178 BELIEFS AND USAGES OF CHICKASAW [BTH. ANN. 44 
a much better country, more productive in soil, more bountiful in game, fruit, 
and fish, lay somewhat to the north and still farther toward the rising sun. 
After debating the question for many hours a vote was taken as to whether 
the move should be made, and it was decided by a large majority that the 
desired place had been reached and that no further move was necessary. Upon 
hearing the vote, the leader of the taller and fairer clan rose up and, striding 
majestically out of the council, dramatically uttered the following words: 
“All those who believe the promised land is farther towards the rising sun 
follow me.” 
His entire clan arose and went with him, but few others. Upon seeing this 
the Choctaw warriors and some of their headmen grabbed their spears, toma- 
hawks, and bows and arrows as if to restrain this clan by force. But the old 
head minko arose, extended his hand above his head, palm out, and exclaimed: 
“ Hamonockma, ikia ahnishke, chickasha!” (Halt, follow them not; they are 
rebels !)** 
Thus the division of the Choctaws and Chickasaws into two separate tribes 
came about, and on account of the old chief’s reference to them as “rebels” 
this taller and fairer tribe were ever thereafter known as “ Chickasha.” *° 
Many of the living Chickasaw remember the story, but in a very 
fragmentary form. The name given to the mythic pole is simply 
kohta “ pole ” or kohta falaha, “long pole.” By a few the dog is alse 
remembered. They believe that they started from the Rocky Moun- 
tains and traveled east guided by this pole, as one Indian expressed it, 
“in search of the center of the world.” It stood upright after they 
had crossed the Mississippi River (Sakti la"fa, “boundary bank ” 
river). As the place from which they started is sometimes called 
“the navel of the world,” it is interesting to note that the Chickasaw 
called the large mounds in their country “ navels.” “They thought,” 
says Schoolcraft’s informant, “that the Mississippi was the center of 
the earth, and those mounds were as the navel of a man in the center 
of his body.” 7" 
Besides the above facts, I have one longer version written down 
in Chickasaw by my interpreter, Mr, Zeno McCurtain, which, includ- 
ing some necessary alterations and simplifications, may be rendered in 
English as follows: 
This is the story of how the Indian people came to this country. Their 
earlier home was in the continent of Asia, but after a time they got tired of 
living there and wanted to move to some place where they could live in com- 
fort, have a country of their own, and be independent. They called a meeting 
to decide what course to take, and it was determined to move. It was then that 
their trials and hardships began. 
They depended upon the Creator for their guidance, and it was revealed to 
them that they must move toward the Hast; so they set out in that direction. 
They had a dog who guarded their camp every night and kept the wild animals 
°°. Hamonockma ikia ahnishke. (‘ Let no one think of going!”) The supposed mean- 
ing of “ chickasha ” I have been unable to establish. 
10Malone, James H.: The Chickasaw Nation: A Short Sketch of a Noble People. 
Louisville, Ky., John P. Morton & Co., 1922, pp. 22-23. 
11 Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, vol, 1, p. 311. 
