Swanton! INDIAN 'I'ltir.l.S ol' Till'. I.OWI'.K M ISSISSI I'I'I \\i.i,i;v '267 



[inik ;iihI Iliti'W iiitn liic iiiiiisi of Die llniiK'S. 'I'lii' ;i(li()ii uf tlicsc Wdiucii Wiis 

 ii't;;ir(l(Ml l).v tlit'iii jis (UK* of tlic liiicst uiic cimUl iiuikc, so 1li;it tlu'.v followed 

 this old man. who U'd tiuMii with (•crciiiony to tlio cai)!!! of tli«' one who was jioiii;^ 

 to he inad«> chief of the nation, for the t-hicf liad died a short time heforo. 

 They had the custom, at the death of their chief, of killing: If) or liO men or 

 women to accompany liiiii, sa.v tlir\. in llic otlici' \\iirl(l and serve liiin. Many, 

 accoi'dini,' to wlial is said, are enchanted to he of this nnmher. I donbl it very 

 nuicli. 'Ilie old man of whom I spoke above said that the Spirit was angry, be- 

 cause .It the death of the last chief no one had been killed to accompany him, 

 and that he was angry himself, so that he had had the temple hiirned, accusing 

 the Frencli that it was tliey who had been the cause of "this misfortune, because 

 M. de Montigny, being at the village at tlie time of the death of this chief, had 

 prevented them from killing anyone, at \Thich all the people in the nation ap- 

 peared very well satislied except the grand priest. These women, sanctified and 

 consecr.ited to the Spirit through the action which they had performed — this is 

 how many of these savages name it — being led to the house of the heir to the 

 crown, were caressed, unich praised by the old people, and each one was clothed 

 in a white garment, which they make of mulberry ( f mcnricr) bark, and had a 

 great feather placed on the head of each, and api)eared all day at the entrance 

 of the chii'f's cabin, se.-ited on cane mats, intending this cal)in to serve as a tem- 

 ple, where the fire was lighted as they are accustomed to do. 



All night of the 18th to l!>th and 20th these women and this old man passed 

 to sing in the cabin of the new chief, and in the daytime tliey remained at the 

 sides of the doorway, in sight of all passers. * * * 



About G o'clock on the evening [of the 20thl the high priest of the savages 

 continued to perform a ceremony before the new temple, which he did every 

 day since the other was burned, which ceremony lasted eight days in succes- 

 sion. Three young people of about 20 years brought each ;i bundle of branches 

 of dry wood, which tlH\v put before the door of the temple at a distance of 

 10 paces. A man about 50 years old, who had the guardianship of this tem- 

 ple, c.ime with a reed torch and arranged this w'ood one piece upon another to 

 make it burn easily. After that he w-ent into the temple to light his torch at the 

 fire which always burns there, and came out near the bundle of wood, where the 

 high priest, who was 30 paces from there at the door of the cabin of the chief, 

 seeing liim, came with a sedate step, holding a rather large feather pillow cov- 

 ered with leather in his left hand, and a little baton in his right, with which he 

 struck on the pillow as if to mark the cadence of a song which he was singing. 

 He was followed by the five women who had throw'u their infants into the fire 

 of the temple, who carried in both hands a cluster of wet moss, which in that 

 country is like tow. Having arrived near the bundle of wood, the one who 

 had set it on fire and the old man, with the women, made the circuit of it three 

 times, singing continually, after which they threw themselves on the fire, 

 striking on it with their wet moss in order to extinguish it. Having done this 

 the old man returned, and they went to bathe themselves in the lake before all 

 who wished to look at them, and came back to the cabin of the chief, where, 

 together with the old man, they sang all night during the eight days. Some of 

 these women, walking around this fire, wished to laugh and to say something, 

 for which the old man reproved them severely. 



The 21st it rained a part of the day; my brother was not able to set out 

 [for the Caddoan country]. I repaired to my canoes, whither I had all the 

 effects of M. de Montigny carried, who is coming to establish himself with the 

 Xadches without abandoning the Taensas, where he is going to place a mis- 

 sionary whom he expects from Canada. 



