THE

NATIONAL

LEGEND

OF THE

CHAHTA-MUSKOKEE

TRIBES

BY

D.

G. B R I N T O N ,

M O R R I S ANI A ,
1870.

M. D.

N . Y. :

THE

NATIONAL

LEGEND

OF THE

CHAHTA-MUSKOKEE

TRIBES.

BY

D.

G.

BRINTON,

MORRISANIA,
1870.

N.

M. D.

Y.:

PREFATORY

NOTE.

The following very interesting paper, on the National Legend of the Chahta-Muskokee tribe
of Indians, was written for THE HISTORICAL MAGAZINE, and published in a number of that work,
for February, 1870. A small edition, in this form, has been printed for private circulation among
those friends of the Author and the Publisher who take an interest in the subject to which it
relates.
MORRISANIA, N. Y„ April, 1870.

H. B. D.

THE CHAHTA-MITSKOKEE LEGEND.
The C R E E K or MUSKOKEE Nation was a loose Yamacraws, a small Creek Tribe, who occupied

association of a number of Tribes, speaking kindred languages, and inhabiting, at the earliest
visits of the whites, the territory now embraced
by the States of Georgia, Alabama, and portions
of South Carolina, Mississippi, and Florida. They
constitute a branch of the CHAHTA-MUSKOKBE
family, which includes the Choctaws (chahta),
Chickasaws, and Creeks (muskokee), all of whom
use allied tongues.
The survivors of the Creek Nation now reside
in the vicinity of Tallahassee Mission, Indian
Territory. Their language has been reduced to
writing;" a number of works, chiefly religious,
have been printed in i t ; and many of the members have been converted to Christianity. Only
the oldest men among them have any recollection
of the traditions which their forefathers preserved,
with superstitious care, and handed down from
generation to generation. Soon, even these faint
remembrances will be extinguished; and the national legend will be totally forgotten. Fortunately, however, for the student of American
antiquity, there exists a very authentic, and a
somewhat ancient, version of this legend, which
was communicated under circumstances of peculiar solemnity, translated, and written down on
the spot, and the buffalo-skin on which it was recorded transferred to the English, and conveyed
to Loiidon.
The time and place of this interesting occurrence are thus referred to, in The American Gazetteer (London, 1762, Volume II, Art. GEORGIA,
not p a g e d : )
" I n 1735, a ship from Georgia brought over
*' to England, a Speech made there by one of the
" Indian Kings of Cherrikaw, etc. It was cu" riously written in red and black characters, on
" t h e skin of a young buffalo, and translated
' ' into English, as soon as delivered in the Indian
' * language, in presence of about fifty of their
" Chiefs and of the principal inhabitants of Sa" vannah. The said skin was set in a frame and
" hung up in the Georgia Office, in Westminster.
' ' It contained the Indians' grateful acknowedge
" ments for the honors and civilities paid to
" Tomochichi, etc."
Tomochichi, I may remark, was Chief of the

the bank of the Savannah-river, near where the
City of that name now stands. He was taken by
Governor Oglethorpe, to England, and assisted
the whites materially in founding their Colony.
A Historical Sketch of his life has been recently
written by Mr. Charles C. Jones, J r . , (Albany,
Joel Munsell, 1868.)
Mr. Jones refers to the extract I have just
given from the American Gazetteer, but in a singularly erroneous manner. He says (p. 7^:) " A
' ' letter was composed by a Cherokee Chief and
" s e n t to the Trustees. * * * Upon its re" c e i p t this hieroglyphic painting was set in a
" frame and suspended in the Georgia office, in
" Westminster." The Cherrikaws, however, were
one of the Creek bands, and nowise akin to the
Cherokees
It is evident that Mr. Jones, in his researches,
had never seen a translation of this "hieroglyphic
" p a i n t i n g ; " and this is additional evidence to
me, that the version of it I am about to give has
remained entirely unknown, even to special students in this field.
This version would be greatly increased in value,
if I could connect with it a copy of the " h i e r o " glyphic p a i n t i n g " of which it is a translation.
Aware of this, I wrote, in November, 1868, to
Mr. Nicholas Triibner, of London, enclosing the
extract from the Gazetteer, and asking him to
pass my letter to some one who would make the
necessary searches for this interesting relic. With
the greatest kindness, he took this labor upon
himself, and wrote at once to the Colonial Office,
inquiring for the papers relating to Georgia.
These, he learned, are deposited in the Public
Record Office, Chancery-lane. " At this office,"
he wrote me, " I went over two folios of origi" nal documents from Georgia, 1734 and 1735,
' ' old style, but could not find a letter relating
" t o the transmission to England of the skin.
" But I saw a letter written by Chekilli, himself,
" dated in March, 1734, announcing his safe ar' ' rival in Savannah, and numerous letters of
" English Officers in which he plays a prominent
" figure. The future historian of Georgia will
" do well to examine these precious documents,"
Mr. Triibner then examined the Archives at

6

THE NATIONAL LEGEND OF THE

the Board of Trade, the Department of State, Creek Chief, at a Council, about 1800. It is as
and Home Office, with similar ill success. Mr. follows : " T h e r e are in the forks of Red-river,
Bucknall, of the State Paper Office, writes, in u(we-cha-te-hat-che au-fus-ke), West of MissisJanuary, 1869, " I suppose the fact really is, that s i p p i (we-o-coof-ke, muddy water), two mounds
At this place, the Cussetuh,
" t h e ' G e o r g i a ' Office was the office of the then " o f earth.
44
Crown Agents for the Colony. If so, I should " Cowetuh, and Chickasaw found themselves.
" i m a g i n e that any attempt to recover the docu- | ' ' They were at a loss for fire. Here they were
" ment would be almost hopeless." Finally, the "visited by the Hi-you-yul-gee, four men who
British Museum was questioned ; and then my ' 4 came from the four corners, of the earth. One
courteous correspondent, who bad already done 41 of these asked the Indians where they would
They pointed to
so much more than I could have"asked of him, " have their file (tote-kit-cau).
" a place; it was m a d e ; and they sat down
was obliged to abandon the search.
The interest which attaches to this lost docu- " around it. One of these visitors showed them
ment is the greater, as it displays in such mne- " the pas-sau ; another showed them mic-co-ho
monic characters as the native tribes were familiar " yon-ejau, then the au chen-au (cedar), and
with, the legendary history of their Nation,—a " too-loh (sweet-bay;) the sacred plants, seven in
legend which, for authenticity and purity of form, " a l l . After this, the four visitors disappeared
surpasses any other from the Indian hunting " in a cloud, going from whence they came.
tribes with which I am acquainted. It would ap" After this, some other Indians came from the
pear from Mr. Trubner's letter, that no version " W e s t , met them, and had a great wrestle with
of it is among the papers in the State Paper Of- " t h e t h r e e t o w n s ; they made ball-sticks and
fice, so that, probably, the only one extant is that ' 4 played with them, with bows and arrows, and
which I am about to translate. It is found in a " t h e war club (au-tus-sau).
They fell out,
work published by Samuel Urlspeiger, at Halle, " f o u g h t , and killed each other.
After this
in 1741, entitled, Herrn Philipp Georg Frieder- " waning, the three towns moved eastwardly, and
ichs von Reck, Diarium von Seiner Reue nach " a n d they met the Aube-cuh, at Coosau-river,
Qeorgien im Jahr 1735. The author, von Reck, 4 ' Here they agreed to go to war, for four years,
was Commissary of the German emigrants from "against their first enemy. They made shields
Salzburg, and visited Georgia in their interest. " (te-po-lux-o) of buffalo h i d e s ; and it was
He wrote his Diarv in French, from which lan- 4 agreed that the warriors of each town should
guage it was translated in manuscript, and pub- 44 try and bring forward the scalps (e-cau-hallished as a part of Urlspergei's Nachrichten,
It lipe) of the enemy and pile them ; the Auis not the same work of von Reck which was u oe-cuh had a small pile, the Ghickasaws were
published at Hamburg, in 1777 ; and, of course, 44 above them, the Oowetuhs above them, and the
it is not the earlier production which appeared 44 Gussetuhs above all. The two last towns raisunder his name, in 1732 ; and it is not mentioned " ed the scalp-pole (itlo-chate, red-wood), and
in any bibliographical work. There are very 44 do not suffer any other town to raise it. Gusfew copies of the Nachrichten in this country, 44 setuh is first in rank.
44
which are complete ; and I think that von Reek's
They then commenced their settlements on
Diarium is one of the portions most frequently 44 Goo-saw and Tal-la-poo-saw ; and crossing the
44
missing. This is doubtless because it contains
falls of Tallapoosa, above
lodl-cau-uat-che,
a useful description of the Province of Geor- 44 they visited the Chat-to-ho-che, and found a
44
gia ; and it was, therefore, separated and carried
race of people with flat heads, in possession of
44
off by emigrants.
the mounds in the Cussetuh fields. These
44
people used bows and arrows, with strings
Apart from the stamp of accuracy which von
'
Reek's account bears, it is borne out by two later '44 made of sinews. The great physic-makers (auauthorities, and shown to be the national le- 44 lic-chul-gee) sent some rats in the night time,
gend of the Chahta-Muskokee Nations—their Il- 44 which gnawed the strings, and, in the morning,
they attacked and defeated the flats. They
iad and their Voluspa.
44
One of these is Colonel Benjamin Hawkins, 44 crossed the river at the island, near the mound,
After
who, about the close of the last and the com- 44 and took possession of the country.
mencement of the present century, was United 44 this, they spread out eastwardly, and met the
white people on the sea-coast."—Sketch of the
States Agent to the Creeks ; and was somewhat
acquainted with their language, and familiar Greek Country, 81, 82, 83.
We have here a tradition which claims to date
with their traditions. His Sketch of the Greek
Country was published by the Georgia Histori- back long before the Columbian era, for we know
cal Society, in 1848 ; and a manuscript copy of that, early in the sixteenth century, the Creeks
the same work is preserved in the Library of the occupied what is now the State of Georgia, back
American Philosophical Society. The version he to a period when they lived far West of the Missisgi¥es,was delivered by Tus^se-kiah Mic-co, a: sippi ; and when the large tumuli and eapth-s^rks,

CHAHTA-MUSKOKEE TRIBES.

7

still found along the Chattahoochee-river, were
' ' ' King ; Tahmokmi,
War Captain of the
occupied by a flat-headed race of warriors, who,
" ' Eusantees ; and thirty other Warriors. [2]
it would not be difficult to show, from collateral
" ' At a certain time, the Earth opened in the
evidence, were pure-blooded Choctaws.
The importance of substantiating this legend " ' West, where its mouth is. The earth opened
impressed me so much that, last year, (1869) I *' ' and the Cussitaws [S] came out of its mouth,
copied and sent it to Mrs. A. E . W. Robertson, ' ' ' and settled near by. But the earth became
of the Tallahassee Mission, who has, probably, a " * angry and ate up their children; therefore, they
more critical knowledge of the Muskokee or Creek '' ' moved further West. A part of them, however,
;
* ' turned back, and came again to the same
tongue than any other person living, with the request to examine the original words it contains, '' ' place where they had been, and settled there.
and to ascertain whether the Tribe still retains ' ' ' The greater number remained behind, bethis ancient account. Mrs. Robertson spared the I " ' cause they thought it best to do so.
" 'Their children, [4] nevertheless, were eaten
time from her many duties to write me several I
letters of great interest, and throwing much light " ' by the Earth, so that, full of dissatisfaction,
on points of the recital, otherwise very obscure. " ' they journeyed toward the sunrise.
She read the legends to intelligent Creeks, who 1 ' ' ' They came to a thick, muddy, slimy river,
at once recognized them as versions of others ' ' came there, camped there, rested there, and
which they h a d heard from the old men. The " 'stayed over night there. [5]
" i The next day, they continued their jourexplanations of various words and customs, which
Mrs. Robertson sent me, I shall insert in the ' ' ' ney and came, in one day, to a red, bloody
Notes to the older and fuller version given by " ' river. [6] They lived by this river, and ate of
von Reck. She has adopted the modern orthog- " ' its fishes for two years; but there were low
"
raphy of the Muskokee—that found in the print- u ' springs there ; and it did not please them to
' remain. They went toward the end of this
ed books, and which was decided upon, in 1853,
by a number of Interpreters and Chiefs, under the ' ' ' bloody river, and heard a noise as of thunder.
auspices of the Missionaries, at the Old Agency, " 'They approached to see whence the noise
in the Indian Territory. I may say of this al- " 'came. At first, they perceived a red smoke,
phabet, that the letters, vowels and consonants, ' ' ' and then a mountain which thundered; and
are pronounced very nearly as in English, ex- "l ' on the mountain, was a sound as of singing.
cept the c, which has the sound of ch, the r which ' ' They sent to see what this was; and it was a
has the sound hi, the a which is as i n / o r , and the ' ' ' great fire which blaeed upward, and made
v which represents the neutral or semi-vowel. " ' this singing noise. This mountain they named
Each vowel has a corresponding soft nasal sound. " ' the King of Mountains. It thunders to this
I shall now proceed to translate, from the " ' d a y ; and men are very much afraid of it.
Sixth Chapter of von Reek's Diarium,
append' ' ' They here met a people of three different
ing, in the form of Notes, such explanatory re- " ' Nations. They had taken and saved some of
marks as have suggested themselves.
' ' ' the fire from the mountain ; and, at this place,
{.THE
LEGEND^
' ' ' they also obtained a knowledge of herbs and
" ' of many other things. [7]
" W H A T CHEKILLI, THE HEAD-CHIEF OF T H E U P " ' From the East, a white fire came to them ;
" P E R AND L O W E R CREEKS SAID, IN A TALK " 'which, however, they would not use.
" H E L D AT SAVANNAH, ANNO, 1775, AND WHICH
" ' From Wahalle, [8J came a fire which was
" W A S HANDED OVER BY T H E INTERPRETER, " ' blue ; neither did they use it.
" W R I T T E N UPON A BUFFALO-SKIN, WAS, WORD
' ' ' From the West, came a fire which was
" FOR WORD, AS FOLLOWS :
" ' black ; nor would they use it.
' ; ' At last, came a fire from the North, which
* ' ' Speech which, in the year 1785, was delivered
" ' at Savannah, in Georgia, by Chekilli, Em- " ' was red and yellow. This they mingled with
" ' peror of the Upper and Lower Creeks [1]; " ' the fire they had taken from the mountain;
" ' Antiche, highest Chief of the town of " ' and this is the fire they use to-day ; and this,
' ' ' the Cowetas, Eliche, King ; Ousta, Head " ' too, sometimes sings.
" ' On the mountain, was a pole which was
" l Chief of the Cussitaws, Tomechaw, War
" ' King ; Wali, War Captain of the Pala- ' ' ' very restless and made a noise, nor could any
" * chucolas, Poepiche, King;
Tomehuichi, I " ' one say how it could be quieted. At length,
11 i
Dog King of the Euchitaws ;
Mittakawye, I ' * ' they took a motherless child, and struck it
1
' ' Read War Chief of the Okonees, Tuwe- " ' against the pole ; and thus killed the child.
" lchiche, King; Whoyauni, Head War Chief " ' They then took the pole, and carry it with
il
' of the Chehaws and of the Hokmulge Na- " ' them when they go to war. It was like a
4
*' * tion ; Stimelacoweche, King of the Osoches ; " wooden tomahawk, such as they now use, and
11 l
Opithli, King of the Jawocolos;
Ewenauki, I " ' of the same wood. [9] Here, they also found

&

THE NATIONAL LEGEND OF THE

" 4 four herbs or roots, which sang and disclosed " ' perceived that people had been there. They
" * their virtues : First, Pasaw, the rattle-snake " ' crossed the path, and slept near there. Af" ' r o o t ; Second, Micoweanochaw, red-root; 4' 4 terward, they turned back to see what sort of
44
' Third, Sowatchko, which grows like wild 4 ' ' path that was, and who the people were who
" 'fennel; and, Fourth, Eschalapootchlce, little " 4 had been there, in the belief that it might be
44
" 'tobacco. [10]
'betterfor them to follow that path. They
44
' These herbs, especially the first and third, '' ' went along it, to a creek, called Coloose hutche,
' ' ' they use as the best medicine to purify thern- " ' t h a t is Coloose-creek, because it was rocky
4
' ' selves at their Busk. [11]
" ' there and smoked. [14]
44 4
44 4
At this Bnsk, which is held yearly, they
They crossed it, going toward the sunrise,
44 4
4
fast, and make offerings of the first-fruits.
' 4 and came to a people and a town named Coo'
44 4
Since they learned the virtues of these " saw. [15] Here they remained four years. The
444
herbs, their women, at certain times, have a 4 4 4 Coosaws complained that they were preyed
44 4
separate fire, and remain apart from the men 4 4 ' upon by a wild beast, which they called man44
'five, six, and seven days, for the sake of puri- 4 4 4 eater or lion, which lived in a rock. [16]
44
'fication. If they neglect this, the power of
" 4 The Cussitaws said they would try to kill
4( 4
the herbs would depart; and the women 4 4 4 the beast. They digged a pit and stretched
44 4
" ' would not be healthy.
over it a net made of hickory-bark. They
" ' About that time, a dispute arose, as to which 4 4 4 then laid a number of branches, crosswise,
4
4 4
''4 was the oldest and which should rule; and ' so that the lion could not follow them, and
4
' they agreed, as they were four Nations, they " 4 going to the place where he lay, they threw
44 4
would set up four poles, and make them red 44 4 a rattle into his den. The lion rushed forth,
'' ' with clay, which is yellow at first, but becomes " 4 in great anger, and pursued them through the
' ' ' red by burning. They would then go to war; 4 ' ' branches. Then they thought it better that
'*'and whichever Nation should first cover its '' 4 one should die rather than all, so they took a
" ' pole, from top to bottom, with the scalps of 4 ' 4 motherless child, and threw it before the lion,
" ' their enemies, should be the oldest.
" 4 as he came near the pit. The lion rushed at
44
" 'it,
'They all tried, but the Cussitaws covered 4 4 4 and fell in the pit, over which they threw
44 4
their pole first, and so thickly that it was hid- 44 the net, and killed him with blazing pine44
' den from sight. Therefore, they were looked 4' wood. His bones, however, they keep to this
'44 day ; on one side, they are red, on the other,
'
" 4 upon, by the whole Nation, as the oldest.
44
' blue.
'The Chickasaws covered their pole next;
4
" 4 then the Atiiamas; but the Obikaws did not 4 4 4'4 4 The lion used to come every seventh day to
44
kill the people. Therefore, they remained
cover their pole higher than the knee. [12]
44 4
At that time, there was a bird of large size, " 4 there seven days after they had killed him.
4
' ' blue in color, with a long tail, and swifter " ' I n remembrance of him, when they prepare
' ' ' than an eagle, which came every day and '' 4 for War, they fast six days and start on the
' ' ' killed and ate their people. They made an " '4 seventh. [17] If they take his bones with
" ' image, in the shape of a woman, and placed 4 ' them, they have good fortune.
" 4 4 it in the way of this bird. The bird carried 4 4 4 4 After four years, they left the Coosaws, and
'
4
it off, and kept it a long time, and then ' ' came to a River which they called Nowphaw4
" brought it back. They left it alone, hoping 44 '•pe, now Oallasi hutche. There, they tarried
" ' i t would bring something forth. After a '' ' two years; aud as they had no corn, they liv" ' long time, a red rat came forth from it, and j " 4 ed on roots and fishes, and made bows, point'
4
" ' they believe the bird was the father of the rat. 44' 4 ing the arrows with beaver teeth and flint" ' They took council with the rat, how to de^ I stones, and for knives they used split canes.
" ' stroy its father. Now the bird had a bow I 44 4 4 4 They left this place, and came to a creek,
" ' and arrows ; and the rat gnawed the bow- 4'called Wattoolahawha hutche, Whooping'' ' string, so that the bird could not defend it- j ' ' 4 creek, so called from the whooping of cranes,
" ' self; and the people killed it. They called I "4 4 a great many being there. They slept there
" ' this bird the King of Birds. They think the 4 one night.
' ' ' eagle is also a great King ; and they carry its
" ' They next came to a River, in which there
"'feathers when they go to War or make " ' was a waterfall; this they named the Owatun" 'Peace : the red mean War, the white, Peace, " ' Tea-river. [18]
" 'If an enemy approaches with white feathers
" 'The next day, they reached another River,
'' ' and a white mouth, and cries like an eagle, 4 4 4 which they called the Aphoosa pheeslcaw.
" < they dare not kill him. [18]
' ' ' The following day, they crossed it, and came
"
" ' After this, they left that place, and came (i ' to a high mountain, where were people who,
' they believed, were the same who made the
'• ' to a white foot-path. The grass and every" ' thing around were white ; and they plainly I " ' white path. They, therefore, made white ar-

9

CHAHTA-MUSKOKEE TRIBES.

" ' r o w s and shot them, to see if they were good |
" ' people. But the people took their white ar" ' rows, painted them red, and shot them back.
" ' When they showed these to their Chief, he
' ' ' said that was not a good sign ; if the arrows
" ' returned had been white, they could have gone
" 'there and brought food for their children, but
" 'as they were red they must not go. Never' ' ' theless, some of them went to see what sort of
" ' people they were; and found their houses de' ' ' serted. They also saw a trail which led into the
' ' ' River; and as they could not see the trail on
" ' t h e opposite bank, they believed that the peo" ' pie had gone into the River, and would not
" ' again come forth.
" 4 At that place, is a mountain, called Moter" 'ell, which makes a noise like beating on a
" ' d r u m ; and they think this people live there.
" ' [19] They hear this noise on all sides, when
4
' ' they go to War.
' ' ' They went along the River, till they came to
" ' a waterfall, where they saw great rocks; and
" ' on the rocks were bows lying; [20] and they
" ' believed the people who made the wnite path
" ' h a d been there.
" ' T h e y always have, on their journeys, two
" 'scouts who go before the main body. These
' ' ' scouts ascended a high mountain and saw a
" ' town. They shot white arrows into the town ;
" ' but the people of the town shot back red
" 'arrows.
" ' T h e n theCussitaws become angry, and de" 'termined to attack the town, and each one
" 'have a house when it was captured.
" 'They threw stones into the River, until they
" ' could cross it, and took the town, (the people
" ' h a d flattened heads), and killed all but two
' ' ' persons.
In pursuing these, they found a
" ' white dog which they slew. They followed
' ' ' the two who escaped, until they came again
" ' to the white path, and saw the smoke of a
" 'town, and thought that this must be the peo" ' p i e they had so long been seeking. This is
" ' the place where now the tribe of Palachucolas
" 'live, from whom Tomochichi is descended. [21]
" ' T h e Cussitaws continued bloody-minded;
" ' b u t the Palachucolas gave them black drink,
" 'as a sign of friendship, and said to them :
" ' Our hearts are white, and yours must be white,
' ' ' and you must lay down the bloody tomahawk,
' ' ' and show your bodies, as a proof that they
" 'shall be white.
" ' Nevertheless, they were for the tomahawk ;
' ' ' but the Palachucolas got it by persuasion,
' ' ' and buried it under their beds. The Palachu" 'colas likewise gave them white feathers; and
' ' ' asked to have a Chief in common. Since then
" ' they have always lived together.
" ' Some settled"on one side of the River, some
" ' on the other. Those on one side are called

" 'Cussetaws, those on the other, Cowetas; [22]
" ' y e t they are one people, and the principal
" ' towns of the Upper and Lower Creeks. Never' ' ' theless, as the Cussetaws first saw the red
" ' s m o k e and the red lire, and make bloody
' ' ' towns, they cannot yet leave their red hearts,
" ' w h i c h are, however, white on one side and
'' ' red on the other.
" ' T h e y now know that the white path was
" ' the best for them. [23] For, although Tom" ' ochichi was a stranger, they see he has done
" ' them g o o d ; because he went to see the great
" ' King with Esquire Oglethorpe, and heard his
' ' ' talk, and had related it to them, and they
" ' had listened to it, and believed it.' "
[EXPLANATORY N O T E S . ]

1.—Emperor

of the Upper and Lower

Creeks.

The Creek Nation was divided into Upper
and Lower Creeks. The former were settled
chiefly on the upper tributaries of the Alabamariver. The latter occupied both banks of the
Chattahoochee-river, and extended over the territory between this and the lower course of the
Savannah-river. At this period, each of these
divisions numbered about twelve hundred warriors. Both were united under one ruler, in
whose family, the supreme power was hereditaiy, in the female line. He is called in the
French narratives, f Empereur, in the Spanish,
el Emperador, and in the German original of
von Reck, der Kayser.
His residence seems to
have been at or near Coosa, on the river of
that name. (See Barcia, Ensayo Gronologieo,
F o l . 331). His subjects were divided into four
clans or families, apparently a politico-geographical division; and each of these, again,
into towns. Nearly every town h a d its Peacechief, or King, mekko, who exercised civil functions, and its War-chief, who led the fighting
men, in times of strife. This distinction is observed in the list which heads Chekilli's Oration. A few towns h a d no War-chiefs, and
were called white or Peace-towns; still fewer
h a d no Peace-chiefs, and w^re styled, Redtowns.
[2] Of the Nations here mentioned, the Eusantees, or Santees, and, perhaps, the Jawocolos,
lived North of the Savannah-river; the remaining eight all belonged to the Lower Creeks.
Chekilli and his Warriors represented the Upper Creeks.
8.—Cussitaws.
Von Reck says, in a Note to this passage:
" Cussitaw means Sun; the Sun vvished t h a t
" they should be so called."
This is evidently an explanation of the Inter-

10

THE NATIONAL LEGEND OF THB

preter. But Mrs. Robertson tells me t h a t this is I this singular superstition in their myths. The
not a Creek word. Its Creek form is kvshetv. only other reference I have found to it, is in a
Rev. James Perryman, an aged Indian, inform- tract called, A State of the Province of Georgia,
ed her t h a t " in the old Nation, the village of published, London, 1741, and included in Col" kvshetv was A-pv-td-ye," which is corroborated onel Peter Force's Collection. The author says:
by Hawkins's Sketch of the Greek Country, 5k).
(p. 1,) " The Blew-mouths and other Indians
According to a tradition of the Chickasaws, " live toward the South Sea."
the Cussitaws (Cush-eh-tah) were originally a
5.—A thick, muddy, slimy river.
band of their Nation who migrated East, earlier than the remainder. They were subsequentWeokufke, muddy-water,—from uewv, water,
ly invited by the Chickasaws to return; but okhufke, muddy—the usual Creek name for the
they replied, they were tired of moving, and Mississippi. This fixes the first geographical
declined.—Schoolcraft's History and Statistics of point in their wanderings.
the Indian
Tribes, i., 309. Yet Hawkins,
6.—A red, bloody river.
throughout, speaks of them as real Muskokee.
This hint leads us to look for the meaning
Wecate rakko, great red water, from ueov, waassigned to the word, in the Chahta or Choc- ter, cate, red, rakko, great, is a name applied by
taw tongue, which was that spoken by the the Muskokee, at present, to both the Arkansas
Chickasaws. According to a manuscript Vocal- and the Red-river. It is equally suitable to any
ulaire Chacta, now in the Library of the A- stream which is colored by a reddish soil. As
merican Philosophical Society, formerly in the they were journeying eastward, from the Missispossession of Mr. Duponceau, cou-tchd is the sippi, Chekilli could, of course, have referred
rising, the East, oriens, as hdche cou-tchd, the to neither of these. For reasons which will
sun-rising. This is clearly the origin oi the presently appear, I think the Big Black is the
name Cussitaw, and was applied to the Tribe stream meant.
because i t was t h e easternmost, the nearest the
7.—The King of Mountains.
sun-rise, of any of the ancient Chahta Tribes.
This is confirmed by a venerable Choctaw traOne might suppose, from his description, t h a t
dition, which states that, " The Creeks, Choc- Chekilli h a d seen or heard of a volcano; but
" taws, and Chickasaws emigrated together from his language is more probably to be understood
" a distant country, far in the West. The Creeks largely metaphorically; and the mountain as the
" were in front; the Choctaws in the rear; and " Hill of Heaven."
'' the Chickasaws between them."—Rev. Alfred
It is a striking analogy, that both Choctaw
Wright, in the Missionary Herald, xxiv, 214; and Chickasaw legends refer the origin of their
a most excellent authority on Chahta traditions. civil and social regulations to instructions acMoreover, Colonel Hawkins tells us that " Cus- quired during their residence at a certain Moun" setuh and Ohickasah consider themselves peo- [ tain. T h e Creeks, as we see, call this Mounu
pie of one fire, to-te-kit-cau humgoce, from the tain, the King of Mountains, rvne-em-mekko, or
" earliest account of their origin."—Sketch, etc. ekvnvlwe-em-mekko, the latter from ekvnv, land,
83.
which may also mean, world; and the compound
This traditional identity of these three Na- is translated by Mrs. Robertson " W o r l d or landtions, is borne out by language, as has been re- " k i n g ; " and she adds that it is a common excognized by all who have compared Muskokee pression. The Choctaws and Chickasaws calhand Chahta.—See Buckner's Maskoke Grammar, ed tlie Mountain, nanih waiya, the stooping or
3 6 ; G-allatin, Transactions American
Antiqua- sloping hill.
rian Society, ii., 405. This identity adds greatly
At this place, they agreed in saying, they
to the interest of the legend of Chekilli.
learned the properties of the sacred plants, the
use of fire, the laws which governed their Con4.—Their
children,
federation and their social life, and such ini. e. The children of those who returned east- struction in religious rites and medicine, as the
ward. I do not venture to explain what is meant Supreme Being deemed necessary for them.
by the earth eating them. The original has a Some legends, indeed, distinctly declared that
Note, apparently intended to bear upon the ques- they were originally created at this m o u n t ; and
tion. I t is as follows: " According to the French that it was the first part of the earth to emerge
" Indians, there is a large city where a blue-lip- from that state of moist chaos, which they hold
" ped people live, of whom they have often was the primal condition of things, and which
" heard it said, t h a t if any one tries to kill them, they express by a word now applied to clotting
blood, or other similar gelatinous mass. For" he becomes insane."
By the " French Indians," I presume the Choc- tunately their memory served them to locate
taws are m e a n t ; b u t I know of no reference to I definitely this venerable elevation. I t is in the

11

CHAHTA-MUSKOKEE TBIBES.

present State of Mississippi, on the Big Blackriver ; and is represented to be a very large tumulus, seemingly of artificial origin, connected
with the bluffs, a half mile distant, by a high
causeway. This is, undoubtedly, as I have elsewhere shown, the same mount which figures in
Muskokee tradition—See Myths of the New
World, 226.
The three Nations whom they met at this
point, were the Chickasaws, Atilamas, and Obekaws, as we learn later. Other traditions state
that the whole Chahta-Muskokee Tribes were
one Nation, divided into two d a n s , and fiist
separated into several distinct nationalities, at
this Mountain. This is probably the signification of the text.—See Wright, as above.
8.—

Wahalle.

From Muskoki, wa-hvlv, the South. The four
cardinal points are here connected with the four
colors, as they were in Central American and
Mexican symbolism.—See my Myths, 80. They
correspond to the four visitors, who brought
fire from the four cardinal points, mentioned in
Colonel Hawkins's version; and called, by his
informant, the Hi-you-yul-gee, a cabalistic word,
the plural form of hi-yo-yu, a charm or invocation, constantly repeated in their sacred chants.
The word for fire given by Hawkins, tote-kitcau, is from tot-kv, fire, etke, kindled. This element was regarded by all these tribes, with great
veneration. The Choctaw songs call fire, hashtali
iticapa, eldest son or mate of the sun ; and they
avoid discreditable deeds before a fire, saying it
will tell them to the Sun.

abama, South-west of Huntsville, formally known
as the "Chickasaw Old Fields."—Schoolcraft's
Indian Tribes,!., 309.
The Creeks still carry with them, when they go
to War, the pole, or the War-pole, vtvsse; and
Bartram speaks of it as always erected in their
town squares.
In their sacred dances, they
still flourish, as I am informed, the vtvssvhake, or
image of the pole.
10.—The

Sacred

Plants.

Mrs. Robertson has taken pains to ascertain for me precisely what these four plants are,
and their correct names; Passv, is the buttonsnake-root ; Eryngium aguaticum, an active emetic ; Mekko hoyvneev (king purger ?) is a variety
of willow, probably Salix Candida ; Sowacko is
described by old Creeks, as an herb about three
feet high, with blue flowers, about an inch in
length, having a root with a bitter taste. Hawkins
says " it has the effect of intoxicating and madd e n i n g ; " (p. 78) esse or vsse lupocke, (leaves
small) is a small tree found in Georgia.—Hawkins calls it itch-au-chu-le-puc-pug-gee;
and translates this long name " the old man's tobacco."
(P. 77).
11.—The
Busk.

This solemn festival was held at the time the
green corn became old enough to be fit for use.
It commenced with a fast of several days duration, whence the name posketv, fasting, from posJoe, to fast, corrupted into busk. Colonel Hawkins, in his Sketch, gives a full description of the
interesting ceremonies which took place at this
time. By the whites, it was often called " the
9.—The restless p^ole.
" green corn dance," as saltation was a conspicThe pole is mentioned in all the legends of this ious feature in the ceremonies. It is referred to
cyclus. The Choctaws said that when they left by Laudonniere, who visited the coast of Georgia,
the far West, they were guided by a prophet, in 1562, under the name toya.
who carried in his hand the hobuna, or sacred
12. —The Four Tribes.
bag containing charms, and a long white pole.
The fourfold division of the Muskokee Tribes
At every encampment, he planted the pole firmly
in the earth, and suspended to it the bag.
If, dates from an ancient epoch, and is referred to by
the next morning, the pole was found upright, several writers ; but there is a discrepancy in the
it was to be the sign that their long journeying names assigned the divisions. The text gives;
Gussetaws.
was terminated and that they had reached the
seats destined for their permanent abode; but if
r.i
it was leaning, then they must go forward in the
Atilamas.
direction it pointed. Every morning, the pole
Obikaivs.
was found inclining toward the East, until they
Colonel Hawkins differs in one name :—
reached nanih waiya, where it remained upright;
Gussetuh.
and its ' 'restlessness," as Chekilli called it, was
Ghickasaw.
quieted. This they recognized as the sign that
Gowetuh.
they were to live in that region.—Eev. Alfred
Aubekuh.
Wright, as above.
"Atilamas,"
is, I think, a mistake for "Aliba11
mas," the name given by the French to a Tribe
The Chickasaws related that they also were
guided by a pole, with no mention of a prophet, of the Upper Creeks, and from which the State of
which pointed constantly the way they should Alabama derives its name. Gowetuh, Goweta,
gor At length, the pole rested in that part of Al- or as spelled by the Spanish, Gaveta, was a late?

12

THE NATIONAL LEGEND OF THE

designation; and is probably the Uchee word,
cohwita, man or people. The Uchees lived a short
distance below the town of Coweta, on the Flintriver.
Mr. Mitchell, a former Indian Agent, gave Mr.
Gallatin the divisions, as follows:—
Gussetah.
Gowetah.
\
Tuckawbatchie.
Osooche.
Transactions American Antiquarian
Society,
ii., 95. This, however, must refer to the Lower Creeks only, as none of the Upper Creek
towns are represented.
It is an important observation, that, in both Chekilli's and Hawkins's divisions, the Chikasaws
are mentioned as an integral part of the Muskokee, as it illustrates the unity of these tribes,
in early times.
13.—The

Eagle.

16.—Man-eater

17.—Seven

days.

The seven-day period, several times repeated in
this legend, is worthy of notice as being one of
the few instances among the American aborigines,
where any sacredness is attached to this number,
so conspicuous for the religious associations which
surround it, in early Aryan and Semitic mythology. The Quichuas of Peru, according to Garcilasso de la Vega, were accustomed to alternate
in performing services in their temples, every seventh day.
18. — Owatunka.
They had now left the Coosa, and journeying
South of East, were approaching the Chattahoochie. The Watunka, from Mus. ww, water,
tvmTcv, rumbling or failing, is the main branch of
the Uchee-creek, Aphoosa pheeskaw means ' ' the
" b a r k e d sapling."

lJf. — Goloose—hutche.

15. —Pursuing an easterly course they reached
Gusa, Goosaw, or Goca, a famous town, visited
by De Soto, in 1540, and the " objective p o i n t "
of the ill-starred expedition of Tristan de Luna,
in 1559. It was situated on the left bank of the
river of that name, in northern Alabama. The
word is not Muskokee, but probably Choctaw.
Hawkins's version speaks of it as the ancestral
residence of the Obikaws, which conflicts with
the text.

estepapv, peo-

This voracious, and probably mythical, beast,
figures extensively in Muskokee legends. His
bones are still carried with them on their wartrails, as horre holeswv, war-medicine. The tradition is briefly given by Hawkins (p. 79.) as in
the text.
These bones were mingled with the fragments
of the horn of the horned-snake, likewise a
mythical animal. The Creek name of this serpent, chetto yhuoM, is remarkable for its similarity to the generic term for a poisonous snake in
the Cakchiquel of Guatemala, chita~kyagobi-~Diccionario de la Lengua GaJcchiquel, MS. in the
library of the American Philosophical Society.
No known animal bears either of these names
in the Creek tongue, to-day; and they are probably personifications' of natural forces, the exact
meaning of which can no longer be recognized.

The Creeks, of to-day, venerate the Eagle,
Ivmhe, and regard it as the King of Birds. At
the celebration of the posJcetv, they erected a
wooden image of it.
When Tomo-chi-chi was presented to the King
of England [173Jf) he held forth several eagle
feathers, and said : "These are the feathers of
u
the Eagle, which is the swiftest of birds, and
' ' flies ali around our nations. These feathers
" are a sign of Peace in our l a n d ; and we have
" brought them over to leave with you, O ! King,
" as a sign of everlasting Peace."—Jones's Historical Sketch of Tomo-chi-chi, Mico of the Yamacraws, 64.
The red rat is a figure of speech as difficult to
decipher as the famous rothes Mauschen in
Goethe's Walpurgisnacht.
In Muskokee, rat is
cesse, red, cate.

I am informed that this is not a Creek word.
It is, I think, a false orthography of Tuslca lusa
hatche, from Choctaw, tuslca warrior, lusa, black,
Mus. hatchi, creek; and the reference is to the
river, still known as the Black Warrior, or Tuscaloosa. This they had now reached, in journeying eastward, from the upper waters of the
Big Black.

or lion—literally,
ple-eater.

19.—Moterell.
j

This is not a Creek word, and the reference is
unintelligible.
20.—This river was the Chattahoochee, a name
from the Mus. cetto, rock or stone, and hvche,
marked or pictured, so called from some rocks,
curiously stratified, found near the falls.
21.—The town of the Palachucolas was on the
right bank of the Chattahoochee, four miles below the confluence of the Uchee-creek.
22. —The Coweta town was on the right bank
of the Chattahoochee, three miles below the Falls.
The Cussitaw town was on the left bank, a few
miles farther down stream.

23.—In this last paragraph the symbolic character of the white path is disclosed. Adair reI marks of these Indians: " W h i t e is their fixed

CHAHTA-MTJSKOKEE INDIANS.

" e m b l e m , of peace, friendship, happiness, pros- I
" perity, purity, and holiness."—History of the
North American Indians, 159.
It is important in attempting to follow Chekilli's meaning, to bear in mind the well-understood symbolism which the tribes he represented
attached to different colors. They had definite
meanings which often served in place of an alphabet or an interpreter.

13

tribes previously possessing those regions. By
these changes, their language acquired many
foreign elements; but their energy and superior
skill retained for ihe Chahta the pre-eminence
their valor had acheived, and in time gave them
the control of the numerous tribes, affiliated for
the greater part with themselves, which, in later
times, were known as the " Empire " of the Upper and Lower Creeks.
As there is independent evidence, which it is
[CONCLUSION.]
needless to rehearse here, showing t h a t the ApNo doubt there are elements foreign to the alaches and the Caloosas of Florida were also
Chahta in the language spoken by the Mukokee. Chahta in language and blood, we have satisBut there is also so strong a similarity in ver- factory proof that, from West of the Mississipbal and grammatical forms, that the near rela- pi to the Atlantic shore, and from the Mountionship of these Nations, in ancient times, does tains to the Gulf, this tribe, the Chahta, connot admit of question. The legend which I trolled the whole territory. When, therefore, we
have here produced goes back to that almost find that they distinctly retained reminiscences
forgotten peri od when the separation h a d not of a journey irom the West or the South-west,
taken place. We learn from it, the historical to the abodes they occupied when first visited
fact that bands of Chahta, under the collective by the whites, (15^0) the inquiry as to where
name, Cussetuh, or Eastern People, led the mi- | was their previous habitat becomes one of no
gration from beyond the Mississippi, certainly | little importance in the ancient history of Amelong before the Columbian era; and following rica, and one which we may venture upon w i t h
the fertile river bottoms, drove out, destroyed, fair hopes of success.
or absorbed into their own nationality, various I