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Q BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 103 Adair, a still earlier English writer, does not give a Choctaw migration story distinct from that which he obtained from the Chick- asaw.^ In the latter the Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Chakchiuma are represented as having come from the west " as one people." However, he vouchsafes us our earliest description of the hill of Nanih Waiya, the site of the hole out of which Komans tells us this nation came. About 12 miles from the upper northern parts of the Choktah country, there stand on a level tract of land, the north-side of a creek, and within arrow-shot of it, two oblong mounds of earth, which were old garrisons, in an equal direction with each other, and about two arrow-shots apart. A broad deep ditch inclosed those two fortresses, and there they raised an high breast-work, to secure their houses from the invading enemy. This was a stupendous piece of work, for so small a number of savages, as could support themselves in it; their working instruments being only of stone and wood. They called those old fortresses Nanne Yah, " the hills, or mounts, of God." * As usual, Adair has allowed himself to be carried away by his theory of a Hebrew origin of the American Indians. The " Nanne Yah " is actually Nanih Waiya, and, although he has translated the first word correctly, the second certainly has no reference to the Hebrew Yahweh. Most recent authorities, including the noted Choctaw student, H. S. Halbert, spell this name Nanih Waiya. Halbert says: The adjective Waiya signifies "bending," "leaning over," but it is difficult to see the appropriateness of the term as applied to the mound. According to the conjecture of the writer, the tei'm was originally applied to the circular rampart, which the Choctaws may have considered a kind of bending hill. And in process of time the name could have become so extended as to be applied to the mound and rampart conjointly, and ultimately restricted to the mound alone, as is now the case in popular usage.° Schermerhorn (1814) tells us that An old Indian gave ... a very rational explication of the [Choctaw] tradi- tion, that they sprung out of the mound between the forks of Pearl River. The banks of these streams are a marsh, and at that time probably formed an impassable ravine. There is an embankment, which served as a fortification from one branch to the other, and which, with the ravines, encloses an area of nearly three miles. He observed to the agent, S. Dinsmore, " that their ancestors, when they arrived in this country, knew not what the inhabitants were; for their own protection, therefore, they cast up this mound, and en- closed and fortified this area, to plant their corn, and as a defence against enemies. This mound served as a place for look-out, to give notice of the approach of invaders. When this was accomplished, they sent out their hunters to see what were the inhabitants of the land. These on their return reported, that they could dwell in safety, that the land was good, and game in aliundance. a See Forty-fouitn Ann. Kept. Bur. Amer. Ethnol., p. 174. * Adair, Hist. Amer. Inds., pp. 377-378. "Pubs. Miss. Hist. Soc, II, p. 224. For another explanation of the name see p. 13.
SWANTON] CHOCTAW SOCIAL AND CEEEMONIAL LIFE 7 On this they left their encampment as it may be called, and settled in different parts of the country. From this arose the tradition that they sprung or crept out of the mound." " Dr. Gideon Linceciim, another early authority, accepts the same translation of Nanih Waiya as does Halbert, but adds that the hill was so called because " it leaned toward the creek " ; Catlin renders the name "the sloping hill"; Alfred Wright, "the stooping or sloping hill"; Cushman, "the leaning mound." That some physical pecu- liarity gave rise to the name is probable, but with the lapse of time its exact nature has been lost and it is unlikely that it can be re- covered. On the other hand, some plausible suggestions may be made regarding the localization of the origin legend at this place. As intimated above, there are two forms of this story, one treating Nanih Waiya as the point of exit to the upper world of the ancestral Choctaw, the other as their center of distribution after they had immigrated from the west. It is probable that the tradition of a western origin was in part correct, but whether it was so or not the prominence of the hill in Choctaw history is easily accounted for, because (1) it is a conspicuous landmark in the midst of one of the most fertile sections of the old Choctaw country, (2) within a mile there is a considerable cave tending to localize the tradition of a subterranean origin which nearly all southeastern tribes enter- tain, and (3) the word waiya happens to be very similar to another Choctaw word, waya, which signifies " to bear," " to bring forth." Indeed, Nanih Waya may have been the earlier form, but it is less common to find a term of purely mythic significance etymologized over into a physical description than evolution in the opposite direc- tion. However, we must not forget the statement of Schoolcraft's Chickasaw informant to the effect that the Indians of that tribe called the mounds in their country " navels." As Halbert points out, the spelling "Warrior," which appears on some of our maps instead of Waiya, is a barbarism. The next description of the mound, or rather the mound system, is by Doctor Lincecum I visited this celebrated mound in 1843. I found it a rounded off, oblong square, 200 yards in circumference at its base ; 80 feet in height, with a flat space on the top 52 yards in length by 25 yards in width. The whole mound was thickly set with forest trees. 200 yards to the north of it is a lake, which I suppose to be the place whence they carried the earth to construct the mound. Speaking of the earthen rampart, he continues I went all around this earth wall. ... It seemed to be a complete circle, and from one and u half to two miles in circumference, the southeastern portion « Schermerhorn, Report on the Western Indians, In Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll., series 2. vol. II, p. 17.
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SWANTON] CHOCTAW SOCIAL AND CEEEMONIAL LIFE 7<br />
On this they left their encampment as it may be called, and settled in different<br />
parts of the country. From this arose the tradition that they sprung or crept<br />
out of the mound." "<br />
Dr. Gideon Linceciim, another early authority, accepts the same<br />
translation of Nanih Waiya as does Halbert, but adds that the hill<br />
was so called because " it leaned toward the creek " ; Catlin renders the<br />
name "the sloping hill"; Alfred Wright, "the stooping or sloping<br />
hill"; Cushman, "the leaning mound." That some physical pecu-<br />
liarity gave rise to the name is probable, but with the lapse of time<br />
its exact nature has been lost and it is unlikely that it can be re-<br />
covered. On the other hand, some plausible suggestions may be<br />
made regarding the localization of the origin legend at this place.<br />
As intimated above, there are two forms of this story, one treating<br />
Nanih Waiya as the point of exit to the upper world of the ancestral<br />
Choctaw, the other as their center of distribution after they had<br />
immigrated from the west. It is probable that the tradition of a<br />
western origin was in part correct, but whether it was so or not<br />
the prominence of the hill in Choctaw history is easily accounted<br />
for, because (1) it is a conspicuous landmark in the midst of one<br />
of the most fertile sections of the old Choctaw country, (2) within a<br />
mile there is a considerable cave tending to localize the tradition of<br />
a subterranean origin which nearly all southeastern tribes enter-<br />
tain, and (3) the word waiya happens to be very similar to another<br />
Choctaw word, waya, which signifies " to bear," " to bring forth."<br />
Indeed, Nanih Waya may have been the earlier form, but it is less<br />
common to find a term of purely mythic significance etymologized<br />
over into a physical description than evolution in the opposite direc-<br />
tion. However, we must not forget the statement of Schoolcraft's<br />
Chickasaw informant to the effect that the Indians of that tribe<br />
called the mounds in their country " navels." As Halbert points<br />
out, the spelling "Warrior," which appears on some of our maps<br />
instead of Waiya, is a barbarism.<br />
The next description of the mound, or rather the mound system,<br />
is by Doctor Lincecum<br />
I visited this celebrated mound in 1843. I found it a rounded off, oblong<br />
square, 200 yards in circumference at its base ; 80 feet in height, with a flat<br />
space on the top 52 yards in length by 25 yards in width. The whole mound<br />
was thickly set with forest trees. 200 yards to the north of it is a lake,<br />
which I suppose to be the place whence they carried the earth to construct<br />
the mound.<br />
Speaking of the earthen rampart, he continues<br />
I went all around this earth wall. ... It seemed to be a complete circle,<br />
and from one and u half to two miles in circumference, the southeastern portion<br />
« Schermerhorn, Report on the Western Indians, In Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll., series 2.<br />
vol. II, p. 17.
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