122 BUBEAU OP AMEEIGAN ETHNOLOGY [iuill. 43 



(iravier, Charlevoix, and Le Petit all s[)eak of the harvest feast, 

 though briefly, 



Tlie first harvest is made in these parts in the mouth of June; and the second, 

 which is more abundant, is not made till the end of November,* Besides offer- 

 ing their first fruits in the temple in this village, the woman chief liad the corn 

 gjitliered in for the temple, and no one dare refuse what her emissaries chose 

 to take. This harvest is uiade for the chief and the woman chief, and to fur- 

 nish food to the spirits of the deceased chiefs; but all take part in the feast 

 niiide to them for six days with the ordinary howls, cries, and ceremonies, 

 which they do not wish to explain to the missionaries, to whom for all answer 

 they say : Nou-kou, that is to say, ' I do not know why it is done.' All depends 

 on the commission of the chiefs, who have too great an interest, in passing, for 

 spirits among their people to embrace Christian humility very soon.& 



* * * The harvest amoug the Natchez is in common. The great chief 

 sets the day for it and calls the village together. Toward the end of July f- 

 he appoints another day for the beginning of a festival which lasts three days, 

 which are spent in sports and feasting. 



Each private person contributes something of his hunting, his fishing, and 

 his other provisions, which consist in maize, beans, and melons. The great 

 chief and the woman chief preside at the feast, sitting in a cabin raised above 

 the ground and covered with boughs ; they are carried to it in a litter, and the 

 great chief holds in his hand a kind of scepter adorned with feathers of various 

 colors. All the nobles are round him in a respectful posture. The last day 

 the great chief makes a speech to the assembly. He exhorts everybody to be 

 exact in the performance of duties, especially to have a great veneration for 

 the spirits which reside in the temple, and to bo careful in instructing their 

 children. If anyone has distinguished himself by some action of note, he makes 

 his eulogium. [This is followed by a misapplied description of the destruction 

 of the Taensa temple by lightning.]'' 



Each year the people assemble to plant one vast field with Indian corh, beans, 

 pumpkins, and melons, and then agaiu they collect in the same way to gather 

 the harvest. A large cabin situated on a beautiful prairie is set apart to hold 

 the fruits of this harvest. Once in the summer, toward the end of July, the 

 people gather by order of the great chief to be present at a grand feast which 

 he gives them. This festival lasts for three days and three nights, and each 

 one contributes what he can to furnish it ; some bring game, others fish, etc. 

 They have almost constant dances, while the great chief and his sister are in 

 an elevated lodge covered with boughs, from whence they can see the joy of 

 their subjects. The princes, the princesses, and those who by their office are 

 of distinguished rank, are arranged very near the chief, to whom they show 

 their respect and submission by an infinite variety of ceremonies. 



The great chief and his sister make their entnince in the place of the assem- 

 l)ly on a litter borne by eight of their greatest men ; the chief holds in his hand a 

 great scepter ornamented with i)ainted plumes, and all the people dance and 

 sing about him in testimony of the public joy. The last day of this feast lie 

 causes all his subjects to approach and makes them a long harangue, in whicli 

 he exhorts them to fulfill all their duties to I'eligion. He recommends them, 

 above all things, to have a great veneration for the spirits who reside in the 



« Sec p. 218. 



*. Journal of Father Gravicr in Shea's I'^arly Voy. Miss., 112, 1861 ; Jes. Hd., i..\v, 145. 



" See p. 21.3. 



''Charlevoix in French, Hist. C'oll. La., Ui.">-l(i(), KS.51. 



