﻿THE 
  INTERPEETATION 
  OF 
  ABORIGINAL 
  MOUNDS. 
  BY 
  

   MEANS 
  OF 
  CREEK 
  INDIAN 
  CUSTOMS 
  

  

  By 
  John 
  R. 
  Swanton 
  

  

  [With 
  7 
  plates] 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  well 
  known 
  that 
  when 
  Europeans 
  began 
  settling 
  that 
  part 
  of 
  

   the 
  territory 
  of 
  our 
  Union 
  now 
  occupied 
  by 
  the 
  Gulf 
  and 
  Central 
  

   States 
  numerous 
  artificial 
  mounds 
  were 
  discovered, 
  many 
  of 
  them 
  

   of 
  imposing 
  proportions 
  and 
  considerable 
  antiquity. 
  This 
  latter 
  

   fact 
  and 
  the 
  rather 
  low 
  esteem 
  in 
  which 
  white 
  pioneers 
  had 
  come 
  to 
  

   regard 
  the 
  aborigines 
  with 
  whom 
  they 
  were 
  in 
  contact 
  gave 
  rise 
  to 
  a 
  

   belief 
  that 
  the 
  region 
  had 
  formerly 
  been 
  occupied 
  by 
  a 
  different 
  race, 
  a 
  

   mjT^sterious 
  people, 
  to 
  whom 
  the 
  name 
  Mound 
  Builders 
  was 
  naturally 
  

   enough 
  given. 
  This 
  view 
  was 
  stimulated 
  very 
  much 
  by 
  a 
  publication 
  

   of 
  the 
  noted 
  American 
  botanist, 
  William 
  Bartram, 
  who 
  visited 
  the 
  

   southeastern 
  parts 
  of 
  North 
  America 
  at 
  the 
  time 
  of 
  the 
  Revolution 
  

   and 
  wrote 
  an 
  account 
  of 
  his 
  travels 
  which 
  is 
  considered 
  one 
  of 
  our 
  

   best 
  early 
  works 
  upon 
  this 
  section. 
  The 
  fascination 
  of 
  his 
  style 
  and 
  

   the 
  atmosphere 
  of 
  mystery 
  which 
  he 
  threw 
  about 
  the 
  earthworks 
  of 
  

   the 
  region 
  visited 
  combined 
  to 
  give 
  his 
  " 
  Travels," 
  and 
  the 
  theory 
  of 
  

   the 
  Mound 
  Builders 
  along 
  with 
  it, 
  a 
  wide 
  circulation. 
  But, 
  as 
  we 
  

   shall 
  presently 
  see, 
  his 
  own 
  writings 
  furnish 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  best 
  argu- 
  

   ments 
  in 
  refutation 
  of 
  that 
  hypothesis. 
  That 
  his 
  theory 
  should 
  con- 
  

   tinue 
  to 
  flourish 
  while 
  his 
  more 
  important 
  facts 
  contradictory 
  of 
  it 
  

   were 
  overlooked 
  is 
  to 
  be 
  explained 
  partly 
  from 
  the 
  hold 
  which 
  the 
  

   former 
  had 
  gained 
  upon 
  the 
  popular 
  imagination, 
  but 
  more 
  particu- 
  

   larly 
  from 
  a 
  curious 
  accident. 
  

  

  Most 
  of 
  Bartram's 
  data 
  relative 
  to 
  the 
  construction 
  of 
  mounds 
  by 
  

   tribes 
  of 
  Indians 
  existing 
  in 
  his 
  day 
  was 
  contained 
  in 
  an 
  article 
  con- 
  

   tributed 
  to 
  the 
  American 
  Ethnological 
  Society, 
  an 
  organization 
  of 
  

   which 
  Albert 
  Gallatin 
  and 
  Henry 
  R. 
  Schoolcraft 
  were 
  distinguished 
  

   members. 
  This 
  paper 
  was 
  prepared 
  for 
  publication 
  in 
  part 
  1 
  of 
  the 
  

   third 
  volume 
  of 
  transactions 
  of 
  the 
  society 
  and 
  the 
  issue 
  was 
  actually 
  

   struck 
  off 
  in 
  1853, 
  but 
  after 
  about 
  25 
  numbers 
  had 
  been 
  distributed 
  

   the 
  remaining 
  copies 
  were 
  destroyed 
  by 
  fire. 
  In 
  consequence, 
  few 
  

   were 
  aware 
  of 
  the 
  existence 
  of 
  the 
  paper 
  in 
  question, 
  which 
  did 
  not, 
  

  

  495 
  

  

  