^OJ 



YUCHI 



1005 



legislature, and some members thought 

 the Yuchi should receive no annuities, 

 since they were slaves. The Yuchi were 

 much attached to the ways and customs 

 of their forefathers, and in 1818 they took 

 sides with the Upper Creeks against the 

 Government. Their towns were de- 

 stroyed in consequence of this by the 

 friendly Creeks. Hawkins (Sketch, 62, 

 1799) claims a better standard of morality 

 for them than for many of the Creek 

 towns, saying "these people are more 

 civil and orderly than their neighbors, 

 and their women are more chaste and the 

 men better hunters. The men take part 

 in the labors of the women, and are more 

 constant in their attachment to their 

 women than is usual among red people." 

 In 18oH they removed with the Creeks to 

 the present OklahoiDa, where fewer than 

 500 now reside in the n. w. part of the 

 Creek Nation. Part live among the Shaw- 

 nee on the W. — the so-called Shawano 

 Yuchi. Here they had a separate town 

 body, with representatives in the Creek 

 assembly, until the dissolution of the 

 Creek Nation as such in 1906. They ex- 

 hibit a tendency toward conservatism and 

 pride. Their loosely-marked settlements 

 were named as follows: Arkansaw River, 

 Big Pond Town, Blackjack Town, Deep 

 Fork Creek, Duck Creek Town, Intatch- 

 kalgi, Mount Pleasant, Ogeechee, Padshi- 

 laika, Polecat Creek, Red Fork, Silver 

 Bluff, Snake Creek, Spring Garden Town, 

 and Tokogalgi. 



In material culture the Yuchi are 

 typical of the agricultural hunting tribes 

 of the s. E. Atlantic and Gulf coast area, 

 living formerly in permanent villages 

 surrounded by cultivated fields and 

 always situated conveniently near some 

 stream where fish abounded. Their 

 houses were grouped about a square plot 

 of ground, which was held as sacred, 

 where religious ceremonies and social 

 gatherings took place. The ordinary 

 houses were of the common coast type, 

 covered with bark or mats, but there was, 

 besides, another more complex and per- 

 manent sort with sides plastered with 

 clay. They were good potters, manu- 

 facturing various forms l>y the coiling 

 process, nearly all, however, similar in 

 shape to gourds, from which it is possi- 

 ble the forms were derived. Incised 

 decorations occur only on or near the 

 rim. Decorated effigy pipes of clay are 

 still made, resembling closely some of 

 those found in mounds in Georgia and 

 the Carolinas. Basketry was made of 

 cane and hickory splints, and the art was 

 quite highly developed. Considerable 

 wooden ware was also used. The original 

 style of clothing has been supplanted for 

 several generations by calico and trade 

 goods made into shirts, outside hunting 



jackets, leggings, turban-like headgear, 

 sashes, neckbands, garters, shoulder 

 straps, and pouches, which are possibly 

 survivals of older forms. Sashes, neck- 

 bands, leg-bands, hair pendants, pouches, 

 and shoulder-liands are decorated with 

 geoirietrical designs in bead embroidery 

 representing animals and natural objects. 

 Some of these designs are said to be worn 

 in imitation of mythic characters and 

 seem to be in a sense symbolical. An 

 influence may have been exerted on 

 Yuchi art by the prairie tribes since the 

 removal to the W. Bows and arrows, 

 clubs, and spears were their chief 

 weapons. The blowgun was much in 

 use in hunting. Dogs, too, were used in 

 the chase, and hunting formulas were 

 believed to affect the piovements of the 

 quarry. Fishing was conmionly I'arried 

 on by poisoning the stream with a species 

 of teplirosia. 



The political organization of the tril^e, 

 which has become more pronounced in 

 type since its incorporation into the 

 Creek Nation, is based on the town. 

 This is made up of some 18 or 20 totemic, 

 maternal, exogamic clans, the members 

 of which trace their descent from the 

 totem animal and have certain restric- 

 tions in regard to it. At an annual cere- 

 mony the clans perform propitiatory and 

 reverential dances in honor of their to- 

 tems. 



The Yuchi clans are as follows, the 

 names in parentheses being the simplified 

 forms of those recorded bv Gatschet: 

 Sag^e' (Sagi), Bear; Dahi (Tala), Wolf; 

 We^'A"^ (Weyon), Deer; Tiib^ii' (Tapa), 

 Tortoise; Wctc^A"^ (Wetchon), Panther; 

 Cad'-'ane (Shatane), Wildcat; Catiene 

 (Shathiane), Fox; Goda (Huda), Wind; 

 Cu(Shu), Fish; Cag;i"^(Shakian), Beaver; 

 Cutane (Shuhlanan), Otter; Djii^tie" 

 (Tchatchiun), Raccoon; YusA"^(Yussoih), 

 Skunk; WetsagowA"^ (Wetsagua), Opos- 

 sum; Cadjwane, Ral)bit; Cava, Squirrel; 

 Wetc^a (Witchah), Turkey; C:Vna (Sha), 

 Eagle; YA°tF, Buzzard; Ca, Snake. 

 Gatschet gives also the Senan (Bird), 

 Tapatwa (Alligator), Tapi (Salt), To 

 Sweet-potato), Yonh (Hickory-nut), and 

 Yontuh (Acorn), but it is doubtful if 

 these clans existed among the Yuchi. 

 There is disagreement among native in- 

 formants regarding the existence of the 

 Eagle, Buzzard, and Snake clans above 

 given. 



The whole male population of the 

 town, and of the tribe as well, is again 

 suljdivided into two other social classes, 

 which have certain town otfices and 

 functions in the ceremonies inherent in 

 them. These classes are chief and war- 

 rior, and inheritance in them is rectkoned 

 through the father without regard to 

 I'lanship of the other sort. Property ia 



