BUSHNELL] NATIVE VILLAGES AND VILLAGE SITES 101 
top, round which the Indians celebrate their Green-Corn Dance.” 
This he likened to the May poles in England. While this custom 
was not restricted to the tribes occupying the southern part of the 
country, nevertheless these scattered references tend to recall the dis- 
covery, some years ago, of many remarkable carved wooden figures 
at Key Marco, on the lower west or Gulf coast of Florida. _ One of 
these interesting objects, representing the head of a deer, is shown in 
figure 12. 
Evidently some of the larger structures among the southern vil- 
lages were constructed with the floor lower than the surrounding 
surface. Such a custom was unknown in the North, and to what 
extent it was practiced in the 
Southis not yet determined. The 
first reference is found in Le 
Moyne’s description of a village on 
the east coast of Florida in 1564, in 
which he said, ‘‘The chief’s dwell-_ 
ing standsin the middle of the town 
and is partly underground, in con- 
sequence of thesun’sheat.’’ Adair 
mentioned the floor of the Chicka- 
saw town or winter house being be- 
low the surrounding area. It was, 
so he wrote, ‘‘often a yard lower 
than the earth, which serves them 
as a breast work against an enemy: Fig. 12.—Head of Lo in wood, discovered at 
z E < Key Marco, west coast of Florida. 
anda small peeping window is level 
with the surface of the outside ground.’ Nearly two centuries 
elapsed between the writings of Le Moyne and Adair, and the wide ter- 
ritory between the coast of Florida and the home of the Chickasaw 
was occupied by many tribes. 
In addition to the more permanent structures oti the towns 
every tribe seems to have had a particular form of temporary shelter, 
or lodge, easily and quickly raised, to serve as their hunting camps 
or when on distant journeys. According to several early writers it 
yas possible to identify the tribe to which a party belonged by the 
form of their shelters. 
Such were the peculiar features of the village and the various 
structures reared by the many tribes found occupying the wide 
region between the Mississippi and the Atlantic when that great 
wilderness was first entered by the missionary and explorer, trader 
and colonist, when narrow trails traversing the vast primeval forests 
served to connect the widely scattered settlements. Now many of 
the ancient sites are covered by the principal cities of the Nation, 
and the courses of the forest trails are followed by its great highways. 
