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52	MISSISSIPPI: THE GENERAL BACKGROUND
the tribes in general this animal was hunted more for the seasoning quality of its fat than for its flesh. Venison and turkey meat were stewed with bear oil and served with corn cakes and a beverage of acidulate honey and water; or a slice of venison, a slice of turkey, and a slice of bear meat were placed on a stick and barbecued in a position which forced the bear fat to drip over the turkey and venison, giving them a high seasoning. Gayarre, a French historian, rapt in his appreciation of culinary art, muses over the fact that the Natchez "never could be persuaded to eat of the skilfully made dishes of the French because they were afraid of the ingredients which entered into their composition. They never ate salads or anything raw or uncooked except ripe fruits, and they never could relish wine." Their relish for brandy, however, was keen and they looked down on the French for mixing it with water. Herring and sturgeon (both now extinct on the coast), alligators, crawfish, and shellfish also were eaten.
Unindustrialized and left free to eat according to the promptings of their stomachs, the Indians had no fixed hours for meals. They ate when they pleased and never together. The only exception to this was when a feast was given. The men then ate by messes, out of a bowl set in the center of the group and with a wooden or horn spoon passed from one to the other. The women and children, sitting apart, followed the same procedure.
Deer were stalked by single hunters, and bears were sought out in their dens, driven to the open by means of fire, and killed as they tried to escape. (Aware of the need of conservation, long before the white men came the Indians established areas in which the bears were allowed to breed unmolested.) Characteristically, the Chickasaw left the small game to the boys, and even the boys would not hunt the beaver. Animals so easily killed were not worthy of a warrior, they said. Fish were caught by hooks, shot with arrows, or speared (often at night with the help of fire). In dry seasons pools left by thin, vapid streams were dragged for fish with nets, or else the fish were stupefied by means of buck-eye, devil’s shoestring, or other poisonous plants.
Clothing was made principally of deer and porcupine skins and consisted of a breechcloth for the man and a short skirt for the woman. When traveling they wore moccasins and leggings for protection against briars and bushes. Skins, particularly those of the porcupine, were embroidered with considerable art, the drawings being somewhat Gothic in character, and dyed solid colors "of which they liked best the white, the yellow, the red, and the black; their taste being to use them in alternate strips." (Gayarre.) Cloaks were made of wild-goose or other bird feathers woven
ARCHEOLOGY AND INDIANS	53
into patterns, or, for women particularly, of mulberry bark woven in a down-weaving loom. During very severe weather the tribes in the northern part of the State wore robes of bear or bison skins; but in summer they, like the men and women of the more southerly tribes, went half-naked and barefooted. Except when in mourning, the women quite uniformly wore their hair long, sometimes plaited but more often loose. Men’s styles differed with the tribes. The Natchez, for instance, shaved their heads, friar-like, leaving a long, twisted tuft of hair to dangle from the crown down over their left shoulder. To this small feathers were attached. Ornaments were worn in profusion by both sexes and paint was a necessity. Garters, belts, and head bands were woven of bison or opossum hair and ornamented with beads. Shell, bone, and copper beads were used as ear and nose ornaments. From earliest times the Choctaw and Chickasaw made annual raids west of the Mississippi and brought back bars of silver and copper, which they fashioned into ornaments.
The Indian woman about to become a mother retired into the woods alone and in a few hours returned with her child and resumed her work. Immediately after birth the child was carried to a stream and washed, then taken to the hut and placed in a cradle. This cradle was usually two and one-half feet long, eight or nine inches wide, and six inches high. Unlike the modern cradle, its rocking motion was forward and backward like our rocking chairs. Being light, the cradle was placed on the mother’s bed at night. If the child were a Choctaw boy, Adair tells us, . . part of the cradle where the head reposes was fashioned like a brick-mould.” This was to help flatten the child's head. But whatever the tribe or sex Indian children received constant attention, being allowed to suckle as often and as long as they pleased, and having their bodies rubbed with oil each day. The oil rendered the limbs more flexible and prevented the bites of flies and mosquitoes.
With the exception of the Choctaw who feared water, the children of both sexes when three years old were taken each morning, summer and winter, to a nearby stream to bathe. At this time of life they were impressed with the inviolable rule that quarrels and fights would not be tolerated—the penalty for transgression being the shame of having to live for a certain time in utter seclusion. As no Indian, young or old, could endure humiliation, the fear of such disgrace made them so cautious of trespassing on another’s rights that the few "penal laws” existing within the tribes seldom had to be enforced.
Male children were taught to hunt and to fight, female children to prepare the food, make the clothing, weave the baskets, mold the pottery, and