Ig BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 4 S 



A similar explanation applies to the dark of the moon, their term 

 being: 



ninaahukwa oJclelega, JcoshsJioleje, or 

 moon dark or dirty, cleaning 



Beliefs concerning Thunder and Lightning 



Thunder and lightning are to the Choctaw two great birds — Thun- 

 der (Helolia), the female; Lightning (Mala'tha), the male. When 

 they hear a great noise in the clouds, Heloha is laying an egg, "just 

 like a bird," in the cloud, which is her nest. When a tree is shattered 

 the result is said to have been caused by Mala'tha, the male, ho 

 being the stronger; but when a tree is only slightly damaged, the 

 effect is attributed to Heloha, the weaker. 



Great trouble or even war was supposed to follow the sight of a 

 comet. 



Transportation 



Dugouts were employed on the creeks and bayous, but evidently 

 only to a small extent. The Creoles make dugouts at the present 

 time which they use on the streams of St. Tammany parish. These 

 are hollowed from single pieces of black gum; most of them measure 

 from 8 to 12 feet in length. 



Many of the roads now used probably follow the courses of Indian 

 trails. A road leading from just west of Chinchuba to Lake Pont- 

 chartrain is known as the "Indian road;" this passes within a few 

 feet of the mound described on page 3, and evidently follows the 

 trail that led from the settlement about the mound to the shore of 

 Lake Pontchartrain. 



Hunting and Fishing 



, The primitive blowgun was used until recently in hunting squirrels, 

 rabbits, and various birds. Only one specimen was found at Bayou 

 Lacomb; this was said to have been made some ten years ago. The 

 man Toshkachito (Joe Silestine) is shown in plate 20 holding the 

 blowgun in position for shooting. The blowgun (kaMu'mfa) is about 

 7 feet in length; it is made of a single piece of cane (Arundinaria 

 macrosperma;ChoctSiW,us]ce),iormed into a tube by perforation of the 

 joints, which was given a smooth bore of uniform diameter through- 

 out. The darts {shuma'nte) are made of either small, slender canes 

 or pieces of hard yellow pine, sharpened at one end; they are from 15 

 to 18 inches in length. The lower end is wrapped for a distance of 4 

 or 5 inches with a narrow band of cloth having a frayed edge, or a 

 piece of soft tanned skin is used. The effect of this band is to 

 expand and fill the bore of the gun, a result that could not possibly be 

 secured by the use of feathers, as in the case of ordinary arrows. 



