Nalusa Falaya (the long black being)

Nalusa Falaya, 'the long black being', is a Choctaw spirit of the densest woods and swamps, far from human dwellings. He resembles a man but has a shrivelled face, very small eyes, and long pointed ears, and is said to approach his victims by sliding along the ground on his stomach like a snake as evening comes on. He frightens lone hunters, and ethnographers record that he could pass to a person his own power of doing harm; his offspring were credited with drawing out their luminous entrails to lead travellers astray, linking him to the deceiving forest-lights. The being is documented by David I. Bushnell among the Bayou Lacomb Choctaw of Louisiana in 1909 and 1910 and gathered into Swanton's 1931 ethnography. He is paired in the sources with the man-deer Kashehotapalo as a haunter of the wild.

Domains

• darkness and the night forest
• fear and harm

Powers

• to creep upon lone hunters at dusk by sliding on the ground like a snake
• to pass on his own power of doing harm to those he frightens

Epithets

• Nalusa FalayaBushnell, David I., Jr. 'The Choctaw of Bayou Lacomb, St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana.' Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 48. Washington: Smithsonian Institution, 1909. (secondary)

Relations

• companion: Kashehotapalo (the man-deer)Bushnell, Swanton, and Lankford present Nalusa Falaya and the man-deer Kashehotapalo together as the chief beings who haunt the deep woods and swamps and startle Choctaw hunters, 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)
• companion: Hashok Okwa Hui'ga (the grass-water-drop light)Bushnell records the grass-water-drop light directly alongside Nalusa Falaya, whose luminous children likewise lead travellers astray with their shining; the two are presented together as the deceiving lights and shadows of the Choctaw swamp at night.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)

Sources

• Nalusa Falaya, the long black being, is a Choctaw manlike spirit of the deep woods who frightens lone hunters at dusk and can transfer to them his power of doing harm.: Bushnell, David I., Jr. 'The Choctaw of Bayou Lacomb, St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana.' Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 48. Washington: Smithsonian Institution, 1909. (secondary); Bushnell, David I., Jr. 'Myths of the Louisiana Choctaw.' American Anthropologist, n.s., 12, no. 4 (1910): 526-535. (secondary)