CONTENTS INTRODUCTION CHAPTER 1 LIVING WITH THE LAND 5 10 CHAPTER 2 COMMUNITY AND SPIRITUALITY 18 CHAPTER 3 ART MUSIC AND DANCE CHAPTER 4 PEACETIME AND WARTIME CHAPTER 5 BLENDING PAST AND FUTURE NOTABLE SOUTHEAST INDIANS TIMELINE GLOSSARY SOURCE NOTES SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY FURTHER INFORMATION INDEX 24 30 38 42 43 44 45 45 46 47
ARCTI C SS U B AA R C T I C N O R T H W E S T C O A S T C A L I F O R N I A P L A TTTT EE AAA U G RRRRRRR EE AA T PP LL A I NN S TT SS A E T HH S N O RRRRRRRRRRRR T A E H SOUT B AA SIN ST E W HH T U O S SOUTHEAST REGION OF NORTH AMERICA CULTURAL REGIONS OF THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA Plateau Northwest Coast California Plains Southeast Southwest Great Basin Northeast Subarctic Arctic Other Cultural area border International border State province border
INTRODUCTION The elders gathered their people for a council They decided to travel in search of a new homeland The creator of all things had given the people a special gift It was a sacred pole to guide the way It was called the kohta falaya or the long pole Every night the people planted the pole in the ground pointing it straight up to the sky By morning the pole leaned east toward the rising sun The people followed the direction of the sacred pole They were led by the chief of the Chickasaw CHICK-uh saw and the chief of the Choctaw CHOK-taw They crossed grasslands and hills and a great river wider than they had ever seen They walked for days months and years One night they camped at a place called Nanih Waiya The next morning the pole still stood perfectly straight The people knew they were home A Long History The Chickasaw and the Choctaw tell this sacred story of how they came to live in the southeastern United States The Southeast has been home to many American Indian peoples for at least fifteen thousand years Some of these 5
