Chakchiuma Indians (Choctaw: saktchi ‘crawfish,’ huma ‘red,’ probably referring to a clan totem). A tribe speaking a Choctaw-Chickasaw dialect, formerly living on Yazoo river, Mississippi, and, according to Iberville 1 between the Taposa below them and the Outapo or Ibitoupa above, in 1699. At that time they were probably the most populous of the Yazoo tribes, and spoke the Chickasaw language. They were an important tribe at the time of De Soto’s expedition (1540-41) and lived in a walled town. During the 18th century they were included in the Chickasaw confederacy, and had the reputation of being warlike. Adair 2 mentions a tradition that they came to the east side of the Mississippi with the Choctaw and Chickasaw and settled on the Tallahatchie, the lower part of which was called by their name. Jefferys 3 states that in his time they occupied 50 huts on the Yazoo river.
Citations:
- Margry, Dec., iv, 180, 1880,[↩]
- Adair, Hist. Am. Inds., 66, 352, 1775[↩]
- Jefferys, French Dom., i, 163, 1761[↩]