Swanton] GOVERNMENT PALS) 
away power from the Mirko as in taking it from the whole body 
of chiefs and in making them all elective. When the Chickasaw first 
moved west they agreed to come under the Choctaw laws in accord- 
ance with which a chief was elected every four years and captains 
every two years, the judges being elected by the general council.°* In 
1856 the Chickasaw were separated from the Choctaw and established 
an independent government on the same model. 
Romans introduces the following commentary regarding qualifi- 
cations for chieftainship under the ancient system and the preroga- 
tives which went with it: 
Their grand chief is called Opaya Mataha, and it is said he has killed his 
man upwards of forty times, for which great feats he has been raised to this 
nominal dignity, which by all savages is as much regarded, aS among us 
a titular nobleman would be if he should be obliged to be a journeyman 
taylor for his maintenance.” : 
Of course regard for the above-mentioned “journeyman taylor,” 
or his equivalent, is considerably greater in our time than in the time 
of Romans. He wrote just previous to the American Revolution. 
In what Cushman says of the Tishu Mitko he has woven together 
statements applying to an institution and statements applicable only 
to a particular bearer of the title Tishu Mi*ko. This functionary, 
“the servant chief,” or “assistant chief,’ was evidently the same as 
the Tishu Mitko of the Choctaw, and almost the same as the Yatika, 
or “interpreter,” of the Creeks, who combined the functions of 
speaker for the chief with that of chairman of the committee of ar- 
rangements when any ceremony took place. 
According to Speck each moiety had one leading prophet 
(hopaye)® who attended to its spiritual interests (see p. 192), but one 
of these evidently had precedence of the other and acted for the tribe 
on occasion. So, at least, we must interpret Adair’s words when he 
says, “The title of the old beloved men, or archi-magi, is still heredi- 
tary in the panther, or tyger family.”®* The “panther or tyger 
family” would be the K6 icto. The prophet of one of Speck’s two 
moieties came from the Iyalkaca of the Wildcat totem group which 
was Closely associated with the Panther, and it is possible that the 
Insakti ta"fa, from whom the other prophet was taken, was also 
Panther or Wildcat, since my informants place both of these on the 
same side. From Adair’s narrative it is evident that this tribal 
prophet corresponded very closely to the Hilis ha*ya or “medicine 
maker ” with whom every Creek town big enough to conduct a busk 
was provided. 
*3 Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, 1, p. 312. 
* Romans, Nat. Hist. E. and W. Fla., p. 64. 
® Hopaye is also a name used for a war leader, so that there may be some confusion 
here. 
© Adair, Hist. Am. Inds., p. 31. 
