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Source:
From
Myths of the Cherokee, James Mooney, 1900
Westward from the headwaters of
Oconaluftee river, in the
wildest depths of the Great Smoky mountains, which form
the line between North Carolina and Tennessee, is the
enchanted lake of Ataga'hi. (Gall place)
Although all the Cherokee know that it is there, no one has ever seen
it, for the way is so difficult that only the animals know how to reach
it. Should a stray hunter come near the place he would know of it by the
whirring sound of the thousands of wild ducks flying about the lake.
On reaching the spot he would find only a dry flat, without bird or
animal or blade of grass, unless he had first sharpened his spiritual
vision by prayer and fasting and an all-night vigil.
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Because it is not seen, some people think the lake has dried up long
ago, but this is not true. To one who had kept watch and fast through
the night it would appear at daybreak as a wide-extending but shallow
sheet of purple water, fed by springs spouting from the high cliffs
around.
In the water are all kinds of fish and reptiles, and swimming upon the
surface or flying overhead are great flocks of ducks and pigeons, while
all about the shores are bear tracks crossing in every direction. It is
the medicine lake of the birds and animals, and whenever a bear is
wounded by the hunters he makes his way through the woods to this lake
and plunges into the water, and when he comes out upon the other side
his wounds are healed.
For this reason the animals keep the lake invisible to the hunter.
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