INDIAN TRIBES OF THE EASTERN wOODLANDS ... - Flames of War

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CHICKASAW If the Great Lakes was a French stronghold, the Southeast was a British one. Probably the most formidable allies the British had in the region were the Chickasaws. They were closely related to the Choctaws, and both tribes have a tradition of having been originally one people. Despite this, by the 18th Century they were bitter enemies, the Choctaws being the main French allies in the Southeast. The Chickasaws fought no fewer than five wars against the French and whipped them every time. They also fought and beat virtually every other tribe within reach of them - particularly the Illinois Confederacy, the Shawnees and the Cherokees. In fact the Chickasaws - who became known as “the unconquered and unconquerable” - never lost a war in their recorded history, and kept their record perfect by packing up and migrating to the west in the 1830s when it became apparent that the Whites were too strong for them. Like their Creek cousins they were Muskhogean speakers who divided their tribe into two clans, or moieties - the White (or peace) and Red (or war), who occupied separate Red and White towns. Some scholars think the Chickasaws may have originally been the Red moiety of the larger Choctaw- Chickasaw tribe, which might account for their extreme proficiency in war. Deerskin breechclouts were universally worn. In cooler weather a light skin poncho was popular, and from the middle of the 18th century cloth shirts were often seen. Men shaved their heads except for a roach from front to back on top of the head, often with a fringe of hair along the forehead. They would fasten feathers, the skin of a hawk, or a red bird’s wing to this scalplock. At the crown of the head a large conch-shell bead was sometimes fixed. A skein of threads might be wrapped around the head, with the ends hanging down like tassels. Like other Southeastern tribes the Chickasaw often went barefoot. Red, yellow and white paints were used. War captains were extensively tattooed with figures of serpents and similar motifs. CHOCTAW Less warlike and more easygoing than their Chickasaw cousins, the Choctaws were nonetheless respected warriors. They were a numerous people and absorbed remnants of the Natchez, Tunica, Atakapa, and other Mississippi and Louisiana tribes after these were shattered by smallpox and wars with the French in the first quarter of the 18th century. Despite this the Choctaws were staunch allies of the French, and remained loyal to them until the end. Breechclouts were simple fitted affairs of blue strouding with front and back flaps. Leggings were seldom worn. From the mid-18th century cloth shirts were widespread. Men wore their hair long and ornamented it with colourful feathers. The roach was worn in a distinctive style, consisting of an upright fringe on top, which widened at the back to cover the lower part of the head and the back of the neck. Deerskin moccasins decorated with beads and feathers were worn, though it was common to go barefoot. Like the Catawba, the Choctaw were said to practice head flattening. Tattooing was far less common than it was among the Chickasaw or Cherokee, but the men painted themselves with designs of suns, swastikas and serpents. CREEK The Creeks were related to the Choctaws and Chickasaws. They were not a single tribe, but rather a confederacy which had absorbed a number of tribes in the Southeast. Their name comes from the fact that many of their towns were located near the tributaries of rivers. Highly organised into White (peace) towns and Red (war) towns under powerful chiefs, the Creeks were less individualistic than most other tribes in the Eastern Woodlands. They were staunch British allies, but they warred among themselves at times, and also against the Cherokees. Fitted breechclouts hanging down in front and behind were worn. Leather leggings were dyed black, laced with white thongs, and bordered with fringes of coloured leather. Men wore the roach on the front of the head with a braid on each side, and a scalplock pulled back through a hair tube hanging behind. Another kind of roach like those of the Choctaw, which widened at the back of the head, was sometimes seen. A tonsure like a monk’s, with a fringe all around the head, was also worn by some warriors. Moccasins, when worn, were made from bison or deer hide. Creek warriors extensively tattooed themselves with stars, crescents, scrolls, flowers, animals and sun designs, usually placed in the center of the chest. The head, neck and breast were often painted vermillion. Note: By the early 19th century all the tribes discussed were wearing a lot of cloth manufactured in England or America, mainly calicoes and red or blue strouding. At this period cloth sashes were often worn around the head like a turban. USEFUL SOURCES Paterek, Josephine, Encyclopedia of American Indian Costume, W.W. Norton, New York, 1994. Hyde, George E., Indians of the Woodlands From Prehistoric Times to 1725, Norman, Oklahoma 1962.
wOODLAND LONgHOuSES Words & pictures by Herb Gundt This past summer I designed two Woodland Indian Longhouse masters for Conquest Miniatures’ 500 Nations Range of Woodland Native Americans. Eric Roof, the proprietor of Conquest Miniatures, talked with me about doing some conversions to the resin reproductions of the two longhouses; the point of this exercise being to show gamers how to create variants for a Woodland Indian village, using only two different resin castings. I decided to make the Large Longhouse (#500-100) into, what I call, a council house. I wanted to add a screened awning to both the front and back entries. I started the project by cutting a 1⁄8’’ hardboard base that was large enough to accommodate the extended entry areas. I opted to use maple and oak twigs for most of the new model carpentry, since wood doweling is just too uniform for this project. I’ve been collecting maple and oak twigs for years, mainly when I was out mowing my lawn, because they are handy to have around when doing model work. I always make sure that the twigs are well dried and always remove the bark with rough sandpaper. Well, with that being said we can move on to the actual conversion work. I drilled holes into the base for the main supports and the effigy or scalp pole. I will discuss the effigy pole in more detail later. I cut eight pieces of twig 1 3⁄4’’ long and glued them into the previously drilled holes. I next cut four 3 1⁄2’’ long pieces for the horizontal entry supports and attached them to the vertical supports. The screening was made from 1⁄16’’ diameter basket weaving reed, cut into 1 3⁄8’’ long pieces and glued to the horizontal supports. I fabricated the effigy pole from a 4’’ long twig, a 1’’ long reed, two pieces of twine and some thread. I glued the reed crosswise onto the twig and then wrapped thread around both pieces to represent binding. I glued a section of twine to the top of each side of the reed cross piece, wrapped the twine around the reed and tied it off with thread. I used a toothpick to tease out the twine, coated the twine with white glue and water and attached the effigy pole to the base. I used 1⁄16’’ thick card and tree wrap to make the roofs. Tree Wrap is used by gardeners and is a material that comes on a 3’’ wide roll and resembles heavy crepe paper. The tree wrap was cut into random sized pieces and glued to the card roof. This is a good place to pause on the description of the larger model and move on to the smaller longhouse conversion. I wanted to use the Small Longhouse (#500-99) to make a Jesuit mission. Once again I cut a base large enough to accommodate two covered entries and, in the case of the mission, a bell on a timber frame. I made the entry walls, for the Mission, by gluing six pieces of twig together for each wall. Once the wall sections were dry, I cut the roof slope of the walls with a dremel tool and then glued the walls to the model. The mission roofs were made using the same technique as with the council house roofs. The two vertical supports of the bell frame were made from three pieces, with the outer logs being 1 1⁄4’’ tall and the center log an eighth of an inch shorter. The two assemblies were then glued to the base 7⁄8’’ apart from each other. The horizontal bell support was cut 1 1⁄4’’ long, with a hole drilled in the center for the bell and another drilled on one end for a handle. The handle was made from a piece of wire that was cut 3⁄4’’ long and glued to the end of the support. The brass holiday bell was next attached
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INDIAN TRIBES OF THE EASTERN wOODLANDS ... - Flames of War

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