SWANTON] INDIANS OF THE SOUTHEASTETIN UNITED STATES 265 



Speaking particularly of the Chickasaw, Adair says that house 

 building was usually undertaken in fall and spring, and that little 

 work was done in summer except, of course, the necessary care of the 

 Qelds and the work of bringing in firewood for cooking. War 

 parties started out as soon as the weather began to warm up in 

 spring (Adair, 1775, pp. 402-403). 



The seasonal movements of the eastern Caddo resembled those of 

 the inland tribes just considered. Those of the western Caddo were 

 determined to a great extent by the annual bison hunt. 



FOOD 



The chroniclers of the De Soto expedition give us our first insight 

 into the native economy of the section, and we find the following 

 articles of food mentioned : 



Corn, kidney beans, and various sorts of pumpkins and squashes 

 were cultivated. Among the natural productions of the vegetable 

 kingdom they used the following : Two kinds of plums, persimmons, 

 grapes (including muscadines), mulberries, strawberries, walnuts (in- 

 cluding hickory nuts), chestnuts, chinquapins, acorns, and "bunches 

 of young onions just like those of Castile, as big as the end of the 

 thumb and larger" (Bourne, 1904, vol. 2, p. 87). The plums and 

 persimmons were dried, and dried persimmons, made into cakes or 

 bricks of "bread," as it is often called, were a staple throughout the 

 section. The grapes they found growing about Hothliwahali (Uli- 

 bahali) on the Tallapoosa River were the best they tasted anywhere; 

 they were probably muscadines (Bourne, 1904, vol. 1, p. 85; vol. 2, 

 p. 114). A sort of bread was made out of chestnuts, and oil was 

 extracted from walnuts (hickory nuts) and acorns (Bourne, 1904, 

 vol. 2, pp. 15, 107; vol. 1, p. 74). Among animal foods they men- 

 tion the deer, bison, bear, turkey, rabbit (often called "cony"), the 

 last mentioned being trapped (Bourne, 1904, vol. 1, pp. 145-146). 

 In the Appalachian country "barkless dogs" are said to have been 

 eaten, and by some these are supposed to have been opossums, but 

 this is probably an error, and there is also reason to believe that the 

 one chronicler who reports Indian fondness for dog flesh was wrong 

 or has been misinterpreted (Bourne 1904, vol. 1, p. 72; vol. 2, p. 103). 

 Among some of the tribes it was customary for warriors about to 

 set out upon an expedition to feast upon a dog, but this was excep- 

 tional and seems to have been accompanied by a strict taboo of dog 

 meat at other times. However, from various parts of North America 

 we have notices of the use of a small variety of dog as food and 

 cannot ignore the possibility that the custom may have extended to 

 the Southeast. Mention is made in a general way of the use of 

 birds other than turkeys as food, and turkeys were, of course, eaten 

 in all sections. The Gentleman of Elvas thus describes the fish 



