Source Material for the Social and Ceremonial Life of the Choctaw Indians

John R. Swanton

University of Alabama Press, Apr 5, 2001 - Social Science - 282 pages

Long considered the undisputed authority on the Indians of the southern United States, anthropologist John Swanton published this history as the Smithsonian Institution's Bureau of American Ethnology (BAE) Bulletin 103 in 1931. Swanton's descriptions are drawn from earlier records—including those of DuPratz and Romans—and from Choctaw informants. His long association with the Choctaws is evident in the thorough detailing of their customs and way of life and in his sensitivity to the presentation of their native culture.

Included are descriptions of such subjects as clans, division of labor between sexes, games, religion, war customs, and burial rites. The Choctaws were, in general, peaceful farmers living in Mississippi and southwestern Alabama until they were moved to Oklahoma in successive waves beginning in 1830, after the treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek.

This edition includes a new foreword by Kenneth Carleton placing Swanton's work in the context of his times. The continued value of Swanton's original research makes Source Material the most comprehensive book ever published on the Choctaw people.

Contents

• Introduction: 1
• Historical Sketch: 4
• The Origin Legend: 5
• Material Condition: 37
• Social Organization: 55
• Government: 90
• Property: 102
• Crime and Punishment: 104
• Regulations for Women and Childbirth: 115
• Personal Names: 119
• Education: 124
• Marriage: 127
• Division of Labor between the Sexes: 139
• Games: 140
• Travel and Greetings: 160
• War Customs: 162
• Burial Customs: 170
• Religion and Medicine: 194
• Appendix: 243
• Bibliography: 271
• Index: 275

About the author

John R. Swanton received one of the first Ph.D.'s awarded in the United States, from Harvard University in 1900, and was head of the first DeSoto Commission in 1936. He published more than 40 books from his research, including the monumental Indian Tribes of North America.Kenneth H. Carleton is Tribal Archaeologist for the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians in Philadelphia, Mississippi.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Source Material for the Social and Ceremonial Life of the Choctaw Indians; Contemporary American Indian Studies
• Author: John R. Swanton
• Edition: illustrated, reprint
• Publisher: University of Alabama Press, 2001
• ISBN: 0817311092, 9780817311094
• Length: 282 pages
• Subjects: Social Science / Ethnic Studies / American / Native American Studies; Social Science / General; Social Science / Indigenous Studies