SWANTON] INDIANS OP THE SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES 649 



chief had a number of smaller, local chiefs under him upon whom he 

 probably drew heavily at times, though the things obtained in this 

 manner were no doubt rather of the nature of "friendly" forced loans 

 than tribute. The Calusa chief in southwest Florida, however, is said 

 to have taken tribute from the Indians around Lake Okeechobee, 

 tribute consisting of "fish, game, roots, deer skins, etc." (Coleccion de 

 Documentos Ineditos, 1864-1884, vol. 5, p. 535 ; Swanton, 1922, p. 388) . 

 The chief contemporary with Laudonniere had combined the priestly 

 power with the civil and military authority and Lopez de Velasco 

 states that every time the son of a cacique died "each neighbor sacri- 

 fices his sons or daughters who have accompanied the dead body" and 

 that "when the cacique himself dies, or the caciqua, every servant of 

 his or hers, as the case may be, is put to death." The same writer tells 

 us that the Indians of Tekesta, near the present Miami, had the custom 



when the cacique dies, of disjointing his body and taking out the largest bones. 

 These are placed in a large box and carried to the house of the cacique, where 

 every Indian from the town goes to see and adore them, believing them to be 

 their gods. (Swanton, 1922, p. 389.) 



The chief of Ais was, however, treated with more veneration than the 

 chiefs of the other towns on the eastern coast and appears to have dom- 

 inated them. On his return from Hobe, whither he had gone for some 

 European wreckage, Dickenson says, speaking of the chief ruling in 

 1699, 



he was received by his people with great homage, holding out his hands, as their 

 custom is, to be kissed, having his chest carried before him to his house. (Dick- 

 enson, 1803, p. 48; Swanton, 1922, p. 396.) 



Absolutism reached its height, as is well known, among the 

 Natchez and Taensa Indians of the lower Mississippi. Speaking of 

 the tribes from the Taensa southward, but more particularly of the 

 latter, the missionary Membre writes to his superior: 



They have temples where they preserve the bones of their dead chiefs, and 

 what is noteworthy is that the chiefs have much more power and authority 

 than among all our savages [to the northward]. They command and are obeyed. 

 A person does not pass between them and the reed torch which bums in their 

 houses, but makes a circuit with some ceremony. They have their servants 

 (valets), who wait upon them at table. People bring them food from out- 

 side. They serve them with drink in their cup after having rinsed it, and no 

 one drinks before they [do]. Their wives and children are treated in the same 

 manner. They distribute presents according to their will, to whomsoever among 

 them it seems good. It is sufficient to tell you that the chief of the Taensa 

 coming to see M. de la Salle, a master of ceremonies came two hours before 

 with five or six flunkeys whom he made sweep with their hands the road over 

 which he must pass, prepare a place for him, and spread out a rug, which 

 consisted of a cane mat very delicately and artistically made. The chief who 

 was coming was clothed in a very beautiful white cloth. Two men preceded 

 him, in state, with fans of white feathers, as if to chase away the evil spirits ; 



