siOBX; - Smithsonian Institution

SWANTON] CHOCTAW SOCIAL AND CEEEMONIAl. LIFE 223
" The Bayou Lacomb Choctaw always danced at night, never during
the daylight hours, the snake dance, the last of the seven ending at
dawn.^^ This agrees with the statement made by Bossu just one
and a half centuries ago that ' nearly all the gatherings of the Chactas
take place at night.' " ^^
From information furnished by a white man in Mississippi who
had lived near the Choctaw it is evident that their dances were
similar to those among the Chickasaw and Creeks, and one of these
bore the same name as a corresponding Creek dance, the Iskitini
hila or " horned owl dance." These dances were accompanied by
feasts to which the men contributed game and the women bread.
He said that, like the Chickasaw, they did not dance about a fire,
though there were fires near by to furnish light. Sometimes the men
would dance by themselves for a while and when they got tired
the women would take their places.
Cushman contributes the following observations regarding Choctaw
music and dancing
The ancient Ciioctaws were as susceptible to all the pleasing emotions produced
by the sweet concords of sound as any other people, yet their musical
genius, in the invention of musical instniments, never extended beyond that
of a cane flute and a small drum, which was constructed from a section cut
from a small hollow tree, over the hollow part of which was sti'etched a fresh
deer skin, cleansed from the hair, which became very tight when dried; and
when struck by a stick made a dull sound, little inferior to that of our common
snare-dr^m ; which could be heard at a considerable distance; and though
uncouth in appearance, and inharmonious in tone, as all drums, still its
" voice " was considered an indispensable adjunct as an accompaniment to all
their national and religious ceremonies; even as the ear-splitting discords of
the civilized snare or kettle-drum, united with the deafening roar of the
base drum are considered by the white man as indispensable in all his displays
of harmony. Yet the ancient Choctaw, in all his solemn ceremonies, as well
as amusements and merry-makings, did not depend so much upon the jarring
tones of the diminutive drum as he did upon his own voice; which in concert
with the monotonous tones of the drum,—to the cultivated and sensitive
ear a mere jargon of sound,—was to the Indian ear the most exciting music,
and soon wrought him to the highest state of excitement. In all their dances
they invariably danced to the sound of the indispensable drum, accompanied
with the low hum of the drummer, keeping exact step with its monotonous
tone. In the social dance alone were the women permitted to participate."
The Lacomb Choctaw did not use a rattle. Their drum Bushnell
describes in the following words
This [example described by the writer] is 30 inches in height and 15 inches
in diameter. It is made of a section of a black gum tree ; the cylinder wall is
less than 2 inches in thickness. The head consists of a piece of untanned goat
skin. The skin is stretched over the open end, while wet and pliable, and is
=8 Bull. 48, Bur. Amer. Ethn., p. 22.
2" Appendix, p. 263 ; Bossu, Nouv, Voy., ii, p. 104.
Cusbman, Hist. Inds., p. 215.