Kashehotapalo (the man-deer)
Choctaw · numen · Choctaw traditional religion; continuing · Recorded classification
Kashehotapalo is a Choctaw man-deer: a being with a human body and the head, antlers, or hind parts of a deer, much admired for his speed and agility, who haunts the low swampy country. He delights in startling hunters with a sudden cry, and, when angered, races ahead of a hunting party to alarm the game, or even a human enemy, ruining the hunt. The figure is recorded by David I. Bushnell from the Bayou Lacomb Choctaw of Louisiana in 1909 and again in John R. Swanton's compendious 1931 ethnography, where he stands among the named beings of the forest. He is grouped here with Nalusa Falaya, with whom the sources repeatedly pair him as a haunter of the woods.
Domains
- the hunt and game animals
- swamps and wild places
Powers
- to race ahead and warn the game and the enemy of approaching hunters
- to startle and frighten hunters with a sudden inhuman shout
Relations
- companion: Nalusa Falaya (the long black being)Bushnell and later Swanton and Lankford describe Kashehotapalo and Nalusa Falaya together as the chief beings of the deep woods and swamps who startle and unnerve Choctaw hunters, presenting them as a paired company of forest fright-spirits.Bushnell, David I., Jr. 'The Choctaw of Bayou Lacomb, St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana.' Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 48. Washington: Smithsonian Institution, 1909. (secondary); Lankford, George E. 'Native American Legends of the Southeast: Tales from the Natchez, Caddo, Biloxi, Chickasaw, and Other Nations.' Little Rock: August House, 1987. (secondary)
Sources
- Kashehotapalo is a Choctaw being, part man and part deer, who haunts swampy ground and either frightens hunters or warns the game and the enemy against them.: Bushnell, David I., Jr. 'The Choctaw of Bayou Lacomb, St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana.' Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 48. Washington: Smithsonian Institution, 1909. (secondary); Swanton, John R. 'Source Material for the Social and Ceremonial Life of the Choctaw Indians.' Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 103. Washington: Smithsonian Institution, 1931. (secondary)