SIOC 

 MOONEY 



J,4^] BILOXr MYTHOLOGY. 17 



female line, and there was a most elaborate kinship system (Dorsey, 

 Biloxi). Their mythology, as noted by Dorsey, has evidently been 

 much attected by contact with the whites. They venerate the thunder 

 (personage) and will talk about it only in clear weather. They will 

 not kill or eat the snipe, because it is the sister of the thunder. They 

 also respect the humming bird, because, as they say, it always speaks 

 the truth. They believe that the slain deer is resurrected three times, 

 but that if killed the fourth time the spirit leaves the body forever. 

 The same belief is held by the Cherokee. Their dwellings were of two 

 kinds, the low wigwam of the eastern tribes and the high pointed tipi 

 of the mcn-e nomadic western Indians (Dorsey, Biloxi). 



Our latest information concerning the Biloxi of Louisiana is con- 

 tained in a letter received by Mr Dorsey in Febnuiry of this year (1894), 

 in which it is stated that the lumdful of survivors were then preparing 

 to remove farther westward, presumably to the Choctaw nation, where 

 all stragglers from the Louisiana tribes find a welcome. 



THE PASKACULA, MOCTOBI, AND CllOZETTA. 



Siiiioiii/my. 



Pascatjoula. — Comiiiou geographic form. 



Pascoboiihi.—lbeTviWe (1699) iu Murgry, Decouvertes, vol. iv, ]>. 195 (misprint). 



Paskmjtda. — ''Bread people; " correct Choctaw form. 



Paslcaguna. — Moouey ; Caddo form. 



Moctuhii. — Iberville (1()99») in Margry, oj). cit., p. 195. 



C/tore«as.— Iberville (1699) in Margry, op. cit., p. 154. 



The Paskagula and Moctobi tribes are mentioned by Iberville 

 (Margry,!*) in 1699 as living on Pascagoula river near the coast of Mis- 

 sissippi, associated with the Biloxi, each of the three tribes, although 

 but few in numbers, having its own village. xVs the French settlement 

 on Biloxi bay was made in that year, this date probably marks the 

 beginning of their displacement and removal westward. We know 

 nothing of their language, but from their intimate connection then and 

 afterward with the Biloxi, it is very possible that they were cognate. 

 The name of the Moctobi seems to have disappeared from the earth, 

 as repeated personal inquiry among the Choctaw and Caddo has 

 lailed to eh"cit ar.y knowledge of such a tribe. It is quite probable that 

 the form given in Margry is a misprint or other corruption, as we find 

 the misprint form, Pascoboula, in the same reference. 



The Paskagula are better remembered. The name is not their own, 

 but was given to them by the Choctaw, and signifies "bread people," 

 from paslai "bread" and oUa "people." It has been retained as the 

 name of the river in Mississippi on which they formerly had their vil- 

 lage. I found the nanui of this tribe still familiar to the Choctaw and 

 Caddo, the latter of whom, having no I iu their language, pronounce the 

 BULL. V=22 2 



