The Chickasaw believed in the supreme deity of Ababinili, consisting of four celestial beings: Clear Sky, Clouds, He That Lives in the Clear Sky and the Sun. The Supreme Being was manifested through the sacred fire, and great reverence was accorded to rattlesnakes. Chickasaw recognized evil spirits and other lesser gods. Two hopaye, or head priests, interpreted spiritual matters and presided over religious ceremonies. The Aliktce (healers) used a variety of natural substances to combat the evil spirits tormenting the people. The Chickasaw also observed several food taboos and also used charms to protect themselves from evil spirits.
In Chickasaw settlements, each household had a grain storage house, a menstrual hut, a summer house and a winter house. The winter house was circular and the outside and inside walls were plastered with grass and clay. Woven mats were placed on the summer house walls for ventilation, and all the houses were communally built. Poles and skins were used to elevate the beds from the floor. Houses were furnished with wood furniture, shell scoops, buffalo horns, clay and wooden bowls. Waste and garbage sanitation facilities were provided for each house. Every Chickasaw village had a ceremonial house, a council house, a ball field and a log fort where the people sought refuge when attacked.
The Chickasaw grew and consumed staple foods such as beans, squash, sunflowers and corn. Corn was roasted and also used to make an unfermented drink. Men used various hunting techniques, laying traps, using animal decoys and calls, and shooting to kill bears, deer, buffalo, and rabbits and other small game to provide meat to their families. THe Chickasaw diet also included fish from the Mississippi River, birds and their eggs. Women gathered plums, grapes, strawberries, onions, nuts, acorns and honey from the forests to feed their families.
Chickasaw laws were specific in matters concerning robbery, adultery and blasphemy. Judgment on the violator could either be private or public and was passed by the clan council. It included whipping and public execution, depending on the nature of the crime. The law allowed relatives of the victim to take revenge on a murderer, with the council acting only to ensure the retribution was within the limits of the Chickasaw customs. Adulterers would be publicly humiliated: Both parties were whipped as they ran naked through the village. Chickasaw culture valued cleanliness;it was mandatory for women to wash their hair daily and for everyone to clean their body daily. The punishment for failing to observe daily cleanliness was to have one's skin raked with dried snake teeth.