Parallel to the two íksa of the Cha'hta the Creeks are divided into
two _fires_ (tútka), a civil fire and a military fire. The term _fire_
evidently refers to council fires, which had to be kindled
ceremonially by the friction of two pieces of wood. The term _fire_
was also applied by Sháwanos and other Northern Indians to the States
formed by the early colonists, and is still used of the States now
constituting the American Union: the thirteen fires, the seventeen
fires, etc.
Concerning the gentes (aläíkita) of the Creek people, it is important
to notice that in their towns each group of houses contained people of
one gens only,[94] and these gentes are often mentioned in their local
annals; and that the gens of each individual was determined by that of
his mother. Some of the towns had separate gentes for themselves, all
of which had privileges of their own.
[Footnote 94: A similar distribution is observed in the
villages, hunting and war camps of the Pani and Southern Dakotan
tribes, and was very strictly enforced by them.]
Marriage between individuals of the same gens was prohibited; the
office of the míko and the succession to property of deceased persons
was and is still hereditary in the gens. In the Tukabatchi town the
civil rulers or míkalgi were selected from the _eagle_ gens; those of
Hitchiti town from the _racoon_ gens only; of Kasiχta from the
_bear_ gens; those of Taskígi probably from the _wind_ gens. The
beloved men or ístitchakálgi of Kasiχta were of the _beaver gens_.
In adultery and murder cases the relatives of the gens of the injured
party alone had the right of judging and of taking satisfaction; the
míko and his council were debarred from any interference. This custom
explains why treaty stipulations made with the colonists or the
Federal Government concerning murders committed have never been
executed.[95]
[Footnote 95: Cf. Hawkins, p. 75.]
There is probably no Indian tribe or nation in North America having a
larger number of gentes than the Maskoki proper. This fact seems to
point either to a long historic development of the tribe, through
which so large a segmentation was brought about, or to internal
dissensions, which could produce the same result. About twenty gentes
are now in existence, and the memory of some extinct ones is not lost
in the present generation.
The _list_ of Creek gentes, as obtained from Judge G. W. Stidham, runs
as follows:
Nokósalgi bear gens; from nokósi bear.
Itchúalgi deer gens, from ítchu deer.
Kátsalgi panther gens; kátsa panther, cougar.
Koákotsalgi wild-cat gens; kóa-kótchi wild-cat.
Kunipálgi skunk gens; kúno, kóno skunk.
Wótkalgi racoon gens; wō′tko racoon.
Yahálgi wolf gens; yáha wolf.
Tsúlalgi fox gens; tsúla fox.
Itch'hásualgi beaver gens; itch'hásua beaver.
Osánalgi otter gens; osána otter.
Hálpadalgi alligator gens; hálpada alligator.
Fúsualgi bird gens; fúswa forest bird.
Ítamalgi, Támalgi, (?) cf. támkita to fly.
Sopáktalgi toad gens; sopáktu toad.
Tákusalgi mole gens; táku mole.
Atchíalgi maize gens; átchi maize.
Ahalaχálgi sweet potato gens; áha sweet potato, long
marsh-potato.
Hútalgalgi wind gens; hútali wind.
Aktäyatsálgi (signification unknown).
(-algi is the sign of collective plurality--the ókla of
Cha'hta.)
The following gentes are _now extinct_, but still occur in war names:
Pahósalgi; occurs in names like Pahós'-hádsho.
Okílisa; cf. Killis-tamaha, p. 109.
`Lá`lo-algi fish gens; `lá`lo fish, occurs in war names like
`Lá`lo yahóla, etc.
Tchukótalgi, perhaps consolidated with another gens; it stood in
a close connection with the Sopáktalgi. Also pronounced Tsuχódi;
Chief Chicote is named after it.
Odshísalgi hickory nut gens; ō′dshi hickory nut. Some believe
this gens represented the people of Otchísi town, p. 71.
Oktchúnualgi salt gens; oktchúnua salt.
Isfánalgi; seems analogous to the Ispáni phratry and gens of the
Chicasa.
Wá'hlakalgi; cf. Hú`li-wá'hli, town name.
Muχlásalgi; said to mean "people of Muklása town"; cf.
Imuklásha, under Cha'hta.
The Creek _phratries_ and their names were not fully remembered by my
informants. The only points which could be gathered were, that
individuals belonging to the panther and the wildcat gentes could not
intermarry, nor could the Tchukótalgi with the individuals of the toad
gens or Sopáktalgi. This proves that the two groups formed each a
phratry, which perhaps comprised other gentes besides. It is possible
that among the above totemic gentes some are in fact phratries and not
gentes; and the two _fires_ (or tútka) of the Creeks are not real
phratries, but formal divisions only.