GATSCHET KAS. LEG. — COMMENTARY. [lOl] 69 



only the Abi'hka is mentioned in the early part of the narrative ; 

 after this, Kiisa and Apalavtchukla, which tribes were then estab- 

 lished at the same spot where we find them in the eighteenth 

 century. 



Another historic fact deducible from the legend is, that the Ka- 

 si'hta proceeded from the ancient habitat of the Chicasa people in 

 the northern part of ^Mississippi state, or from a locality situated 

 in its vicinity.* No passage of this legend proves conclusively a 

 crossing of the Mississippi river from west to east, although other 

 legends of the Creek people allude to such an event. 



The immigrating tribe evidently followed a trail partly identi- 

 cal with another, known to exist in later times, which crossed the 

 Tallapoosa river at Tukabatchi and the Chatahuchi river near the 

 Yuchi settlement. The existence of a trail like this presupposes 

 a considerable population in the towns connected by it, and, at the 

 time when the Kasi'hta arrived, eastern and central Alabama may 

 have contained as many inhabitants as in the eighteenth century, 

 though perhaps belonging to other nationalities. It is not possi- 

 ble to venture even a guess at these,j nor at the epoch when the 

 immigration of the Kasi'hta took place. The customs of the 

 people as sketched in the legend are about the same as we find 

 them at the beginning of their historic period ; and, among primi- 

 tive nations, customs, habits and beliefs do not change or alter at 

 the same rapid rate as they do with us, because their tribal orga- 

 nization tends to isolate them from other tribes. 



The legend originated in and refers to a period of history when 

 the primordial Maskoki tribe had already separated into subdi- 

 visions. This appears not only from the various tribes mentioned 

 as being then in existence, but also from the dialects which can 

 be distinguished in the topographic names of the narrative. But 

 still they believed in their common origin ; this is, for instance, 

 evidenced by the fact that they had a common belief of having 

 emerged from a mound, hill, or mountain, which the Creeks call 

 'lani immiko, or ikan=halwi immiko, "chief of the mountains," at 

 the present day. 



* That the Kasi'hta tribe were then mixed or intermarried with the Chicasa people can- 

 not, however, be made evident from these indications. 

 t Dr. Brinton, Ch.-M, Legend, p. lo. 



