siOBX; - Smithsonian Institution

SWANTON] CHOCTAW SOCIAL, AND CEREMONIAL LIFE 37
covered with trees and plants of many sorts, and lakes and rivers had been
formed, the Choctaw came forth through the passageway in Nan6 chaha. And
from that point they scattered in all directions but ever afterwards remembered
the hill from the summit of which they first beheld the light of the sun.
Soon after the earth (yahne) was made, men and grasshoppers came to the
surface through a long passageway that led fi-om a large cavern, in the interior
of the earth, to the summit of a high hill, Nane chaha. There, deep down in
the earth, in the great cavern, man and the grasshoppers had been created
by Aba, the Great Spirit, having been formed of the yellow clay.
For a time the men and the grasshoppers continued to reach the surface to-
gether, and as they emerged from the long passageway they would scatter in all
directions, some going north, others south, east, or west.
But at last the mother of the grasshoppers who had remained in the cavern
was killed by the men and as a consequence there were no more grasshoppers
to reach the surface, and ever after those that lived on the earth were known
to the Choctaw as eske Hay, or " mother dead." ^' However, men continued to
reach the surface of the earth through the long passageway that led to the
summit of Nan6 chaha, and, as they moved about from place to place, they
trampled upon many grasshoppers in the high grass, killing many and hurting
others.
The grasshoppers became alarmed as they feared that all would be killed
if men became more numerous and continued to come from the cavern in the
earth. They spoke to Aba, who heard them and soon after caused the passageway
to be closed and no more men were allowed to reach the surface. But as
there were many men remaining in the cavern he changed them to ants and
ever since that time the small ants have come forth from holes in the ground.^"
MATERIAL CONDITION
A detailed description of the material culture of the Choctaw is no
part of my present purpose, but some notes on this subject, partic-
ularly as to the character of their homes and their manner of gaining
a livelihood, will furnish a desirable background for the other aspects
of their ancient life. A French manuscript of the eighteenth century
gives the best early account of the Choctaw house and menage,
from which, with some clarifying emendations, I quote as follows
The house is merely a cabin made of wooden posts of the size of the leg,
buried in the earth [at one end], and fastened together with lianas, which
make very flexible bands. The rest of the wall is of mud and there are no
windows ; the door is only from three to four feet in height. The cabins are
covered with bark of the cypress or pine. A hole is left at the top of each
gable-end to let the smoke out, for they make their fires in the middle of the
cabins, which are a gunshot distant from one another. The inside is surrounded
with cane beds raised from three to four feet from the ground on account of
the fleas which exist there in quantities, because of the dirt. When they are
lying down the savages do not get up to make water but let it run through
=5 A play upon chishaiyi, the word for " grasshopper ;" cliiske ilay would be " your
mother is dead."
aiBushnell in Amer. Anthrop. (N. S.), 12, pp. 526-527.