siOBX; - Smithsonian Institution

SWANTON] CHOCTAW SOCIAL AND CEEEMONIAL LIFE 237
ruin it. Sometimes two or three hollows were made in one piece of
Hint. A kind of sandstone was also employed but grit was apt to
come off of it. The pestle was of the same material as the mortar
and both were developed together by constant and long continued
grinding so that the two exactly fitted. Such flints are found in the
entire section but Tallapoosa River was particularly resorted to for
them. Simpson has seen his father make these mortars, the last
made in the Choctaw country.
Medicinal roots were dug in the fall of the year when they were
purer and most of the poison had gone out of them. They were
steamed to the boiling point but were not allowed to boil hard. A
medicine is said to have been named most often for the insect or
animal which attends it. The following notes were obtained regard-
ing specific remedies
Rabbit tobacco, also called by the whites " life everlasting " (Choc-
caw, bashuchak), was made into an infusion and drunk in cases of
tever. It was also used as a tobacco substitute.
Boneset (Choctaw, howe chache [hobechechi?]) was used in the
steaming process mentioned above to make one throw up " cold and
bile."
Jerusalem oak, or rather wormseed, called in Choctaw ala imokhi°sh,
or ala balo°tachi [ala ibalhtochi?], "children's medicine," was made
the basis for a kind of candy and fed to small children who had
worms.
The " pink root " was also called by the Choctaw ala imokhi°sh
sometimes. Just enough whisky was put with this to keep it. It is
a system builder, and when one has it he needs no doctor. It makes
one very sick at first but afterwards thoroughly well. It drives out
fever and is a good tonic for old and young. When it was to be
given to children it was weakened and in later times sugar was added.
They used scurvy grass (Choctaw, nuti kishoche [nuti kashof-
fichi?]) to clean the teeth.
Sampson snake root (Choctaw, nipi lapushkichi) is a poison to
any other poison and was therefore used in cases of snake bite. They
used to go to the region where Noxubee and Oktibbeha Counties
came together, southeast of Starkville, to gather this.
The mayapple (Choctaw, fala imisito, " crow pumpkin ") is a
fine medicine. The fruit is given to children as a purgative. In
cases of biliousness they powdered the root, put half an ounce of this
into a pint of water, boiled it down to about an ounce, and mixed
it with whisky. One swallow, or as much as a person could stand, was
a dose. It is a sure cure and " you can hear the cold and the bile
tearing out." It received its name from the fact that the crow,
which is a wise bird, feeds upon the mayapple.