10 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 48 



as they are scattered over the site of one of their okl settlements they 

 express the opinion that the shells must have been gathered by the 

 Choctaw ("the old people") who lived there. 



Ilex cassine. — This grows throughout the region and some speci- 

 mens were found near Bayou Lacomb, but the Choctaw have no 

 knowledge of a tea ever having been made of it. This is rather 

 remarkable as the plant was formerly so extensively used by the 

 Southern tribes. 



Dress and Personal Decoration 



HAIR 



Men wore their hair long enough to enable them to make two 

 braids, one on each side of the head. In front the hair was cut 

 straight across, above the eyebrows. Women allowed their hair to 

 grow very long. Their ancient method of wearing it is shown in the 

 photograph of the old woman, Heleema (Louisa), plate 10. 



PAINTING 



Both men and women painted, especially when dressed for dancing. 

 The women remember having seen blue, red, yellow, and green used 

 on their faces. They say there were no special designs and that no 

 combination of colors had any meaning. One of the favorite pat- 

 terns, the only one they remember, was a yellow crescent, outlined 

 with blue, that was painted on both cheeks. This was used by both 

 men and women and represented a new moon in the dark blue sky. 



TATTOOING 



Tattooing (hanchahale) was practised by both men and women, 

 but only to a very limited extent. An old woman who died a few 

 years ago is said to have had lines of tattooing extending from the 

 corners of her mouth across both cheeks to her ears. According to 

 the writer's informants, no totemic devices were ever represented, 

 and tattooing was done only as a means of ornamenting the face. In 

 some cases the shoulders were tattooed, but no other part of the body. 

 The method of tattooing practised was as follows: A needle was 

 used to puncture the skin and soot caused by a fire of yellow pine 

 was rubbed over the surface. This was then wiped off and more 

 soot rubbed in, to make certain that all the punctures were filled. 

 The soot gave a bluish tinge to the dots. No other substance or 

 color was ever employed. 



ornaments 



Quantities of glass beads and much bright-colored ribbon are said 

 to have been obtained from the traders. The Choctaw are very 



