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Source:
From
Myths of the Cherokee, James Mooney, 1900
In Cherokee mythology, as in that of Indian tribes generally, there is
no essential difference between men and animals. In the primal genesis
period they seem to be completely undifferentiated.
We find all creatures alike living and working together in harmony and
mutual helpfulness until man, by his aggressiveness and disregard for the
rights of the others, provokes their hostility, when insects, birds,
fishes, reptiles, and four-footed beasts join forces against him (see
story, "Origin of Disease and Medicine").
Henceforth their lives are apart, but the difference is always one of
degree only. The animals, like the people, are organized into tribes and
have like them their chiefs and townhouses, their councils and ball plays,
and the same hereafter in the Darkening land of Us'ûñhi'yï.
Man is still the paramount power, and hunts and slaughters the others as
his own necessities compel, but is obliged to satisfy the animal tribes in
every instance, very much as a murder is compounded for, according to the
Indian system, by "covering the bones of the dead" with presents for the
bereaved relatives.
This pardon to the hunter is made the easier through a peculiar doctrine
of reincarnation, according to which, as explained by the shamans, there
is assigned to every animal a definite life term which can not be
curtailed by violent means. If it is killed before the expiration of the
allotted time the death is only temporary and the body is immediately
resurrected in its proper shape from the blood drops, and the animal
continues its existence until the end of the predestined period, when the
body is finally dissolved and the liberated spirit goes to join its
kindred shades in the Darkening land.
This idea appears in the story of the bear man and in the belief
concerning the Little Deer. Death is thus but a temporary accident and the
killing a mere minor crime. By some priests it is held that there are
seven successive reanimations before the final end.
Certain supernatural personages, Kana'tï and Tsul`kälû' (see the myths),
have dominion over the animals, and are therefore regarded as the
distinctive gods of the hunter. Kana'tï at one time kept the game animals,
as well as the pestiferous insects, shut up in a cave under ground, from
which they were released by his undutiful sons.
The primeval animals-the actors in the animal
myths and the predecessors of the existing species-are believed to have
been much larger, stronger, and cleverer than their successors.
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In these myths we
find the Indian explanation of certain peculiarities
of form, color, or
habit, and the various animals are always consistently represented as
acting in accordance with their well-known characteristics.
First and most prominent in the animal myths is the Rabbit (Tsistu), who
figures always as a trickster and deceiver, generally malicious, but often
beaten at his own game by those whom he had intended to victimize. The
connection of the rabbit with the dawn god and the relation of the Indian
myths to the stories current among the southern negroes are discussed in
another place.
Ball players while in training are forbidden to eat the flesh of the
rabbit, because this animal so easily becomes confused in running. On the
other hand, their spies seek opportunity to strew along the path which
must be taken by their rivals a soup made of rabbit hamstrings, with the
purpose of rendering them timorous in action.
In a ball game between the birds and the four-footed animals the Bat,
which took sides with the birds, is said to have won the victory for his
party by his superior dodging abilities. For this reason the wings or
sometimes the stuffed skin of the bat are tied to the implements used in
the game to insure success for the players. According to the same myth the
Flying Squirrel (Tewa) also aided in securing the victory, and hence both
these animals are still invoked by the ball player.
The meat of the common gray squirrel (sälâ'lï) is forbidden to rheumatic
patients, on account of the squirrel's habit of assuming a cramped
position when eating. The stripes upon the back of the ground squirrel
(kiyu`ga) are the mark of scratches made by the angry animals at a
memorable council in which he took it upon himself to say a good word for
the archenemy, man.
The peculiarities of the mink (sûñgï) are accounted for by another story.
The buffalo, the largest game animal of America, was hunted in the
southern Allegheny region until almost the close of the last century, the
particular species being probably that known in the West as the wood or
mountain buffalo. The name in use among the principal gulf tribes was
practically the same, and can not be analyzed, viz, Cherokee, yûñsû';
Hichitee, ya'nasi; Creek, yëna'sa; Choctaw, yanash.
Although the flesh of the buffalo was eaten, its skin dressed for blankets
and bed coverings, its long hair woven into belts, and its horns carved
into spoons, it is yet strangely absent from Cherokee folklore. So far as
is known it is mentioned in but a single one of the sacred formulas, in
which a person under treatment for rheumatism is forbidden to eat the
meat, touch the skin, or use a spoon made from the horn of the buffalo,
upon the ground of an occult connection between the habitual cramped
attitude of a rheumatic and the natural "hump" of that animal.
The elk is known, probably by report, under the name of a`wï e'gwa, "great
deer", but there is no myth or folklore in connection with it.
The deer, a`wï', which is still common in the mountains, was the principal
dependence of the Cherokee hunter, and is consequently prominent in myth,
folklore, and ceremonial. One of the seven gentes of the tribe is named
from it (Ani'-Kawï', "Deer People"). According to a myth given elsewhere,
the deer won his horns in a successful race with the rabbit. Rheumatism is
usually ascribed to the work of revengeful deer ghosts, which the hunter
has neglected to placate, while on the other hand the aid of the deer is
invoked against frostbite, as its feet are believed to be immune from
injury by frost.
The wolf, the fox, and the opossum are also invoked for this purpose, and
for the same reason. When the redroot (Ceanothus americanus) puts forth
its leaves the people say the young fawns are then in the mountains. On
killing a deer the hunter always cuts out the hamstring from the hind
quarter and throws it away, for fear that if he ate it he would thereafter
tire easily in traveling.
The powerful chief of the deer tribe is the A`wï' Usdi', or "Little Deer,"
who is invisible to all except the greatest masters of the hunting
secrets, and can be wounded only by the hunter who has supplemented years
of occult study with frequent fasts and lonely vigils. The Little Deer
keeps constant protecting watch over his subjects, and sees well to it
that not one is ever killed in wantonness. When a deer is shot by the
hunter the Little Deer knows it at once and is instantly at the spot.
Bending low his head he asks of the blood stains upon the ground if they
have heard--i.e., if the hunter has asked pardon for the life that he has
taken. If the formulistic prayer has been made, all is well, because the
necessary sacrifice has been atoned for; but if otherwise, the Little Deer
tracks the hunter to his house by the blood drops along the trail, and,
unseen and unsuspected, puts into his body the spirit of rheumatism that
shall rack him with aches and pains from that time henceforth.
As seen at rare intervals--perhaps once in a long lifetime-the Little Deer
is pure white and about the size of a small dog, has branching antlers,
and is always in company with a large herd of deer. Even though shot by
the master hunter, he comes to life again, being immortal, but the
fortunate huntsman who can thus make prize of his antlers has in them an
unfailing talisman that brings him success in the chase forever after.
The smallest portion of one of those horns of the Little Deer, when
properly consecrated, attracts the deer to the hunter, and when exposed
from the wrapping dazes them so that they forget to run and thus become an
easy prey. Like the Ulûñsû'tî stone, it is a dangerous prize when not
treated with proper respect, and is--or was--kept always in a secret place
away from the house to guard against sacrilegious handling.
Somewhat similar talismanic power attached to the down from the young
antler of the deer when properly consecrated. So firm was the belief that
it had influence over "anything about a deer" that eighty and a hundred
years ago even white traders used to bargain with the Indians for such
charms in order to increase their store of deerskins by drawing the trade
to themselves. The faith in the existence of the miraculous Little Deer is
almost as strong and universal to-day among the older Cherokee as is the
belief in a future life.
The bears (yânû) are transformed Cherokee of the old clan of the
Ani'-Tsâ'gûhï (see story, "Origin of the Bear"). Their chief is the White
Bear, who lives at Kuwâ'hï, "Mulberry place," one of the high peaks of the
Great Smoky mountains, near to the enchanted lake of Atagâ'hï (see number
69), to which the wounded bears go to be cured of their hurts.
Under Kuwâ'hï and each of three other peaks in the same mountain region
the bears have townhouses, where they congregate and hold dances every
fall before retiring to their dens for the winter. Being really human,
they can talk if they only would, and once a mother bear was heard singing
to her cub in words which the hunter understood. There is one variety
known as kalâs'-gûnâhi'ta, "long hams," described as a large black bear
with long legs and small feet, which is always lean, and which the hunter
does not care to shoot, possibly on account of its leanness. It is
believed that new-born cubs are hairless, like mice.
The wolf (wa'`ya) is revered as the hunter and watchdog of Kana'tï, and
the largest gens in the tribe bears the name of Ani'-wa'`ya, "Wolf
people."
The ordinary Cherokee will never kill one if he can possibly avoid it, but
will let the animal go by unharmed, believing that the kindred of a slain
wolf will surely revenge his death, and that the weapon with which the
deed is done will be rendered worthless for further shooting until cleaned
and exercised by a medicine man. Certain persons, however, having
knowledge of the proper atonement rites, may kill wolves with impunity,
and are hired for this purpose by others who have suffered from raids upon
their fish traps or their stock.
Like the eagle killer, the professional wolf killer, after killing one of
these animals, addresses to it a prayer in which he seeks to turn aside
the vengeance of the tribe by laying the burden of blame upon the people
of some other settlement. He then unscrews the barrel of his gun and
inserts into it seven small sourwood rods heated over the fire, and allows
it to remain thus overnight in the running stream; in the morning the rods
are taken out and the barrel is thoroughly dried and cleaned.
The dog (gi`lï'), although as much a part of Indian life among the
Cherokee as in other tribes, hardly appears in folklore. One myth makes
him responsible for the milky way; another represents him as driving the
wolf from the comfortable house fire and taking the place for himself. He
figures also in connection with the deluge.
There is no tradition of the introduction of the horse (sâ'gwälï, from
asâ'gwälihû', from "a pack or burden") or of the cow (wa'`ka, from the
Spanish, vaca). The hog is called, sïkwä, this being originally the name
of the opossum, which somewhat resembles it in expression, and which is
now distinguished as sïkwä utse'tstï, "grinning sïkwä". In the same way
the sheep, another introduced animal, is called a`wï' unäde'na, "woolly
deer"; the goat, a`wï' ahänu'lähï, "bearded deer," and the mule,
"sâ'gwä'lï digû'lanähi'ta", "long-eared horse." The cat, also obtained
from the whites, is called wesä, an attempt at the English "pussy."
When it purrs by the fireside, the children say it is counting in
Cherokee, "ta'ladu', nûñ'gï, ta'ladu', nûñ'gï," "sixteen, four, sixteen,
four." The elephant, which a few of the Cherokee have seen in shows, is
called by them käma'mä u'tänû, "great butterfly," from the supposed
resemblance of its long trunk and flapping ears to the proboscis and wings
of that insect.
The anatomical peculiarities of the opossum, of both sexes, are the
subject of much curious speculation among the Indians, many of whom
believe that its young are produced without any help from the male. It
occurs in one or two of the minor myths.
The fox (tsu'`lä) is mentioned in one of the formulas, but does no appear
in the tribal folklore. The black fox is known by a different name
(inâ'lï). The odor of the skunk (dïlä') is believed to keep off contagious
diseases, and the scent bag is therefore taken out and hung over the
doorway, a small hole being pierced in it in order that the contents may
ooze out upon the timbers.
At times, as in the smallpox epidemic of 1866, the entire body of the
animal was thus hung up, and in some cases, as an additional safeguard,
the meat was cooked and eaten and the oil rubbed over the skin of the
person. The underlying idea is that the fetid smell repels the disease
spirit, and upon the same principle the buzzard, which is so evidently
superior to carrion smells, is held to be powerful against the same
diseases.
The beaver (dâ'yï), by reason of its well-known gnawing ability, against
which even the hardest wood is not proof, is invoked on behalf of young
children just getting their permanent teeth. According to the little
formula which is familiar to nearly every mother in the tribe, when the
loosened milk tooth is pulled out or drops out of itself, the child runs
with it around the house, repeating four times, "Dâ'yï, skïntä' (Beaver,
put a new tooth into my jaw)" after which he throws the tooth upon the
roof of the house.
In a characteristic song formula to prevent frostbite the traveler, before
starting out on a cold winter morning, rubs his feet in the ashes of the
fire and sings a song of four verses, by means of which, according to the
Indian idea, he acquires in turn the cold-defying powers of the wolf,
deer, fox, and opossum, four animals whose feet, it is held, are never
frostbitten. After each verse he imitates the cry and the action of the
animal. The words used are archaic in form and may be rendered "I become a
real wolf," etc. The song runs:
Tsûñ'wa'`ya-ya' (repeated four times), wa a! (prolonged howl).
(Imitates a wolf pawing the ground with his feet.)
Tsûñ'-ka'wi-ye' (repeated four times), sauh! sauh! sauh! sauh! (Imitates
call and jumping of a deer.)
Tsûñ'-tsu'`la-ya' (repeated four times), gaih! gaih! gaih! gaih! (Imitates
barking and scratching of a fox.)
Tsûñ'-sï'kwa-ya' (repeated four times), kï. (Imitates the cry of an
opossum when cornered, and throws his head back as that animal does when
feigning death.)
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