﻿498 
  ANNUAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  1927 
  

  

  chief 
  on 
  another 
  facing 
  it. 
  The 
  Tunica 
  temple 
  was 
  on 
  a 
  mound 
  

   which 
  also 
  seems 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  artificial. 
  A 
  little 
  later 
  the 
  English 
  

   trader 
  Adair 
  tells 
  us 
  that 
  the 
  town 
  houses 
  of 
  the 
  Chickasaw 
  and 
  their 
  

   neighbors, 
  used 
  both 
  for 
  ceremonial 
  and 
  social 
  purposes, 
  were 
  ordi- 
  

   narily 
  raised 
  upon 
  mounds. 
  Mention 
  has 
  already 
  been 
  made 
  of 
  such 
  

   mounds 
  among 
  the 
  Cherokee. 
  

  

  We 
  now 
  come 
  to 
  the 
  testimony 
  furnished 
  by 
  Bartram, 
  to 
  which 
  

   reference 
  has 
  already 
  been 
  made. 
  We 
  know, 
  both 
  from 
  the 
  writings 
  

   of 
  eighteenth 
  century 
  explorers 
  and 
  the 
  perpetuation 
  of 
  the 
  institu- 
  

   tions 
  until 
  recent 
  times, 
  that 
  Creek 
  ceremonial 
  grounds 
  consisted 
  of 
  

   three 
  elements: 
  (1) 
  The 
  tcokofa 
  or 
  " 
  hot 
  house," 
  a 
  circular 
  structure 
  

   with 
  a 
  central 
  supporting 
  post 
  or 
  cluster 
  of 
  posts; 
  (2) 
  the 
  "square 
  

   ground," 
  consisting 
  typically 
  of 
  four 
  narrow 
  cabins 
  open 
  in 
  front 
  and 
  

   occupying 
  the 
  sides 
  of 
  a 
  square, 
  whence 
  the 
  name; 
  and 
  (3) 
  an 
  open, 
  

   flat 
  space, 
  round 
  or 
  rectangular 
  in 
  outline, 
  with 
  a 
  single 
  ball 
  post 
  in 
  

   the 
  middle, 
  and, 
  anciently, 
  two 
  slave 
  posts 
  where 
  those 
  who 
  had 
  been 
  

   captured 
  in 
  war 
  were 
  burned. 
  This 
  last 
  was 
  known 
  to 
  traders 
  as 
  the 
  

   " 
  chunk 
  yard," 
  evidently 
  because 
  the 
  so-called 
  chunkey 
  game 
  was 
  

   anciently 
  played 
  in 
  it, 
  but 
  it 
  also 
  had 
  a 
  place 
  in 
  the 
  native 
  ceremonies. 
  

   It 
  was 
  surrounded 
  by 
  one 
  or 
  more 
  banks 
  of 
  earth 
  formed 
  by 
  periodi- 
  

   cal 
  cleaning 
  of 
  the 
  ground, 
  when 
  all 
  grass 
  and 
  weeds 
  were 
  scrupu- 
  

   lously 
  removed. 
  A 
  similar 
  cleaning 
  was 
  extended 
  to 
  the 
  square 
  

   ground 
  and 
  the 
  space 
  in 
  which 
  stood 
  the 
  tcokofa. 
  In 
  time 
  these 
  

   ridges 
  of 
  trash 
  became 
  large 
  and 
  conspicuous 
  and 
  might 
  be 
  taken 
  for 
  

   low 
  defense 
  works 
  if 
  it 
  were 
  not 
  for 
  the 
  wholly 
  unstrategic 
  positions 
  

   most 
  of 
  the 
  ceremonial 
  grounds 
  occupied. 
  I 
  have 
  seen 
  one 
  or 
  two 
  

   ridges 
  about 
  2 
  feet 
  high, 
  but 
  most 
  of 
  the 
  modern 
  grounds 
  are 
  so 
  new 
  

   and 
  comparatively 
  so 
  little 
  used 
  that 
  this 
  ridge 
  is 
  scarcely 
  noticeable. 
  

   At 
  the 
  Tukabahchee 
  ground 
  there 
  was 
  an 
  additional 
  mound, 
  a 
  few 
  

   feet 
  in 
  height, 
  heaped 
  together 
  a 
  short 
  distance 
  north 
  (or 
  northeast) 
  

   of 
  the 
  square. 
  There 
  the 
  bison 
  dance 
  was 
  performed, 
  and 
  it 
  seems 
  

   to 
  have 
  taken 
  the 
  place 
  of 
  the 
  single 
  ball 
  post 
  which 
  was 
  not 
  within 
  

   the 
  ceremonial 
  grounds. 
  Such 
  a 
  mound 
  seems 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  a 
  regular 
  

   accompaniment 
  of 
  the 
  Tukabahchee 
  sacred 
  ground; 
  it 
  was 
  used 
  at 
  

   least 
  as 
  far 
  back 
  as 
  the 
  time 
  of 
  their 
  first 
  settlement 
  in 
  Oklahoma. 
  

  

  From 
  what 
  Bartram 
  tells 
  us 
  it 
  appears 
  that 
  these 
  mounds 
  and 
  

   ridges 
  were 
  but 
  vestiges 
  of 
  a 
  much 
  more 
  extensive 
  series 
  of 
  earth- 
  

   works. 
  In 
  his 
  paper 
  written 
  for 
  the 
  American 
  Ethnological 
  Society 
  

   he 
  gives 
  three 
  plans 
  of 
  Creek 
  grounds. 
  One 
  of 
  these 
  (fig. 
  1) 
  shows 
  

   the 
  arrangement 
  and 
  position 
  in 
  the 
  town 
  common 
  in 
  his 
  time, 
  i. 
  e., 
  

   about 
  1778. 
  Another 
  (fig. 
  2) 
  exhibits 
  the 
  same 
  in 
  more 
  detail. 
  Be- 
  

   sides 
  these, 
  he 
  furnishes 
  us 
  with 
  the 
  plan 
  of 
  a 
  square 
  such 
  as' 
  was 
  

   said 
  to 
  be 
  usual 
  at 
  a 
  still 
  earlier 
  period. 
  This 
  is 
  reproduced 
  in 
  

   Figure 
  3, 
  from 
  which 
  it 
  will 
  be 
  seen 
  that 
  the 
  chunk 
  yard 
  was 
  in 
  the 
  

  

  