Seventh Annual Report Part 73

Dwarf Wild Rose. Oginiminaganwos. [Oginiminaganmos]

(_Gen. et sp. ?_) Mozntik.

[_Urtica dioica: Stinging Nettle_]

Nesobakok-- Three Leafed. [Nesowakok]

The short zigzag lines signifying magic influence [sigzag]

The lines extending downward from the eye signifies weeping [_text unchanged_]

Ki-na-ne, he, ki-ne-na-we man-i-do. [Hi-na-ne]

Onishgn--get up [Omishgan]

in this place he shall be Raised again [_text (two-line gloss) reads in this he shall / be place_]

(the second-degree migis) [mgis]

the ill.u.s.tration in Pl. XIV, A, is a reproduction of the original [Pl. XVII, A]

the following Mide song, represented pictorially, also on Pl. XIV, B [Pl. XVII, B]

a three-lobed apex, as shown in Fig. 4 [Fig. 3]

south and east of the Midewign, as shown in Fig. 35 [Fig. 30]

These mnemonic songs were exhibited [menmonic]

w-wa-te-si-wug [we-we-te-si-wug]

Punctuation:

principles of magic and incantations.

[_close quote missing_]

(or, as we have learned to term it, Grand Medicine,) [_close parenthesis missing_]

place the body on the ground in the middle of the wigiwam.

[_close quote missing_]

Long-sand-bar-beneath-the-surface (No. 15) [_printed beneath/ the (no hyphen at line break)_]

Our forefathers were living [_open quote missing (pa.s.sage is quote within block quote)_]

We-gi-kwo Ke-mi-ni-nan?

[_text ends .?_]

He, the chief spirit of the Mide Society [_open quote missing (pa.s.sage is quote within block quote)_]

SACRED FORMULAS OF THE CHEROKEES.

by

JAMES MOONEY.

CONTENTS

Introduction 307 How the formulas were obtained. 310 The A?ynini (Swimmer) ma.n.u.script 310 The Gatigwanasti (Belt) ma.n.u.script 312 The Gahuni ma.n.u.script 313 The Inli (Black Fox) ma.n.u.script 314 Other ma.n.u.scripts 316 The Kanheta Ani-Tsalagi Eti or Ancient Cherokee Formulas 317 Character of the formulas-- the Cherokee religion 318 Myth of the origin of disease and medicine 319 Theory of disease-- animals, ghosts, witches 322 Selected list of plants used 324 Medical practice-- theory of resemblances-- fasting-- tabu-- seclusion-- women 328 Ill.u.s.tration of the gaktnta or tabu 331 Neglect of sanitary regulations 332 The sweat bath-- bleeding--rubbing--bathing 338 Opposition of shamans to white physicians 336 Medicine dances 337 Description of symptoms 337 The ugista?ti or pay of the shaman 337 Ceremonies for gathering plants and preparing medicine 339 The Cherokee G.o.ds and their abiding places 340 Color symbolism 342 Importance attached to names 343 Language of the formulas 343 Specimen formulas 344 Medicine. 345 To treat the crippler (rheumatism)-- from Gahuni 345 Second formula for the crippler-- from Gahuni 349 Song and prescription for snake bites-- from Gahuni 351 When something is causing something to eat them-- Gahuni 353 Second formula for the same disease-- A?wanita 355 For moving pains in the teeth (neuralgia?)-- Gatigwanasti 356 Song and prayer for the great chill-- A?ynini 359 To make children jump down (child birth)-- A?ynini 363 Second formula for child birth-- Takwatihi 364 Song and prayer for the black yellowness (biliousness)-- A?ynini 365 To treat for ordeal diseases (witchcraft)-- A?ynini 366 Hunting 369 Concerning hunting-- A?ynini 369 For hunting birds-- A?ynini 371 To shoot dwellers in the wilderness-- A?wanita 372 Bear song-- A?ynini 373 For catching large fish-- A?ynini 374 Love 375 Concerning living humanity-- Gatigwanasti 376 For going to water-- Gatigwanasti 378 Ynwehi song for painting-- Gatigwanasti 379 Song and prayer to fix the affections-- A?ynini 380 To separate lovers-- A?ynini 381 Song and prayer to fix the affections-- Gatigwanasti 382 Miscellaneous 384 To shorten a night goer on this side-- A?ynini 384 To find lost articles-- Gatigwanasti 386 To frighten away a storm-- A?ynini 387 To help warriors-- Awanita 388 To destroy life (ceremony with beads)-- A?ynini 391 To take to water for the ball play-- A?ynini 395

ILl.u.s.tRATIONS

Pl. XXIV. Portrait of A?ynini (Swimmer) 306 XXV. Facsimile of A?ynini ma.n.u.script--Formula for Dalni nnagei 310 XXVI. Facsimile of Gatigwanasti ma.n.u.script--Ynwehi formula 312 XXVII. Facsimile of Gahuni ma.n.u.script--Formula for Didnleski 314

[Ill.u.s.tration: BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY SEVENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. XXIV A?YU?INI (SWIMMER).]

SACRED FORMULAS OF THE CHEROKEES.

By James Mooney.

INTRODUCTION.

The sacred formulas here given are selected from a collection of about six hundred, obtained on the Cherokee reservation in North Carolina in 1887 and 1888, and covering every subject pertaining to the daily life and thought of the Indian, including medicine, love, hunting, fis.h.i.+ng, war, self-protection, destruction of enemies, witchcraft, the crops, the council, the ball play, etc., and, in fact, embodying almost the whole of the ancient religion of the Cherokees. The original ma.n.u.scripts, now in the possession of the Bureau of Ethnology, were written by the shamans of the tribe, for their own use, in the Cherokee characters invented by Sikwya (Sequoyah) in 1821, and were obtained, with the explanations, either from the writers themselves or from their surviving relatives.

Some of these ma.n.u.scripts are known to be at least thirty years old, and many are probably older. The medical formulas of all kinds const.i.tute perhaps one-half of the whole number, while the love charms come next in number, closely followed by the songs and prayers used in hunting and fis.h.i.+ng. The great number of love charms will doubtless be a surprise to those who have been educated in the old theory that the Indian is insensible to the attractions of woman. The comparatively small number of war formulas is explained by the fact that the last war in which the Cherokees, as a tribe, were engaged on their own account, closed with the Revolutionary period, so that these things were well nigh forgotten before the invention of the alphabet, a generation later. The Cherokees who engaged in the Creek war and the late American civil war fought in the interests of the whites, and their leaders were subordinated to white officers, hence there was not the same opportunity for the exercise of shamanistic rites that there would have been had Indians alone been concerned. The prayers for hunting, fis.h.i.+ng, and the ball play being in more constant demand, have been better preserved.

These formulas had been handed down orally from a remote antiquity until the early part of the present century, when the invention of the Cherokee syllabary enabled the priests of the tribe to put them into writing. The same invention made it possible for their rivals, the missionaries, to give to the Indians the Bible in their own language, so that the opposing forces of Christianity and shamanism alike profited by the genius of Sikwya. The pressure of the new civilization was too strong to be withstood, however, and though the prophets of the old religion still have much influence with the people, they are daily losing ground and will soon be without honor in their own country.

Such an exposition of the aboriginal religion could be obtained from no other tribe in North America, for the simple reason that no other tribe has an alphabet of its own in which to record its sacred lore.

It is true that the Crees and Micmacs of Canada and the Tukuth of Alaska have so-called alphabets or ideographic systems invented for their use by the missionaries, while, before the Spanish conquest, the Mayas of Central America were accustomed to note down their hero legends and priestly ceremonials in hieroglyphs graven upon the walls of their temples or painted upon tablets made of the leaves of the maguey. But it seems never to have occurred to the northern tribes that an alphabet coming from a missionary source could be used for any other purpose than the transcription of bibles and catechisms, while the sacred books of the Mayas, with a few exceptions, have long since met destruction at the hands of fanaticism, and the modern copies which have come down to the present day are written out from imperfect memory by Indians who had been educated under Spanish influences in the language, alphabet and ideas of the conquerors, and who, as is proved by an examination of the contents of the books themselves, drew from European sources a great part of their material. Moreover, the Maya tablets were so far hieratic as to be understood only by the priests and those who had received a special training in this direction, and they seem therefore to have been entirely unintelligible to the common people.

The Cherokee alphabet, on the contrary, is the invention or adaptation of one of the tribe, who, although he borrowed most of the Roman letters, in addition to the forty or more characters of his own devising, knew nothing of their proper use or value, but reversed them or altered their forms to suit his purpose, and gave them a name and value determined by himself. This alphabet was at once adopted by the tribe for all purposes for which writing can be used, including the recording of their shamanistic prayers and ritualistic ceremonies. The formulas here given, as well as those of the entire collection, were written out by the shamans themselves--men who adhere to the ancient religion and speak only their native language--in order that their sacred knowledge might be preserved in a systematic manner for their mutual benefit. The language, the conception, and the execution are all genuinely Indian, and hardly a dozen lines of the hundreds of formulas show a trace of the influence of the white man or his religion. The formulas contained in these ma.n.u.scripts are not disjointed fragments of a system long since extinct, but are the revelation of a living faith which still has its priests and devoted adherents, and it is only necessary to witness a ceremonial ball play, with its fasting, its going to water, and its mystic bead manipulation, to understand how strong is the hold which the old faith yet has upon the minds even of the younger generation. The numerous archaic and figurative expressions used require the interpretation of the priests, but, as before stated, the alphabet in which they are written is that in daily use among the common people.

In all tribes that still retain something of their ancient organization we find this sacred knowledge committed to the keeping of various secret societies, each of which has its peculiar ritual with regular initiation and degrees of advancement. From this a.n.a.logy we may reasonably conclude that such was formerly the case with the Cherokees also, but by the breaking down of old customs consequent upon their long contact with the whites and the voluntary adoption of a civilized form of government in 1827, all traces of such society organization have long since disappeared, and at present each priest or shaman is isolated and independent, sometimes confining himself to a particular specialty, such as love or medicine, or even the treatment of two or three diseases, in other cases broadening his field of operations to include the whole range of mystic knowledge.

It frequently happens, however, that priests form personal friends.h.i.+ps and thus are led to divulge their secrets to each other for their mutual advantage. Thus when one shaman meets another who he thinks can probably give him some valuable information, he says to him, Let us sit down together. This is understood by the other to mean, Let us tell each other our secrets. Should it seem probable that the seeker after knowledge can give as much as he receives, an agreement is generally arrived at, the two retire to some convenient spot secure from observation, and the first party begins by reciting one of his formulas with the explanations. The other then reciprocates with one of his own, unless it appears that the bargain is apt to prove a losing one, in which case the conference comes to an abrupt ending.

It is sometimes possible to obtain a formula by the payment of a coat, a quant.i.ty of cloth, or a sum of money. Like the Celtic Druids of old, the candidate for the priesthood in former times found it necessary to cultivate a long memory, as no formula was repeated more than once for his benefit. It was considered that one who failed to remember after the first hearing was not worthy to be accounted a shaman. This task, however, was not so difficult as might appear on first thought, when once the learner understood the theory involved, as the formulas are all constructed on regular principles, with constant repet.i.tion of the same set of words. The obvious effect of such a regulation was to increase the respect in which this sacred knowledge was held by restricting it to the possession of a chosen few.

Although the written formulas can be read without difficulty by any Cherokee educated in his own language, the shamans take good care that their sacred writings shall not fall into the hands of the laity or of their rivals in occult practices, and in performing the ceremonies the words used are uttered in such a low tone of voice as to be unintelligible even to the one for whose benefit the formula is repeated. Such being the case, it is in order to explain how the formulas collected were obtained.

HOW THE FORMULAS WERE OBTAINED.

On first visiting the reservation in the summer of 1887, I devoted considerable time to collecting plants used by the Cherokees for food or medicinal purposes, learning at the same time their Indian names and the particular uses to which each was applied and the mode of preparation. It soon became evident that the application of the medicine was not the whole, and in fact was rather the subordinate, part of the treatment, which was always accompanied by certain ceremonies and words. From the workers employed at the time no definite idea could be obtained as to the character of these words.

One young woman, indeed, who had some knowledge of the subject, volunteered to write the words which she used in her prescriptions, but failed to do so, owing chiefly to the opposition of the half-breed shamans, from whom she had obtained her information.

THE SWIMMER Ma.n.u.sCRIPT.