SWANTON] SOCIAL ORGANIZATION 195 
falaha,** “long house,” prove to be names of two of the ancient 
Chickasaw towns. If each moiety was exogamous, as has usually 
been assumed, a town could not have been occupied exclusively by 
representatives of either of them and we should have to suggest that 
one moiety was particularly prominent in one town and the other 
in the second. However, more recent investigations, to which refer- 
ence will be made presently, render it evident that these moieties were 
prevailingly endogamous like the town moieties of the Creeks. The 
uncertainty and diversity in naming these groups strengthens their 
resemblance to the Creek moieties and at the same time differentiates 
them from those of the Choctaw which seem to have borne distinct, 
universally understood titles. As members of these moieties were 
probably opposed in the ball games, they perhaps ordinarily used 
such terms as “ own side ” and “ opposite side ” and required nothing 
further, the name of a house group, clan, or town prominently asso- 
ciated with each being a mere temporary designation. The moieties 
resembled those of the Creeks once more m the attitude of suspicion 
which they maintained toward each other. Thus Speck says that 
malevolent conjuration resulting in sickness was “believed, with a 
certain degree of hostility, to come from the opposite group.” ** And 
again: “It is considered a grave offense, frequently punishable by 
death, for a member of one group to be present at the Picdfa of the 
other group, as his presence would nullify the good effect of the 
ceremony.” *7 
Chickasaw moieties disagree with those of the Creeks in the fact 
that, for the most part, clans (as well as house groups) were divided 
by moiety lines. However, there are said to have been some excep- 
tions. The Raccoon clan, in particular, is said to have married 
indifferently into both moieties, while there was a house group on 
each side called Intiliho, which may have had a common origin. 
The little that I learned of the supposed peculiarities of the moieties 
is in agreement with Speck’s data. Thus I was told that the Teuka 
falaha were warlike and lived on a flat or prairie country, while the 
Tcukilissa were peaceful people living in the timber. 
Mr. Zeno McCurtain, my interpreter, recorded, from the mouths 
of some of the older men, the following beliefs regarding a Chickasaw 
people, who were in the habit of living in timbered country. As 
there is no house group in my list bearing a similar name, it is 
probable that these were the Tcukilissa. 
% One of my informants called this moiety, ‘“‘ Tashka,’ “ warrior,’ but this seems to 
have been due to a supposed association of the side in question with warlike occupations. 
36 Speck, Frank G., Journ, Am. Folk-Lore, vol. xx, p. 54. 
87 [bid., p. 56. 
