100 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 43 



placed upon marriages by the social oi'iiaiiizalioii will l^e considered 

 in the section devoted to that subject. 



Male concnbinage existed among the Natchez as elsewhere in North 

 America. Dnmont says that a male concnbine, or '' hermaphrodite," 

 " among the Natchez, and perhaps also among many other savage 

 nations, is called ' the chief of the women.' " 



It is certain (be adds) tbat altliougli be is really a man be bas tbe same 

 dress and tbe same occupations as the women. Like tbem be wears bis bair 

 long and braided. He bas, like tbem, a petticoat or alconand instead of a 

 breecbclotb. Like tbem be labors in tbe cultivation of tbe fields and in all tbe 

 otber labors wbicb are proper to tbem, and as among tbese people, wbo live 

 almost without religion and without law, libertinism is carried to the gi-eatest 

 excess, I will not answer tbat these barbarians do not abuse this pretended 

 chief of the women and make him serve their brutal passions. What is cer- 

 tain is tbat when a party of warriors or of Honored men leaves the village to go 

 either to war or to the chase, if they do not make their wives follow them, they 

 always carry with them this man dressed as a woman, wbo serves to keep their 

 camp, to cook their hominy, and to provide, in short, for all the needs of the 

 household as well as a woman might do." 



SOCIAL ORGANIZATION 



Aside from their temple nothing attracted more attention from 

 visitors to the Natchez than their peculiar strongly centralized form 

 of government. Following are the statements regarding it recorded 

 by various writers. 



From the Luxembourg Memoir : 



The chief of the entire nation is the great Sun and bis relations little Suns, 

 wbo are more or less respected according to their degree of proximity to tbe 

 great chief. Tbe veneration wbicb these savages have for tbe great chief and 

 for his family goes so far that whether he speaks good or evil, they thank him 

 by genuflections and reverences marked by bowls. All these Suns have many 

 savages wbo have become their slaves voluntarily, and who bunt and work 

 for them. They were formerly obliged to kill themselves when their masters 

 died. Some of their women also followed this custom; but the French have 

 undeceived them regarding such a barbarous usage.^ All these relatives of 

 tbe Sun regard tbe otber savages as dirt."^ 



From Penicaut: 



This great chief commands all tbe chiefs of tbe eight otber villages. He 

 sends orders to tbem by two of bis servants (laquais), for be bas as many as 30 

 of tbem wbo are called loiics, in their language tichon. He also bas many serv- 

 ants who are called OulchiJ Uclion (Great Sun servants) wbo serve liim for 

 many ends. Tbe chiefs of the otber villages send him what bas been obtained 

 from tbe dances of their villages. His house is very large; it can bold as many 

 as 4,000 [ !] persons. This grand chief is as absolute as a king. His people do 



« Dumont, Mem. Hist, sur La Loulsiane, i, 248-249. 



i- There is no ground for this statement unless the change could hav(> (akcn place 

 between the death of tv>e Tattooed-serixnt, in 1725, and tlie great outl)realv four years 

 later, which seems improbable. 



"Memolresur La Loulsiane, 14^-144. 



