The geographic position of the Creeks in the midst of warlike and
aggressive nations was a powerful stimulant for making "invincibles"
of their male offspring. The ruling passion was that of war; second to
it was that of hunting. A peculiar incentive was the possession of
war-titles, and the rage for these was as strong among the younger men
as that for plunder among the older. The surest means of ascending the
ladder of honor was the capture of scalps from the enemy, and the
policy of the red or bloody towns was that of fostering the warlike
spirit by frequent raids and expeditions. In some towns young men were
treated as menials before they had performed some daring deeds on the
battle-field or acquired a war title.[96] To become a warrior every
young man had to pass through a severe ordeal of privations called
_fast_, púskita, from the fifteenth to the seventeenth year of his
age. This _initiation_ into manhood usually lasted from four to eight
months, but in certain rare instances could be abridged to twelve
days.
[Footnote 96: Milfort, Mémoire, p. 251.]
A distinction of a material, not only honorific character was the
election of a warrior to actual command as pakā′dsha or
tustĕnúggi `láko.