SWANTON] SOCIAL ORGANIZATION 203 
The following story refers to a clan, or supposed clan, of which 
I have absolutely no other information. It may have been in reality 
a house group, but the word iksa is ordinarily bestowed upon a clan 
or larger division. Perhaps this may refer to some low-caste, wan- 
dering element in the population similar to one mentioned in an old 
French narrative dealing with the Choctaw.*® 
STORY OF THE WANDERING IKSA (NO HOME IKSA) 
People used to wonder about the origin of this iksa and how they got their 
name. They were with the Chickasaw and Choctaw when they came to this 
country. They were shiftless people who did not want to own anything, but 
wandered from one place to another, and so were called Wandering Iksa. 
There are still such people among the Indians. They are rightly named, for 
they do not do anything for themselves, nor do they want to do anything for 
anyone else. Some pitied them and some did not, but it appeared that they 
were satisfied with the way they lived. They are healthy looking, strong 
people, for they did not do anything to run themselves down, but they did 
not move about like others. They moved very slowly, except about something 
that concerned their own welfare, when they were quick enough. They thought 
they were going to live forever. They did not care how they dressed or ap- 
peared. Their women did not take care of their hair like women of other 
elans, but let it hang down uncombed. Though some of the women were good 
looking they would not make good wives. Sometimes they wore dirty dresses. 
They wanted people to give them food for nothing, and when they could not 
get anyone to do so they would work, but they would not do any hard work. 
The local groups or “house names” (intcuka hotcifo’), as the 
Chickasaw called them, were very numerous. I have about 50 in 
my lists, and the Indians believe that, during the smallpox epidemics, 
many were entirely wiped out. The interests of a man or woman 
centered more in the local group than in the larger divisions already 
mentioned. Indeed, one of my informants asserted emphatically 
that the totems were of importance only in international relations, as 
in dealings with the Creeks, when they determined the position in 
which visiting Chickasaw and Creeks stood to one another. Those 
belonging to totemic groups having the same animal names then con- 
sidered themselves relatives, and hospitalities were exchanged. Each 
local group had its own set of personal names, which appear to have 
been passed down from one generation to another much as was the 
custom among the Creek Indians. According to native tradition the 
house names were established just after the Chickasaw had crossed 
the Mississippi from the west and occupied their historic seats. The 
prophet under whose guidance they had conducted their journey 
then visited the different camps and named each from some peculiar- 
ity he observed connected with the camp or its surroundings. Until 
then they had been fighting with all of their neighbors, and so they 
were given their war names at the same time. Of course this js 
4#® Memoirs Am. Anthrop. Asso., vol. v, pt. 2, p. 72. 
