Case file · Folklore / legend
The tie-snake of the Muscogee
Muscogee (Creek) stories collected by John Swanton tell of the tie-snake, a powerful water being that pulls people down into its home beneath rivers and pools.
1929 CE · 32.52, -85.77 · status: legend
The account
Swanton's 'Myths and Tales of the Southeastern Indians' (1929) gathers versions from Creek, Hitchiti, Alabama and Koasati tellers; in some a boy is taken below and returns with gifts and knowledge.
The sceptical view
Muscogee people today tell these stories in their own ways; Swanton's text is a record of particular tellers, not the whole tradition.