63. Ûñtsaiyi', the Gambler (p. 311): This story was obtained from
Swimmer and John Ax (east), and confirmed also by James Wafford
(west), who remembered, however, only the main points of the pursuit
and final capture at Kâgûñ'yi. The two versions corresponded very
closely, excepting that Ax sends the boy to the Sunset land to play
against his brothers, while Swimmer brings them to meet him at their
father's house. In the Ax version, also, the gambler flees directly
to the west, and as often as the brothers shoot at him with their
arrows the thunder rolls and the lightning flashes, but he escapes by
sinking into the earth, which opens for him, to reappear in another
form somewhere else. Swimmer makes the Little People help in the
chase. In Cherokee figure an invitation to a ball contest is a
challenge to battle. Thunder is always personified in the plural,
Ani'-Hyûñ'tikwalâ'ski, "The Thunderers." The father and the two
older sons seem to be Kana'ti and the Thunder Boys (see number 3,
"Kana'ti and Selu"), although neither informant would positively
assert this, while the boy hero, who has no other name, is said to
be the lightning. Nothing is told of his after career.
Ûñtsaiyi'--In this name (sometimes E'tsaiyi' or Tsaiyi') the first
syllable is almost silent and the vowels are prolonged to imitate the
ringing sound produced by striking a thin sheet of metal. The word
is now translated "brass," and is applied to any object made of that
metal. The mythic gambler, who has his counterpart in the mythologies
of many tribes, is the traditional inventor of the wheel-and-stick
game, so popular among the southern and eastern Indians, and variously
known as gatayûsti, chenco, or chûnki (see note under number 3,
"Kana'ti and Selu"). He lived on the south side of Tennessee river,
at Ûñ'tiguhi'.
Ûñ'tiguhi' or The Suck--The noted and dangerous rapid known to the
whites as "The Suck" and to the Cherokee as Ûñ'tiguhi', "Pot in
the water," is in Tennessee river, near the entrance of Suck creek,
about 8 miles below Chattanooga, at a point where the river gathers
its whole force into a contracted channel to break through the
Cumberland mountain. The popular name, Whirl, or Suck, dates back
at least to 1780, the upper portion being known at the same time as
"The boiling pot" (Donelson diary, in Ramsey, Tennessee, p. 71),
[545] a close paraphrase of the Indian name. In the days of pioneer
settlement it was a most dangerous menace to navigation, but some of
the most serious obstacles in the channel have now been removed by
blasting and other means. The Cherokee name and legend were probably
suggested by the appearance of the rapids at the spot. Close to where
Ûñtsaiyi' lived, according to the Indian account, may still be seen
the large flat rock upon which he was accustomed to play the gatayûsti
game with all who accepted his challenge, the lines and grooves worn
by the rolling of the wheels being still plainly marked, and the
stone wheels themselves now firmly attached to the surface of the
rock. A similarly grooved or striped rock, where also, it is said,
Ûñtsaiyi' used to roll his wheel, is reported to be on the north side
of Hiwassee, just below Calhoun, Tennessee.
The Suck is thus described by a traveler in 1818, while the whole
was still Indian country and Chattanooga was yet undreamed of:
"And here, I cannot forbear pausing a moment to call your attention
to the grand and picturesque scenery which opens to the view of the
admiring spectator. The country is still possessed by the aborigines,
and the hand of civilization has done but little to soften the wild
aspect of nature. The Tennessee river, having concentrated into one
mass the numerous streams it has received in its course of three or
four hundred miles, glides through an extended valley with a rapid
and overwhelming current, half a mile in width. At this place,
a group of mountains stand ready to dispute its progress. First,
the 'Lookout,' an independent range, commencing thirty miles below,
presents, opposite the river's course, its bold and rocky termination
of two thousand feet. Around its brow is a pallisade [sic] of naked
rocks, from seventy to one hundred feet. The river flows upon
its base, and instantly twines to the right. Passing on for six
miles farther it turns again, and is met by the side of the Rackoon
mountain. Collecting its strength into a channel of seventy yards,
it severs the mountain, and rushes tumultuously through the rocky
defile, wafting the trembling navigator at the rate of a mile in two
or three minutes. The passage is called 'The Suck.' The summit of the
Lookout mountain overlooks the whole country. And to those who can
be delighted with the view of an interminable forest, penetrated by
the windings of a bold river, interspersed with hundreds of verdant
prairies, and broken by many ridges and mountains, furnishes in the
month of May, a landscape, which yields to few others, in extent,
variety or beauty."--Rev. Elias Cornelius, in (Silliman's) American
Journal of Science, I, p. 223, 1818.
Bet even his life--The Indian was a passionate gambler and there was
absolutely no limit to the risks which he was willing to take, even to
the loss of liberty, if not of life. Says Lawson (History of Carolina,
p. 287): "They game very much and often strip one another of all they
have in the world; and what is more, I have known several of them
play themselves away, so that they have remained the winners' servants
till their relations or themselves could pay the money to redeem them."
His skin was clean--The idea of purification or cleansing through
the efficacy of the sweat-bath is very common in Indian myth and
ceremonial. In an Omaha story given by Dorsey the hero has been
transformed, by witchcraft, into a mangy dog. He builds a sweat lodge,
goes into it as a dog and sweats himself until, on his command, the
people take off the blankets, when "Behold, he was not a dog; he was
a very handsome man" ("Adventures of Hingpe-agce," in Contributions
to North American Ethnology, VI, p. 175).
From the bottom--The choice of the most remote or the most
insignificant appearing of several objects, as being really the most
valuable, is another common incident in the myths.
Honey-locust tree--The favorite honey-locust tree and the seat with
thorns of the same species in the home of the Thunder Man may indicate
that in Indian as in Aryan thought there was an occult connection
between the pinnated leaves and the lightning, as we know to be the
case with regard to the European rowan or mountain ash.
All kinds of snakes--It will be remembered that the boy's father
was a thunder god. The connection between the snake and the rain or
thunder spirit has already been noted. It appears also in number 84,
"The Man who Married the Thunder's Sister."
Elder brother--My elder brother (male speaking), ûñgini'li; my elder
brother (female speaking), ûñgida'; thy two elder brothers (male
speaking), tsetsani'li.
Sunset land--The Cherokee word here used is Wusûhihûñ'yi, "there where
they stay over night." The usual expression in the sacred formula
is usûñhi'yi, "the darkening, or twilight place"; the common word is
wude'ligûñ'yi, "there where it (the sun) goes down."
Lightning at every stroke--In the Omaha myth of "The Chief's Son and
the Thunders," given by Dorsey, some young men traveling to the end
of the world meet a Thunder Man, who bids the leader to select one
of four medicine bags. Having been warned in advance, he selects
the oldest, but most powerful, and is then given also a club which
causes thunder whenever flourished in the air (Contributions to North
American Ethnology, VI, p. 185).
Strike the rock--This method of procuring water is as old at least
as the book of Exodus.
The brass rubbed off--The beautiful metallic luster on the head of
Phanæus carnifex is thus accounted for. The common roller beetle
is called "dung roller," but this species is distinguished as the
"horned, brass" beetle. It is also sometimes spoken of as the dog of
the Thunder Boys.
Beavers gnaw at the grapevine--Something like this is found among
the Cheyenne: "The earth rests on a large beam or post. Far in the
north there is a beaver as white as snow who is a great father of all
mankind. Some day he will gnaw through the support at the bottom. We
shall be helpless and the earth will fall. This will happen when he
becomes angry. The post is already partly eaten through. For this
reason one band of the Cheyenne never eat beaver or even touch the
skin. If they do touch it, they become sick" (Kroeber, Cheyenne Tales,
in Journal of American Folk-Lore, July, 1900).
64. The nest of the Tla'nuwa (p. 315): This story was obtained first
from John Ax and Ta'gwadihi', and was afterward heard of frequently
in connection with the cave at Citico. It is mentioned by Ten Kate in
"Legends of the Cherokees," obtained in the Indian Territory, in the
Journal of American Folk-Lore, January, 1889.
Tla'nuwa--The Tla'nuwa (Tsa'nuwa or Sû'nawa in the Middle dialect)
is a mythic bird, described as a great hawk, larger than any bird
now existing. There is a small hawk called tla'nuwa usdi', "little
tla'nuwa," which is described as its smaller counterpart or image,
and which the Cherokee say accompanies flocks of wild pigeons,
occasionally when hungry swooping down and killing one by striking
it with its sharp breast bone. It is probably the goshawk (Astur
atricapillus). The great Tla'nuwa, like the other animals, "went
up." According to Adair (History of the American Indians, p. 17)
the Cherokee used to compare a miserly person to a "sinnawah." When
John Ax first recited the story he insisted that the whites must also
believe it, as they had it pictured on their money, and holding up
a silver coin, he triumphantly pointed out what he claimed was the
figure of the Tla'nuwa, holding in its talons the arrows and in its
beak the serpent. He was not so far wrong, as it is well known that
the Mexican coat of arms, stamped upon the coins of the republic,
has its origin in a similar legend handed down from the Aztec. Myths
of dangerous monster serpents destroyed by great birds were common
to a number of tribes. The Tuscarora, formerly eastern neighbors
of the Cherokee, told "a long tale of a great rattlesnake, which,
a great while ago, lived by a creek in that river, which was Neus,
and that it killed abundance of Indians; but at last a bald eagle
killed it, and they were rid of a serpent that used to devour whole
canoes full of Indians at a time" (Lawson, Carolina, p. 346).
Tla'nuwa'i--"Tla'nuwa place," the cliff so called by the Cherokee,
with the cave half way up its face, is on the north bank of Little
Tennessee river, a short distance below the entrance of the Citico
creek, on land formerly belonging to Colonel John Lowrey, one of the
Cherokee officers at the battle of the Horseshoe bend (Wafford). Just
above, but on the opposite side of the river, is U`tlûñti'yi, the
former haunt of the cannibal liver eater (see number 66, "U`tlûñta,
the Spear-finger").
Soon after the creation--As John Ax put it, adopting the Bible
expression, Hilahi'yu dine'tlana a'nigwa--"A long time ago the creation
soon after."
Rope of linn bark--The old Cherokee still do most of their tying
and packing with ropes twisted from the inner bark of trees. In one
version of the story the medicine-man uses a long udâ'i or cohosh
(Actæa?) vine.
Holes are still there--The place which the Cherokee call
Tla'nuwa-a'tsiyelûñisûñ'yi, "Where the Tla'nuwa cut it up," is nearly
opposite Citico, on Little Tennessee river, just below Talassee ford,
in Blount county, Tennessee. The surface of the rock bears a series
of long trenchlike depressions, extending some distance, which,
according to the Indians, are the marks where the pieces bitten from
the body of the great serpent were dropt by the Tla'nuwa.
65. The hunter and the Tla'nuwa (p. 316): This myth was told by
Swimmer.
66. U`tlûñ'ta, the Spear-finger (p. 316): This is one of the most
noted among the Cherokee myths, being equally well known both east
and west. The version here given was obtained from John Ax, with some
corrections and additions from Swimmer, Wafford (west) and others. A
version of it, "The Stone-shields," in which the tomtit is incorrectly
made a jay, is given by Ten Kate, in his "Legends of the Cherokees,"
in the Journal of American Folk-Lore for January, 1889, as obtained
from a mixed-blood informant in Tahlequah. Another version, "The Demon
of Consumption," by Capt. James W. Terrell, formerly a trader among
the East Cherokee, appears in the same journal for April, 1892. Still
another variant, apparently condensed from Terrell's information,
is given by Zeigler and Grosscup, "Heart of the Alleghanies," page 24
(Raleigh and Cleveland, 1883). In Ten Kate's version the stone coat
of mail broke in pieces as soon as the monster was killed, and the
fragments were gathered up and kept as amulets by the people.
There is some confusion between this story of U`tlûñ'ta and that
of Nûñ'yunu'wi (number 67). According to some myth tellers the two
monsters were husband and wife and lived together, and were both
alike dressed in stone, had awl fingers and ate human livers, the
only difference being that the husband waylaid hunters, while his
female partner gave her attention to children.
This story has a close parallel in the Creek myth of the Tuggle
collection, "The Big Rock Man," in which the people finally kill the
stony monster by acting upon the advice of the Rabbit to shoot him
in the ear.
Far away, in British Columbia, the Indians tell how the Coyote
transformed himself to an Elk, covering his body with a hard
shell. "Now this shell was like an armor, for no arrow could pierce
it; but being hardly large enough to cover all his body, there was
a small hole left underneath his throat." He attacks the people,
stabbing them with his antlers and trampling them under foot, while
their arrows glance harmlessly from his body, until "the Meadow-lark,
who was a great telltale, appeared and cried out, 'There is just a
little hole at his throat!'" A hunter directs his arrow to that spot
and the Elk falls dead (Teit, Thompson River Traditions, pp. 33-34).
U`tlûñ'ta--The word means literally "he (or she) has it sharp," i. e.,
has some sharp part or organ. It might be used of a tooth or finger
nail or some other attached portion of the body, but here refers to the
awl-like finger. Ten Kate spells the name Uilata. On Little Tennessee
river, nearly opposite the entrance of Citico creek, in Blount
county, Tennessee, is a place which the Cherokee call U`tlûñtûñ'yi,
"Sharp-finger place," because, they say, U`tlûñ'ta used to frequent
the spot.
Nûñyû'-tlu`gûñ'i--"Tree rock," so called on account of its resemblance
to a standing tree trunk; a notable monument-shape rock on the west
side of Hiwassee river, about four miles above Hayesville, North
Carolina, and nearly on the Georgia line.
Whiteside mountain--This noted mountain, known to the Cherokee as
Sanigilâ'gi, a name for which they have no meaning, is one of the
prominent peaks of the Blue ridge, and is situated southeast from
Franklin and about four miles from Highlands, or the dividing line
between Macon and Jackson counties, North Carolina. It is 4,900 feet
high, being the loftiest elevation on the ridge which forms the
watershed between the tributaries of the Little Tennessee and the
Chattooga branch of Savannah. It takes its name from the perpendicular
cliff on its western exposure, and is also known sometimes as
the Devil's courthouse. The Indians compare the appearance of the
cliff to that of a sheet of ice, and say that the western summit was
formerly crowned by a projecting rock, since destroyed by lightning,
which formed a part of the great bridge which U`tlûñ'ta attempted
to build across the valley. Lanman's description of this mountain,
in 1848, has been quoted in the notes to number 13, "The Great
Yellow-jacket." Following is a notice by a later writer:
"About five miles from Highlands is that huge old cliff, Whitesides,
which forms the advanced guard of all the mountain ranges trending
on the south. It is no higher than the Righi, but, like it, rising
direct from the plain, it overpowers the spectator more than its
loftier brethren. Through all the lowlands of upper Georgia and
Alabama this dazzling white pillar of rock, uplifting the sky,
is an emphatic and significant landmark. The ascent can be made on
horseback, on the rear side of the mountain, to within a quarter of
a mile of the summit. When the top is reached, after a short stretch
of nearly perpendicular climbing, the traveler finds himself on the
edge of a sheer white wall of rock, over which, clinging for life
to a protecting hand, he can look, if he chooses, two thousand feet
down into the dim valley below. A pebble dropped from his hand will
fall straight as into a well. On the vast plain below he can see
the wavelike hills on which the great mountain ranges which have
stretched from Maine along the continent ebb down finally into the
southern plains"--Rebecca H. Davis, Bypaths in the Mountains, in
Harper's Magazine, LXI, p. 544, September, 1880.
Picking strawberries--For more than a hundred years, as readers of
Bartram will remember, the rich bottom lands of the old Cherokee
country have been noted for their abundance of strawberries and other
wild fruits.
My grandchildren--As in most Indian languages, Cherokee kinship
terms are usually specialized, and there is no single term for
grandchild. "My son's child" is ûñgini'si, plural tsûñgini'si;
"my daughter's child" is ûñgili'si, plural tsûñgili'si. The use of
kinship terms as expressive of affection or respect is very common
among Indians.
Taking the appearance--This corresponds closely with the European
folk-belief in fairy changelings.
To burn the leaves--The burning of the fallen leaves in the autumn,
in order to get at the nuts upon the ground below, is still practiced
by the white mountaineers of the southern Alleghenies. The line of
fire slowly creeping up the mountain side upon a dark night is one
of the picturesque sights of that picturesque country.
The song--As rendered by Swimmer, the songs seem to be intended for
an imitation of the mournful notes of some bird, such as the turtle
dove, hidden in the deep forests.
Pitfall--The pitfall trap for large game was known among nearly all
the tribes, but seems not to have been in frequent use.
Chickadee and tomtit--These two little birds closely resemble each
other, the Carolina chickadee (Parus carolinensis) or tsikilili
being somewhat smaller than the tufted titmouse (Parus bicolor)
or utsu`gi, which is also distinguished by a topknot or crest. The
belief that the tsikilili foretells the arrival of an absent friend is
general among the Cherokee, and has even extended to their neighbors,
the white mountaineers. See also number 35, "The Bird Tribes," and
accompanying notes.
Her heart--The conception of a giant or other monster whose heart
or "life" is in some unaccustomed part of the body, or may even be
taken out and laid aside at will, so that it is impossible to kill
the monster by ordinary means, is common in Indian as well as in
European and Asiatic folklore.
In a Navaho myth we are told that the Coyote "did not, like other
beings, keep his vital principle in his chest, where it might easily
be destroyed. He kept it in the tip of his nose and in the end of
his tail, where no one would expect to find it." He meets several
accidents, any one of which would be sufficient to kill an ordinary
creature, but as his nose and tail remain intact he is each time
resurrected. Finally a girl whom he wishes to marry beats him into
small pieces with a club, grinds the pieces to powder, and scatters
the powder to the four winds. "But again she neglected to crush the
point of the nose and the tip of the tail," with the result that the
Coyote again comes to life, when of course they are married and live
happily until the next chapter (Matthews, Navaho Legends, pp. 91-94).
In a tale of the Gaelic highlands the giant's life is in an egg which
he keeps concealed in a distant place, and not until the hero finds
and crushes the egg does the giant die. The monster or hero with
but one vulnerable spot, as was the case with Achilles, is also a
common concept.
67. Nûñyunu'wi, the Stone Man (p. 319): This myth, although obtained
from Swimmer, the best informant in the eastern band, is but
fragmentary, for the reason that he confounded it with the somewhat
similar story of U`tlûñ'ta (number 66). It was mentioned by Ayâsta
and others (east) and by Wafford (west) as a very old and interesting
story, although none of these could recall the details in connected
form. It is noted as one of the stories heard in the Territory by
Ten Kate (Legends of the Cherokees, in Journal of American Folk-Lore,
January, 1889), who spells the name Nayunu'wi.
Nûñyunu'wi, "Dressed in stone"; adâ'lanûñsti, a staff or cane;
asûñ'tli, asûñ'tlûñi, a foot log or bridge; ada'wehi, a great magician
or supernatural wonder-worker; see the glossary.
A very close parallel is found among the Iroquois, who have traditions
of an invasion by a race of fierce cannibals known as the Stonish
Giants, who, originally like ordinary humans, had wandered off into
the wilderness, where they became addicted to eating raw flesh and
wallowing in the sand until their bodies grew to gigantic size and were
covered with hard scales like stone, which no arrow could penetrate
(see Cusick, in Schoolcraft, Indian Tribes, V, p. 637). One of these,
which preyed particularly upon the Onondaga, was at last taken in
a pitfall and thus killed. Another, in tracking his victims used
"something which looked like a finger, but was really a pointer made
of bone. With this he could find anything he wished." The pointer was
finally snatched from him by a hunter, on which the giant, unable to
find his way without it, begged piteously for its return, promising
to eat no more men and to send the hunter long life and good luck
for himself and all his friends. The hunter thereupon restored it
and the giant kept his promises (Beauchamp, W. M., Iroquois Notes,
in Journal of American Folk-Lore, Boston, July, 1892.) As told by
Mrs Smith ("The Stone Giant's Challenge," Myths of the Iroquois,
in Second Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, 1883), the
pointer was a human finger. "He placed it upright upon his hand,
and it immediately pointed the way for him to go."
Menstrual woman--Among all our native tribes it is believed that
there is something dangerous or uncanny in the touch or presence of
a menstrual woman. Hence the universal institution of the "menstrual
lodge," to which the woman retires at such periods, eating, working,
and sleeping alone, together with a host of tabus and precautions
bearing upon the same subject. Nearly the same ideas are held in
regard to a pregnant woman.
Sourwood stakes--Cherokee hunters impale meat upon sourwood
(Oxydendrum) stakes for roasting, and the wood is believed, also,
to have power against the spells of witches.
Began to talk--The revealing of "medicine" secrets by a magician when
in his final agony is a common incident in Indian myths.
Whatever he prayed for--Swimmer gives a detailed statement of the
particular petition made by several of those thus painted. Painting
the face and body, especially with red paint, is always among Indians
a more or less sacred performance, usually accompanied with prayers.
68. The hunter in the Dakwa'--This story was told by Swimmer and
Ta'gwadihi' and is well known in the tribe. The version from the
Wahnenauhi manuscript differs considerably from that here given. In
the Bible translation the word dakwa' is used as the equivalent of
whale. Haywood thus alludes to the story (Nat. and Aborig. Hist. Tenn.,
p. 244): "One of the ancient traditions of the Cherokees is that once
a whale swallowed a little boy, and after some time spewed him upon
the land."
It is pretty certain that the Cherokee formerly had some acquaintance
with whales, which, about the year 1700, according to Lawson, were
"very numerous" on the coast of North Carolina, being frequently
stranded along the shore, so that settlers derived considerable
profit from the oil and blubber. He enumerates four species there
known, and adds a general statement that "some Indians in America"
hunted them at sea (History of Carolina, pp. 251-252).
In almost every age and country we find a myth of a great fish
swallowing a man, who afterward finds his way out alive. Near to the
Cherokee myth are the Bible story of Jonah, and the Greek story of
Hercules, swallowed by a fish and coming out afterward alive, but
bald. For parallels and theories of the origin and meaning of the
myth among the ancient nations, see chapter IX of Bouton's Bible Myths.
In an Ojibwa story, the great Manabozho is swallowed, canoe and all,
by the king of the fishes. With his war club he strikes repeated blows
upon the heart of the fish, which attempts to spew him out. Fearing
that he might drown in deep water, Manabozho frustrates the endeavor by
placing his canoe crosswise in the throat of the fish, and continues
striking at the heart until the monster makes for the shore and there
dies, when the hero makes his escape through a hole which the gulls
have torn in the side of the carcass (Schoolcraft, Algic Researches,
I, pp. 145-146).
69. Atagâ'hi, the enchanted lake (p. 321): This story was heard
from Swimmer, Ta'gwadihi', and others, and is a matter of familiar
knowledge to every hunter among the East Cherokee. If Indian testimony
be believed there is actually a large bare flat of this name in
the difficult recesses of the Great Smoky mountains on the northern
boundary of Swain county, North Carolina, somewhere between the heads
of Bradleys fork and Eagle creek. It appears to be a great resort
for bears and ducks, and is perhaps submerged at long intervals,
which would account for the legend.
Prayer, fasting, and vigil--In Indian ritual, as among the Orientals
and in all ancient religions, these are prime requisites for obtaining
clearness of spiritual vision. In almost every tribe the young warrior
just entering manhood voluntarily subjected himself to an ordeal of
this kind, of several days' continuance, in order to obtain a vision
of the "medicine" which was to be his guide and protector for the
rest of his life.
70. The bride from the south (p. 322): This unique allegory was heard
from both Swimmer and Ta'gwadihi' in nearly the same form. Hagar
also (MS Stellar Legends of the Cherokee) heard something of it from
Ayâsta, who, however, confused it with the Hagar variant of number 11,
"The Milky Way" (see notes to number 11).
In a myth from British Columbia, "The Hot and the Cold Winds,"
the cold-wind people of the north wage war with the hot-wind people
of the south, until the Indians, whose country lay between, and who
constantly suffer from both sides, bring about a peace, to be ratified
by a marriage between the two parties. Accordingly, the people of the
south send their daughter to marry the son of the north. The two are
married and have one child, whom the mother after a time decides to
take with her to visit her own people in the north. Her visit ended,
she starts on her return, accompanied by her elder brother. "They
embarked in a bark canoe for the country of the cold. Her brother
paddled. After going a long distance, and while crossing a great
lake, the cold became so intense that her brother could not endure
it any longer. He took the child from his sister and threw it into
the water. Immediately the air turned warm and the child floated on
the water as a lump of ice."--Teit, Traditions of the Thompson River
Indians, pp. 55, 56.
71. The Ice Man (p. 322): This story, told by Swimmer, may be a veiled
tradition of a burning coal mine in the mountains, accidentally ignited
in firing the woods in the fall, according to the regular Cherokee
practice, and finally extinguished by a providential rainstorm. One
of Buttrick's Cherokee informants told him that "a great while ago a
part of the world was burned, though it is not known now how, or by
whom, but it is said that other land was formed by washing in from
the mountains" (Antiquities, p. 7).
When the French built Fort Caroline, near the present Charleston,
South Carolina, in 1562, an Indian village was in the vicinity,
but shortly afterward the chief, with all his people, removed to a
considerable distance in consequence of a strange accident--"a large
piece of peat bog [was] kindled by lightning and consumed, which he
supposed to be the work of artillery." [546]
Volcanic activities, some of very recent date, have left many traces
in the Carolina mountains. A mountain in Haywood county, near the
head of Fines creek, has been noted for its noises and quakings for
nearly a century, one particular explosion having split solid masses
of granite as though by a blast of gunpowder. These shocks and noises
used to recur at intervals of two or three years, but have not now been
noticed for some time. In 1829 a violent earthquake on Valley river
split open a mountain, leaving a chasm extending for several hundred
yards, which is still to be seen. Satoola mountain, near Highlands,
in Macon county, has crevices from which smoke is said to issue at
intervals. In Madison county there is a mountain which has been known
to rumble and smoke, a phenomenon with which the Warm springs in the
same county may have some connection. Another peak, known as Shaking
or Rumbling bald, in Rutherford county, attracted widespread attention
in 1874 by a succession of shocks extending over a period of six months
(see Zeigler and Grosscup, Heart of the Alleghanies, pp. 228-229).
72. The Hunter and Selu (p. 323): The explanation of this story,
told by Swimmer, lies in the myth which derives corn from the blood
of the old woman Selu (see number 3, "Kana'ti and Selu").
In Iroquois myth the spirits of Corn, Beans, and Squash are three
sisters. Corn was originally much more fertile, but was blighted by
the jealousy of an evil spirit. "To this day, when the rustling wind
waves the corn leaves with a moaning sound, the pious Indian fancies
that he hears the Spirit of Corn, in her compassion for the red man,
still bemoaning with unavailing regrets her blighted fruitfulness"
(Morgan, League of the Iroquois, p. 162). See number 126, "Plant Lore,"
and accompanying notes.
73. The Underground Panthers (p. 324): This story was told by John
Ax. For an explanation of the Indian idea concerning animals see
number 15, "The Four-footed Tribes," and number 76, "The Bear Man."
Several days--The strange lapse of time, by which a period really
extending over days or even years seems to the stranger under the
spell to be only a matter of a few hours, is one of the most common
incidents of European fairy recitals, and has been made equally
familiar to American readers through Irving's story of Rip Van Winkle.
74. The Tsundige'wi (p. 325): This curious story was told by Swimmer
and Ta'gwadihi' (east) and Wafford (west). Swimmer says the dwarfs
lived in the west, but Ta'gwadihi' and Wafford locate them south from
the Cherokee country.
A story which seems to be a variant of the same myth was told to the
Spanish adventurer Ayllon by the Indians on the South Carolina coast
in 1520, and is thus given in translation from Peter Martyr's Decades,
in the Discovery and Conquest of Florida, ninth volume of the Hakluyt
Society's publications, pages XV-XVI, London, 1851.
"Another of Ayllon's strange stories refers to a country called
Inzignanin, ... The inhabitauntes, by report of their ancestors, say,
that a people as tall as the length of a man's arme, with tayles
of a spanne long, sometime arrived there, brought thither by sea,
which tayle was not movable or wavering, as in foure-footed beastes,
but solide, broad above, and sharpe beneath, as wee see in fishes
and crocodiles, and extended into a bony hardness. Wherefore, when
they desired to sitt, they used seates with holes through them, or
wanting them, digged upp the earth a spanne deepe or little more,
they must convay their tayle into the hole when they rest them."
It is given thus in Barcia, Ensayo, page 5: "Tambien llegaron a la
Provincia de Yncignavin adonde les contaron aquellos Indios, que
en cierto tiempo, avian aportado à ella, unas Gentes, que tenian
Cola ... de una quarta de largo, flexible, que les estorvaba tanto,
que para sentarse agujereaban los asientos: que el Pellejo era mui
aspero, y como escamoso, y que comìan solo Peces crudos: y aviendo
estos muerto, se acabò esta Nacion, y la Verdad del Caso, con ella."
A close parallel to the Cherokee story is found among the Nisqualli
of Washington, in a story of three [four?] brothers, who are captured
by a miraculously strong dwarf who ties them and carries them off in
his canoe. "Having rounded the distant point, where they had first
descried him, they came to a village inhabited by a race of people
as small as their captor, their houses, boats and utensils being
all in proportion to themselves. The three brothers were then taken
out and thrown, bound as they were, into a lodge, while a council
was convened to decide upon their fate. During the sitting of the
council an immense flock of birds, resembling geese, but much larger,
pounced down upon the inhabitants and commenced a violent attack. These
birds had the power of throwing their sharp quills like the porcupine,
and although the little warriors fought with great valour, they soon
became covered with the piercing darts and all sunk insensible on
the ground. When all resistance has ceased, the birds took to flight
and disappeared. The brothers had witnessed the conflict from their
place of confinement, and with much labour had succeeded in releasing
themselves from their bonds, when they went to the battle ground,
and commenced pulling the quills from the apparently lifeless bodies;
but no sooner had they done this, than all instantly returned to
consciousness" (Kane, Wanderings of an Artist, pp. 252-253).
75. Origin of the Bear (p. 325): This story was told by Swimmer,
from whom were also obtained the hunting songs, and was frequently
referred to by other informants. The Ani'-Tsâ'gûhi are said to have
been an actual clan in ancient times. For parallels, see number 76,
"The Bear Man."
Had not taken human food--The Indian is a thorough believer in the
doctrine that "man is what he eats." Says Adair (History of the
American Indians, p. 133): "They believe that nature is possessed of
such a property as to transfuse into men and animals the qualities,
either of the food they use or of those objects that are presented
to their senses. He who feeds on venison is, according to their
physical system, swifter and more sagacious than the man who lives
on the flesh of the clumsy bear or helpless dunghill fowls, the
slow-footed tame cattle, or the heavy wallowing swine. This is the
reason that several of their old men recommend and say that formerly
their greatest chieftains observed a constant rule in their diet,
and seldom ate of any animal of a gross quality or heavy motion of
body, fancying it conveyed a dullness through the whole system and
disabled them from exerting themselves with proper vigour in their
martial, civil, and religious duties." A continuous adherence to the
diet commonly used by a bear will finally give to the eater the bear
nature, if not also the bear form and appearance. A certain term of
"white man's food" will give the Indian the white man's nature, so
that neither the remedies nor the spells of the Indian doctor will
have any effect upon him (see the author's "Sacred Formulas of the
Cherokees," in Seventh Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, 1891).
Shall live always--For explanation of the doctrine of animal
reincarnation, see number 15, "The Four-footed Tribes."
The songs--These are fair specimens of the hunting songs found in
every tribe, and intended to call up the animals or to win the favor
of the lords of the game (see also deer songs in notes to number 3,
"Kana'ti and Selu"). As usual, the word forms are slightly changed to
suit the requirements of the tune. The second song was first published
by the author in the paper on sacred formulas, noted above. Tsistu'yi,
Kuwâ'hi, Uya'hye, and Gâte'gwâ (-hi) are four mountains, under
each of which the bears have a townhouse in which they hold a dance
before retiring to their dens for their winter sleep. At Tsistu'yi,
"Rabbit place," known to us as Gregory bald, in the Great Smoky range,
dwells the Great Rabbit, the chief of the rabbit tribe. At Kuwâ'hi,
"Mulberry place," farther northeast along the same range, resides the
White Bear, the chief of the bear tribe, and near by is the enchanted
lake of Atagâ'hi, to which wounded bears go to bathe and be cured
(see number 15, "The Four-footed Tribes," and number 69, "Atagâ'hi,
the Enchanted Lake"). Uyâhye is also a peak of the Great Smokies, while
Gâtegwâ'hi, "Great swamp or thicket (?)," is southeast of Franklin,
North Carolina, and is perhaps identical with Fodderstack mountain
(see also the glossary).
76. The Bear Man (p. 327): This story was obtained first from
John Ax, and has numerous parallels in other tribes, as well as in
European and oriental folklore. The classic legend of Romulus and
Remus and the stories of "wolf boys" in India will at once suggest
themselves. Swimmer makes the trial of the hunter's weapons by the
bears a part of his story of the origin of disease and medicine
(number 4), but says that it may have happened on this occasion (see
also number 15, "The Four-footed Tribes," and notes to number 75,
"Origin of the Bear").
In a strikingly similar Creek myth of the Tuggle collection, "Origin
of the Bear Clan," a little girl lost in the woods is adopted by a
she-bear, with whom she lives for four years, when the bear is killed
by the hunter and the girl returns to her people to become the mother
of the Bear clan.
The Iroquois have several stories of children adopted by bears. In one,
"The Man and His Stepson," a boy thus cared for is afterward found by
a hunter, who tames him and teaches him to speak, until in time he
almost forgets that he had lived like a bear. He marries a daughter
of the hunter and becomes a hunter himself, but always refrains from
molesting the bears, until at last, angered by the taunts of his
mother-in-law, he shoots one, but is himself killed by an accident
while on his return home (Smith, Myths of the Iroquois, in Second
Annual Report Bureau of Ethnology). In line with this is the story of
a hunter who had pursued a bear into its den. "When some distance in
he could no longer see the bear, but he saw a fire and around it sat
several men. The oldest of the three men looked up and asked, 'Why did
you try to shoot one of my men. We sent him out to entice you to us'"
(Curtin, Seneca MS in Bureau of American Ethnology archives).
In a Pawnee myth, "The Bear Man," a boy whose father had put him
under the protection of the bears grows up with certain bear traits
and frequently prays and sacrifices to these animals. On a war party
against the Sioux he is killed and cut to pieces, when two bears
find and recognize the body, gather up and arrange the pieces and
restore him to life, after which they take him to their den, where
they care for him and teach him their secret knowledge until he is
strong enough to go home (Grinnell, Pawnee Hero Stories, pp. 121-128).
In a Jicarilla myth, "Origin and Destruction of the Bear," a boy
playing about in animal fashion runs into a cave in the hillside. "When
he came out his feet and hands had been transformed into bear's
paws." Four times this is repeated, the change each time mounting
higher, until he finally emerges as a terrible bear monster that
devours human beings (Russell, Myths of the Jicarilla, in Journal of
American Folk-Lore, October, 1898).
Read the thoughts--Thought reading is a very common feature of Indian
myths. Certain medicine ceremonies are believed to confer the power
upon those who fulfil the ordeal conditions.
Food was getting scarce--Several references in the myths indicate that,
through failure of the accustomed wild crops, famine seasons were as
common among the animal tribes as among the Indians (see number 33,
"The Migration of the Animals").