6 BUEEAU OF AMEKICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 48 



on the shore of Lake Pontchartrain. A high pohsh has resulted 

 from the action of the sand and water. Arrow points of white quartz- 

 ite have also been found in the locality, but these were probably 

 made far to the northeast. Small grooved axes are likewise met 

 with, but they are quite rare. The jasper of which the specimens 

 figured were made was obtained in the form of pebbles from the beds 

 of certain streams in St. Tammany parish. 



South and east of the mound referred to above, for a distance of 200 

 feet or more, the surface was covered with shells of the kind men- 

 tioned (Rangia cuneata Gray) to a depth of from 4 to 8 inches. Inter- 

 mingled with the shells were fragments of pottery and traces of bones, 

 greatly decayed. A similar deposit was encountered on the opposite 

 side of Chinchuba creek, near the great live oak commonly called 

 "Pere Rouquette's oak" (pi. 6). Some shells and a few pieces of 

 pottery were found exposed upon the surface beneath the branches of 

 the oak, on the very spot where the Choctaw were wont to gather to 

 hear the teachings of Pere Rouquette. These latter examples of 

 pottery and likewise the shells appear to be of comparatively recent 

 origin, and were undoubtedly left there by the Choctaw not more 

 than one or two generations ago. As the pottery is similar to that 

 found in the deposit of shells beneath the mound, all should probably 

 be attributed to the same people. 



Several burials are said to have been discovered in a low mound a 

 short distance west of the Chinchuba mound. The work is reputed 

 to have been done some years ago ; but the writer was unable to gain 

 any definite information respecting it. 



Place Names in St. Tammany Parish 



As before shown, certain names still in use were known and applied 

 to the streams at the time of the earliest French exploration of the 

 region. Therefore it is not unreasonable to suppose that many, if 

 not all, of the names now employed by the Choctaw to designate the 

 rivers and bayous were used in precolonial days. 



The names are given here as they appear on the maps of the 

 United States General Land Office, together with the English trans- 

 lations. 



Ahita. — The name of a spring, and also of a river which is one of the 

 principal tributaries of the Chefuncte river. The meaning of this 

 word is not known to the Choctaw. They say that an old man who 

 called himself Abeta' came from far away and made his home near the 

 spring. But this happened many years ago, and no Indian now living 

 ever saw liim. They insist that ahita is not a Choctaw word. The 

 name at once suggests the Ahixka of the Upper Creeks, and may have 

 been derived from that source. The man who took up his abode near 

 the spring may have been a Creek. 



