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SWANTON] CHOCTAW SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL LIFE 189
pickers to treat a number at the same time, but from other narratives
it seems that the time allowed to lapse in each case was relatively
fixed, and this would have prevented synchronous bestowal of the
bones in the cantonal ossuary. Let us hope that the family of a
deceased Choctaw were not subjected to the close neighborhood of
the remains of their beloved relative longer than was absolutely
necessary to enable the " buzzard man " to perform his functions
satisfactorily. Halbert continues his discussion by an inquiry into
the time when the use of ossuaries became obsolete. He says
As a result [of an examination of] all the obtainable sources of information,
it may be safely stated that the custom fell into disuse in the early days of the
nineteenth century. The custom may have lingered longer in some localities
than in others. From the passage quoted above from the Rev. Lorenzo Dow's
Journal, it seems certain that this custom still prevailed in 1804 among the
Six-Towns Choctaws. The anonymous author of a little work, published in
1830, entitled Conversations on the Choctaw Missions, practically states, on
page 211, that the bone-picking custom became obsolete about 1800. Writers
describing Choctaw customs subsequent t-o 1812, make no mention of the bone-
pickuig custom, thus showing that by this time it had passed away. Colonel
Claiborne, in his Life and Times of Sam Dale, pp. 175-6, has somehow drifted
into a strange mistake in stating that the custom still existed in 1832. The
Rev. Israel Folsom, in his manuscript, does not give the date of the abolition
of the bone-picking custom ; but makes the following statment in regard to the
new custom : " When the custom of placing the dead upon platforms was aban-
doned, which met with strong opposition, they buried their dead in a sitting
posture in Vne grave; around the grave they set up half a dozen red poles,
about eight feet high, and one about fifteen feet high, at the top of which a
white flag was fastened. The occupation of the bone-pickers having been
abolished, it then became their business to set up red poles around the graves,
and afterwards to remove them at the time of mourning, hence they were
called 'pole-pullers.' They were respected by the people, and far less labor
being imposed upon them they were pleased with tlie change in the burial of
the dead." The above statement from Mr. Folsom seems to corroborate the
Choctaw tradition that the bone-pickers of the olden time were not looked
upon with much respect. Their office was doubtless considered necessary, but
not very elevating.
We now pass from the Choctaws of the early years of the nineteenth century
down to tlie remnant of the same people still Uving in Mississippi in the last
half and in the closing years of the same century. Notwithstanding the seemingly
impassive nature of our Mississippi Choctaws, upon the death of a
member of the household, the family and relatives often give vent to such a
passionate outburst of grief that it is almost appaling to a white person unfa-
miliar with Indian life. The frequent and long-drawn out exclamations of
grief uttered by the wome:^ "aiyenaheh" [or aiehnahe] and " ikkikkeh " [or
ikikki], fall upon the ear with a wild and mournful sound. During these agon-
izing scenes the sympathizing friends present are sometimes wont to rub the
heads of the mourners with horsemint so as to relieve the headache that is
so often caused by excessive grief. Meanwhile preparations are made for the
burial. This duty is supervised by the two oldest men in the community,
officially called " hattak in tikba," which term may be translated " headman."