Chickasaw Legends

The ancient Chickasaws lived in a world filled with spirits: spirits in the animals they hunted, spirits of forces of nature such as the sun and the wind, the spirits of those who had passed on, and spirits of unseen creatures which inhabited the forest. The Chickasaws believed that these spirits interacted with them in their daily lives, and they took great care not to offend them.

Each clan or village had a medicine man or shaman who not only could predict the future, he was held partially responsible for what happened. So when their was a drought, shortage of game, or loss in battle, the medicine man was held accountable. There were also healers who administered medicinal herbs and healing ceremonies to tribal members afflicted with illness. Animals each had their own special characteristics. The fox, for instance, had been cursed for his devious ways, while the wolf was considered sacred. The raccoon was admired for his ferocity. Dogs were valued because it was believed they could see spirits invisible to men.

Many of these old beliefs were still prevalent when Smith Paul came to live with the Chickasaws, and some have survived into the present times, both as legends handed down from one generation to another, but also as active beliefs and practices.

When my mother attended Bloomfield, a school for Chickasaw and Choctaw girls, a tribal medicine man came and ministered to one of the girls who was gravely ill. I recently met a lady at a Chickasaw gathering whose grandmother was a Chickasaw herbal doctor. She said that people would come for miles around to consult with her grandmother about their illnesses.

Some spiritual forces were good and some ill. In My mother's files I found an article about a legend that there were some humans who could change themselves into animal form. During Indian Territory days it was thought that some of the Indian Light Horsemen (Indian police) had this ability. My great grandfather was one of the Chickasaw Light Horsemen.

According to the article, evil witches often used the form of an owl to spread mischief. They would fly into a tree near their neighbors' houses to spy on them, and some could even steal years from their neighbors' lives, especially the ill or elderly, to add to their own lives. There was also a belief that if an owl hooted outside your house that someone was going to die.

My cousin told me a story about an incident that happened when she was a small child. She was riding in the car with her parents and was sucking on a lolly pop when the car hit a bump and lurched, causing the stick to be driven through the back of her throat. The next day she developed a high fever and her parents took her to the doctor. The doctor examined her throat and told them that she had developed an abscess. He gave her medication and was going to keep her in the hospital that night, but my cousin was so upset the doctor decided to send her home, saying that he had done all he could anyway. The doctor warned her parents though that if her fever didn't break during the night she might not survive. Late that night they heard an owl hooting outside. My cousin said that her father, who was 3/4 Chickasaw, became upset and went outside with his shotgun. He fired at the tree where he heard the owl and scared it away, but later the owl returned and hooted again. That night my cousin's fever broke and the next morning she was much better. Everyone relaxed and thanked God that my cousin had survived, but later that day they got word that my grandfather had died.