Qualla Town, North Carolina, May, 1848.
The plan adopted for the civilization of the Carolina Cherokees
differs materially from any others adopted in the United States.
Their amusements are not interfered with, excepting when found to
have an immoral or unhappy tendency. A goodly number of their more
ridiculous games, however, they have abandoned of their own accord,
but the manly game of _ball-playing_ is still practised after the
ancient manner, with one or two restrictions. In the first place,
they are not allowed to wager their property on the games, as of
old, unless it be some trifle in the way of a woollen belt or cotton
handkerchief, and they are prohibited from choking each other, and
breaking their heads and legs, when excited, as was their habit in
former times. Since my arrival here the Indians have had one of
their ball games, and as it was gotten up especially for my
edification, I made it a point of etiquette to be present at the
preparatory dance and the game, as well as at the concluding
ceremony, and these I will now endeavor to describe.
The preparatory or training dance took place on the night preceding
the game, and none participated in it who were not to play on the
following day. There were sixty young men present, besides the
spectators, and they met on a grassy plot formed by a bend of a
neighboring stream called Soco Creek. The dancers were stripped of
every particle of clothing but their waistbands; they made their own
music, which was composed merely of a rapid succession of whoops and
shouts; and they danced round a large blazing fire. The night in
question was very beautiful, and when this strange group was looked
upon by the light of the full moon, and the wild mountain scenery on
every side, they presented a most romantic appearance indeed. They
kept up the dance for over an hour, and, when it was concluded, all
the men immediately ran towards a deep pool in the ice-cold stream,
and without waiting for the perspiration to cool, plunged into the
water, and, having finally emerged, started for their several homes.
This dance, I am informed, had its origin in an ancient custom,
which compelled all the candidates for a game of ball to inure
themselves to every hardship for ten days before the game took
place, and during all that time they were to eat but little food,
and were to refrain from gratifying any of their sensual appetites.
On the morning of the game a large plain, lying between two hills
and directly in front of the Indian Courthouse, (a large circular
lodge, built of logs,) was divested of every stone and stick on its
surface, and at ten o’clock the spectators began to assemble. These
were composed of the old men of the nation, a large number of boys,
and a still larger number of women and children. They were all
dressed in their holiday attire, so that feathers, shawl turbans,
scarlet belts, and gaudy hunting shirts were quite abundant; and,
scattered as they were in groups of from five to fifty on the hill
sides and under the shadow of the trees, they presented a most
picturesque appearance. During all this time the players had kept
out of sight, and it was understood that the two parties were among
the bushes, at the two ends of the plain, preparing themselves for
the game. Under the direction of the presiding chief or
game-director, two poles were now erected about six hundred yards
apart, on either side of a given centre, and in this centre was
placed the ball. From this point was the ball to be given to the
players, and the party which first succeeded in throwing it outside
of the pole belonging to their opponents to the number of twelve
times were to be considered the winners.
Every thing being ready, a shrill whoop was given from one end of
the plain, and immediately answered by the opposing party, when they
all made their appearance, marching slowly to the centre, shouting
and yelling as they passed along. Each party consisted of thirty
splendidly formed young men, who were unincumbered by any clothing,
(save their common waistband,) and every individual carried in his
hand a pair of ball sticks, made with a braided bag at one end. As
the parties approached the centre, the lady-loves of the players ran
out upon the plain and gave their favorite champions a variety of
articles, such as belts and handkerchiefs, which they were willing
to wager upon the valor of their future husbands. This little
movement struck me as particularly interesting, and I was greatly
pleased with the bashfulnesss and yet complete confidence with which
the Indian maidens manifested their preferences.
When the several parties were assembled at the centre of the plain,
each man selected his particular antagonist by placing his sticks at
his rival’s feet, after which the game-director delivered a long
speech, wherein he warned them to adhere to the existing
regulations; and, throwing the ball high up in the air, made his
escape to one side of the plain, and the game commenced. As it
proceeded, the players became greatly excited, and I noticed that
the ball was never taken in hand until after it had been picked up
by the _spoony_ stick, but the expertness with which these movements
were performed was indeed surprising. At one time the whole crowd of
players would rush together in the most desperate and fearful
manner, presenting, as they struggled for the ball, the appearance
of a dozen gladiators, striving to overcome a monster serpent; and
then again, as one man would secure the ball and start for the
boundary line of his opponent, the races which ensued were very
beautiful and exciting. Wrestling conflicts also occurred quite
frequently, and it often seemed as if the players would break every
bone in their bodies as they threw each other in the air, or dragged
each other over the ground; and many of the leaps, which single
individuals performed, were really superb. The exercise was of a
character that would kill the majority of white men. The game lasted
for about two hours, and the moment it was finished the entire body
of players, while yet panting with excessive fatigue, made a rush
for the neighboring river, and in a short time appeared on the plain
in their usual garb, and the old chief who had held the stakes
awarded the prizes to the winning party. A short time afterwards the
boys stripped themselves, and went through the same routine of
playing as already described, when the ball-playing was at an end,
and the people began to disperse with a view of getting ready for
the evening dance.
I employed the intervening time by going home with one of the
chiefs, and eating a comfortable supper in his log cabin. The
habitation of this chief was made of hewn logs, and occupied a farm
of twenty acres on the mountain side, about one-fourth of which was
in a state of cultivation, and planted with corn and potatoes. He
had a tidy wife and several children, and his stock consisted of a
pony, a cow, and some ten or a dozen sheep. At nine o’clock, I was
again in the midst of a crowd of Indians, assembled at the
court-house of the town. The edifice, so called, is built of hewn
logs, very large and circular, without any floor but that of solid
earth, and without any seats but one short bench intended for the
great men of the nation. In the centre of this lodge was a large
fire, and the number of persons who figured in the several dances of
the evening, was perhaps two hundred, all fantastically dressed, and
including men, women, and boys. Each dancer made his own music, and,
with one exception, the dances were of the common Indian sort. The
exception alluded to was particularly fantastic, and called “the
Pilgrim Dance.” They came in with packs on their backs, with their
faces strangely painted, and with gourds hanging at their sides, and
the idea seemed to be to represent their hospitality towards all
strangers who visited them from distant lands. The dancing continued
until midnight, when the presiding chief addressed the multitude on
the subject of their duties as intelligent beings, and told them to
return to their several homes and resume their labors in the field
and in the shops. He concluded by remarking that he hoped I was
pleased with what I had witnessed, and trusted that nothing had
happened which would make the wise men of my country in the East
think less of the poor Indian than they did at the present time: and
he then added that, according to an ancient custom, as I was a
stranger they liked, the several chiefs had given me a name, by
which I should hereafter be remembered among the Carolina Cherokees,
and that name was _Ga-taw-hough No-que-sih_, or _The Wandering
Star_.