Listen! In the Sunland you repose, O Red Spider. Quickly you have
brought and laid down the red path. O great ada´wehi, quickly you
have brought down the red threads from above. The intruder in the
tooth has spoken and it is only a worm. The tormentor has wrapped
itself around the root of the tooth. Quickly you have dropped down the
red threads, for it is just what you eat. Now it is for you to pick it
up. The relief has been caused to come. Yû!
O Ancient White, you have drawn near to hearken, for you have said,
“When I shall hear my grandchildren, I shall hold up their heads.”
Because you have said it, now therefore you have drawn near to listen.
The relief has been caused to come. Yû!
Listen! In the Frigid Land you repose, O Blue Spider. Quickly you have
brought and laid down the blue path. O great ada´wehi, quickly you
have brought down the blue threads from above. The intruder in the
tooth has spoken and it is only a worm. The tormentor has wrapped
itself around the root of the tooth. Quickly you have dropped down the
blue threads, for it is just what you eat. Now it is for you to pick
it up. The relief has been caused to come. Yû!
O Ancient White, you have drawn near to hearken, for you have said,
“When I shall hear my grandchildren, I shall hold up their heads.”
Because you have said it, now therefore you have drawn near to listen.
The relief has been caused to come. Yû!
Listen! In the Darkening Land you repose, O Black Spider. Quickly you
have brought and laid down the black path. O great ada´wehi, quickly
you have brought down the black threads from above. The intruder in
the tooth has spoken and it is only a worm. The tormentor has wrapped
itself around the root of the tooth. Quickly you have dropped down the
black threads, for it is just what you eat. Now it is for you to pick
it up. The relief has been caused to come. Yû!
O Ancient White, you have drawn near to hearken, for you have said,
“When I shall hear my grandchildren, I shall hold up their heads.”
Because you have said it, now therefore you have drawn near to listen.
The relief has been caused to come. Yû!
Listen! You repose on high, O White Spider. Quickly you have brought
and laid down the white path. O great ada´wehi, quickly you have
brought down the white threads from above. The intruder in the tooth
has spoken and it is only a worm. The tormentor has wrapped itself
around the root of the tooth. Quickly you have dropped down the white
threads, for it is just what you eat. Now it is for you to pick it up.
The relief has been caused to come. Yû!
O Ancient White, you have drawn near to hearken, for you have said,
“When I shall hear my grandchildren, I shall hold up their heads.”
Because you have said it, now therefore you have drawn near to listen.
The relief has been caused to come. Yû!
(Prescription)--This is to treat them if there are pains moving about
in the teeth. It is only (necessary) to lay on the hands, or to blow,
if one should prefer. One may use any kind of a tube, but usually they
have the medicine in the mouth. It is the Yellow-rooted Grass (kane´
ska dalâ´nige unaste´tla; not identified.) One must abstain four
nights from cooked corn (hominy), and kanâhe´na (fermented corn
gruel) is especially forbidden during the same period.
_Explanation._
This formula is taken from the manuscript book of Gatigwanasti,
now dead, and must therefore be explained from general analogy. The
ailment is described as “pains moving about in the teeth”--that is,
affecting several teeth simultaneously--and appears to be neuralgia.
The disease spirit is called “the intruder” and “the tormentor” and
is declared to be a mere worm (tsgâ´ya), which has wrapped itself
around the base of the tooth. This is the regular toothache theory.
The doctor then calls upon the Red Spider of the Sunland to let down
the red threads from above, along the red path, and to take up the
intruder, which is just what the spider eats. The same prayer is
addressed in turn to the Blue Spider in the north, the Black Spider in
the west and the White Spider above (galûⁿ´lati). It may be stated
here that all these spirits are supposed to dwell above, but when no
point of the compass is assigned, galûⁿ´lati is understood to mean
directly overhead, but far above everything of earth. The dweller in
this overhead galûⁿ´lati may be red, white, or brown in color. In
this formula it is white, the ordinary color assigned spirits dwelling
in the south. In another toothache formula the Squirrel is implored
to take the worm and put it between the forking limbs of a tree on the
north side of the mountain.
Following each supplication to the spider is another addressed to the
Ancient White, the formulistic name for fire. The name refers to its
antiquity and light-giving properties and perhaps also to the fact
that when dead it is covered with a coat of white ashes. In those
formulas in which the hunter draws omens from the live coals it is
frequently addressed as the Ancient Red.
The directions are not explicit and must be interpreted from analogy.
“Laying on the hands” refers to pressing the thumb against the jaw
over the aching tooth, the hand having been previously warmed over
the fire, this being a common method of treating toothache. The other
method suggested is to blow upon the spot (tooth or outside of jaw?) a
decoction of an herb described rather vaguely as “yellow-rooted grass”
either through a tube or from the mouth of the operator. Igawĭ´, a
toothache specialist, treats this ailment either by pressure with the
warm thumb, or by blowing tobacco smoke from a pipe placed directly
against the tooth. Hominy and fermented corn gruel (kanâhe´na)
are prohibited for the regular term of four nights, or, as we are
accustomed to say, four days, and special emphasis is laid upon the
gruel tabu.
The prayer to the Spider is probably repeated while the doctor is
warming his hands over the fire, and the following paragraph to the
Ancient White (the Fire) while holding the warm thumb upon the aching
spot. This reverses the usual order, which is to address the fire
while warming the hands. In this connection it must be noted that the
fire used by the doctor is never the ordinary fire on the hearth, but
comes from four burning chips taken from the hearth fire and generally
placed in an earthen vessel by the side of the patient. In some cases
the decoction is heated by putting into it seven live coals taken from
the fire on the hearth.