The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-11-17

Few who visit New Orleans, with It's
quaint old landmarks. making the iney-
liable round Of the French market, that
.sOId Curiosity Shop of races, habits and
wares. have any idea of the romantic
history interviewer with the lives of the
fifteen or twenty Choctaw women who
sit within its pales. in stolid silence, pa
tiently awaiting the sale of their pounded
laurel and sassafras leaves. Their baS-
kets are wrought of the stalks and
leaves of the ''latanier, strongly IN
Aerwoven, and their medicinal herbs and
siEpleS are portion eff their little stock
in trade With the males of their fam
4ies they are the sole survivors of the
Indian races which inherited the land
from their progentorS A strange, cir
cnmstance, too, connected with these rep
resentatives of the aborigineS is that they
belong to the Choctaw nation, which
from time immemorial was inimical to
the French.
In early colonial ties the French had
friendly relations with the Illinois ana
Alabama t.ibes, but were always hostile
to the Choctaws. Within a period, say,
possibly in the memory of men stu
living some of the aboriginal inhabl-
tants of Louisiana frequently visited the
city during the winter season, Under
the Spanish domination of the past they
had been wont to assemble once q year
in the city to receive certain allow
ance of merchandise and presents, as
tokens of good will and friendship.
These bands camped at or lived within
huts beyond the city limits. Covered
with the skins of deer and bear, as well
as with leaves of the 'latanier
During the day they sauntered about
the CITY but almost invariably returned
to their grounds in the evening Inc
women then, as now, brought their
small wares to market, while the men
were hunters of deer, duck, squirrel and
other game At that time the men wore
upon their heads a sort of helmet, set on
with large featheres, painting their faces,
on a sort of background of vermillion,
with what has been described as spiral
and transverse lines of blue, which in
conjunction with the fantastic costume,
was in harmony with the carnival season,
the time about which they most visited
the city.
Several of these Indian settlements are
located more or less contiguous to the
Crescent City. There IS a village at the
Bayou Lacombe, one at Bayou La
croix, and another GA the Tecf5. Tn enc
Of the most secluded spots of this Dayon,
where the picturesque stream taxes
turn, number Of small cabins appear,
at short distances from each other, built
OF cypress, with roofs made of hat are
termed the arge shingles Of the past
Creole days. The locality is one which
nature has touched with the charming
spell OF q glamour, by shadowing it with
large oaks, from the venerable bougns
of Which sweep trails Of Spanish moss,
tinging the landscape with Sonlber hue.
At Indian Bend, about twenty-five miles
above, where the winding thread of the
Teche runs into the AtchafalAya So
.rallp6 q fittIo hatch nj ahinc O.
tered there, live the last OF the once great
tribe of Attakopos. This remnant of the
powerful race has dweIt here for oyer q
century, and there is no doubt but that
it was a source -oe terror to all the other
redmen III the neighborhood on account
Of its fierce and barbarous nature, de-
v0uring, in the true cannibal style the
flesh of its conquered enemies.
The few remaining families now living
at Indian Bend, are survivors of the
Ghetimache tribe, an offshoot of the Alta
Eapos, who, as representatives of a Will
ON great nation, are subjects of interest
ing study. Difficult of approach uncom-
nunicatiye, the little learned OF them WIS
not acquired without cons .derabie trouble.
They are held in awe by their neighbors,
being, in general principles of habit and
nature reticent, inaccessible and uncon-
ciliatory. Every ruse is resorted to by
the deniZens of the places adjacent to It's
settlement to prevent the intrusion of
visitors. The Chetima2h2s seen, to drag
cut a sert of hermit-Iike existence in the
calm atmosphere of the solitude that en-
compasses them. Around their reserYa-
ton are evidences of civilization, and the
cultivation of the soil fair fields OF
bright, waving sugar cane, hemning them
in. But they seem insensible to even the
proxinlate touch Of a higher culture and
drag along the days Ia leaden apathy or
sullen silence, as though no pulsation
heat within them. 1t is said that at the
sight of q stranger the women sku1ll
away, and a man is only visible when the
window CT cabin is approached.
- In personal appearance they differ some
what from our Choctaws. The men are
little darker than those who come to
the city to sell their wares, their cheek
bones are very high, and their eyes quick
and. keen of movement Pursy, sensual
mouths, Indicate a deteriora ton of the
race, but even with this drawback their
oppression is one of perfect self-assur-
ance, If not holiness They are fully up
TO the average height of the white man,
and their broad shoulders indicate that
they sprung from a. big-brained people
The women are heater and more comeIy
than the men, and their faces hetokan
CHICK Intelligence. All are dressed in the
habits of. the whites, the men in cot
tonade trousers and calico shirts, and
bright colored waists or jersey In their
Intercourse with the outside world they
speak the Creole patois, but between
themselves, still use their mother tongue.
1t is ''sui generis, says one who visited
them and can be likened to nothing so
much as to the twittering of birds Their
spoken language differs from all others
of our known Indians. 1t is made up OF
labials, and sibilant, and each syllable
seems of sharp brevity. The absence OF
cultural sounds makes their speech sound
more like an attempt at loud whispering
which with the short syhables produces
the "twittering sound"
1t is noticeable that they do not keen
any of the festivals. ostensibly, nor OBJ
serve any of the ceremonies of their an
eestors. although, in the close communion
among themselves, the old rites may be
performed. and the comn1emoratien kent
up in secrecy.
In discriminating they are masters of
the art. North of Mexico they excel all
tribes in the exquisite delicacy Of their
workmanship and the beauty of their col
crtng. These baskets are wrought of
simple cane, but so deftiy thinned and
stripped that they present the appearance
CT the finest material. In detaching the
fard cuticle from the ordinary wild cane
Sisey Skilhully use their finger nails and
the various dyes are put before Gley