Long, long ago--hilahi'yu--there dwelt in the mountains a terrible
ogress, a woman monster, whose food was human livers. She could
take on any shape or appearance to suit her purpose, but in her
right form she looked very much like an old woman, excepting that
her whole body was covered with a skin as hard as a rock that no
weapon could wound or penetrate, and that on her right hand she had
a long, stony forefinger of bone, like an awl or spearhead, with
which she stabbed everyone to whom she could get near enough. On
account of this fact she was called U`tlûñ'ta, "Spear-finger," and
on account of her stony skin she was sometimes called Nûñ'yunu'wi,
"Stone-dress." There was another stone-clothed monster that killed
people, but that is a different story.
Spear-finger had such powers over stone that she could easily lift
and carry immense rocks, and could cement them together by merely
striking one against another. To get over the rough country more
easily she undertook to build a great rock bridge through the air from
Nûñyû'-tlu`gûñ'yi, the "Tree rock," on Hiwassee, over to Sanigilâ'gi
(Whiteside mountain), on the Blue ridge, and had it well started
from the top of the "Tree rock" when the lightning struck it and
scattered the fragments along the whole ridge, where the pieces can
still be seen by those who go there. She used to range all over the
mountains about the heads of the streams and in the dark passes of
Nantahala, always hungry and looking for victims. Her favorite haunt
on the Tennessee side was about the gap on the trail where Chilhowee
mountain comes down to the river.
Sometimes an old woman would approach along the trail where the
children were picking strawberries or playing near the village, and
would say to them coaxingly, "Come, my grandchildren, come to your
granny and let granny dress your hair." When some little girl ran
up and laid her head in the old woman's lap to be petted and combed
the old witch would gently run her fingers through the child's hair
until it went to sleep, when she would stab the little one through the
heart or back of the neck with the long awl finger, which she had kept
hidden under her robe. Then she would take out the liver and eat it.
She would enter a house by taking the appearance of one of the
family who happened to have gone out for a short time, and would
watch her chance to stab some one with her long finger and take out
his liver. She could stab him without being noticed, and often the
victim did not even know it himself at the time--for it left no wound
and caused no pain--but went on about his own affairs, until all at
once he felt weak and began gradually to pine away, and was always
sure to die, because Spear-finger had taken his liver.
When the Cherokee went out in the fall, according to their custom, to
burn the leaves off from the mountains in order to get the chestnuts
on the ground, they were never safe, for the old witch was always on
the lookout, and as soon as she saw the smoke rise she knew there
were Indians there and sneaked up to try to surprise one alone. So
as well as they could they tried to keep together, and were very
cautious of allowing any stranger to approach the camp. But if one
went down to the spring for a drink they never knew but it might be
the liver eater that came back and sat with them.
Sometimes she took her proper form, and once or twice, when far out
from the settlements, a solitary hunter had seen an old woman, with
a queer-looking hand, going through the woods singing low to herself:
Uwe'la nátsikû'. Su' sa' sai'.
Liver, I eat it. Su' sa' sai'.
It was rather a pretty song, but it chilled his blood, for he knew
it was the liver eater, and he hurried away, silently, before she
might see him.
At last a great council was held to devise some means to get rid of
U'tlûñ'ta before she should destroy everybody. The people came from
all around, and after much talk it was decided that the best way would
be to trap her in a pitfall where all the warriors could attack her at
once. So they dug a deep pitfall across the trail and covered it over
with earth and grass as if the ground had never been disturbed. Then
they kindled a large fire of brush near the trail and hid themselves
in the laurels, because they knew she would come as soon as she saw
the smoke.
Sure enough they soon saw an old woman coming along the trail. She
looked like an old woman whom they knew well in the village,
and although several of the wiser men wanted to shoot at her, the
others interfered, because they did not want to hurt one of their
own people. The old woman came slowly along the trail, with one hand
under her blanket, until she stepped upon the pitfall and tumbled
through the brush top into the deep hole below. Then, at once, she
showed her true nature, and instead of the feeble old woman there was
the terrible U'tlûñ'ta with her stony skin, and her sharp awl finger
reaching out in every direction for some one to stab.
The hunters rushed out from the thicket and surrounded the pit, but
shoot as true and as often as they could, their arrows struck the
stony mail of the witch only to be broken and fall useless at her
feet, while she taunted them and tried to climb out of the pit to
get at them. They kept out of her way, but were only wasting their
arrows when a small bird, Utsu'`gi, the titmouse, perched on a tree
overhead and began to sing "un, un, un." They thought it was saying
u'nahu', heart, meaning that they should aim at the heart of the
stone witch. They directed their arrows where the heart should be,
but the arrows only glanced off with the flint heads broken.
Then they caught the Utsu'`gi and cut off its tongue, so that ever
since its tongue is short and everybody knows it is a liar. When the
hunters let it go it flew straight up into the sky until it was out
of sight and never came back again. The titmouse that we know now is
only an image of the other.
They kept up the fight without result until another bird, little
Tsi'kilili', the chickadee, flew down from a tree and alighted upon
the witch's right hand. The warriors took this as a sign that they must
aim there, and they were right, for her heart was on the inside of her
hand, which she kept doubled into a fist, this same awl hand with which
she had stabbed so many people. Now she was frightened in earnest,
and began to rush furiously at them with her long awl finger and to
jump about in the pit to dodge the arrows, until at last a lucky arrow
struck just where the awl joined her wrist and she fell down dead.
Ever since the tsi'kilili' is known as a truth teller, and when a man
is away on a journey, if this bird comes and perches near the house
and chirps its song, his friends know he will soon be safe home.