The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1880-08-25
THE MISSISSIPPI INDIANS,
From cliabOrne's History of Mississippi.

a The Choctaws, Chickasaws. and Creeks
or Museogees, were in occupation of large
portion of what now constitutes the State
of Mississippi and Alabama. when the
French first colonized the country How
: long they had been here, and whence they
r came, Is merely traditional and has never
been established The Natchez tribes. and
the Caddos on Red river had preceded
them, and these had been preceded BY the
mound builders. All the Indian traditions
dimly shadow gigantic race of people. their
predecessors who were contemporary with
the mammoth, and the fossilized monstrous
reptiles, birds and quadrupeds that have
been frequently unearthed, all which be.
came extinct by the wrath of the Great
Spirit about the same time
The late General Sam Dale, of Lauderdale
county, Mississippi, who lived to an adj
vanced age, had passed many years of his
life among the Southern Indians. He spoke
the Cherokee, Muscogee and Choctaw
| tongues, and was familiar with all their ira
dItions and customs. And from conversa-
tions with him, reduced at the time to wri-
ting, this account is chiefly derived
In 1923, the writer presided over a
I Board of Commissioners established by the
| United States to inquire into and adudicate
| the claims of the Choctaws growing out of
| the last treaty made with them, prior to
| their removal West, and for months at a
time thousand Indians were assembled
around the Commission. The examinations
took wide range, and having skilled inter
prefers, the opportunity was used to elicit
much curious information, which is embod-
! led in this account.
! The Choctaws believed that their ances-
tors came from the west They were lea by
two brothers, Chactas and Chics-a, at the
head of their respective Iksas or clans On
their journey they followed pole which,
guided by an invisible hand, moved before
them. Shortly after crossing the Missis-
sippl, the pole stood still, firmly planted in
the ground, and they construed this as an
augury that here they must halt, and make
their homes. What connection this may
have with and how far it has been derived
from, the exodus of the Israelites, and ''the |
cloud by day and the pillar of fire Icy night |
is for the curious to determine but the |
pole moving in the march before them, is I
the oldest and best established tradition of |
the ChOctaws and Chickasaws. !
The tWo leaders concluded to reconnoitre |
the country. Chics-a moved first, and ten |
days thereafter Chactas followed, but ire
mendous snow storm had obliterated his
brothers trail, and they were separated. He
went southery to Nanawyya, on the head
waters of Pearl river, about the geographic
cal center OF the State, and the other broth
er, it was afterwards ascertained, settled
first meeting of the brothers it was deter
mined that the two clans should constitute
separate tribes, each occupying their respec-
tive territories, and the hunters of neither
band to encroach on the territory of the
other The present Oktibbeha and the Nu~
sicheah, were indicated the line of de-
narration.
The ChOctaws preserve dim tradition
that after crossing the Mississippi they
met race of men whom they called Ma
hon-lo, tall in stature and of fair complex
ion, who had emigrdted from the sun rise
They had once been mighty people, but
were then few i'll number, and soon disap-
peared after the incoming of the Choctaws.
This race of men were, according to the
tradition, tillers of the soil and peaceabe.
There had likewise been a race of cannibals,
who Toasted on the bodies of their enemies.
They, tOo were giants, and utilized the
as their burden bearers. They
kept them closely herded, and as they de-
voured everything and broke down the for
ests, this was the origin of the prairies.
This cannibal race and the mammoth per-
ished about the same time, by great cpl
demic. Only one of the latter escaped, who
made his home for several years near the {
Tombigbee. The Great Spirit struck him
several times with lightning, but he present
ed his head to the bolt and it glanced off. '
however, by these attemts, he fled
to Soc-te-thou-fah, (the present Memphis, {
and at one mighty leap cleared the river, l
and made his way to the Rocky Mountains. g
They have tradition of a great drought | {
that occurred during the early part of the |
eighteenth century. 1t was particularly a
severe in the prairie region. Not drop of |
rain fell for three years. The NoX-u-b bee 1
and Tombigee rivers dried up. The forest t
trees persisted. The elk and buffalo, then t
numerous, migrated beyond the Mississippi, t
and neither of these species returned. To- t
wards the close of the third year it began 10
rain, and continued foI two moons, and the /
Great Spirit had forgiven them. a
The Choctaws and Chickasaws had occa- y
sional conflicts, particularly aGter the whites
appeared in the country. The former were
allies of the French The latter were under
Eng lish control, and the rivalry of these /
Kept the two kindred tribes on bad terms.
They had great battle about two miles '
south of West Point. There may yet be q
,een two mounds about one hundred yards t
apart. After the fight they came to terms, !
md erected these MOUNDS over their dead !
md to the neigbhoring stream they gave I
The name of Oka-tibbe-ha, or Fighting Wa '
ter. a
The Nox-u- bee river owes its name to one
If these bloody trays. Noxu-bee is cor [
ruption Of Oka-nahka-shua, Sinking Bull Q
et Water-Oka, water fahkd, bullett sA'ta,
sinking |
The hunters of the Chocchumas-a once 5
powerful tribe that occupied the Tallahat-
chic and Yalobusha valleys-had intruded g
IN the Tombigbee prairies, the hunting 0
grounds of the Chickasaws and Choctaws, d
md the warriors of these tribes attacked G
hem, slew many, and cast their bodies into t
.he river. Hence the name given to the I
stream.
This, of course, caused retaliation, and i
general war ensued. The Chocchumas had
,nce lived low down on the Yazoo, were In B
alliance with the NatoheS, and had imml- b
grated to the Iallahatchie valley about the t
lime the Choctaws arrived from the west. o
Each regarded the other as intruders. They 6
we're warlike race, and had been greatly a
reduced by war. They were finally exter n
minated by the allied Chickasaws and Choc- Z
Jaws. Their last battle was fought six miles v
vest of Bellefontaine, on the old Grenada d
Dad, on the land now owned by c. u. Ro a
oerts. Chulahoma, Red Fox, their most re- b
loEned warrior, resided there with his fol- n
overs. He was attacked IN his village, and '
Ill but a few women and children were Fl
lain. In 1880, an old halfbreed, Coleman n
Jole, resided there, and claimed to be the K
ole warrior of the Chocchuma tribe. The Il
decisive battle occurred at Lyons Bluff, on b
he south side of Line Greek, eight miles G
northeast of Starkville This bluff was the "
lite of a cemetery OF the mound builders. e
Here the Chocehqma Warriors, with many b
IF their wives and children, were posted, Il
md here they were beseiged by the Chec- b
avs on the south and in front, while the h
Jhickasaws were in position on the north n
ide of the creek, so there was no outlet for
'etreat. The Siege was one protracted fight, t
until the last of the Chocchuma warriors o
ell, and then the women fought until most II
If them had persisted. "
At the conclusion of this war the two p
tribes re-established their boun- Il
laries. Line Greek was afterwards known fl
y the Chickasaws as Nusic-heah, ..sXog Il
Gsleep;s. because not long afterwards the b
shoctaWs attacked them there when UMPIRE p
Jared or ssasleep.n y
All the Southern Indians were addicted b
l,okfsrarr AZ klaoir hall. a