298 BUREIAU OP AME-RICAN ETHNX3L0GY [Bull. 137 



to Hariot, porpoises were hunted by the coast people of North Caro- 

 lina, and Fontaneda mentions "whale" hunting by the south Florid- 

 ians, but he probably has reference to the porpoise or perhaps the 

 manatee, since Lawson tells a fantastic story of whale hunting which 

 seems to be explained by south Florida usages in the chase of the 

 manatee (but see pp. 282, 329). 



Fishing was an important industry almost everywhere, but partic- 

 ularly on the Atlantic coast to the northeast, in Florida, and on the 

 Mississippi and its tributaries, including the lagoon and bayou sec- 

 tions of Louisiana. The fish most prominent in the Northeast were 

 the herring and sturgeon, but Lawson tells us that the coast tribes 

 did not use the latter (see p. 277) . Besides these, Hariot mentions the 

 trout, ray, alewife, mullet, and plaice; Lawson speaks of all but the 

 last two of these and adds the garfish, bluefish, rockfish or bass, and 

 trout ; and Florida authorities speak of the trout, turbot, mullet, and 

 plaice (see pp. 273, 279, 280). In south Florida the trout, wolf fish, 

 trunk fish (chapin), and tunny are mentioned (see p. 282). The 

 carp, sucker, catfish, and sardine (herring?) are the only fish specifi- 

 cally named among the Natchez and other Mississippi River tribes 

 (Swanton, 1911, p. 72). According to Bartram (1792, p. 174) the 

 great spotted gar was sometimes eaten. Eels appear only on the menu 

 of the southern Floridians along with oysters and clams (Swanton, 

 1922, pp. 388, 392). Clams, oysters, and mussels were used by prac- 

 tically all peoples of the Atlantic coast. Crabs, cockles, crawfish, and 

 lobsters are mentioned by authorities on the northeastern and Florid- 

 ian Indians. Land and oceanic turtles and their eggs were used as 

 food in nearly all sections where they occurred ; snakes in the North- 

 east, in Florida, and even by the Choctaw, though this last is on the 

 authority of Adair, who was no friend of the Choctaw people 

 (Adair, 1775, p. 133). However, Timberlake, while in the Cherokee 

 country and very likely at the suggestion of Cherokee Indians, tasted 

 rattlesnake flesh and found it so excellent that he repeated the experi- 

 ment several times (Timberlake, Williams ed., 1927, p. 72). Lizards 

 are said to have been used in both northern and southern Florida as 

 was the alligator, which was also eaten by the coast tribes of Louisiana 

 and probably others. 



The most important game bird was the wild turkey, hunted where- 

 ever it could be found. Second in importance was the passenger 

 pigeon, whose roosts were gathering places for Indian hunters at 

 certain seasons. Names scattered throughout the Gulf States bear 

 record to the places where enormous flocks of these birds used to 

 gather. There is a Pigeon Roost Creek in northern Mississippi, a 

 Pigeon Roost in Clay County, Ky., and the following local names 

 have forms of the same name in the Creek language: Parchelagee 



