xt708k74w902 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt708k74w902/data/mets.xml Alabama Alabama Museum of Natural History 1960 Other titles include: Alabama Museum of Natural History museum paper, Geological Survey of Alabama, Museum of the Geological Survey of Alabama. Other creators include: United States. Work Projects Administration, Geological Survey of Alabama, Tennessee Valley Authority. Issues for 1, 3 carry no series numbering. No. 2 also as Education papers no. 1. UK holds archival copy for ASERL Collaborative Federal Depository Program libraries. Call number  AS36 .A2. journals  English University, Ala. : Alabama Museum of Natural History, 1910-1960 This digital resource may be freely searched and displayed in accordance with U. S. copyright laws. Alabama Works Progress Administration Publications Museum Paper, no. 36, 1960 - including "Indian Pottery from Clarke County and Mobile County, Southern Alabama" by Steve B. Wimberly text Museum Paper, no. 36, 1960 - including "Indian Pottery from Clarke County and Mobile County, Southern Alabama" by Steve B. Wimberly 1960 1960 2015 true xt708k74w902 section xt708k74w902   GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ALABAMA U
  WALTER B. JONES, STATE GEoi.c><;¤sT fé
     A
    ALABAMA MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY  
 ;Q¥ MUSEUM PAPER 36 » L
  PREPARED THROUGH A GRANT OF _
  HE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA RESEARCH COMMITTEE ‘
  INDIAN POTTERY from CLARKE COUNTY  
gy _ and
  MOBILE COUNTY, SOUTHERN ALABAMA I '
    bv 2-
  4 STEVE B. wiMBERi.v .
  Research Associate, University of Alabama i
  "The Geographic and Historic Background" by Christine Wimberly
    "The Lithic Material" by Daniel W. Josselyn .
  and ;
  ‘A Study of Indian Skeletal Material from Clarke and Mobile Counties" ~
 II  bv ‘
  MARSHALL T. NEWMAN, Associate Curator .
  Division of Physical Anthropology _
  United States National Museum
 _1 ` Washington, D. C. T
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  ‘ ` GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ALABAMA  
  r A‘ J WALTER B. JONES, STATE GE0L0GisT ·  
      ALABAMA MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY A  
      MUSEUM PAPER 38    
      PREPARED THROUGH A GRANT OF    
Q, I   UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA RESEARCH COMMITTEE     ,
RA . z  Q INDIAN POTTERY from CLARKE COUNTY l  
It and    
A U MOBILE COUNTY, SOUTHERN ALABAMA     .
, I Q l bv I  
;;~ g A STEVE B. wirviBeRi.v ·  
T ·.__     Research Associate, University of Alabama  
.   "The Geographic and Historic Background" by Christine Wimberly  
Q_   `z_ “The Lithic Material" by Daniel W. Josselyn  
  Ek  and  
li" FQ-  "A Study of Indian Skeletal Material from Clarke and Mobile Counties"  
  gi  ,_ by 1}
.   Z_ MARSHALL T. NEWMAN, Associate Curator  
  `       Division of Physical Anthropology  
. r yl United States National Museum  
    Washington, D. C.  
       
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 TABLE of CONTENTS  
Preface  
Page   1
l——Geegraphic and Historic Background 7 7 7 l  
 
ll—Clarke County Excavations eeee 7   eer, 12  
1
llI—l\/Iobile County Excavations 7 7     7 7 7 37  
lV—Pottery Study 77777777777777777777   77 57  
V—Lithic Material 7 7     777777 7 7 7 7 7 215  
V1—Physical Anthropological Study 7777777777..7 7 7.77 7 77777777 7 7 237  
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  I   Daniel W. J osselyn, Birmingham, Alabama, made the study  
€   of the lithic material and made the drawings of pottery and  
g .   other artifacts included in the paper.  
f    Christine Wimberly, Birmingham, Alabama, wrote tie  
I     geographic and historic background, which includes a discussim  
·     of the historic Indians of the area. { ]
t I   Dr. Gordon Willey, Bureau of American Ethnology, Smit i- Stud]
    sonian Institution, sent comparative data for the ceramic studs wel;
I I   GBP
,     Dr. Roland M. Harper, Geographer, Geological Survey il ein}
E I   Alabama, furnished data on the topography and flora of t ie ¢'
Z I   region studied.
e Ai   I
    Tom DeJarnette, Jr., Photographer, Geological Survey ii v 5
      Alabama, assisted with the laboratory photography. mcg,
by   F1   Unit
fx  rp   Mrs. W. K. E. James, Secretary of the University Resear h ‘
I  4;   Committee, was responsible for administrative matters relati re { {
‘     to the study. flood
      · · care<
{   Stephanie Wimberly and Lowry Charles Wimberly, II, tg- appr
    sisted in preparing the pottery illustrations. eijnl
i ,   Carl Wolsoncroft, of the Outlook Publishing Company, ga ·e form
I     valuable editorial assistance. thou
tr I  
~ I *_’ gt; qlm
E  5} izfyig The author’s indebtedness to all these individuals and ins i- ed tc
‘    42*-é.Q . .
* p   apt; tutions is gratefully acknowledged. An 4
    fault
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     r·ss     ..      M  _,  . ————»—· u i ” `f””"”P  a
 

 nv www rNmAN POTTERY FROM OLARKE, Momma COUNTIES 1 Y
ri of tlis *r*‘"_“'“ ‘“‘— ‘* ”"rr‘i }
CHAPTER I—GEOGRAPHIC AND HISTORIC BACKGROUND  
he stutiy  
ery H, d by Christine Wimberly  
‘ote t it _ _ _  
. . _ Location of the Investxgations  
ISCLISSI ·li _·
Described on the following pages are field and laboratory   .
, Smit _l_ studies of eighteen sites showing aboriginal occupancy. Fourteen  
{C stm   were "village" sites, seven of these being shell banks. Four were `j
U earth or sand mounds. The sites were located in the southwest-  
Hvey mi ern portion of Alabama, in Clarke and Mobile Counties.  
1 of t e   '
Physiography  
U`V€Y if Southwest Alabama lies in the East Gulf Coastal Plain prov-  
ince (young to mature belted coastal plain) of the Southeastern  
United States.  
Resear lz  
Yélalii 'F The Clarke County sites were located along terraces and  
flood plains of the Tombigbee River, and were bordered by cal-  
careous and alluvial swarnplands. The Tombigbee River drains  
J, H, i 5- approximately 19,000 square miles in western Alabama and east-  
ern Mississippi. It unites with the Alabama River at the southern  
tip of Clarke County —about 35 miles above Mobile Bay- to  
ny, ga r form the Mobile River emptying into the Gulf of Mexico. Al-  
though the gradient is low here and the Tombigbee is conse-  
quently broad and sluggish, there is rugged, considerably dissect-  
nd ins i- ed terrain in the immediate vicinity of the Clarke County sites.  
An anticlinal upwarp near by (Hatchetigbee), with associated  
faults, causes relatively great relief. Q
The Mobile County sites were along the western shore of  
Mobile Bay, an inlet of the Gulf of Mexico. Here the pine hills  
give way to salt marshes, hammocks, swamps, and damp, sandy j
pine flats. I
Geology  
Geology. The Citronelle (Pliocene) formation and the Wilcox  
i;
~i

    
- it   
-‘ T;  Q5
, 3   2 onoroorcAr. soavny or ALABAMA  
- 1   "ii"A"`i 1     it im
 ”     (lower Eocene) group contributed the greatest quantities of sanc  
l ·     and silt to the lowlands in which these archaeological sites are  
      located}   '
”    _ _ Fmang
g   The Citronelle formation covers the uplands of this regioi gtme
      and fine sands derived from it have been spread along the streans whe (
  A   courses below. The sand is mixed with sandy clay. Most of the imap
  .  :·?‘l sand is weathered to a bright red, though some of it is white. Fmm
w    There are many outcrops of Mariana limestone (Oligocene) ii €lIaU°
[   the Clarke County area? This is a soft limestone called "chim —· G;]
  l   ngy I`0Qk” and   is qu3I'I`l€d for local.   .31.1
    Q
it   Fjrgclay, bentonite, mica and lignite are also found in Clarkr 1 ‘
L    Cetmty- Salt has been produced commercially in the Jacksoi ches
  Fault area of the Hatchetigbee anticline in the immediate vi hucl
2  A E;  cinity of the archaeological sites described in this report. A sal lh¤’=‘$*
 Q   lick here was used by historic Indiansg and was said to he tht _
l    only source of natural salt between the areas of Florida ant
    Mississippi. (Just before De Soto’s men reached this part Or th. was
F    Country in 1540 the Spaniards were losing many from their rank ·t<»ri<
    for want of salt?) There are also several sulphur springs nea‘
l   here.
 `T   . , .
 ill   Giant fossil bones of an extinct whale, the Zeuglodon, wer-
 ;]   once very numerous in this part of Clarke County. Sir Charle» Chiu.
  €;*r¥‘s· . . . . .
 li   Lyell, the famous nineteenth century English geologist, visitew they
    this part of the United States for the purpose of examining . Sum
    Zeuglodon bed h€I`€.G Snap
 A;.   het
il  i   Climate and Soil Ferriligy pige
 i   lVl€H1i Hmiuel temperature of this region is 66 F, The grou- dem
Q   ing season is approximately 300 days of the year. Snow occui¢ Iggy
., !»‘»·»+· . . . . —
pg   rarely. The average annual rainfall is around 50 inches in Clark: inte
 A “   County and 63 inches on Mobile Bay. South winds prevail in th;
~ !i‘> ‘ . . . . .
    spring, southwest winds in the summer, and north winds in th;
_°<_—   winter. The soil is moderately fertile. Tam
    i hw; oyst
    ‘Toulmin, 1940, p. 102
 1   *Co0ke, 1926, p. 282 ' f
  `   "Swanton, 1922. Plate 5  
_ ,   'Swanton, 1946, p. 303 '
    ¤·Ba11. 1882, p. sas ‘
.``=   .
l  

 INDIAN POTTERY Faoivr CLARKE, MOBILE COUNTIES 3 Q
E sanc I Flora I
BS 8.11 {
The flora of the region is luxuriant. Spanish moss cloaks  
, rnany of the trees. Longleaf pine was formerly the characteristic  
mgmt tree of the uplands, though the lumber industry has depleted  
tmanz the original stand and shortleaf pine has now replaced the long- {
Qi tht leaf. The pitcher plant grows here in great numbers. Cypress,  
1t€‘ ironwood, sweet gum, black gum, spruce pine, cane and several i
me) il varieties of oak are among the dense growth of the lowlands.  
tchim Near the Bay these give way to coarse grasses, sedges, rushes 2
and palmetto.1 7
jlark, Other plants native to this region are: black walnut, swamp  
icky-,1 chestnut oak, persimmon, chestnut, chinquapin, red mulberry,  
[te vi huckleberry, strawberry, muscadine, smilax, and cane, all of  
A Sa] these having been used by historic Indians as a source of food.!  
be th· i
3 anp Yaupon, or cassena, from which the Indian "black drink"  
Of th, was made, grows in this area. Yucca and pawpaw, used by his-  
yank toric Indians for cord fibre, is also native to this region.  
s neat 2
Fauna  
I WEV In 1879 wild animals "as known for a hundred years"” in  
‘ll3l`1€e Clarke County were: "black bear, black and gray wolves, pan-  
Vl51t€“ ihers, wild cats or catamounts, deer, wild turkeys, raccoons, opos·  
mug sum, foxes, rabbits, squirrels, beaver, mink, alligators, rattle-  
snakes, moccasin, coachwhip snake, fish of many kinds." To this  
list might be added the game birds: mourning dove, passenger §
pigeon (now extinct), quail, woodcock, wild duck and geese.  
Black bear was said to have been particularly numerous in ;
gym" dense canebrakes of the southern part of Clarke County. The  
OCCLU; region still shelters a great variety of wild life and there are  
Cla? noted game preserves in Clarke County today. .  
in lx ~
in tho` Mobile County, adjoining Clarke County, boasts the same j
variety of wildlife and adds also the bounty of the sea: fish,  
oysters, crabs, shrimp, turtle. The most common varieties of fish ·,
information taken from Harper, 1928, and Ball, 1882  
’Swanton, 1946, p. 293  
Ball, 1882. p. 120  
Q
 

    4;  1
‘gT   
_ . A   A oEor,oo1oAL suizvny or ALABAMA img  
i  f   here are mullet, channel bass, catfish, squeteague (the common   of i
I     weakfish, called also "sand trout" and "white trout") and tie gthat
g     deep—sea red snapper. Qand
el   Jar it
3    Previous Archaeological Work in Southwest Alabama  
0 j   In the year 1890 Cyrus Thomas of the Bureau of American   easi
  Ethnology investigated a village area in southeastern Clarke Qtwo
  County, recovering a small amount of pottery and five burias   mac
I     "in compact bundles".1 Ethis
E rj;  ’ .
{   Clarence B. Moore, of the Philadelphia Academy of Nature] A
T   Sciences, investigated sixteen mounds and one village site in `
    Clarke County in the years 1899 and 1905.* During the same pe - Q
 t`   iod he also investigated mounds and shell banks near Mobile ;
_    Bay. Some of Moore’s excavations were very near those wifi omg
 _,   which the present study is concerned. Pm
· A   `firs
E y   In 1940 the Alabama Museum of Natural History in cooper:~— rep·
    tion with the National Park Service excavated a shell bank ci
    the eastern side of Mobile Bay.3
‘ A { if ar
 _; A   The Alabama Anthropological Society has made archaeologv EEC,
 Qi ·   cal investigations in Southwest Alabama for a number of years. nm,
    those in Clarke County being made with special emphasis on a `yea
    search for Mabila, the sixteenth century Indian town where tl e 3ftE
 J   Spanish explorer De Soto and his forces met bloody resistanank ( i  
During the next fifty years three more Spanish adventure  
1 parties recorded descriptions of Indians in the area that was to  
999 O2 " become Southwest Alabama. These were the Narvaez expedition  
f. Yeali nine years after Pineda’s (1528)Z the De Soto expedition twelve  
Us OH tl years later (1540); and the DeLuna expedition nineteen years  
l€Y€ U € after De Soto’s (1559).  
sistan< e  
  Clijk Then, for a hundred and fifty years (days of Jamestown,  
T Stud" Plymouth Rock, New Amsterdam in the eastern United States)  
greg ` Contact with this area is blacked out. There are no more accounts  
' of this section until 1702 when the French established the pres-  
{hmm,] cnt city of Mobile. From that date until 1830, when most of the  
Clark Indians here were removed to Oklahoma, the aborigines of this  
Mabih Hfca were well documented by such writers as the French Peni- ~  
mcg T   Caut, Jean Bossu and LeClerc Milfort, the English James Adair,
QGCUOI  the American Bernard Romans, William Bartram and others. g
° Much valuable documentation was accomplished after 1830 j
(among the Indians not removed to Oklahoma) by H. B. Cushman r
and Henry S. Halbert. The comments of all these men are assem-  
I r'T‘ 1939, p. 216  

   9`1
i -  df?-* l
_ w   6 oEoLoo1cAL simvmy or ALABAMA  
- I   ITT i_Tt—_¤—"?_ C TT
?     bled in three of Dr. John R. Swanton’s booksl from which in- ·   glf
i . g   formation was taken for the following generalized summary. aivgyg
i i   nersl
é   General Traits. Indians living in the Southwest Alabami i
  Y   area in the sixteenth century were closely related to the Choc-   *
ff     taw division of the l\/Iuskhogean family, Hokan-Siouan linquisti: img E
`      stock. They were the Mobile, the Tohome and Naniaba tribe:.  
 V ,   In later years these three tribes lost their identity within the E T
 `   Choctaw division. The name Mobile is possibly derived from the Em]
ji   Choctaw word meaning "to paddle"; Tohome is said to come frori DQ 5
 .; ii  Choctaw "white" or "shining"; and Naniaba is a Choctaw terri WON
W  
3 .   for "fish-eaters". broa
  V i  fron
_·;` fpggr
3   The Narvaez expedition in 1528 described the Indians ci Hear
`    Mobile Bay as wearing their hair "loose and very long."* Th} tatio
U é   De Soto expedition, believed to have marched directly througi cvcf
 Q   the area with which this report deals, asserted (twelve yeai; ascri
I 2   after Narvaez) that this part of the country was then known as
, Q   the province of Pafallaya, which, Swanton says, was undoubtedl r i
  gv   intended for Pansfalaya, meaning "Long I-Iairs", an ancient namé OH h
    for the Choctaw Indians? in lz
I i   The Choctaws were quite different from their easteri
ry »   neighbors, the Creeks (who were nevertheless fellow lV[uskh<- Obk
    geans) and they were usually on bad terms with these Cree< thcii
 it   neighbors. "The tall, athletic Creek warrior was a strikin coi-
 ii QW; trast to his heav 7, thick—set Choctaw farmer cousinl"‘* The Choa-
    taws had slightly more in common with their northwesteri fold
l¤   neighbors, the Chickasaws (who were also l\/Iuskho eans), thou i bone
·l atw g ‘ g
tp    the Chickasaws were allies of the English while the Choctaws {ing
  1   usually favored the French. plac
i    spec
    Choctaws were credited with a good disposition and W€1`D late<
 Q   inclined to fight only defensive wars. The Choctaw nation was the
    never at war with the United States. Tory
 I,   taw
‘,   Their chiefs’ owers were limited and chiefdom was attaineil ~
{  M P che
'{  »   not by inheritance but by merit. They were the most democratic pmt
l·  I Q  .‘
V    e A esa `
 Y ~   'Swanton, 1922, 1931, 1946
 ji   “Swanton, 1946, p. 38 165U
  ` iii; "Swanton, 1946, p. 51 C13
,5   ‘Weer, 1939, p, 248 ' I
        »— 
A  

 _ INDIAN POTTERY Frtom CLARKE, Moiansn coumrnzs 7  
iCh in— of all the southern tribes. There were no totemic clans, but there [
ary. were moieties which determined marriage relationships, part-  
iiership in ball games, and participation in ceremonial matters.  
.3bBm t  
Ch0€· Women were severely punished for adultery and after be-  
qi-1i$tlf ing punished were usually relegated to prostitute class.  
tribes.  
1in thr The Choctaw physique is said to have been slight, as a gen-  
Om th> eral rule, though the Mobile chief Tascalusa, who accompanied  
te from De Soto to Mabila. is described as a giant. Both men and women  
V féffi wore their hair long, except during mourning. The Choctaws had {
broader heads and faces than the Creeks, and their practice of  
fronto—occipital deformation caused them to be called "Flat  
ians et Heads" by eighteenth century Europeans. They had a good repu—   ,
"* Thy tation as ball players and were energetic and industrious in  
hrougi everything they undertook, notwithstanding the "filthiness"  
2 year; ascribed them by some of the European traders.  
own as  
lbtedly They were skilled agriculturists and not overly dependent  
_t nam; on hunting. They traded corn to the less thrifty Chickasaws and.  
in later times, often supplied European colonists with produce.  
eastern Circular "clayed—up" buildings were their winter houses.  
Iugkht- Oblong or oval structures with two smoke holes, usually, were  
Cree; their summer dwellings.  
ag coi —  
2 Chow Their burial rites included placing the deceased on a scat-  
vesteri fold where the flesh, after it decayed, was removed from the  
thougi bones —there were professional bone-pickers who allowed their  
ioctaxw fingernails to grow long for this purpose. The bones were then  
placed in a chest or hamper, the chests being retained in a  
special house until a considerable number of them had accumu-  
d wei; lated, whereupon at some appointed time all the families in  
on was the neighborhood carried the bones to a mound for burial. The  
Tombigbee River is said to have derived its name from the Choc- Q
_ taw burial custom, with Tombigbee coming from itombi meaning 2
lttaméil "chest", and ikbi meaning "maker", thus "chest—maker", an im- Q
locmlm portant profession.  
It is estimated that there were 15,000 Choctaws in the year  
1650. One hundred years earlier the Mobile tribe, directly in the j
Clarke County area, had numbered at least 6,000. In 1758, how-  
.1

 i‘ Yat    *1
· I   ss Gmor.oG1cAL sunvmr on ALABAMA  
· 1 E13?    d'
- `E éistliif _ _  
; i     ever, there were only "about a hundred warr1ors"‘ in the Mobile,  
i .}   Tohome and Naniaba tribes combined. Swanton states that za §Wai·
1     body of Choctaws which settled early in the nineteenth century iand
A      on Bayou Boeuf in Louisiana near the Biloxi and Pascagoula. jwhe
t *   , 7 _
%  1   Indians, may have been composed of remnants of the Tohomo gor n
‘ I  *1,. · . 5
 p· ;   and Mobile.  
 ’ 1   Origin Legends. Swanton has presented Choctaw origin leg QSWE
,_ p   ends from eighteen sources.2 These eighteen versions are of two ique,
   iii F eneral t es twelve of them bein "mi ration" stories and si:t ; .
_ _,, 2 8 YP » S g 1tOt_
    maintaining the belief of "indigenous creation" within the South ";Na¤
¢   .
  east. ,buil
_   The twelve migration stories state that the Choctaw people A
  came into the Southeast after journeying a far distance, with
p i  Agf j nine of these specifying the West as the point of origin, and one Sou
1   specifying the Gulf of Mexico (west of the Mississippi), sayin; `soql
j .   the people had followed the coast eastward. The two other migra- tho
t *   tion stories do not mention a direction. omg
V J, Y .   lflg
I L . ,
  i   After arriving in the Southeast the Choctaws encountered t by l
- '   race of men "tall in stature and of fair complexion, who had emi— loot
 ~   grated from the sun r1se," alleges one of the migration storiesy Wh]
    These eople, it is stated, were tillers of the soil, and eaceable. Soo
p    P P
    They had once been a mighty people, but were few in numbe· com
  ,   ij ,  when the Choctaws arrived, and they soon disappeared. doo
 y gi —’j;  UHC
 vi     Also living in the Southeast when the Choctaws appearec. CSG
  I     according to this same legend, were giants who feasted on thei‘ t €_
  p   ti.,   enemies and herded mammoths for burden bearers. These canni— Cla]
p l   bals and mammoths vanished, the story says, because of a grea: `Wa
E    epidemic in which both man and beast perished. goo
 ·. . ni  ‘f·  · lOl
. l`  
V   . . . . . P
i   The six "1nd1genous creation" stories assert that the Choc- ~Na]
 Q {  taws sprang from a hole in the ground at Nanih Waiya ("Le;.min; iaW‘
r pt . ,, . . . . . . ID3
· ;..  Hill ) located in what is now east—central Mississippi and wher?
 i.  ·¥·  . . ory
  .    r j remains of Indian earthworks may be seen today? 8
Z . ` ,   as
 L , F ; . .—»; hy}
  ¥   ‘Swanton, 1946, p. 197 lcre
p  E  fé gl  “Swanton, 1935, p. 5 ff. `
`I t   "Swanton, 1931, p. 32
,    *1n the southern part of Winston County about 10 miles south of the "
i ;   town of Noxapater and 400 yards north of the Neshoba County line.
“ i. 
     
J.   ,
 

 INDIAN POTTERY FROM CLARKE, MOBILE coUNTrEs 9  
Vlobile, Choctaw headquarters in the Southeast were at Nanih I
that ;. Waiya, according to sixteen of the eighteen stories presented —  
enturjv and the stories contain this Nanih Waiya reference regardless of  
zagoulze whether they ascribe Choctaw presence there to immigration  
'ohom·» or indigenous creation.  
_ Appraisal of the Legends. The eighteen legends presented by  
im leg Swanton hand down conflicting opinions on only two significant  
Of WY" questions: —(l) Whether the nation was immigrant or indigenous -3
md S1: to the historic Choctaw area, and (2) Whether the earthworks at  
South Nanih Waiya were there before the Choctaws appeared or were  
built by the Choctaws themselves.  
;)€§,l;€} As for the first question, the theory of immigrancy into the  
md On, Southeast as opposed to creation there, an examination of the  
sayin, sequence in which these opposing theories appeared shows that  
mig,.9 the migration version is the oldest and most frequently recurring  
origin explanation, with the indigenous creation version creep-  
ing in gradually —first as a frank fabricaton—— and not embraced  
temd l by the Choctaws until after 1880. The earliest origin legend col-  
ad €mj_ lected, one published by Du Pratz in 1758, is a migration story  
gtorieso which pictures the Choctaws as having arrived suddenly in the  
iceabkl Southeast after passing "rapidly from one land to another."1 Ac-  
numb? cording to this story, the Choctaws, in order to express the sud-  
denness of their arrival, stated that they had "come out from  
under the earth," intending the declaration to be a figurative  
,p€3I,€_(_ one. Thirteen years later, in 1771, Bernard Romans collected  
m the,. the first "indigenous creation" legend wherein the Choctaws are  
3 Cam,} Claiming to have sprung from the earth supernaturally at Nanih  
3 greg; Waiya. During the next one hundred years eight legends were  
collected and all of these, without exception, were strict migra- Q
tion legends with no insinuation of supernatural creation at  
E Chop Némih Waiya. One story, collected in 1828, attempts to “explain  
Leanin, 3W&y” the Nanih Waiya creation legend by suggesting that it  
1 Whey; may have been fabricated in order to erase from Choctaw mem- ,
ory the fact that the nation had obtained possession of its south-  
eastern home by force, driving out former inhabitants. ln 1880 a _;
hybrid version containing elements of both the migration and  
creation stories was collected, and after that date only creation  
Lxgof tbl ‘Swanton, 1931, p. 5  
§

 A     if  »  ( S`?
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. l   10 osonoerciu, soavm or ALABAMA   jr
¤ (   W "  wi TWCWC   T A    
      versions appeared, the migration version completely disappear-  
T · i   ing.  
i     As for the second contradictory elements appearing in the {
  l  ?f?; ori in le ends —whether the earthworks at Nanih Waiya were 3
.. , , . E S _ ,
i      there before the Choctaws appeared or were built by the Choc- .1
1    taws themselves- the version that some of the earthworks, at _
 ygl  least, were already there when the Choctaws arrived is the ,
i  stronger version, appearing earlier and recurring more fre ,
Vi   quently than its opposing version. Thirteen of the eighteen origir ,
 g,   explanations presented imply that some of the earthworks at p
F   Nanih Waiya were there when the Choctaws arrived. Results oi
  F   James A. Ford’s studies of pottery collected from the surface
.   at Nanih Waiya are in agreement with this version} Ford founc
4   that not only were historic Choctaw types present at Nami}
V 3   li Waiya but the older pottery types were also there.
i l   Thus the strongest elements of Choctaw origin legends ap- *
. E *  pear to imply that: .
=  uses
,2 ;, .  
 {V3 .   (1) The Indians who lived in the Clarke County area in the
 F   sixteenth century, and greeted the Europeans Pineda
 y   Narvaez, and De Soto, were descendants of people wh<
 A,1   had migrated into the Southeast from a westerly di [
      rection. ‘
 "· l$;l?‘~":]c
  HQ 
    (2) These ancestors of the sixteenth century Choctaws har K
    found, when they first arrived in the Southeast, a peace
    able, soil-tilling people, and another people who prac _
.a ,   Q  ticed cannibalism, ‘
l r