SwANTON] INDIANS OF THE SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES 261 



that of the Mulberries. It is the month of August. At this feast birds are also 

 brought to the great Sun. The seventh moon is that of Maize or the Great Corn. 

 [And of this feast Du Pratz also gives a lengthy description.] The eighth moon is 

 that of the Turkeys and corresponds to our month of October. It is then that this 

 bird comes out of the thick woods to enter the open woods in order to eat nettle 

 seeds, of which it is very fond. The ninth moon is that of the Bison. Then they go 

 to hunt this animal. As it always stays some leagues from the cantons inhabited 

 by men, precaution is taken to send forward scouts to locate the animals in order 

 to know when they have assembled. When this is known everyone sets out, young 

 and old, girls and women, unless they have little children, for this hunt being rough 

 there is work for everyone. Many nations wait until later before going, in order 

 to find the bison in greater numbers and the cows fatter. . . . The tenth moon is 

 that of the Bears. In these hunting seasons the feasts are not large, because the 

 warriors, being all away from home, take away many of the people with them. The 

 eleventh moon, which corresponds to our month of January, is that of the Cold 

 Meal. At this time many bustards, geese, ducks, and other similar kinds of game 

 are to be had. The twelfth moon is that of the Chestnuts. This fruit has indeed 

 been collected some time before, but nevertheless this month bears that name. 

 Finally, the thirteenth month is that of the Nuts. It is added to complete the year. 

 It is then that the nuts are broken in order to make bread by mingling them with 

 corn meal. (Le Page du Pratz, 1758, vol. 2, pp. 354-383.) 



"Cold Meal" was parched corn meal such as men took on a war 

 expedition or when traveling long distances. Perhaps the names 

 Cold Meal, Chestnuts, and Nuts were given to these last three winter 

 months because the larder was low and such foods then assumed an 

 importance not ordinarily enjoyed by them. Surprising prominence 

 is here given to the bison hunt, and elsewhere Du Pratz speaks of bison 

 meat as a main reliance of the Indians and colonists, seemingly a 

 strange statement if it is applied to lower Louisiana, but further evi- 

 dence to the former greater abimdance of these animals in the section 

 is given farther on (Le Page du Pratz, 1758, vol. 2, p. 69; also see 

 pp. 324-328, below). 



Other travelers on the lower Mississippi shift the names of these 

 months somewhat. Gravier says that the "little corn" was harvested 

 in June and that the main harvest was not until the end of November 

 (Gravier in Thwaites, 1897-1901, vol. 65, p. 145). Dumont de Mon- 

 tigny seems to place the harvest festival in July, and Charlevoix and 

 Le Petit agree with him. (Dumont, 1753, vol. 1, p. 195; French, 1851, 

 pp. 165-166; Le Petit in Thwaites, 1897-1901, vol. 68, p. 136.) As 

 I have elsewhere suggested, one set of writers may be describing the 

 feast of the "little corn" and another that which accompanied the 

 main harvest, but we know that the dates on which these were held 

 varied in different tribes or in different towns of the same tribe. 

 Among the Creeks, for instance, they occurred as early as June and 

 as late as the middle of August. For a ceremonial people like the 

 Natchez, it seems not a little singular that every Natchez month is 

 named for some article of food. 



