292 BUEEAU OF AMEEICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 43 



ing to tradition, moreover, these are the descendants of only a part 

 of the ancient Honma. When they first came across from the Mis- 

 sissippi, it is said that they located near the city that bears their name, 

 bnt, being driven out by the whites, moved to their present situa- 

 tion. Being followed down by the settlers, all except three families, 

 or possibly bands, went back north about one hundred and twenty 

 years ago (?) and were never heard of again. The three families, 

 which were known by the French names " Couteaux," " Billiout," and 

 " Verdine," held their ground, and it is from them that all the 

 Houma of Terre Bonne and La Fourche are descended. In spite of 

 mixture Avith whites and negroes, they form a distinct class of the 

 population, and prefer to be called " Indians." The rate at which 

 they have increased in recent years shows either that they have been 

 protected by their isolation or that the mixture has chanced to be a 

 very virile one (pis. 13, 14, 15). 



Although they call themselves " Houmas," or, rather "Homas," it 

 has been intimated above that remains of several other tribes, such 

 as the Bayogoula and Acolapissa, have been incorporated with them. 

 To these must be added Biloxi and Chitimacha (pronounced by them 

 "Sitimasha"), who were often introduced in the capacity of slaves, 

 and probably the remnants of the Washa and Chawasha, besides indi- 

 viduals from a number of other Louisiana and Mississippi peoples. 

 The family history of the writer's oldest informant, Felicite Billiout, 

 will serve to illustrate this tribal complexity. Her grandmother, whose 

 Indian name was Nuyu'n, but who was baptized " Marion " after her 

 removal to Louisiana, was born in or near Mobile; her grandfather, 

 Shulu-shumon, or, in French, Joseph Abbe, and more often called 

 " Couteaux," was a Biloxi medal chief ; and her mother " an Atakapa 

 from Texas." In addition, she said that Cherokee ("Tsalaki"), 

 Choctaw, and Alibamu had all married with her people. Among 

 other tribes she had heard of the Chickasaw (" Shikasha "), Talla- 

 poosa ("Talapush"), and Tunica. Her grandmother, whom, she 

 said, had moved successively to the Mississippi, " Tuckapaw canal," 

 Bayou La Fourche, Houma, and the coast of Terre Bonne, was evi- 

 dently among the Indians who migrated from the neighborhood of 

 Mobile after 17G4, in order not to remain under English rule. It is 

 plain that remnants of all sorts of tribes joined the Houma before 

 and at this period, though it is certain that most of these were Musk- 

 hogean, and that the Houma was always the dominating element. 



The Chakchiuma 



This was the most important tribe on the upper Yazoo, and one of 

 the few which can be satisfactorily identified in the De Soto narra- 

 tives. The name, written in full, Sa'ktcihuma, signifies " red craw- 

 fish," evidently referring to the tribal badge or totem. Adair says of 



