The New Orleans bulletin. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1874-1876, 1875-01-27
A Great Indian Fishing Party ON the
TOmbigbee River.


q DR.. Gideon Lincecum, now an octogen
rian, gives the following interesting sketch
g the american Sportsman:
: Just above some shoals there was stretcl
= OF deep still water, which continued seven c
eight miles. The year 1928 was exceedingl
dry, and the river became very low-favoIa
BILE for the Indian method of fishing
1t was about the middle Of August, whe.
ltewaumba, the old chief, sent me an invita-
ton to attend the grand national picnic, 70
which purpose the Chickasaws were alread
beginning to assemble at the deep river
above the Paineyigaby shoal.
Two or three days after the invitation came
| went to the appointed place and was sur
prlsed to find such a multitude of men, wo
men and children. It was to be a nationa
feast, and every one who was able to travel
came. They told Inc that there were on the
ground four thousand and four people, al
Chlckasaws. They were camped along the
shore the whole length Of the deep water; and
those who were not out in the woods digging
and preparing the buckeye root (Aescui,ts rat-
| Jra) were making wide, low scatfolds to bar
becue the fish on. Except the old men and
boys under sixteen years, every male had to
| furnish basket of finely beat up buckeye
root. The basket contained about fifty-tive
pounds. Some females having no husbands
brought baskets full.
Soon after my arrival it was narrated that
the buckeye was all'there and the eastihdos-
medicine men, or priests sent out word that
the medicine had worked very favorably and
that the buckeye root must be put into the
river at an hour before sunset. The time
came, and in they went with their baskets full
OF fish poison, and, plunging, or rather
churning these violently as they moved along
n JSt rJI Tod fha
the whole length OF the deep hole and now
they wait for the medicine to work.
My old friend Itewaumba was there, having
his three wives and their thirty children with
him, many OF them grown young men and
women; three married ones With this BIG
family had to tarry during the feast. They
were clever people with whom l had been
long familiar.
The Indians danced nearly all night, waiting
for the medicine to work, so they might know
when to begin to take out the fish. Fires were
klndled under all the scaffolds before sunrise,
and everything ready to go to cooking the fish,
which were visible everywhere on the surface
OF the water; not dead, but feebly moving
about on their backs. No one attempted to
toucha fish until the medicine men proclaimed |
that the time had come
1t was quite perceptible that the young peo-
pie were becoming impatient, and the whole
ground was beginning to work with many
very curious water bugs and small terrapins,
md things | had never seen before; and now,
o'clock, the signal came for the work to be-
gin, and into the river plunged the young
people, male and female, who had long bees
lolding themselves ready for it.
In very shor time every scaffold was COW
cred with all sorts of fish. The elderly people
were attending to the cooking while the young
oil Sna1 81 IL.
enough had been cooked for breakfast, signal
,hoop came from the camp Of the medicine
men that every one must come out of the
water and commence the feast Instantly the
liver was evacuated and the scaffods sur
Ounded and the ''fiesto' began. Some time
fter the entire ground along the river bank
vas covered with scale fish of all the kinds
belonging to that river in amazing quantities.
Soon the signal came for them to use their
pears and arrows, with orders to finish
aking out the fish as soon as possible, and
or the cooking and drying them to be hur-
led, for tomorrow the fish must be all ready
, pack, and they would start home. All :
nat day and till late at night the scaffolds
called, only disemboweled, and placed imme-
lately over the fire. There was some one or
mother of them eating all day. They did
OF get all the fish out TIL near night. 1t was $
little curious to observe the different del
rees of power among the fish to resist the !!
eleterious effects of the poison. The perch =
nd small scale fish came first, then the trout
lmily, suckers, all the scale fish. Then the n
lue cats, then the big, fat yellow eats, then =
le mud cats and cells, and, lastly, the soft $
lell turtle and loggerheads. Of these last i
lere were many, and the Indians were very l
roud of them. e
When they had cleaned the river of the /
sh, all hands attended to the fires, and they s
e and danced and cooked, and made up
acks Of dried fish until midnight, when the !
sh were all dried and bundled, ready for an i
.rly start in the morning. did not know 6
store that deep hole in the river could be !
} densely populated. >
1t never can be known how much those b
100 Indians ate. Every family carried off a t.
'etty fair pony load of dried fish, and the $
'ound for some distance was working with 7
nall terrapins and creeping insects that had n
awled out of the suffocating water. Y