Seventh Annual Report Part 77

The personage invoked is always selected in accordance with the theory of the formula and the duty to be performed. Thus, when a sickness is caused by a fish, the Fish-hawk, the Heron, or some other fish-eating bird is implored to come and seize the intruder and destroy it, so that the patient may find relief. When the trouble is caused by a worm or an insect, some insectivorous bird is called in for the same purpose. When a flock of redbirds is pecking at the vitals of the sick man the Sparrow-hawk is brought down to scatter them, and when the rabbit, the great mischief-maker, is the evil genius, he is driven out by the Rabbit-hawk. Sometimes after the intruder has been thus expelled a small portion still remains, in the words of the formula, and accordingly the Whirlwind is called down from the treetops to carry the remnant to the uplands and there scatter it so that it shall never reappear. The hunter prays to the fire, from which he draws his omens; to the reed, from which he makes his arrows; to Tsulkal, the great lord of the game, and finally addresses in songs the very animals which he intends to kill. The lover prays to the Spider to hold fast the affections of his beloved one in the meshes of his web, or to the Moon, which looks down upon him in the dance. The warrior prays to the Red War-club, and the man about to set out on a dangerous expedition prays to the Cloud to envelop him and conceal him from his enemies.

Each spirit of good or evil has its distinct and appropriate place of residence. The Rabbit is declared to live in the broomsage on the hillside, the Fish dwells in a bend of the river under the pendant hemlock branches, the Terrapin lives in the great pond in the West, and the Whirlwind abides in the leafy treetops. Each disease animal, when driven away from his prey by some more powerful animal, endeavors to find shelter in his accustomed haunt. It must be stated here that the animals of the formulas are not the ordinary, everyday animals, but their great progenitors, who live in the upper world (galnlati) above the arch of the firmament.

COLOR SYMBOLISM.

Color symbolism plays an important part in the shamanistic system of the Cherokees, no less than in that of other tribes. Each one of the cardinal points has its corresponding color and each color its symbolic meaning, so that each spirit invoked corresponds in color and local habitation with the characteristics imputed to him, and is connected with other spirits of the same name, but of other colors, living in other parts of the upper world and differing widely in their characteristics. Thus the Red Man, living in the east, is the spirit of power, triumph, and success, but the Black Man, in the West, is the spirit of death. The shaman therefore invokes the Red Man to the a.s.sistance of his client and consigns his enemy to the fatal influences of the Black Man.

The symbolic color system of the Cherokees, which will be explained more fully in connection with the formulas, is as follows:

East red success; triumph.

North blue defeat; trouble.

West black death.

South white peace; happiness.

Above? brown unascertained, but propitious.

------ yellow about the same as blue.

There is a great diversity in the color systems of the various tribes, both as to the location and significance of the colors, but for obvious reasons black was generally taken as the symbol of death; while white and red signified, respectively, peace and war. It is somewhat remarkable that red was the emblem of power and triumph among the ancient Oriental nations no less than among the modern Cherokees.[9]

[Footnote 9: For more in regard to color symbolism, see Mallerys Pictographs of the North American Indians in Fourth Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, pp. 53-37, Was.h.i.+ngton, 1886; Gatschets Creek Migration Legend, vol. 3, pp. 31-41, St. Louis, 1888; Brintons Kiche Myths in Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, vol. 19, pp. 646-647, Philadelphia, 1882.]

IMPORTANCE ATTACHED TO NAMES.

In many of the formulas, especially those relating to love and to life-destroying, the shaman mentions the name and clan of his client, of the intended victim, or of the girl whose affections it is desired to win. The Indian regards his name, not as a mere label, but as a distinct part of his personality, just as much as are his eyes or his teeth, and believes that injury will result as surely from the malicious handling of his name as from a wound inflicted on any part of his physical organism. This belief was found among the various tribes from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and has occasioned a number of curious regulations in regard to the concealment and change of names. It may be on this account that both Powhatan and Pocahontas are known in history under a.s.sumed appellations, their true names having been concealed from the whites until the pseudonyms were too firmly established to be supplanted. Should his prayers have no apparent effect when treating a patient for some serious illness, the shaman sometimes concludes that the name is affected, and accordingly goes to water, with appropriate ceremonies, and christens the patient with a new name, by which he is henceforth to be known. He then begins afresh, repeating the formulas with the new name selected for the patient, in the confident hope that his efforts will be crowned with success.

LANGUAGE OF THE FORMULAS.

A few words remain to be said in regard to the language of the formulas. They are full of archaic and figurative expressions, many of which are unintelligible to the common people, and some of which even the shamans themselves are now unable to explain. These archaic forms, like the old words used by our poets, lend a peculiar beauty which can hardly be rendered in a translation. They frequently throw light on the dialectic evolution of the language, as many words found now only in the nearly extinct Lower Cherokee dialect occur in formulas which in other respects are written in the Middle or Upper dialect. The R sound, the chief distinguis.h.i.+ng characteristic of the old Lower dialect, of course does not occur, as there are no means of indicating it in the Cherokee syllabary. Those who are accustomed to look to the Bible for all beauty in sacred expression will be surprised to find that these formulas abound in the loftiest nights of poetic imagery.

This is especially true of the prayers used to win the love of a woman or to destroy the life of an enemy, in which we find such expressions as--Now your soul fades away--your spirit shall grow less and dwindle away, never to reappear; Let her be completely veiled in loneliness--O Black Spider, may you hold her soul in your web, so that it may never get through the meshes; and the final declaration of the lover, Your soul has come into the very center of my soul, never to turn away.

In the translation it has been found advisable to retain as technical terms a few words which could not well be rendered literally, such as adawehi and ugista?ti. These words will be found explained in the proper place. Transliterations of the Cherokee text of the formulas are given, but it must be distinctly understood that the translations are intended only as free renderings of the spirit of the originals, exact translations with grammatic and glossarial notes being deferred until a more extended study of the language has been made, when it is hoped to present with more exactness of detail the whole body of the formulas, of which the specimens here given are but a small portion.

The facsimile formulas are copies from the ma.n.u.scripts now in possession of the Bureau of Ethnology, and the portraits are from photographs taken by the author in the field.

SPECIMEN FORMULAS.

NOTE ON THE ORTHOGRAPHY AND TRANSLATION.

In the Cherokee text both _d_ and _g_ have a medial sound, approximating the sounds of _t_ and _k_ respectively. The other letters are p.r.o.nounced in regular accordance with the alphabet of the Bureau of Ethnology. The language abounds in nasal and aspirate sounds, the most difficult of the latter being the aspirate _?l_, which to one familiar only with English sounds like _tl_.

A few words whose meaning could not be satisfactorily ascertained have been distinctively indicated in the Cherokee text by means of italics.

In the translation the corresponding expression has been queried, or the s.p.a.ce left entirely blank. On examining the text the student can not fail to be struck by the great number of verbs ending in _iga_.

This is a peculiar form hardly ever used excepting in these formulas, where almost every paragraph contains one or more such verbs. It implies that the subject has just come and is now performing the action, and that he came for that purpose. In addition to this, many of these verbs may be either a.s.sertive or imperative (expressing entreaty), according to the accent. Thus _hatnganiga_ means you have just come and are listening and it is for that purpose you came. By slightly accenting the final syllable it becomes come at once to listen. It will thus be seen that the great majority of the formulas are declarative rather than pet.i.tional in form--laudatory rhapsodies instead of prayers, in the ordinary sense of the word.

MEDICINE.

DIDnLESKI ADANnWTI KANHESKI.

Sge! Ha-Nndgnyi tsl?dhisti, Gi?li Gigagei, hangwa hatnganiga usinuliyu. Hidawehi-gg, gahusti tsanulti nigesnna. Ha-diskwltiy tinanugagi, asegw nigesnna tsagista?ti adnniga. Ulsgeta hnhihynstaniga.

Ha-usdigiyu-gw ha-elawastn iytnta dhilhistaniga.

Sge! Ha-Uhntsyi tsl?dhisti Gi?li Sa?kani, hangwa hatnganiga usinuliyu. Hidawehi-gg, gahusti tsanulti nigesnna. Diskwltiy tinanugai, asegw nigesnna tsagista?ti adnniga. Ulsgeta hnhihynstaniga. Ha-usdigiyu-gw ha-elawastn iyta dhithistaniga.

Sge! (Ha)-Us.h.i.+(-yi) tsl?dhisti, Gi?li Gnnagei, hangwa hatnganiga usinuliy. Hidawehi-gg, gahusti tsanulti nigesnna. Diskwltiy tinanugagi, asegw nigesnna tsagista?ti adnniga. Ulsgeta hnhihynstaniga. Ha-usdigiyu-gw ha-elawastn iynta dhithistaniga.

Sge! Wahala tsl?dhisti, Gi?li Tsnega, hangwa hatnganiga usinuliyu. Hidawehi-gg, gahusti tsanulti nigesnna. Diskwltiy tinanugagi, asegw nigesnna tsagista?ti adnniga. Ha-ulsgeta hnhihynstaniga. Ha-usdigiyu-gw elawastn iynta dhithistaniga.

Sge! Wahala tsl?dhisti Tksi Tsnega, hangwa hatnganiga usinuliyu. Hidawehi-gg, gahusti tsanulti nigesnna. Ha-kl _gaysketa_ tsatnneliga. Utsinawa nutatannta.

(Degsisisgni.)--Tksi uhyaska gnsta?ti naski igahita gunsti hiski iyuntalegi tsntngiya.

nskwta kil atstasti sgwa iytstasti, n?ki ignkta?ti, naski-gw dinleniskhi ignyiyi tsalenih. N?kine nskwta kil n?ki iyatstasti. Uhyaskhi-?n adela deg?lai tali uninega-gw nnwti-?n hignehi uhyaskhi usdia-gw. Unelagi-?n si agadi agadidi nti-gw yiki siyu-gw naski-?n agannlieski dagnstanehni u?tata.

Hia?-n nnwti: Yna-Unatsesdgi tsanasehi si-?n Kga-Asgntage tsanasehi, si-?n _Egnli_-gw, si-n (U)wasgili tsigi Egnli Usdia tsigi, nnyhi-?n tsuye?di Yna-Utsesdgi naskiy tsigi, usdi-gw tsigi.

Egnli (u)wasgili tsigi; si Wtige Unas(te)tsa tsigi, si-?n nage Tsunastetsa, Nigata unastetsa gesi.

Sunale-gw alendi adannwti; taline eladi tsitkalai; tsine ulsaladi?sat; n?kine ig tskali. Yeligw igesi. Nlstiyanna gesi akannwiski, nasgw nulstaiyanna.

_Translation._

FORMULA FOR TREATING THE CRIPPLER (RHEUMATISM).

Listen! Ha! In the Sun Land you repose, O Red Dog, O now you have swiftly drawn near to hearken. O great adawehi[10], you never fail in anything. O, appear and draw near running, for your prey never escapes. You are now come to remove the intruder. Ha! You have settled a very small part of it far off there at the end of the earth.

Listen! Ha! In the Frigid Land you repose, O Blue Dog. O now you have swiftly drawn near to hearken, O great adawehi, you never fail in anything. O, appear and draw near running, for your prey never escapes. You are now come to remove the intruder. Ha! You have settled a very small part of it far off there at the end of the earth.

Listen! Ha! In the darkening land you repose, O Black Dog. O, now you have swiftly drawn near to hearken. O great adawehi, you never fail in anything. O, appear and draw near running, for your prey never escapes. You are now come to remove the intruder. Ha! You have settled a very small part of it far off there at the end of the earth.

Listen! On Wahala you repose. O White Dog. Oh, now you have swiftly drawn near to hearken. O great adawehi, you never fail in anything. Oh, appear and draw near running, for your prey never escapes. You are now come to remove the intruder. Ha! You have settled a very small part of it far off there at the end of the earth.

Listen! On Wahala, you repose, O White Terrapin. O, now you have swiftly drawn near to hearken. O great adawehi, you never fail in anything. Ha! It is for you to loosen its hold on the bone. Belief is accomplished.

(Prescription.)--Lay a terrapin sh.e.l.l upon (the spot) and keep it there while the five kinds (of spirits) listen. On finis.h.i.+ng, then blow once. Repeat four times, beginning each time from the start. On finis.h.i.+ng the fourth time, then blow four times. Have two white beads lying in the sh.e.l.l, together with a little of the medicine. Dont interfere with it, but have a good deal boiling in another vessel--a bowl will do very well--and rub it on warm while treating by applying the hands. And this is the medicine: What is called Yna-Utsesta (bears bed, the Aspidium acrostichoides or Christmas fern); and the other is called Kga-Asgntagi (crows s.h.i.+n, the Adianthum pedatum or Maidenhair fern); and the other is the common Egnli (another fern); and the other is the Little Soft (-leaved) Egnli (Osmunda Cinnamonea or cinnamon fern), which grows in the rocks and resembles Yna-Utsesta and is a small and soft (-leaved) Egnli. Another has brown roots and another has black roots. The roots of all should be (used).

Begin doctoring early in the morning; let the second (application) be while the sun is still near the horizon; the third when it has risen to a considerable height (10 a.m.); the fourth when it is above at noon. This is sufficient. (The doctor) must not eat, and the patient also must be fasting.

[Footnote 10: _Adawehi_ is a word used to designate one supposed to have supernatural powers, and is applied alike to human beings and to the spirits invoked in the formulas. Some of the mythic heroes famous for their magic deeds are spoken of as _adawehi_ (plural _anidawehi_ or _anidawe_), but in its application to mortals the term is used only of the very greatest shamans. None of those now belonging to the band are considered worthy of being thus called, although the term was sometimes applied to one, Usawi, who died some years ago. In speaking of himself as an adawehi, ase occurs in som of the formulas, the shaman arrogates to himself the same powers that belong to the G.o.ds. Our nearest equivalent is the word magician, but this falls far short of the idea conveyed by the Cherokee word. In the bible translation the word is used as the equivalent of angel or spirit.]

_Explanation._

As this formula is taken from the ma.n.u.script of Gahuni, who died nearly thirty years ago, no definite statement of the theory of the disease, or its treatment, can be given, beyond what is contained in the formula itself, which, fortunately, is particularly explicit; most doctors contenting themselves with giving only the words of the prayer, without noting the ceremonies or even the medicine used. There are various theories as to the cause of each disease, the most common idea in regard to rheumatism being that it is caused by the spirits of the slain animals, generally the deer, thirsting for vengeance on the hunter, as has been already explained in the myth of the origin of disease and medicine.

The measuring-worm (Catharis) is also held to cause rheumatism, from the resemblance of its motions to those of a rheumatic patient, and the name of the worm _wahhili_ is frequently applied also to the disease.

There are formulas to propitiate the slain animals, but these are a part of the hunting code and can only be noticed here, although it may be mentioned in pa.s.sing that the hunter, when about to return to the settlement, builds a fire in the path behind him, in order that the deer chief may not be able to follow him to his home.