Listen! Ha! Now where the white thread has been let down, quickly we
are about to examine into (the fate of) the admirers of the ball play.
They are of--such a (iyu[']st[)i]) descent. They are called--so and so
(iyu[']st[)i]). They are shaking the road which shall never be joyful.
The miserable Terrapin has come and fastened himself upon them as they
go about. They have lost all strength. They have become entirely blue.
But now my admirers of the ball play have their roads lying along in
this direction. The Red Bat has come and made himself one of them.
There in the first heaven are the pleasing stakes. There in the second
heaven are the pleasing stakes. The Pewee has come and joined them.
The immortal ball stick shall place itself upon the whoop, never to be
defeated.
As for the lovers of the ball play on the other side, the common
Turtle has come and fastened himself upon them as they go about. Under
the earth they have lost all strength.
The pleasing stakes are in the third heaven. The Red Tl[)a]niw[)a] has
come and made himself one of them, that they may never be defeated.
The pleasing stakes are in the fourth heaven. The Blue Fly-catcher
has made himself one of them, that they may never be defeated. The
pleasing stakes are in the fifth heaven. The Blue Martin has made
himself one of them, that they may never be defeated.
The other lovers of the ball play, the Blue Mole has come and fastened
upon them, that they may never be joyous. They have lost all strength.
The pleasing stakes are there in the sixth heaven. The Chimney Swift
has made himself one of them, that they may never be defeated. The
pleasing stakes are in the seventh heaven. The Blue Dragon-fly has
made himself one of them, that they may never be defeated.
As for the other admirers of the ball play, the Bear has just come and
fastened him upon them, that they may never be happy. They have lost
all strength. He has let the stakes slip from his grasp and there
shall be nothing left for their share.
The examination is ended.
Listen! Now let me know that the twelve are mine, O White Dragon-fly.
Tell me that the share is to be mine--that the stakes are mine. As for
the player there on the other side, he has been forced to let go his
hold upon the stakes.
Now they are become exultant and happy. Y[^u]!
_Explanation._
This formula, from the A`y[^u][n]in[)i] manuscript is one of those
used by the shaman in taking the ball players to water before the
game. The ceremony is performed in connection with red and black
beads, as described in the formula just given for destroying life.
The formulistic name given to the ball players signifies literally,
"admirers of the ball play." The Tl[)a][']niw[)a] (s[)a][']niw[)a] in
the Middle dialect) is the mythic great hawk, as large and powerful
as the roc of Arabian tales. The shaman begins by declaring that it is
his purpose to examine or inquire into the fate of the ball players,
and then gives his attention by turns to his friends and their
opponents, fixing his eyes upon the red bead while praying for
his clients, and upon the black bead while speaking of their
rivals. His friends he raises gradually to the seventh or highest
_gal[^u]['][n]lat[)i]_. This word literally signifies height, and is
the name given to the abode of the gods dwelling above the earth, and
is also used to mean heaven in the Cherokee bible translation. The
opposing players, on the other hand, are put down under the earth,
and are made to resemble animals slow and clumsy of movement, while
on behalf of his friends the shaman invokes the aid of swift-flying
birds, which, according to the Indian belief, never by any chance
fail to secure their prey. The birds invoked are the He[']nil[^u] or
wood pewee (_Contopus virens_), the Tl[)a]niw[)a] or mythic hawk,
the Gul[)i][']sgul[)i]['] or great crested flycatcher (_Myiarchus
crinitus_), the Ts[^u]ts[^u] or martin (_Progne subis_), and the
A[']nig[^a]sta[']ya or chimney swift (_Chaetura pelasgia_). In the idiom
of the formulas it is said that these "have just come and are sticking
to them" (the players), the same word (_dan[^u]tsg[^u][']lani'ga_) being
used to express the devoted attention of a lover to his mistress. The
Watatuga, a small species of dragon-fly, is also invoked, together
with the bat, which, according to a Cherokee myth, once took sides
with the birds in a great ball contest with the four-footed animals,
and won the victory for the birds by reason of his superior skill in
dodging. This myth explains also why birds, and no quadrupeds, are
invoked by the shaman to the aid of his friends. In accordance with
the regular color symbolism the flycatcher, martin, and dragon-fly,
like the bat and the tl[)a][']niw[)a], should be red, the color of
success, instead of blue, evidently so written by mistake. The white
thread is frequently mentioned in the formulas, but in this instance
the reference is not clear. The twelve refers to the number of runs
made in the game.
Index.
A`wanita, or Young Deer, Cherokee formulas furnished by 316
Ayasta, Cherokee manuscript obtained from 313
A`y[^u][n][']in[)i], or Swimmer, Cherokee manuscripts obtained
from 310-312
Bathing in medical practice of Cherokees 333-334, 335-336
Bleeding, practice of among the Cherokees 334-335
Brinton, D.G., cited on linguistic value of Indian records 318
Catawba Killer, Cherokee formulas furnished by 316
Cherokees, paper on Sacred Formulas of, by James Mooney 301-397
bathing, rubbing, and bleeding in medical practice of 333-336
manuscripts of, containing sacred, medical, and other formulas,
character and age of 307-318
medical practice of, list of plants used in 324-327
medicine dance of 337
color symbolism of 342-343
gods of, and their abiding places 340-342
religion of 319
Cherokee Sacred Formulas, language of 343-344
specimens of 344-397
for rheumatism 345-351
for snake bite 351-353
for worms 353-356
for neuralgia 356-359
for fever and ague 359-363
for child birth 363-364
for biliousness 365-366
for ordeal diseases 367-369
for hunting and fishing 369-375
for love 375-384
to kill a witch 384-386
to find something 386-387
to prevent a storm 387-388
for going to war 388-391
for destroying an enemy 391-395
for ball play 395-397
Color symbolism of the Cherokees 342, 343
Disease, Cherokee theory of 322-324
Disease and medicine, Cherokee tradition of origin of 319-322
Gahuni manuscript of Cherokee formulas 313, 314
Gatigwanasti manuscript of Cherokee formulas 312, 313
Gods of the Cherokees and their abiding places 340-342
Haywood, John, cited on witchcraft beliefs among the Cherokees 322
Inali manuscript of Cherokee formulas 314-316
Long, W.W., collection of Cherokee formulas and songs prepared by
317
Medical practice of Cherokees, plants used 322-331
Medicine dance of Cherokees 337
Mooney, James, paper on sacred formulas of the Cherokees, by
301-397
Names, importance attached to, in Cherokee sacred formulas 343
Plants used by Cherokees for medical purposes 322-331
ceremonies for gathering 339
Religion of the Cherokees, character of 319
Religion of the Cherokees, gods of 340-342
Sacred Formulas of the Cherokees, paper by James Mooney on 301-397
Sanitary regulations among the Cherokee Indians, neglect of 332,
333
Shamans, decline of power of among Cherokees 336
mode of payment of among Cherokees 337-339
Sweat bath, use of, among Cherokees 333-334
Swimmer manuscript of Cherokee formulas 310, 312
Tabu among Cherokees, illustrations of 331-332
Takwatihi, or Catawba-Killer, Cherokee formulas furnished by 316
Will West, collection of Cherokee formulas and songs prepared by
317
Young Deer, Cherokee formulas furnished by 316
Errors:
Missing or superfluous quotation marks have been silently corrected.
... while closely watching the motions ...
[original has "the / the" at line break]
formulas obtained from Tsiskwa, Awanita, and / Takwtihi
[error for Takwati[']h[)i] ?]
Sg[)e]! Ha-n[^a][']gwa h[^u][n]hat[^u]['][n]gani[']ga
[all parentheses in this paragraph shown as printed]
(hetsatsa['][^u][n]tani[']ga
[mismatched parenthesis in original]