Listen! Ha! Now you have drawn near to hearken and are resting
directly overhead. O Black Raven, you never fail in anything. Ha! Now
you are brought down. Ha! There shall be left no more than a trace
upon the ground where you have been. It is an evolute ghost. You have
now put it into a crevice in Sanigalagi, that it may never find the
way back. You have put it to rest in the Darkening Land, so that it
may never return. Let relief come.
Listen! Ha! Now you have drawn near to hearken, O Red Raven, most
powerful ada[']wehi. Ha! You never fail in anything, for so it was
ordained of you. Ha! You are resting directly overhead. Ha! Now you
are brought down. There shall remain but a trace upon the ground where
you have been. It is an evolute ghost. Ha! You have put the Intruder
into a crevice of Sanigalagi and now the relief shall come. It (the
Intruder) is sent to the Darkening Land. You have put it to rest in
the Darkening Land. Let the relief come.
Listen! Ha! Now you have drawn near to hearken, O Blue Raven; you are
resting directly overhead, ada[']wehi. You never fail in anything, for
so it was ordained of you. Ha! Now you are brought down. There shall
be left but a trace upon the ground where you have been. You have put
the Intruder into a crevice in Sanigalagi, that it may never find the
way back. You have put it to rest in the Darkening Land, so that it
may never return. Let the relief come.
Listen! Ha! Now you have drawn near to hearken; you repose on high
on Wa[']h[)i]l[)i], O White Raven, ada[']wehi. You never fail in
anything. Ha! Now you are brought down. There shall be left but a
trace upon the ground where you have been. Ha! Now you have taken it
up. You have put the Intruder into a crevice in Sanigalagi, that it
may never find the way back. You have put it to rest in the Darkening
Land, never to return. Let the relief come.
(Directions)--This is to treat them for a painful sickness. One must
suck. Use Ts[^a][']lagay[^u][n][']-li ("Old Tobacco"--Nicotiana rustica),
blossoms, and just have them in the mouth, and Kanas[^a][']la (Wild
Parsnip), goes with it, and four red beads also must lie there,
and Ts[^a]liyu[']sti Usdi[']ga ("Little (plant) Like Tobacco"--Indian
Tobacco--Lobelia inflata.) And if there should be anything mixed with
it (i.e., after sucking the place), just put it about a hand's-length
into the mud.
_Explanation._
The Cherokee name for this disease gives no idea whatever of its
serious nature. The technical term, Tsundaye[']liga[']ktan[^u][']h[)i],
really refers to the enthusiastic outburst of sociability that ensues
when two old friends meet. In this instance it might be rendered
"an ordeal." The application of such a name to what is considered a
serious illness is in accordance with the regular formulistic practice
of making light of a dangerous malady in order to convey to the
disease spirit the impression that the shaman is not afraid of him.
A`y[^u][n]in[)i], from whom the formula was obtained, states also that
the disease is sometimes sent to a man by a friend or even by his
parents, in order to test his endurance and knowledge of counter
spells.
As with most diseases, the name simply indicates the shaman's theory
of the occult cause of the trouble, and is no clue to the symptoms,
which may be those usually attendant upon fevers, indigestion, or
almost any other ailment.
In some cases the disease is caused by the conjurations of an enemy,
through which the patient becomes subject to an inordinate appetite,
causing him to eat until his abdomen is unnaturally distended. By the
same magic spells tobacco may be conveyed into the man's body, causing
him to be affected by faintness and languor. The enemy, if bitterly
revengeful, may even put into the body of his victim a worm or insect
(tsg[^a]ya), or a sharpened stick of black locust or "fat" pine, which
will result in death if not removed by a good doctor. Sometimes a weed
stalk is in some occult manner conveyed into the patient's stomach,
where it is transformed into a worm. As this disease is very common,
owing to constant quarrels and rival jealousies, there are a number of
specialists who devote their attention to it.
The prayer is addressed to the Black, Red, Blue, and White Ravens,
their location at the four cardinal points not being specified,
excepting in the case of the white raven of Wa[']hil[)i], which, as
already stated, is said to be a mountain in the south, and hence
is used figuratively to mean the south. The ravens are each in turn
declared to have put the disease into a crevice in Sanigala[']gi--the
Cherokee name of Whiteside Mountain, at the head of Tuckasegee River,
in North Carolina, and used figuratively for any high precipitous
mountain--and to have left no more than a trace upon the ground where
it has been. The adjective translated "evolute" (udan[^u]h[)i]) is of
frequent occurrence in the formulas, but has no exact equivalent in
English. It signifies springing into being or life from an embryonic
condition. In this instance it would imply that whatever object the
enemy has put into the body of the sick man has there developed into a
ghost to trouble him.
The directions are expressed in a rather vague manner, as is the
case with most of A`y[^u][n]ini's attempts at original composition.
The disease is here called by another name, agi`li[']ya
unitl[^u][n]g[^u]['][n][)i], signifying "when they are painfully
sick." The treatment consists in sucking the part most affected, the
doctor having in his mouth during the operation the blossoms of
Ts[^a][']l-agay[^u]['][n]l[)i] (Nicotiana rustica), Kanas[^a][']la (wild
parsnip,) and Ts[^a]liyusti Usdiga (Lobelia inflata.) The first and last
of these names signify "tobacco" and "tobacco-like," while the other
seems to contain the same word, ts[^a][']la, and the original idea
may have been to counteract the witchcraft by the use of the various
species of "tobacco," the herb commonly used to drive away a witch
or wizard. During the sucking process four red beads lie near upon a
piece of (white) cloth, which afterward becomes the perquisite of the
doctor. Though not explicitly stated, it is probable that the doctor
holds in his mouth a decoction of the blossoms named, rather than
the blossoms themselves. On withdrawing his mouth from the spot and
ejecting the liquid into a bowl, it is expected that there will be
found "mixed" with it a small stick, a pebble, an insect, or something
of the kind, and this the shaman then holds up to view as the
cause of the disease. It is afterward buried a "hand's length"
(aw[^a][']hil[^u])[12] deep in the mud. No directions were given as to
diet or tabu.
[Footnote 12: This word, like the expression "seven days," frequently
has a figurative meaning. Thus the sun is said to be seven aw[^a][']hil[^u]
above the earth.]