500 MYTHS OF THE CHEROKEE [eth.ans.19 



adopted Indians from other tribes, chiefly Chootaws. Under the i)resent law, Ijy 

 which citizenship cUxinis are decided by a Government commission, "Chickasaw by 

 blood " are reported in 1898 to number 4,230, while " white and negro " citizens are 

 reported at 4,818. See also Gatschet, Creek Migration Legend; The Five Civilized 

 Tribes, Bulletin of Eleventh Census. 



The Choctaw confederacy — This was a loose alliance of tribes, chiefly of Musklio- 

 gean stock, occupying southern Alabama and Mississippi, with the adjacent Gulf 

 coast of western Florida and eastern Louisiana. The Choctaw proper, of Muskho- 

 gean stock, occupying south central Mississippi, was the dominant tribe. Smaller 

 tribes more or less closely affiliated were the Mobilian, Tohome, JIugulasha, Pasca- 

 goula, Biloxi, Acolapissa, Bayagoula, Houma, with others of less note. It had been 

 assumed tliat all of these were of !Muskhogean stock until Gatschet in 188(5 estab- 

 lished the fact that the Biloxi were of Siouan affinity, and it is quite probable that 

 the Pascagoula also were of the same connection. All the smaller tribes excepting 

 the Biloxi were practically extinct, or had entirely lost their identity, before the 

 year 1800. 



The Choctaw were one of the largest of the eastern tribes, being exceeded in num- 

 bers, if at all, only by the Cherokee; but this apparent superiority was neutralized 

 by their unwarlike character and lack of cohesion. According to Morgan, whose 

 statement has, however, been challenged, they had eight clans grouped into two 

 phratries. There was also a geographic division into "Long towns," " Potato-eating 

 towns," and "Six towns," the last named <liffering considerably in dialect and cus- 

 tom from the others. By treaties in 1820 and 1830 the Choctaw sold all their lands 

 east of the Mississippi and agreed to remove to Indian Territory, where they now con- 

 stitute the Choctaw Nation. A considerable number of vagrant Choctaw who had 

 drifted into Louisiana and Arkansas at an early period have since joined their kin- 

 dred in Indian Territory, but from 1,000 to 2,000 are still scattered along tte swampy 

 Gulf coast of Mississippi. In 1890 those of pure or mixed Choctaw blood in the 

 Choctaw Nation were officially reported to number 10,211. In 1899, under different 

 conditions of citizenship, the "Choctaw by blood" were put at 14,256, W'hile the 

 adopted whites and negroes numbered 5,150. See also Gatschet, Creek Migration 

 Legend; The Five Civilized Tribes, Bulletin of Eleventh Census. 



The Osage — The popular name is a corruption of Ouasage, the French spelling of 

 Wasash, the name used by themselves. The Osage were the principal southern 

 Siouan tribe, claiming at one time nearly the whole territory from the Missouri to 

 the Arkansas and from the Mississippi far out into the plains. Their geograjihic 

 position brought them equally into contact with the agricultural and sedentary tribes 

 of the eastern country and the roving hunters of the prairie, and in tribal habit 

 and custom they formed a connecting link T>etween the two. Whether or not they 

 deserved the reputation, they were considered by all their neighbors as particularly 

 predatory and faithless in character, and had consequently few friends, but were 

 generally at war with all tribes alike. They made their first treaty with the Gov- 

 ernment in 1808. In 1825 they ceded all their claims in Missouri and Arkansas, 

 together with considerable territory in what is now Kansas. They have decreased 

 terribly from war and dissipation, and are now, to the number of about 1,780, gath- 

 ered upon a reservation in Oklahoma just west of the Cherokee and south of the 

 Kansas line. 



106. The Giants from the west (p. 391): This may be an exaggerated account 

 of a visit from some warriors of a taller tribe from the plains, where it is customary 

 to pluck out the eyebrows and to wear the hair in two long side pendants, wrapped 

 round with otter skin and reaching to the knees, thus giving a peculiar expression 

 t(i the eyes and an appearance of tallness which is sometimes deceptive. The Osage 

 warriors have, however, long been noted for their height. 



With the exception of Tsul'kalu' there .seem to Vie no giants in the mythology of 



