence. " Of
course," says the historian, " this claimant was not sworn, but we
received his declaration of his case. On being interrogated, he de-
clared that the statement Avas true in all particulars. 'A man,' said
he, 'who will lie is not fit to associate with warriors, but should be
compelled to keep company with squaws.' "
And Claiborne adds : " Several witnesses confirmed his statement,
and moreover, swore that he was a singularly upright man, and had
never been known to tell a lie." ^^
There are several references in the literature of the Southeast
which indicate that oaths were known to them, in which the sun
was called to witness to the truth of their professions. Claiborne
says that a Choctaw named Lewis Vaun " solemnly promised in my
presence and in the face of the Sun, not to do mischief until we had
another talk." ^^
REGULATIONS FOR WOMEN AND CHILDBIRTH
The Choctaw, in agreement with all of the neighboring tribes,
imposed upon their women complete separation from the family
at every menstrual period. The author of the French Relation
says regarding this
When a woman finds herself inconvenienced in the accustomed manner she
immediately leaves the house, and goes a certain distance from it to a retired
^ Romans, Nat. Hist. E. and W. Fla., pp. 81-82.
^* Appendix, p. 263 ; Bossu, Nouv. Voy., vol. 2, p. 104.
^ Bushnell, Bull. 48, Bur. Amer. Ethn., p. 26.
^ Claiborne, Miss., i, p. 523.
^ The Proceedings of the Governor of the Mississippi Territory as Superintendent of
Indian Affairs. MS. in Miss. State Archives. Letter of Claiborne, dated June 18, 1804.