1. Dûnu´wa, dûnu´wa, dûnu´wa, dûnu´wa, dûnu´wa, dûnu´wa.
Listen! Ha! It is only a common frog which has passed by and put
it (the intruder) into you.
2. Dayuha, dayuha, dayuha, dayuha, dayuha.
Listen! Ha! It is only an _Usu´‛gĭ_ which has passed by and
put it into you.
(Prescription.)--Now this at the beginning is a song. One should say
it twice and also say the second line twice. Rub tobacco (juice) on
the bite for some time, or if there be no tobacco just rub on saliva
once. In rubbing it on, one must go around four times. Go around
toward the left and blow four times in a circle. This is because in
lying down the snake always coils to the right and this is just the
same (_lit._ “means like”) as uncoiling it.
_Explanation._
This is also from the manuscript book of Gahuni, deceased, so that no
explanation could be obtained from the writer. The formula consists of
a song of two verses, each followed by a short recitation. The whole
is repeated, according to the directions, so as to make four verses
or songs; four, as already stated, being the sacred number running
through most of these formulas. Four blowings and four circuits in the
rubbing are also specified. The words used in the songs are sometimes
composed of unmeaning syllables, but in this case dûnuwa and dayuha
seem to have a meaning, although neither the interpreter nor the
shaman consulted could explain them, which may be because the words
have become altered in the song, as frequently happens. Dûnu´wa
appears to be an old verb, meaning “it has penetrated,” probably
referring to the tooth of the reptile. These medicine songs are always
sung in a low plaintive tone, somewhat resembling a lullaby. Usu´‛gĭ
also is without explanation, but is probably the name of some small
reptile or batrachian.
As in this case the cause of the trouble is evident, the Indians have
no theory to account for it. It may be remarked, however, that when
one dreams of being bitten, the same treatment and ceremonies must
be used as for the actual bite; otherwise, although perhaps years
afterward, a similar inflammation will appear on the spot indicated
in the dream, and will be followed by the same fatal consequences. The
rattlesnake is regarded as a supernatural being or ada´wehi, whose
favor must be propitiated, and great pains are taken not to offend
him. In consonance with this idea it is never said among the people
that a person has been bitten by a snake, but that he has been
“scratched by a brier.” In the same way, when an eagle has been shot
for a ceremonial dance, it is announced that “a snowbird has been
killed,” the purpose being to deceive the rattlesnake or eagle spirits
which might be listening.
The assertion that it is “only a common frog” or “only an Usu´‛gĭ”
brings out another characteristic idea of these formulas. Whenever the
ailment is of a serious character, or, according to the Indian theory,
whenever it is due to the influence of some powerful disease spirit
the doctor always endeavors to throw contempt upon the intruder, and
convince it of his own superior power by asserting the sickness to
be the work of some inferior being, just as a white physician might
encourage a patient far gone with consumption by telling him that the
illness was only a slight cold. Sometimes there is a regular scale of
depreciation, the doctor first ascribing the disease to a rabbit or
groundhog or some other weak animal, then in succeeding paragraphs
mentioning other still less important animals and finally declaring it
to be the work of a mouse, a small fish, or some other insignificant
creature. In this instance an ailment caused by the rattlesnake, the
most dreaded of the animal spirits, is ascribed to a frog, one of the
least importance.
In applying the remedy the song is probably sung while rubbing the
tobacco juice around the wound. Then the short recitation is repeated
and the doctor blows four times in a circle about the spot. The whole
ceremony is repeated four times. The curious directions for uncoiling
the snake have parallels in European folk medicine.