Splendid Land, Splendid People: The Chickasaw Indians to Removal

1. Land of the Bones

The “splendid and fertile” land on the upper Tombigbee River (Figure 1) in present-day northeast Mississippi contains the bones of the vast majority of the many thousands of Chickasaw people who have lived upon the earth to the present. Some of the progenitor people of the population that evolved into this sociopolitical entity, originally written “Chicasa,” may have migrated from west of the Mississippi River in remote prehistoric times. Unless such people were so numerous and superior militarily that they forced a mass exodus of the indigenous people, these possible westerners more likely would have joined and amalgamated with the indigenous people, who are archaeologically documented to have been present there on a consistent basis since at least 6000 b.c. It really makes no difference. The Chickasaw, whose name meaning has become obscure, came to be and continue to be.1 Nearly all of the various origin myths of both the Chickasaw and Choctaw give an unspeci¤ed trans–Mississippi River location for the earlier home of both of these groups, and they were supposedly one people until separating after arriving east of the river. Most historians and anthropologists have asserted that this is evident as a result of alleged similarities in their cultural manifestations. This is not the case, however, because archaeological evidence and ethnographic descriptions show a marked disparity between their pottery, burial customs, hairstyles, physical characteristics, and other traits. The only signi¤cant similarity was their language.2 The Tombigbee River (Figure 1) ®ows slightly southeast from the Chickasaw area into the present-day state of Alabama and on to Mobile Bay after its juncture with the Alabama River. Today, that part of the river north of the juncture is known as the Tombigbee and the remainder from there to Mobile Bay is known as the Mobile River, but the entire source from the bay to the Chickasaw villages was referred to by the Europeans as the Mobile River, the River of the Chickasaw, or the River of the Choctaw. 1 Land of the Bones From remote times the native people of the southeast built secure homes, obtained sustenance from the land, made comfortableclothing, and constructed ef¤cient tools, weapons, adornments, and household items from natural resources . In winter they lived in secure, well-insulated round houses constructed by placing closely spaced posts in the ground, weaving cane or sapling strips horizontally among them, and plastering the resulting walls with wet mud, which was allowed to dry. The cone- or dome-shaped roofs were covered with thick layers of long grass oriented toward the ground. The summer houses were usually square or rectangular with peaked roofs. The winter houses had ¤re basins in the centers of the earth ®oors, and other ¤re basins for cooking were located outside the houses. Trash was thrown away near the houses or buried in dug or natural pits. If houses were located near streams, water was procured 1. Locations of Indian groups and sites in the present-day states of Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, and Louisiana (by author) 2 / Chapter 1 from them in large earthen jars and transported to the houses for storage and use. In instances similar to the customs of the historic Chickasaw whose houses were usually built on ridge tops far from springs or ®owing streams, pit cisterns with clay linings were constructed to catch rainwater. Sometimes small erosional ravines on the sides of ridges were dammed to create small reservoirs. Clothing and footwear were made from animal skins, and cordage was made with inner ¤bers of the bark of trees. After European cloth woven from cotton,®ax, and wool became available, clothing was made from these materials. In historic times blankets purchased from European traders supplemented their animal-skin wraps and bed coverings. Food was partially procured from wildgrowing plants and trees until domestic fruit trees such as peach were introduced by the Europeans. Fish, shell¤sh, turtles, and crustaceans were captured from streams, rivers, and natural ponds. After about a.d. 500 domesticated crops such as maize (corn) were introduced and planted near villages or isolated houses. Nearly all species of mammals and large birds were hunted for food, especially deer, bears, raccoons, opossums, rabbits, squirrels, turkeys, geese, and ducks. Introduction in about a.d. 500 of the stringed bow with arrows tipped by small chipped stone points had made hunting more ef¤cient and less time consuming. Tools, weapons, and personal...