77.The Great Leech of Tlanusi′yĭ(p.329): This legend was heard first from Swimmer and Chief Smith, the latter of whom was born near Murphy; it was confirmed by Wafford (west) and others, being one of the best known myths in the tribe and embodied in the Cherokee name for Murphy. It is apparently founded upon a peculiar appearance, as of something alive or moving, at the bottom of a deep hole in Valley river, just below the old Unicoi turnpike ford, at Murphy, in Cherokee county, North Carolina. It is said that a tinsmith of the town once made a tin bomb which he filled with powder and sank in the stream at this spot with the intention of blowing up the strange object to see what it might be, but the contrivance failed to explode. The hole is caused by a sudden drop or split in the rock bed of the stream, extending across the river. Wafford, who once lived on Nottely river, adds the incident of the two women and says that the Leech had wings and could fly. He asserts also that he found rich lead ore in the hole, but that the swift current prevented working it. About two miles above the mouth of Nottely river a bend of the stream brings it within about the same distance of the Hiwassee at Murphy.This nearest point of approach on Nottely is also known to the Cherokee as Tlanusi′yĭ, “leech place,” and from certain phenomena common to both streams it is a general belief among Indians and whites that they are connected here by a subterranean water way. The legend and the popular belief are thus noted in 1848 by Lanman, who incorrectly makes the leech a turtle:“The little village of Murphy, whence I date this letter, lies at the junction of the Owassa and Valley rivers, and in point of location is one of the prettiest places in the world. Its Indian name was Klausuna, or the Large Turtle. It was so called, says a Cherokee legend, on account of its being the sunning place of an immense turtle which lived in its vicinity in ancient times. The turtle was particularly famous for its repelling power, having been known not to be at all injured by a stroke of lightning. Nothing on earth had power to annihilate the creature; but, on account of the many attempts made to take its life, when it was known to be a harmless and inoffensive creature, it became disgusted with this world, and burrowed its way into the middle of the earth, where it now lives in peace.“In connection with this legend, I may here mention what must be considered a remarkable fact in geology. Running directly across the village of Murphy is a belt of marble, composed of the black, grey, pure white and flesh-colored varieties, which belt also crosses the Owassa river. Just above this marble causeway the Owassa, for a space of perhaps two hundred feet, is said to be over one hundred feet deep, and at one point, in fact, a bottom has never been found. All this is simple truth, but I have heard the opinion expressed that there is a subterranean communication between this immense hole in Owassa and the river Notely, which is some two miles distant. The testimony adduced in proof of this theory is, that a certain log was once marked on the Notely, which log was subsequently found floating in the pool of the Deep Hole in the Owassa” (Letters, pp. 63–64).78.The Nûñnĕ′hĭ and other spirit folk(p.330): The belief in fairies and kindred spirits, frequently appearing as diminutive beings in human form, is so universal among all races as to render citation of parallels unnecessary. Every Indian tribe has its own spirits of the woods, the cliffs, and the waters, usually benevolent and kindly when not disturbed, but often mischievous, and in rare cases malicious and revengeful. These invisible spirit people are regarded as a sort of supernatural human beings, entirely distinct from ghosts and from the animal and plant spirits, as well as from the godlike beings who rule the sun, the rain, and the thunder. Most of the Nûñnĕ′hĭ stories here given were told by Wafford, who believed them all firmly in spite of his white man’s blood and education. The others, excepting that of the offended spirits (Wahnenauhi MS) and the Fire-carrier (Wafford), were heard from various persons upon the reservation. For other Nûñnĕ′hĭ references see the stories of Tsuwe′năhĭ, Kăna′sta, Yahula, etc.Nûñnĕ′hĭ—This word (gûñnĕ′hĭin a dialectic form andnayĕ′hĭin the singular) may be rendered “dwellers anywhere” or “those who live anywhere,” but is understood to mean “those who live forever,” i. e., Immortals. It is spelledNanehiby Buttrick andNuhnayiein the Wahnenauhi manuscript. The singular form,Nayĕ′hĭ, occurs also as a personal name, equivalent toEdâ′hĭ, “One who goes about.”Some invisible townhouse—The ancient Creek town of Okmulgee, where now is the city of Macon, in Georgia, was destroyed by the Carolina people about the time of the Yamassee war. Sixty years later Adair says of the Creeks: “They strenuously aver that when the necessity forces them to encamp there, they always hear at the dawn of the morning the usual noise of Indians singing their joyful religious notes and dancing, as if going down to the river to purify themselves, and then returning to the old townhouse; with a great deal more to the same effect. Whenever I have been there, however, all hath been silent.... But they say this was ‘because I am an obdurate infidel that way’” (Hist. Am. Indians, p. 36).Nottely town—Properly Na′dûʻlĭ, was on Nottely river, a short distance aboveRaper creek in Cherokee county, North Carolina. The old townhouse was upon a large mound on the west side of the river and about five miles below the Georgia line. The town was practically deserted before the removal in 1838 (seeglossary).Hemptown—Properly Gatûñlti′yĭ, “Hemp place,” existed until the Removal, on Hemptown creek, a branch of Toccoa river, a few miles north of the present Morganton, in Fannin county, Georgia.Noted circular depression—This may have been a circular earthwork of about thirty feet diameter, described as existing in 1890 a short distance east of Soquee post-office near the head of Soquee creek, about ten miles northwest of Clarkesville, Habersham county, Georgia. There are other circular structures of stone on elevated positions within a few miles of Clarkesville (see author’s manuscript notes on Cherokee archeology, in Bureau of American Ethnology archives). The same story about throwing logs and stones into one of these sacred places, only to have them thrown out again by invisible hands, is told by Zeigler and Grosscup, in connection with the Jutaculla old fields (see note undernumber 81, “Tsulʻkălû′”).Bewildered—“Crazy persons were supposed to be possessed with the devil or afflicted with the Nanehi” (Buttrick, Antiquities, p. 14). According to Hagar’s informant: “The little people cause men to lose their minds and run away and wander in the forests. They wear very long hair, down to their heels” (MS Stellar Legends of the Cherokee). In Creek belief, according to the Tuggle manuscript, “Fairies or little people live in hollow trees and on rocky cliffs. They often decoy people from their homes and lose them in the woods. When a man’s mind becomes bewildered—not crazy—this is caused by the little people.”Loaves seemed to shrink—The deceptive and unsatisfactory character of all fairy belongings when the spell is lifted is well known to the European peasantry.Tsăwa′sĭ and Tsăga′sĭ—These sprites are frequently named in the hunting prayers and other sacred formulas.Scratching—This is a preliminary rite of the ballplay and other ceremonies, as well as the doctor’s method of hypodermic injection. As performed in connection with the ballplay it is a painful operation, being inflicted upon the naked skin with a seven-toothed comb of turkey bone, the scratches being drawn in parallel lines upon the breast, back, arms and legs, until the sufferer is bleeding from head to foot. In medical practice, in order that the external application may take hold more effectually, the scratching is done with a rattlesnake’s tooth, a brier, a flint, or a piece of glass. See author’s Cherokee Ball Play, in American Anthropologist, April, 1890, and Sacred Formulas of the Cherokees, in Seventh Annual Report Bureau of Ethnology, 1891. The practice seems to have been general among the southern tribes, and was sometimes used as a punishment for certain delinquents. According to Adair the doctor bled patients by scratching them with the teeth of garfish after the skin had been first well softened by the application of warm water, while any unauthorized person who dared to intrude upon the sacred square during ceremonial performances “would be dry-scratched with snakes’ teeth, fixed in the middle of a split reed or piece of wood, without the privilege of warm water to supple the stiffened skin” (Hist. Am. Indians, pp. 46, 120).The Fire-carrier—This is probably the gaseous phenomenon known as the will-of-the-wisp, which has been a thing of mystery and fear to others beside Indians.79.The removed townhouses(p.335): The first of these stories was told by John Ax. The second was obtained from Salâ′lĭ, “Squirrel,” mentioned elsewhere as a self-taught mechanic of the East Cherokee. Wafford (west) had also heard it, but confused it with that of Tsalʻkălû′ (number 81).Excepting Gustĭ′, the localities are all in western North Carolina. The large mound of Sĕʻtsĭ is on the south side of Valley river, about three miles below Valleytown, in Cherokee county. Anisgaya′yĭ town is not definitely located by the story teller, but was probably in the same neighborhood. Tsudayeʻlûñ′yĭ, literally “where it is isolated,” or “isolated place,” is a solitary high peak near Cheowa Maximum, afew miles northeast of Robbinsville, in Graham county, on the summit of which there is said to be a large rock somewhat resembling in appearance a circular townhouse with a part wanting from one side. Du′stiyaʻlûñ′yĭ, “Where it was shot,” i. e., “Where it was struck by lightning,” is the territory on Hiwassee river, about the mouth of Shooting creek, above Hayesville, in Clay county (see alsoglossary).No one must shout—The same injunction occurs in the legend of Tsulʻkălû′ (number 81). The necessity for strict silence while under the conduct of fairy guides is constantly emphasized in European folklore.Townhouse in the water below—Breton legend tells of a submerged city which rises out of the sea at long intervals, when it can be seen by those who possess the proper talisman, and we know that in Ireland“On Lough Neagh’s banks as the fisherman strays,When the clear cold eve’s declining,He sees the round towers of other daysIn the wave beneath him shining.”80.The spirit defenders of Nĭkwăsĭ′(p.336): This story was obtained from Swimmer. Nĭkwăsĭ′ or Nĭkwʼsĭ′, one of the most ancient settlements of the Cherokee, was on the west bank of Little Tennessee river, where is now the town of Franklin, in Macon county, North Carolina. The mound upon which the townhouse stood, in a field adjoining the river, is probably the largest in western Carolina and has never been explored. The Cherokee believe that it is the abode of the Nûñnĕ′hĭ or Immortals (seenumber 78) and that a perpetual fire burns within it. The name, which can not be translated, appears as Nucassee in old documents. The British agent held a council here with the Cherokee as early as 1730. Although twice destroyed, the town was rebuilt and continued to be occupied probably until the land was sold in 1819.Bring the news home—It was a frequent custom in Indian warfare to spare a captive taken in battle in order that he might carry back to his people the news of the defeat. After the disastrous defeat of the French under D’Artaguette by the Chickasaw in upper Mississippi in 1736, D’Artaguette, Lieutenant Vincennes, Father Senac, and fifteen others were burned at the stake by the victors, but “one of the soldiers was spared to carry the news of the triumph of the Chickasaws and the death of these unhappy men to the mortified Bienville” (Pickett, History of Alabama, p. 298, ed. 1896).81.Tsulʻkălû′, the slant-eyed giant(p.337): The story of Tsulʻkălû′ is one of the finest and best known of the Cherokee legends. It is mentioned as early as 1823 by Haywood, who spells the name Tuli-cula, and the memory is preserved in the local nomenclature of western Carolina. Hagar also alludes briefly to it in his manuscript Stellar Legends of the Cherokee. The name signifies literally “he has them slanting,” being understood to refer to his eyes, although the word eye (aktă′, pluraldiktă′) is not a part of it. In the plural form it is also the name of a traditional race of giants in the far west (seenumber 106, “The Giants from the West”). Tsulʻkălû′ lives in Tsunegûñ′yĭ and is the great lord of the game, and as such is frequently invoked in the hunting formulas. The story was obtained from Swimmer and John Ax, the Swimmer version being the one here followed. For parallels to the incident of the child born from blood see notes tonumber 3, “Kana′tĭ and Selu.”In the John Ax version it is the girl’s father and mother, instead of her mother and brother, who try to bring her back. They are told they must fast seven days to succeed. They fast four days before starting, and then set out and travel two days, when they come to the mouth of the cave and hear the sound of the drum and the dance within. They are able to look over the edge of the rock and see their daughter among the dancers, but can not enter until the seventh day is arrived. Unluckily the man is very hungry by this time, and after watching nearly all night he insists that it is so near daylight of the seventh morning that he may safely take a smallbite. His wife begs him to wait until the sun appears, but hunger overcomes him and he takes a bite of food from his pouch. Instantly the cave and the dancers disappear, and the man and his wife find themselves alone on the mountain. John Ax was a very old man at the time of the recital, with memory rapidly failing, and it is evident that his version is only fragmentary.Haywood notes the story on the authority of Charles Hicks, an educated halfbreed (Nat. and Aborig. Hist. Tenn., p. 280): “They have a fabulous tradition respecting the mounds, which proves that they are beyond the events of their history. The mounds, they say, were caused by the quaking of the earth and great noise with it, a ceremony used for the adoption of their people into the family of Tuli-cula, who was an invisible person and had taken a wife of one of their town’s people. And at the time when his first son was born the quaking of the earth and noise had commenced, but had ceased at the alarm whoop, which had been raised by two imprudent young men of the town, in consequence of which the mounds had been raised by the quaking noise. Whereupon the father took the child and mother and removed to near Brasstown, and had made the tracks in the rocks which are to be seen there.”From Buttrick we get the following version of the tradition, evidently told for the missionary’s special benefit: “God directed the Indians to ascend a certain mountain—that is, the warriors—and he would there send them assistance. They started and had ascended far up the mountain, when one of the warriors began to talk about women. His companion immediately reproved him, but instantly a voice like thunder issued from the side of the mountain and God spoke and told them to return, as he could not assist them on account of that sin. They put the man to death, yet the Lord never returned to them afterwards” (Antiquities, p. 14). On the next page he tells it in a somewhat different form: “It is said that before coming to this continent, while in their own country, they were in great distress from their enemies, and God told them to march to the top of a certain mountain and He would come down and afford them relief. They ascended far up the mountain and thought they saw something coming down from above, which they supposed was for their aid. But just then one of the warriors,” etc.Zeigler and Grosscup give another version, which, although dressed up for advertising purposes, makes a fairly good story:“But there is another legend of the Balsams more significant than any of these. It is the Paradise Gained of Cherokee mythology, and bears some distant resemblance to the Christian doctrine of mediation. The Indians believed that they were originally mortal in spirit as well as body, but above the blue vault of heaven there was, inhabited by a celestial race, a forest into which the highest mountains lifted their dark summits. * * *“The mediator, by whom eternal life was secured for the Indian mountaineers, was a maiden of their own tribe. Allured by the haunting sound and diamond sparkle of a mountain stream, she wandered far up into a solitary glen, where the azalea, the kalmia, and the rhododendron brilliantly embellished the deep, shaded slopes, and filled the air with their delicate perfume. The crystal stream wound its crooked way between moss-covered rocks over which tall ferns bowed their graceful stems. Enchanted by the scene, she seated herself upon the soft moss, and, overcome by fatigue, was soon asleep. The dream picture of a fairyland was presently broken by the soft touch of a strange hand. The spirit of her dream occupied a place at her side, and, wooing, won her for his bride.“Her supposed abduction caused great excitement among her people, who made diligent search for her recovery in their own villages. Being unsuccessful, they made war upon the neighboring tribes in the hope of finding the place of her concealment. Grieved because of so much bloodshed and sorrow, she besought the great chief of the eternal hunting grounds to make retribution. She was accordinglyappointed to call a council of her people at the forks of the Wayeh (Pigeon) river. She appeared unto the chiefs in a dream, and charged them to meet the spirits of the hunting ground with fear and reverence.“At the hour appointed the head men of the Cherokees assembled. The high Balsam peaks were shaken by thunder and aglare with lightning. The cloud, as black as midnight, settled over the valley, then lifted, leaving upon a large rock a cluster of strange men, armed and painted as for war. An enraged brother of the abducted maiden swung his tomahawk and raised the war whoop, but a swift thunderbolt dispatched him before the echo had died in the hills. The chiefs, terror-stricken, fled to their towns.“The bride, grieved by the death of her brother and the failure of the council, prepared to abandon her new home and return to her kindred in the valleys. To reconcile her the promise was granted that all brave warriors and their faithful women should have an eternal home in the happy hunting ground above, after death. The great chief of the forest beyond the clouds became the guardian spirit of the Cherokees. All deaths, either from wounds in battle or disease, were attributed to his desire to make additions to the celestial hunting ground, or, on the other hand, to his wrath, which might cause their unfortunate spirits to be turned over to the disposition of the evil genius of the mountain tops.”—Heart of the Alleghanies, pp. 22–24.Kănu′ga—An ancient Cherokee town on Pigeon river, in the present Haywood county, North Carolina. It was deserted before the beginning of the historic period, but may have been located about the junction of the two forks of Pigeon river, a few miles east of Waynesville, where there are still a number of mounds and ancient cemeteries extending for some miles down the stream. Being a frontier town, it was probably abandoned early on account of its exposed position. The name, signifying “scratcher,” is applied to a comb, used for scratching the ballplayers, and is connected withkănugû′ʻlă, ornugû′ʻlă, a blackberry bush or brier. There are other mounds on Richland creek, in the neighborhood of Waynesville.Tsulʻkălû′ Tsunegûñ′yĭ—Abbreviated Tsunegûñ′yĭ; the mountain in which the giant is supposed to have his residence, is Tennessee bald, in North Carolina, where the Haywood, Jackson, and Transylvania county lines come together, on the ridge separating the waters of Pigeon river from those flowing into Tennessee creek and Cany fork of the Tuckasegee, southeastward from Waynesville and Webster. The name seems to mean, “at the white place,” fromune′ga, “white,” and may refer to a bald spot of perhaps a hundred acres on the top, locally known among the whites as Jutaculla old fields, from a tradition, said to be derived from the Indians, that it was a clearing made by “Jutaculla” (i. e., Tsulʻkălû′) for a farm. Some distance farther west, on the north side of Cany fork and about ten miles above Webster, in Jackson county, is a rock known as Jutaculla rock, covered with various rude carvings, which, according to the same tradition, are scratches made by the giant in jumping from his farm on the mountain to the creek below. Zeigler and Grosscup refer to the mountain under the name of “Old Field mountain” and mention a tradition among the pioneers that it was regarded by the Indians as the special abode of the Indian Satan!“On the top of the mountain there is a prairie-like tract, almost level, reached by steep slopes covered with thickets of balsam and rhododendron, which seem to garrison the reputed sacred domain. It was understood among the Indians to be forbidden territory, but a party one day permitted their curiosity to tempt them. They forced a way through the entangled thickets, and with merriment entered the open ground. Aroused from sleep and enraged by their audacious intrusion, the devil, taking the form of an immense snake, assaulted the party and swallowed fifty of them before the thicket could be gained. Among the first whites who settled among the Indians, and traded with them, was a party of hunters who used this superstitionto escape punishment for their reprehensible conduct. They reported that they were in league with the great spirit of evil, and to prove that they were, frequented this ‘old field.’ They described his bed, under a large overhanging rock, as a model of neatness. They had frequently thrown into it stones and brushwood during the day, while the master was out, but the place was invariably as clean the next morning ‘as if it had been brushed with a bunch of feathers’” (Heart of the Alleghanies, p. 22).The footprints can still be seen—Shining rock or Cold mountain, between the Forks of Pigeon river, in Haywood county, North Carolina, is known to the Cherokee as Datsu′nălâsgûñ′yĭ, “where their tracks are this way,” on account of a rock at its base, toward Sonoma and three miles south of the trail, upon which are impressions said to be the footprints made by the giant and his children on their way to Tsunegûñ′yĭ. Within the mountain is also the legendary abode of invisible spirits. Haywood confounds this with Track Rock gap, near Blairsville, Georgia, where are other noted petroglyphs (seenumber 125, Minor Legends of Georgia).The rapid growth of the two children is paralleled in many other tribal mythologies. The sequence of growth as indicated by the footprints reminds us of the concluding incident of the Arabian Nights, when Queen Scheherazade stands before the king to make a last request: “And the king answered her, ‘Request, thou shalt receive, O Scheherazade.’ So thereupon she called out to the nurses and the eunuchs and said to them, ‘Bring ye my children.’ Accordingly they brought them to her quickly, and they were three male children; one of them walked, and one crawled, and one was at the breast.”Must not raise the war whoop—See note undernumber 79, “The Removed Townhouses.”82.Kăna′sta, the lost settlement(p.341): This story, obtained from Swimmer, bears resemblance to those of Tsulʻkălû′, Tsuwe′năhĭ, The Removed Townhouses, and others, in which individuals, or even whole settlements, elect to go with the invisible spirit people in order to escape hardships or coming disaster.Kăna′sta—Abbreviated from Kănastûñ′yĭ, a name which can not be translated, is described as an ancient Cherokee town on the French Broad where the trail from Tennessee creek of the Tuckasegee comes in, near the present Brevard, in Transylvania county, North Carolina. No mounds are known there, and we find no notice of the town in history, but another of the same name existed on Hiwassee and was destroyed in 1776.Tsuwaʻtel′da—Abbreviated from Tsuwaʻteldûñ′yĭ, and known to the whites as Pilot knob, is a high mountain in Transylvania county, about eight miles north of Brevard. On account of the peculiar stratified appearance of the rocks, the faces of the cliffs are said frequently to present a peculiar appearance under the sun’s rays, as of shining walls with doors, windows, and shingled roofs.Datsu′nălâsgûñ′yĭ—Shining rock. See note undernumber 81, “Tsulʻkălû′.”Fast seven days—This injunction of a seven days’ fast upon those who would join the spirit people appears in several Cherokee myths, the idea being, as we learn from the priests, to spiritualize the human nature and quicken the spiritual vision by abstinence from earthly food. The doctrine is exemplified in an incident of the legend of Tsuwe′năhĭ, q. v. In a broader application, the same idea is a foundation principle of every ancient religion. In ordinary Cherokee ceremonial the fast is kept for one day—i. e., from midnight to sunset. On occasions of supreme importance it continues four or even seven days. Among the plains tribes those who voluntarily enter the Sun dance to make supplication and sacrifice for their people abstain entirely from food and drink during the four days and nights of the ceremony.The Thunders—Seenumber 3, “Kana′tĭ and Selu” and notes, andnumber 8, “The Moon and the Thunders,” with notes.83.Tsuwe′năhĭ, a legend of Pilot knob(p.343): This story, from Swimmer,is of the same order as the legends of Tsulʻkălû′, Kăna′sta, etc. The people whom the hunter met inside the enchanted mountain are evidently the same described in the last-named story (number 82), with the guests from the lost settlement.The name Tsuwe′năhĭ can not be translated, but may possibly have, a connection withuwe′năhĭ, “rich.”Kanu′ga and Tsuwaʻtel′da—See notes undernumber 81, “Tsulʻkălû′,” andnumber 82, “Kana′sta.”Parched corn—This was the standard provision of the warrior when on the march among all the tribes east of the Mississippi and probably among all the corn-growing tribes of America. It is the pinole of the Tarumari and other Mexican tribes. The Cherokee call itgăhăwĭ′sita. Hawkins thus describes it as seen with his Cherokee guides in 1796: “They are small eaters, use no salt and but little bread. They carry their parched corn meal,wissactaw, and mix a handful in a pint of water, which they drink. Although they had plenty of corn and fowls, they made no other provision than a small bag of this for the path. I have plenty of provisions and give them some at every meal. I have several times drank of the wissactaw, and am fond of it with the addition of some sugar. To make of the best quality, I am told the corn should first be boiled, then parched in hot ashes, sifted, powdered, and made into flour.”43The seat was a turtle—This incident also occurs innumber 84, “The Man whoMarriedthe Thunder’s Sister.” The species meant is the săligu′gĭ or common water turtle.Like dogs’ paws—No reason is given for this peculiarity, which is nowhere else mentioned as a characteristic of the mountain spirits.Old tobacco—Tsâl-agăyûñ′li, “ancient tobacco,” theNicotiana rustica, sacred among all the eastern tribes. Seenumber 6, “How they Brought back the Tobacco,” andnumber 126, “Plant Lore.”Thorns of honey locust—This incident occurs also innumber 63, “Ûñtsaiyĭ′, The Gambler.”84.The man who married the Thunder’s sister(p.345): This story was heard first from John Ax, and afterward with additions and variants from Swimmer and others. It is also briefly noted in Hagar’s manuscript “Stellar Legends of the Cherokee.”As explained elsewhere, the Thunder spirits are supposed to have their favorite residence under cataracts, of which Tallulah falls is probably the greatest in the Cherokee country. The connection of Thunder and Rain spirits with snakes and water animals is a matter of universal primitive belief and has already been noted. One Cherokee informant told Hagar (see above) that “Thunder is a horned snake (?), and lightning its tongue, and it lives with water and rains.” It is hardly necessary to state that the dance was, and is, among all the tribes, not only the most frequent form of social amusement, but also an important part of every great religious or other ceremonial function.Sâkwi′yĭ—Abbreviated Sâkwi′, an ancient town about on the site of the present village of Soquee on the creek of the same name near Clarkesville, in Habersham county, Georgia.Marry him—Among nearly all the tribes, with the exception of the Pueblo, the marriage ceremony was simple, consisting chiefly of the giving, by the lover, of certain presents to the parents of the intended bride, by way of compensating them for the loss of their daughter, after she herself had first signified her consent to the union. Although this has been represented as a purchase, it was really only a formal ratification of the contract, which the girl was free to accept or reject as she chose. On the other hand, should the presents be insufficient to satisfy the parents, they wererefused or returned and the marriage could not take place, however willing the girl might be. The young man usually selected a friend to act as go-between with the girl’s family, and in all tribes—as now in the West—the result seems to have been largely at the disposal of her brother, who continued to exercise some supervision and claim over her even after her marriage.Lawson’s statement concerning the eastern Carolina tribes in 1700 will hold almost equally good to-day in any part of the West: “As for the Indian marriages, I have read and heard of a great deal of form and ceremony used, which I never saw; nor yet could learn in the time I have been amongst them any otherwise than I shall here give you an account of, which is as follows:“When any young Indian has a mind for such a girl to his wife, he, or some one for him, goes to the young woman’s parents, if living; if not, to her nearest relations, where they make offers of the match betwixt the couple. The relations reply, they will consider of it; which serves for a sufficient answer, till there be a second meeting about the marriage, which is generally brought into debate before all the relations that are old people, on both sides, and sometimes the king with all his great men give their opinions therein. If it be agreed on and the young woman approve thereof—for these savages never give their children in marriage without their own consent—the man pays so much for his wife, and the handsomer she is the greater price she bears” (History of Carolina, pp. 302–303).According to Adair, who makes it a little more formal among the Gulf tribes, “When an Indian makes his first address to the young woman he intends to marry, she is obliged by ancient custom to sit by him till he hath done eating and drinking, whether she likes or dislikes him; but afterward she is at her own choice whether to stay or retire” (Hist. Am. Indians, p. 139).Would surely die—In Cherokee myth and ritual we frequently meet the idea that one who reveals supernatural secrets will die. Sometimes the idea is reversed, as when the discovery of the nefarious doings of a wizard or conjurer causes his death. The latter belief has its parallel in Europe.Smooth as a pumpkin—This is the rendering of the peculiar tautologic Cherokee expression,i′ya iya′-tăwi′skage—tăwi′skage i′ya-iyu′stĭ, literally, “pumpkin, of pumpkin smoothness—smooth like a pumpkin.” The rendering is in line with the repetition in such children’s stories as that of “The House that Jack Built,” but the translation fails to convey the amusing sound effect of the original.A large turtle—This incident occurs also innumber 83, “Tsuwe′năhĭ.”A horse—Although the reference to the horse must be considered a more modern interpolation it may easily date back two centuries, or possibly even to De Soto’s expedition in 1540. Among the plains tribes the horse quickly became so essential a part of Indian life that it now enters into their whole social and mythic system.The bracelets were snakes—The same concept appears also innumber 63, “Ûñtsaiyĭ′,” when the hero visits his father, the Thunder god.85.The haunted whirlpool(p.347): This legend was related by an East Cherokee known to the whites as Knotty Tom. For a description of the whirlpool rapids known as The Suck, see notes undernumber 63, “Ûñtsaiyĭ′, the Gambler.”86.Yahula(p.347): This fine myth was obtained in the Territory from Wafford, who had it from his uncle, William Scott, a halfbreed who settled upon Yahoola creek shortly after the close of the Revolution. Scott claimed to have heard the bells and the songs, and of the story itself Wafford said, “I’ve heard it so often and so much that I’m inclined to believe it.” It has its explanation in the beliefs connected with the Nûñnĕ′hĭ (seenumber 78and notes), in whom Wafford had firm faith.Yahula—This is a rather frequent Cherokee personal name, but seems to be of Creek origin, having reference to the song used in the “black drink” or “busk” ceremony of that tribe, and the songs which the lost trader used to sing may have been those of that ceremony. See theglossary.Tinkling of the bells—Among the southern tribes in the old days the approach of a trader’s cavalcade along the trail was always heralded by the jingling of bells hung about the necks of the horses, somewhat in the manner of our own winter sleighing parties. Among the plains tribes the children’s ponies are always equipped with collars of sleigh bells.In his description of a trader’s pack-train before the Revolution, Bartram says (Travels, p. 439): “Every horse has a bell on, which being stopped, when we start in the morning, with a twist of grass or leaves, soon shakes out, and they are never stopped again during the day. The constant ringing and clattering of the bells, smacking of the whips, whooping and too frequent cursing these miserable quadrupeds, cause an incessant uproar and confusion inexpressibly disagreeable.”87.The water cannibals(p.349): This story was obtained from Swimmer and contains several points of resemblance to other Cherokee myths. The idea of the spirit changeling is common to European fairy lore.Tĭkwăli′tsĭ—This town, called by the whites Tuckalechee, was on Tuckasegee river, at the present Bryson City, in Swain county, North Carolina, where traces of the mound can still be seen on the south side of the river.Afraid of the witches—Seenumber 120, “The Raven Mocker,” and notes.88.First contact with whites(p.350): The story of the jug of whisky left near a spring was heard first from Swimmer; the ulûñsû′tĭ story from Wafford; the locomotive story from David Blythe. Each was afterward confirmed from other sources.The story of the book and the bow, quoted from the Cherokee Advocate of October 26, 1844, was not heard on the reservation, but is mentioned by other authorities. According to an old Cherokee quoted by Buttrick, “God gave the red man a book and a paper and told him to write, but he merely made marks on the paper, and as he could not read or write, the Lord gave him a bow and arrows, and gave the book to the white man.” Boudinot, in “A Star in the West,”44quoted by the same author, says: “They have it handed down from their ancestors, that the book which the white people have was once theirs; that while they had it they prospered exceedingly; but that the white people bought it of them and learned many things from it, while the Indians lost credit, offended the Great Spirit, and suffered exceedingly from the neighboring nations; that the Great Spirit took pity on them and directed them to this country,” etc. It is simply another version of the common tale of decadent nations, “We were once as great as you.”89.The Iroquois wars(p.351):The Iroquois league—The Iroquois league consisted originally of a confederacy of five kindred tribes, the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca, in what is now the state of New York; to these were added the cognate Tuscarora after their expulsion from Carolina about 1715. The name Iroquois, by which they were known to the French, is supposed to be a derivative from some Indian term. To the English they were known as the Five, afterward the Six Nations. They called themselves by a name commonly spelt Hodenosaunee, and interpreted “People of the Long House.” Of this symbolic long house the Mohawk guarded the eastern door, while the Seneca protected the western. Their remarkable governmental and clan system is still well preserved, each tribe, except the Mohawk and Oneida, having eight clans, arranged in two groups or phratries. The Mohawk and Oneida are said to have now but three clans apiece, probably because of their losses by withdrawals to the French missions. The Seneca clans, which are nearly the same for the other tribes, are the Wolf, Bear, Turtle, Beaver, Deer, Snipe, Heron, and Hawk. The confederacy is supposed to have been formed about the middle of the sixteenth century, and by 1680 the Iroquois had conquered and destroyed or incorporated all the surrounding tribes, and had asserted a paramountclaim over the whole territory from the Cherokee border to Hudson bay and from southern New England to the Mississippi. According to a careful estimate in 1677 the Five Nations then numbered 2,150 warriors, or about 10,750 persons. The Tuscarora in Carolina were estimated a few years later at 1,200 warriors, or 5,000 persons, but this is probably an exaggeration. The league afterward lost heavily by wars with the French, and still more by withdrawals of Christianized Indians to the French Catholic mission colonies at Caughnawaga, Saint Regis, and elsewhere, the Mohawk being the chief sufferers. The Revolution brought about another separation, when about two-fifths of those remaining, including nearly all of the Mohawk and Cayuga, removed in a body to Canada. A mixed band of Seneca and Cayuga, known as the “Seneca of Sandusky,” had previously settled in Ohio, whence they removed in 1831 to Indian Territory. Between 1820 and 1826 the greater portion of the Oneida removed from New York to lands in Wisconsin purchased from the Menomini. In spite, however, of wars and removals the Iroquois have held their own with a tenacity and a virility which mark their whole history, and both in this country and in Canada they are fairly prosperous and are increasing in population, being apparently more numerous to-day than at any former period. Those in New York and Pennsylvania, except the Saint Regis, and on the Grand River reservation in Canada, constituting together about one-half of the whole number, still keep up the forms and ceremonies of the ancient league.According to a special bulletin of the census of 1890 the total number of Indians then belonging to the tribes originally constituting the Six Nations was 15,833, of whom 8,483 were living in Canada and 7,350 in the United States, excluding from the latter count 37 resident members of other tribes. Those in the United States were on six reservations in the State of New York, one in Pennsylvania, one in Wisconsin, and one in the Indian Territory, and were classed as follows:
77.The Great Leech of Tlanusi′yĭ(p.329): This legend was heard first from Swimmer and Chief Smith, the latter of whom was born near Murphy; it was confirmed by Wafford (west) and others, being one of the best known myths in the tribe and embodied in the Cherokee name for Murphy. It is apparently founded upon a peculiar appearance, as of something alive or moving, at the bottom of a deep hole in Valley river, just below the old Unicoi turnpike ford, at Murphy, in Cherokee county, North Carolina. It is said that a tinsmith of the town once made a tin bomb which he filled with powder and sank in the stream at this spot with the intention of blowing up the strange object to see what it might be, but the contrivance failed to explode. The hole is caused by a sudden drop or split in the rock bed of the stream, extending across the river. Wafford, who once lived on Nottely river, adds the incident of the two women and says that the Leech had wings and could fly. He asserts also that he found rich lead ore in the hole, but that the swift current prevented working it. About two miles above the mouth of Nottely river a bend of the stream brings it within about the same distance of the Hiwassee at Murphy.This nearest point of approach on Nottely is also known to the Cherokee as Tlanusi′yĭ, “leech place,” and from certain phenomena common to both streams it is a general belief among Indians and whites that they are connected here by a subterranean water way. The legend and the popular belief are thus noted in 1848 by Lanman, who incorrectly makes the leech a turtle:“The little village of Murphy, whence I date this letter, lies at the junction of the Owassa and Valley rivers, and in point of location is one of the prettiest places in the world. Its Indian name was Klausuna, or the Large Turtle. It was so called, says a Cherokee legend, on account of its being the sunning place of an immense turtle which lived in its vicinity in ancient times. The turtle was particularly famous for its repelling power, having been known not to be at all injured by a stroke of lightning. Nothing on earth had power to annihilate the creature; but, on account of the many attempts made to take its life, when it was known to be a harmless and inoffensive creature, it became disgusted with this world, and burrowed its way into the middle of the earth, where it now lives in peace.“In connection with this legend, I may here mention what must be considered a remarkable fact in geology. Running directly across the village of Murphy is a belt of marble, composed of the black, grey, pure white and flesh-colored varieties, which belt also crosses the Owassa river. Just above this marble causeway the Owassa, for a space of perhaps two hundred feet, is said to be over one hundred feet deep, and at one point, in fact, a bottom has never been found. All this is simple truth, but I have heard the opinion expressed that there is a subterranean communication between this immense hole in Owassa and the river Notely, which is some two miles distant. The testimony adduced in proof of this theory is, that a certain log was once marked on the Notely, which log was subsequently found floating in the pool of the Deep Hole in the Owassa” (Letters, pp. 63–64).78.The Nûñnĕ′hĭ and other spirit folk(p.330): The belief in fairies and kindred spirits, frequently appearing as diminutive beings in human form, is so universal among all races as to render citation of parallels unnecessary. Every Indian tribe has its own spirits of the woods, the cliffs, and the waters, usually benevolent and kindly when not disturbed, but often mischievous, and in rare cases malicious and revengeful. These invisible spirit people are regarded as a sort of supernatural human beings, entirely distinct from ghosts and from the animal and plant spirits, as well as from the godlike beings who rule the sun, the rain, and the thunder. Most of the Nûñnĕ′hĭ stories here given were told by Wafford, who believed them all firmly in spite of his white man’s blood and education. The others, excepting that of the offended spirits (Wahnenauhi MS) and the Fire-carrier (Wafford), were heard from various persons upon the reservation. For other Nûñnĕ′hĭ references see the stories of Tsuwe′năhĭ, Kăna′sta, Yahula, etc.Nûñnĕ′hĭ—This word (gûñnĕ′hĭin a dialectic form andnayĕ′hĭin the singular) may be rendered “dwellers anywhere” or “those who live anywhere,” but is understood to mean “those who live forever,” i. e., Immortals. It is spelledNanehiby Buttrick andNuhnayiein the Wahnenauhi manuscript. The singular form,Nayĕ′hĭ, occurs also as a personal name, equivalent toEdâ′hĭ, “One who goes about.”Some invisible townhouse—The ancient Creek town of Okmulgee, where now is the city of Macon, in Georgia, was destroyed by the Carolina people about the time of the Yamassee war. Sixty years later Adair says of the Creeks: “They strenuously aver that when the necessity forces them to encamp there, they always hear at the dawn of the morning the usual noise of Indians singing their joyful religious notes and dancing, as if going down to the river to purify themselves, and then returning to the old townhouse; with a great deal more to the same effect. Whenever I have been there, however, all hath been silent.... But they say this was ‘because I am an obdurate infidel that way’” (Hist. Am. Indians, p. 36).Nottely town—Properly Na′dûʻlĭ, was on Nottely river, a short distance aboveRaper creek in Cherokee county, North Carolina. The old townhouse was upon a large mound on the west side of the river and about five miles below the Georgia line. The town was practically deserted before the removal in 1838 (seeglossary).Hemptown—Properly Gatûñlti′yĭ, “Hemp place,” existed until the Removal, on Hemptown creek, a branch of Toccoa river, a few miles north of the present Morganton, in Fannin county, Georgia.Noted circular depression—This may have been a circular earthwork of about thirty feet diameter, described as existing in 1890 a short distance east of Soquee post-office near the head of Soquee creek, about ten miles northwest of Clarkesville, Habersham county, Georgia. There are other circular structures of stone on elevated positions within a few miles of Clarkesville (see author’s manuscript notes on Cherokee archeology, in Bureau of American Ethnology archives). The same story about throwing logs and stones into one of these sacred places, only to have them thrown out again by invisible hands, is told by Zeigler and Grosscup, in connection with the Jutaculla old fields (see note undernumber 81, “Tsulʻkălû′”).Bewildered—“Crazy persons were supposed to be possessed with the devil or afflicted with the Nanehi” (Buttrick, Antiquities, p. 14). According to Hagar’s informant: “The little people cause men to lose their minds and run away and wander in the forests. They wear very long hair, down to their heels” (MS Stellar Legends of the Cherokee). In Creek belief, according to the Tuggle manuscript, “Fairies or little people live in hollow trees and on rocky cliffs. They often decoy people from their homes and lose them in the woods. When a man’s mind becomes bewildered—not crazy—this is caused by the little people.”Loaves seemed to shrink—The deceptive and unsatisfactory character of all fairy belongings when the spell is lifted is well known to the European peasantry.Tsăwa′sĭ and Tsăga′sĭ—These sprites are frequently named in the hunting prayers and other sacred formulas.Scratching—This is a preliminary rite of the ballplay and other ceremonies, as well as the doctor’s method of hypodermic injection. As performed in connection with the ballplay it is a painful operation, being inflicted upon the naked skin with a seven-toothed comb of turkey bone, the scratches being drawn in parallel lines upon the breast, back, arms and legs, until the sufferer is bleeding from head to foot. In medical practice, in order that the external application may take hold more effectually, the scratching is done with a rattlesnake’s tooth, a brier, a flint, or a piece of glass. See author’s Cherokee Ball Play, in American Anthropologist, April, 1890, and Sacred Formulas of the Cherokees, in Seventh Annual Report Bureau of Ethnology, 1891. The practice seems to have been general among the southern tribes, and was sometimes used as a punishment for certain delinquents. According to Adair the doctor bled patients by scratching them with the teeth of garfish after the skin had been first well softened by the application of warm water, while any unauthorized person who dared to intrude upon the sacred square during ceremonial performances “would be dry-scratched with snakes’ teeth, fixed in the middle of a split reed or piece of wood, without the privilege of warm water to supple the stiffened skin” (Hist. Am. Indians, pp. 46, 120).The Fire-carrier—This is probably the gaseous phenomenon known as the will-of-the-wisp, which has been a thing of mystery and fear to others beside Indians.79.The removed townhouses(p.335): The first of these stories was told by John Ax. The second was obtained from Salâ′lĭ, “Squirrel,” mentioned elsewhere as a self-taught mechanic of the East Cherokee. Wafford (west) had also heard it, but confused it with that of Tsalʻkălû′ (number 81).Excepting Gustĭ′, the localities are all in western North Carolina. The large mound of Sĕʻtsĭ is on the south side of Valley river, about three miles below Valleytown, in Cherokee county. Anisgaya′yĭ town is not definitely located by the story teller, but was probably in the same neighborhood. Tsudayeʻlûñ′yĭ, literally “where it is isolated,” or “isolated place,” is a solitary high peak near Cheowa Maximum, afew miles northeast of Robbinsville, in Graham county, on the summit of which there is said to be a large rock somewhat resembling in appearance a circular townhouse with a part wanting from one side. Du′stiyaʻlûñ′yĭ, “Where it was shot,” i. e., “Where it was struck by lightning,” is the territory on Hiwassee river, about the mouth of Shooting creek, above Hayesville, in Clay county (see alsoglossary).No one must shout—The same injunction occurs in the legend of Tsulʻkălû′ (number 81). The necessity for strict silence while under the conduct of fairy guides is constantly emphasized in European folklore.Townhouse in the water below—Breton legend tells of a submerged city which rises out of the sea at long intervals, when it can be seen by those who possess the proper talisman, and we know that in Ireland“On Lough Neagh’s banks as the fisherman strays,When the clear cold eve’s declining,He sees the round towers of other daysIn the wave beneath him shining.”80.The spirit defenders of Nĭkwăsĭ′(p.336): This story was obtained from Swimmer. Nĭkwăsĭ′ or Nĭkwʼsĭ′, one of the most ancient settlements of the Cherokee, was on the west bank of Little Tennessee river, where is now the town of Franklin, in Macon county, North Carolina. The mound upon which the townhouse stood, in a field adjoining the river, is probably the largest in western Carolina and has never been explored. The Cherokee believe that it is the abode of the Nûñnĕ′hĭ or Immortals (seenumber 78) and that a perpetual fire burns within it. The name, which can not be translated, appears as Nucassee in old documents. The British agent held a council here with the Cherokee as early as 1730. Although twice destroyed, the town was rebuilt and continued to be occupied probably until the land was sold in 1819.Bring the news home—It was a frequent custom in Indian warfare to spare a captive taken in battle in order that he might carry back to his people the news of the defeat. After the disastrous defeat of the French under D’Artaguette by the Chickasaw in upper Mississippi in 1736, D’Artaguette, Lieutenant Vincennes, Father Senac, and fifteen others were burned at the stake by the victors, but “one of the soldiers was spared to carry the news of the triumph of the Chickasaws and the death of these unhappy men to the mortified Bienville” (Pickett, History of Alabama, p. 298, ed. 1896).81.Tsulʻkălû′, the slant-eyed giant(p.337): The story of Tsulʻkălû′ is one of the finest and best known of the Cherokee legends. It is mentioned as early as 1823 by Haywood, who spells the name Tuli-cula, and the memory is preserved in the local nomenclature of western Carolina. Hagar also alludes briefly to it in his manuscript Stellar Legends of the Cherokee. The name signifies literally “he has them slanting,” being understood to refer to his eyes, although the word eye (aktă′, pluraldiktă′) is not a part of it. In the plural form it is also the name of a traditional race of giants in the far west (seenumber 106, “The Giants from the West”). Tsulʻkălû′ lives in Tsunegûñ′yĭ and is the great lord of the game, and as such is frequently invoked in the hunting formulas. The story was obtained from Swimmer and John Ax, the Swimmer version being the one here followed. For parallels to the incident of the child born from blood see notes tonumber 3, “Kana′tĭ and Selu.”In the John Ax version it is the girl’s father and mother, instead of her mother and brother, who try to bring her back. They are told they must fast seven days to succeed. They fast four days before starting, and then set out and travel two days, when they come to the mouth of the cave and hear the sound of the drum and the dance within. They are able to look over the edge of the rock and see their daughter among the dancers, but can not enter until the seventh day is arrived. Unluckily the man is very hungry by this time, and after watching nearly all night he insists that it is so near daylight of the seventh morning that he may safely take a smallbite. His wife begs him to wait until the sun appears, but hunger overcomes him and he takes a bite of food from his pouch. Instantly the cave and the dancers disappear, and the man and his wife find themselves alone on the mountain. John Ax was a very old man at the time of the recital, with memory rapidly failing, and it is evident that his version is only fragmentary.Haywood notes the story on the authority of Charles Hicks, an educated halfbreed (Nat. and Aborig. Hist. Tenn., p. 280): “They have a fabulous tradition respecting the mounds, which proves that they are beyond the events of their history. The mounds, they say, were caused by the quaking of the earth and great noise with it, a ceremony used for the adoption of their people into the family of Tuli-cula, who was an invisible person and had taken a wife of one of their town’s people. And at the time when his first son was born the quaking of the earth and noise had commenced, but had ceased at the alarm whoop, which had been raised by two imprudent young men of the town, in consequence of which the mounds had been raised by the quaking noise. Whereupon the father took the child and mother and removed to near Brasstown, and had made the tracks in the rocks which are to be seen there.”From Buttrick we get the following version of the tradition, evidently told for the missionary’s special benefit: “God directed the Indians to ascend a certain mountain—that is, the warriors—and he would there send them assistance. They started and had ascended far up the mountain, when one of the warriors began to talk about women. His companion immediately reproved him, but instantly a voice like thunder issued from the side of the mountain and God spoke and told them to return, as he could not assist them on account of that sin. They put the man to death, yet the Lord never returned to them afterwards” (Antiquities, p. 14). On the next page he tells it in a somewhat different form: “It is said that before coming to this continent, while in their own country, they were in great distress from their enemies, and God told them to march to the top of a certain mountain and He would come down and afford them relief. They ascended far up the mountain and thought they saw something coming down from above, which they supposed was for their aid. But just then one of the warriors,” etc.Zeigler and Grosscup give another version, which, although dressed up for advertising purposes, makes a fairly good story:“But there is another legend of the Balsams more significant than any of these. It is the Paradise Gained of Cherokee mythology, and bears some distant resemblance to the Christian doctrine of mediation. The Indians believed that they were originally mortal in spirit as well as body, but above the blue vault of heaven there was, inhabited by a celestial race, a forest into which the highest mountains lifted their dark summits. * * *“The mediator, by whom eternal life was secured for the Indian mountaineers, was a maiden of their own tribe. Allured by the haunting sound and diamond sparkle of a mountain stream, she wandered far up into a solitary glen, where the azalea, the kalmia, and the rhododendron brilliantly embellished the deep, shaded slopes, and filled the air with their delicate perfume. The crystal stream wound its crooked way between moss-covered rocks over which tall ferns bowed their graceful stems. Enchanted by the scene, she seated herself upon the soft moss, and, overcome by fatigue, was soon asleep. The dream picture of a fairyland was presently broken by the soft touch of a strange hand. The spirit of her dream occupied a place at her side, and, wooing, won her for his bride.“Her supposed abduction caused great excitement among her people, who made diligent search for her recovery in their own villages. Being unsuccessful, they made war upon the neighboring tribes in the hope of finding the place of her concealment. Grieved because of so much bloodshed and sorrow, she besought the great chief of the eternal hunting grounds to make retribution. She was accordinglyappointed to call a council of her people at the forks of the Wayeh (Pigeon) river. She appeared unto the chiefs in a dream, and charged them to meet the spirits of the hunting ground with fear and reverence.“At the hour appointed the head men of the Cherokees assembled. The high Balsam peaks were shaken by thunder and aglare with lightning. The cloud, as black as midnight, settled over the valley, then lifted, leaving upon a large rock a cluster of strange men, armed and painted as for war. An enraged brother of the abducted maiden swung his tomahawk and raised the war whoop, but a swift thunderbolt dispatched him before the echo had died in the hills. The chiefs, terror-stricken, fled to their towns.“The bride, grieved by the death of her brother and the failure of the council, prepared to abandon her new home and return to her kindred in the valleys. To reconcile her the promise was granted that all brave warriors and their faithful women should have an eternal home in the happy hunting ground above, after death. The great chief of the forest beyond the clouds became the guardian spirit of the Cherokees. All deaths, either from wounds in battle or disease, were attributed to his desire to make additions to the celestial hunting ground, or, on the other hand, to his wrath, which might cause their unfortunate spirits to be turned over to the disposition of the evil genius of the mountain tops.”—Heart of the Alleghanies, pp. 22–24.Kănu′ga—An ancient Cherokee town on Pigeon river, in the present Haywood county, North Carolina. It was deserted before the beginning of the historic period, but may have been located about the junction of the two forks of Pigeon river, a few miles east of Waynesville, where there are still a number of mounds and ancient cemeteries extending for some miles down the stream. Being a frontier town, it was probably abandoned early on account of its exposed position. The name, signifying “scratcher,” is applied to a comb, used for scratching the ballplayers, and is connected withkănugû′ʻlă, ornugû′ʻlă, a blackberry bush or brier. There are other mounds on Richland creek, in the neighborhood of Waynesville.Tsulʻkălû′ Tsunegûñ′yĭ—Abbreviated Tsunegûñ′yĭ; the mountain in which the giant is supposed to have his residence, is Tennessee bald, in North Carolina, where the Haywood, Jackson, and Transylvania county lines come together, on the ridge separating the waters of Pigeon river from those flowing into Tennessee creek and Cany fork of the Tuckasegee, southeastward from Waynesville and Webster. The name seems to mean, “at the white place,” fromune′ga, “white,” and may refer to a bald spot of perhaps a hundred acres on the top, locally known among the whites as Jutaculla old fields, from a tradition, said to be derived from the Indians, that it was a clearing made by “Jutaculla” (i. e., Tsulʻkălû′) for a farm. Some distance farther west, on the north side of Cany fork and about ten miles above Webster, in Jackson county, is a rock known as Jutaculla rock, covered with various rude carvings, which, according to the same tradition, are scratches made by the giant in jumping from his farm on the mountain to the creek below. Zeigler and Grosscup refer to the mountain under the name of “Old Field mountain” and mention a tradition among the pioneers that it was regarded by the Indians as the special abode of the Indian Satan!“On the top of the mountain there is a prairie-like tract, almost level, reached by steep slopes covered with thickets of balsam and rhododendron, which seem to garrison the reputed sacred domain. It was understood among the Indians to be forbidden territory, but a party one day permitted their curiosity to tempt them. They forced a way through the entangled thickets, and with merriment entered the open ground. Aroused from sleep and enraged by their audacious intrusion, the devil, taking the form of an immense snake, assaulted the party and swallowed fifty of them before the thicket could be gained. Among the first whites who settled among the Indians, and traded with them, was a party of hunters who used this superstitionto escape punishment for their reprehensible conduct. They reported that they were in league with the great spirit of evil, and to prove that they were, frequented this ‘old field.’ They described his bed, under a large overhanging rock, as a model of neatness. They had frequently thrown into it stones and brushwood during the day, while the master was out, but the place was invariably as clean the next morning ‘as if it had been brushed with a bunch of feathers’” (Heart of the Alleghanies, p. 22).The footprints can still be seen—Shining rock or Cold mountain, between the Forks of Pigeon river, in Haywood county, North Carolina, is known to the Cherokee as Datsu′nălâsgûñ′yĭ, “where their tracks are this way,” on account of a rock at its base, toward Sonoma and three miles south of the trail, upon which are impressions said to be the footprints made by the giant and his children on their way to Tsunegûñ′yĭ. Within the mountain is also the legendary abode of invisible spirits. Haywood confounds this with Track Rock gap, near Blairsville, Georgia, where are other noted petroglyphs (seenumber 125, Minor Legends of Georgia).The rapid growth of the two children is paralleled in many other tribal mythologies. The sequence of growth as indicated by the footprints reminds us of the concluding incident of the Arabian Nights, when Queen Scheherazade stands before the king to make a last request: “And the king answered her, ‘Request, thou shalt receive, O Scheherazade.’ So thereupon she called out to the nurses and the eunuchs and said to them, ‘Bring ye my children.’ Accordingly they brought them to her quickly, and they were three male children; one of them walked, and one crawled, and one was at the breast.”Must not raise the war whoop—See note undernumber 79, “The Removed Townhouses.”82.Kăna′sta, the lost settlement(p.341): This story, obtained from Swimmer, bears resemblance to those of Tsulʻkălû′, Tsuwe′năhĭ, The Removed Townhouses, and others, in which individuals, or even whole settlements, elect to go with the invisible spirit people in order to escape hardships or coming disaster.Kăna′sta—Abbreviated from Kănastûñ′yĭ, a name which can not be translated, is described as an ancient Cherokee town on the French Broad where the trail from Tennessee creek of the Tuckasegee comes in, near the present Brevard, in Transylvania county, North Carolina. No mounds are known there, and we find no notice of the town in history, but another of the same name existed on Hiwassee and was destroyed in 1776.Tsuwaʻtel′da—Abbreviated from Tsuwaʻteldûñ′yĭ, and known to the whites as Pilot knob, is a high mountain in Transylvania county, about eight miles north of Brevard. On account of the peculiar stratified appearance of the rocks, the faces of the cliffs are said frequently to present a peculiar appearance under the sun’s rays, as of shining walls with doors, windows, and shingled roofs.Datsu′nălâsgûñ′yĭ—Shining rock. See note undernumber 81, “Tsulʻkălû′.”Fast seven days—This injunction of a seven days’ fast upon those who would join the spirit people appears in several Cherokee myths, the idea being, as we learn from the priests, to spiritualize the human nature and quicken the spiritual vision by abstinence from earthly food. The doctrine is exemplified in an incident of the legend of Tsuwe′năhĭ, q. v. In a broader application, the same idea is a foundation principle of every ancient religion. In ordinary Cherokee ceremonial the fast is kept for one day—i. e., from midnight to sunset. On occasions of supreme importance it continues four or even seven days. Among the plains tribes those who voluntarily enter the Sun dance to make supplication and sacrifice for their people abstain entirely from food and drink during the four days and nights of the ceremony.The Thunders—Seenumber 3, “Kana′tĭ and Selu” and notes, andnumber 8, “The Moon and the Thunders,” with notes.83.Tsuwe′năhĭ, a legend of Pilot knob(p.343): This story, from Swimmer,is of the same order as the legends of Tsulʻkălû′, Kăna′sta, etc. The people whom the hunter met inside the enchanted mountain are evidently the same described in the last-named story (number 82), with the guests from the lost settlement.The name Tsuwe′năhĭ can not be translated, but may possibly have, a connection withuwe′năhĭ, “rich.”Kanu′ga and Tsuwaʻtel′da—See notes undernumber 81, “Tsulʻkălû′,” andnumber 82, “Kana′sta.”Parched corn—This was the standard provision of the warrior when on the march among all the tribes east of the Mississippi and probably among all the corn-growing tribes of America. It is the pinole of the Tarumari and other Mexican tribes. The Cherokee call itgăhăwĭ′sita. Hawkins thus describes it as seen with his Cherokee guides in 1796: “They are small eaters, use no salt and but little bread. They carry their parched corn meal,wissactaw, and mix a handful in a pint of water, which they drink. Although they had plenty of corn and fowls, they made no other provision than a small bag of this for the path. I have plenty of provisions and give them some at every meal. I have several times drank of the wissactaw, and am fond of it with the addition of some sugar. To make of the best quality, I am told the corn should first be boiled, then parched in hot ashes, sifted, powdered, and made into flour.”43The seat was a turtle—This incident also occurs innumber 84, “The Man whoMarriedthe Thunder’s Sister.” The species meant is the săligu′gĭ or common water turtle.Like dogs’ paws—No reason is given for this peculiarity, which is nowhere else mentioned as a characteristic of the mountain spirits.Old tobacco—Tsâl-agăyûñ′li, “ancient tobacco,” theNicotiana rustica, sacred among all the eastern tribes. Seenumber 6, “How they Brought back the Tobacco,” andnumber 126, “Plant Lore.”Thorns of honey locust—This incident occurs also innumber 63, “Ûñtsaiyĭ′, The Gambler.”84.The man who married the Thunder’s sister(p.345): This story was heard first from John Ax, and afterward with additions and variants from Swimmer and others. It is also briefly noted in Hagar’s manuscript “Stellar Legends of the Cherokee.”As explained elsewhere, the Thunder spirits are supposed to have their favorite residence under cataracts, of which Tallulah falls is probably the greatest in the Cherokee country. The connection of Thunder and Rain spirits with snakes and water animals is a matter of universal primitive belief and has already been noted. One Cherokee informant told Hagar (see above) that “Thunder is a horned snake (?), and lightning its tongue, and it lives with water and rains.” It is hardly necessary to state that the dance was, and is, among all the tribes, not only the most frequent form of social amusement, but also an important part of every great religious or other ceremonial function.Sâkwi′yĭ—Abbreviated Sâkwi′, an ancient town about on the site of the present village of Soquee on the creek of the same name near Clarkesville, in Habersham county, Georgia.Marry him—Among nearly all the tribes, with the exception of the Pueblo, the marriage ceremony was simple, consisting chiefly of the giving, by the lover, of certain presents to the parents of the intended bride, by way of compensating them for the loss of their daughter, after she herself had first signified her consent to the union. Although this has been represented as a purchase, it was really only a formal ratification of the contract, which the girl was free to accept or reject as she chose. On the other hand, should the presents be insufficient to satisfy the parents, they wererefused or returned and the marriage could not take place, however willing the girl might be. The young man usually selected a friend to act as go-between with the girl’s family, and in all tribes—as now in the West—the result seems to have been largely at the disposal of her brother, who continued to exercise some supervision and claim over her even after her marriage.Lawson’s statement concerning the eastern Carolina tribes in 1700 will hold almost equally good to-day in any part of the West: “As for the Indian marriages, I have read and heard of a great deal of form and ceremony used, which I never saw; nor yet could learn in the time I have been amongst them any otherwise than I shall here give you an account of, which is as follows:“When any young Indian has a mind for such a girl to his wife, he, or some one for him, goes to the young woman’s parents, if living; if not, to her nearest relations, where they make offers of the match betwixt the couple. The relations reply, they will consider of it; which serves for a sufficient answer, till there be a second meeting about the marriage, which is generally brought into debate before all the relations that are old people, on both sides, and sometimes the king with all his great men give their opinions therein. If it be agreed on and the young woman approve thereof—for these savages never give their children in marriage without their own consent—the man pays so much for his wife, and the handsomer she is the greater price she bears” (History of Carolina, pp. 302–303).According to Adair, who makes it a little more formal among the Gulf tribes, “When an Indian makes his first address to the young woman he intends to marry, she is obliged by ancient custom to sit by him till he hath done eating and drinking, whether she likes or dislikes him; but afterward she is at her own choice whether to stay or retire” (Hist. Am. Indians, p. 139).Would surely die—In Cherokee myth and ritual we frequently meet the idea that one who reveals supernatural secrets will die. Sometimes the idea is reversed, as when the discovery of the nefarious doings of a wizard or conjurer causes his death. The latter belief has its parallel in Europe.Smooth as a pumpkin—This is the rendering of the peculiar tautologic Cherokee expression,i′ya iya′-tăwi′skage—tăwi′skage i′ya-iyu′stĭ, literally, “pumpkin, of pumpkin smoothness—smooth like a pumpkin.” The rendering is in line with the repetition in such children’s stories as that of “The House that Jack Built,” but the translation fails to convey the amusing sound effect of the original.A large turtle—This incident occurs also innumber 83, “Tsuwe′năhĭ.”A horse—Although the reference to the horse must be considered a more modern interpolation it may easily date back two centuries, or possibly even to De Soto’s expedition in 1540. Among the plains tribes the horse quickly became so essential a part of Indian life that it now enters into their whole social and mythic system.The bracelets were snakes—The same concept appears also innumber 63, “Ûñtsaiyĭ′,” when the hero visits his father, the Thunder god.85.The haunted whirlpool(p.347): This legend was related by an East Cherokee known to the whites as Knotty Tom. For a description of the whirlpool rapids known as The Suck, see notes undernumber 63, “Ûñtsaiyĭ′, the Gambler.”86.Yahula(p.347): This fine myth was obtained in the Territory from Wafford, who had it from his uncle, William Scott, a halfbreed who settled upon Yahoola creek shortly after the close of the Revolution. Scott claimed to have heard the bells and the songs, and of the story itself Wafford said, “I’ve heard it so often and so much that I’m inclined to believe it.” It has its explanation in the beliefs connected with the Nûñnĕ′hĭ (seenumber 78and notes), in whom Wafford had firm faith.Yahula—This is a rather frequent Cherokee personal name, but seems to be of Creek origin, having reference to the song used in the “black drink” or “busk” ceremony of that tribe, and the songs which the lost trader used to sing may have been those of that ceremony. See theglossary.Tinkling of the bells—Among the southern tribes in the old days the approach of a trader’s cavalcade along the trail was always heralded by the jingling of bells hung about the necks of the horses, somewhat in the manner of our own winter sleighing parties. Among the plains tribes the children’s ponies are always equipped with collars of sleigh bells.In his description of a trader’s pack-train before the Revolution, Bartram says (Travels, p. 439): “Every horse has a bell on, which being stopped, when we start in the morning, with a twist of grass or leaves, soon shakes out, and they are never stopped again during the day. The constant ringing and clattering of the bells, smacking of the whips, whooping and too frequent cursing these miserable quadrupeds, cause an incessant uproar and confusion inexpressibly disagreeable.”87.The water cannibals(p.349): This story was obtained from Swimmer and contains several points of resemblance to other Cherokee myths. The idea of the spirit changeling is common to European fairy lore.Tĭkwăli′tsĭ—This town, called by the whites Tuckalechee, was on Tuckasegee river, at the present Bryson City, in Swain county, North Carolina, where traces of the mound can still be seen on the south side of the river.Afraid of the witches—Seenumber 120, “The Raven Mocker,” and notes.88.First contact with whites(p.350): The story of the jug of whisky left near a spring was heard first from Swimmer; the ulûñsû′tĭ story from Wafford; the locomotive story from David Blythe. Each was afterward confirmed from other sources.The story of the book and the bow, quoted from the Cherokee Advocate of October 26, 1844, was not heard on the reservation, but is mentioned by other authorities. According to an old Cherokee quoted by Buttrick, “God gave the red man a book and a paper and told him to write, but he merely made marks on the paper, and as he could not read or write, the Lord gave him a bow and arrows, and gave the book to the white man.” Boudinot, in “A Star in the West,”44quoted by the same author, says: “They have it handed down from their ancestors, that the book which the white people have was once theirs; that while they had it they prospered exceedingly; but that the white people bought it of them and learned many things from it, while the Indians lost credit, offended the Great Spirit, and suffered exceedingly from the neighboring nations; that the Great Spirit took pity on them and directed them to this country,” etc. It is simply another version of the common tale of decadent nations, “We were once as great as you.”89.The Iroquois wars(p.351):The Iroquois league—The Iroquois league consisted originally of a confederacy of five kindred tribes, the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca, in what is now the state of New York; to these were added the cognate Tuscarora after their expulsion from Carolina about 1715. The name Iroquois, by which they were known to the French, is supposed to be a derivative from some Indian term. To the English they were known as the Five, afterward the Six Nations. They called themselves by a name commonly spelt Hodenosaunee, and interpreted “People of the Long House.” Of this symbolic long house the Mohawk guarded the eastern door, while the Seneca protected the western. Their remarkable governmental and clan system is still well preserved, each tribe, except the Mohawk and Oneida, having eight clans, arranged in two groups or phratries. The Mohawk and Oneida are said to have now but three clans apiece, probably because of their losses by withdrawals to the French missions. The Seneca clans, which are nearly the same for the other tribes, are the Wolf, Bear, Turtle, Beaver, Deer, Snipe, Heron, and Hawk. The confederacy is supposed to have been formed about the middle of the sixteenth century, and by 1680 the Iroquois had conquered and destroyed or incorporated all the surrounding tribes, and had asserted a paramountclaim over the whole territory from the Cherokee border to Hudson bay and from southern New England to the Mississippi. According to a careful estimate in 1677 the Five Nations then numbered 2,150 warriors, or about 10,750 persons. The Tuscarora in Carolina were estimated a few years later at 1,200 warriors, or 5,000 persons, but this is probably an exaggeration. The league afterward lost heavily by wars with the French, and still more by withdrawals of Christianized Indians to the French Catholic mission colonies at Caughnawaga, Saint Regis, and elsewhere, the Mohawk being the chief sufferers. The Revolution brought about another separation, when about two-fifths of those remaining, including nearly all of the Mohawk and Cayuga, removed in a body to Canada. A mixed band of Seneca and Cayuga, known as the “Seneca of Sandusky,” had previously settled in Ohio, whence they removed in 1831 to Indian Territory. Between 1820 and 1826 the greater portion of the Oneida removed from New York to lands in Wisconsin purchased from the Menomini. In spite, however, of wars and removals the Iroquois have held their own with a tenacity and a virility which mark their whole history, and both in this country and in Canada they are fairly prosperous and are increasing in population, being apparently more numerous to-day than at any former period. Those in New York and Pennsylvania, except the Saint Regis, and on the Grand River reservation in Canada, constituting together about one-half of the whole number, still keep up the forms and ceremonies of the ancient league.According to a special bulletin of the census of 1890 the total number of Indians then belonging to the tribes originally constituting the Six Nations was 15,833, of whom 8,483 were living in Canada and 7,350 in the United States, excluding from the latter count 37 resident members of other tribes. Those in the United States were on six reservations in the State of New York, one in Pennsylvania, one in Wisconsin, and one in the Indian Territory, and were classed as follows:
77.The Great Leech of Tlanusi′yĭ(p.329): This legend was heard first from Swimmer and Chief Smith, the latter of whom was born near Murphy; it was confirmed by Wafford (west) and others, being one of the best known myths in the tribe and embodied in the Cherokee name for Murphy. It is apparently founded upon a peculiar appearance, as of something alive or moving, at the bottom of a deep hole in Valley river, just below the old Unicoi turnpike ford, at Murphy, in Cherokee county, North Carolina. It is said that a tinsmith of the town once made a tin bomb which he filled with powder and sank in the stream at this spot with the intention of blowing up the strange object to see what it might be, but the contrivance failed to explode. The hole is caused by a sudden drop or split in the rock bed of the stream, extending across the river. Wafford, who once lived on Nottely river, adds the incident of the two women and says that the Leech had wings and could fly. He asserts also that he found rich lead ore in the hole, but that the swift current prevented working it. About two miles above the mouth of Nottely river a bend of the stream brings it within about the same distance of the Hiwassee at Murphy.This nearest point of approach on Nottely is also known to the Cherokee as Tlanusi′yĭ, “leech place,” and from certain phenomena common to both streams it is a general belief among Indians and whites that they are connected here by a subterranean water way. The legend and the popular belief are thus noted in 1848 by Lanman, who incorrectly makes the leech a turtle:“The little village of Murphy, whence I date this letter, lies at the junction of the Owassa and Valley rivers, and in point of location is one of the prettiest places in the world. Its Indian name was Klausuna, or the Large Turtle. It was so called, says a Cherokee legend, on account of its being the sunning place of an immense turtle which lived in its vicinity in ancient times. The turtle was particularly famous for its repelling power, having been known not to be at all injured by a stroke of lightning. Nothing on earth had power to annihilate the creature; but, on account of the many attempts made to take its life, when it was known to be a harmless and inoffensive creature, it became disgusted with this world, and burrowed its way into the middle of the earth, where it now lives in peace.“In connection with this legend, I may here mention what must be considered a remarkable fact in geology. Running directly across the village of Murphy is a belt of marble, composed of the black, grey, pure white and flesh-colored varieties, which belt also crosses the Owassa river. Just above this marble causeway the Owassa, for a space of perhaps two hundred feet, is said to be over one hundred feet deep, and at one point, in fact, a bottom has never been found. All this is simple truth, but I have heard the opinion expressed that there is a subterranean communication between this immense hole in Owassa and the river Notely, which is some two miles distant. The testimony adduced in proof of this theory is, that a certain log was once marked on the Notely, which log was subsequently found floating in the pool of the Deep Hole in the Owassa” (Letters, pp. 63–64).78.The Nûñnĕ′hĭ and other spirit folk(p.330): The belief in fairies and kindred spirits, frequently appearing as diminutive beings in human form, is so universal among all races as to render citation of parallels unnecessary. Every Indian tribe has its own spirits of the woods, the cliffs, and the waters, usually benevolent and kindly when not disturbed, but often mischievous, and in rare cases malicious and revengeful. These invisible spirit people are regarded as a sort of supernatural human beings, entirely distinct from ghosts and from the animal and plant spirits, as well as from the godlike beings who rule the sun, the rain, and the thunder. Most of the Nûñnĕ′hĭ stories here given were told by Wafford, who believed them all firmly in spite of his white man’s blood and education. The others, excepting that of the offended spirits (Wahnenauhi MS) and the Fire-carrier (Wafford), were heard from various persons upon the reservation. For other Nûñnĕ′hĭ references see the stories of Tsuwe′năhĭ, Kăna′sta, Yahula, etc.Nûñnĕ′hĭ—This word (gûñnĕ′hĭin a dialectic form andnayĕ′hĭin the singular) may be rendered “dwellers anywhere” or “those who live anywhere,” but is understood to mean “those who live forever,” i. e., Immortals. It is spelledNanehiby Buttrick andNuhnayiein the Wahnenauhi manuscript. The singular form,Nayĕ′hĭ, occurs also as a personal name, equivalent toEdâ′hĭ, “One who goes about.”Some invisible townhouse—The ancient Creek town of Okmulgee, where now is the city of Macon, in Georgia, was destroyed by the Carolina people about the time of the Yamassee war. Sixty years later Adair says of the Creeks: “They strenuously aver that when the necessity forces them to encamp there, they always hear at the dawn of the morning the usual noise of Indians singing their joyful religious notes and dancing, as if going down to the river to purify themselves, and then returning to the old townhouse; with a great deal more to the same effect. Whenever I have been there, however, all hath been silent.... But they say this was ‘because I am an obdurate infidel that way’” (Hist. Am. Indians, p. 36).Nottely town—Properly Na′dûʻlĭ, was on Nottely river, a short distance aboveRaper creek in Cherokee county, North Carolina. The old townhouse was upon a large mound on the west side of the river and about five miles below the Georgia line. The town was practically deserted before the removal in 1838 (seeglossary).Hemptown—Properly Gatûñlti′yĭ, “Hemp place,” existed until the Removal, on Hemptown creek, a branch of Toccoa river, a few miles north of the present Morganton, in Fannin county, Georgia.Noted circular depression—This may have been a circular earthwork of about thirty feet diameter, described as existing in 1890 a short distance east of Soquee post-office near the head of Soquee creek, about ten miles northwest of Clarkesville, Habersham county, Georgia. There are other circular structures of stone on elevated positions within a few miles of Clarkesville (see author’s manuscript notes on Cherokee archeology, in Bureau of American Ethnology archives). The same story about throwing logs and stones into one of these sacred places, only to have them thrown out again by invisible hands, is told by Zeigler and Grosscup, in connection with the Jutaculla old fields (see note undernumber 81, “Tsulʻkălû′”).Bewildered—“Crazy persons were supposed to be possessed with the devil or afflicted with the Nanehi” (Buttrick, Antiquities, p. 14). According to Hagar’s informant: “The little people cause men to lose their minds and run away and wander in the forests. They wear very long hair, down to their heels” (MS Stellar Legends of the Cherokee). In Creek belief, according to the Tuggle manuscript, “Fairies or little people live in hollow trees and on rocky cliffs. They often decoy people from their homes and lose them in the woods. When a man’s mind becomes bewildered—not crazy—this is caused by the little people.”Loaves seemed to shrink—The deceptive and unsatisfactory character of all fairy belongings when the spell is lifted is well known to the European peasantry.Tsăwa′sĭ and Tsăga′sĭ—These sprites are frequently named in the hunting prayers and other sacred formulas.Scratching—This is a preliminary rite of the ballplay and other ceremonies, as well as the doctor’s method of hypodermic injection. As performed in connection with the ballplay it is a painful operation, being inflicted upon the naked skin with a seven-toothed comb of turkey bone, the scratches being drawn in parallel lines upon the breast, back, arms and legs, until the sufferer is bleeding from head to foot. In medical practice, in order that the external application may take hold more effectually, the scratching is done with a rattlesnake’s tooth, a brier, a flint, or a piece of glass. See author’s Cherokee Ball Play, in American Anthropologist, April, 1890, and Sacred Formulas of the Cherokees, in Seventh Annual Report Bureau of Ethnology, 1891. The practice seems to have been general among the southern tribes, and was sometimes used as a punishment for certain delinquents. According to Adair the doctor bled patients by scratching them with the teeth of garfish after the skin had been first well softened by the application of warm water, while any unauthorized person who dared to intrude upon the sacred square during ceremonial performances “would be dry-scratched with snakes’ teeth, fixed in the middle of a split reed or piece of wood, without the privilege of warm water to supple the stiffened skin” (Hist. Am. Indians, pp. 46, 120).The Fire-carrier—This is probably the gaseous phenomenon known as the will-of-the-wisp, which has been a thing of mystery and fear to others beside Indians.79.The removed townhouses(p.335): The first of these stories was told by John Ax. The second was obtained from Salâ′lĭ, “Squirrel,” mentioned elsewhere as a self-taught mechanic of the East Cherokee. Wafford (west) had also heard it, but confused it with that of Tsalʻkălû′ (number 81).Excepting Gustĭ′, the localities are all in western North Carolina. The large mound of Sĕʻtsĭ is on the south side of Valley river, about three miles below Valleytown, in Cherokee county. Anisgaya′yĭ town is not definitely located by the story teller, but was probably in the same neighborhood. Tsudayeʻlûñ′yĭ, literally “where it is isolated,” or “isolated place,” is a solitary high peak near Cheowa Maximum, afew miles northeast of Robbinsville, in Graham county, on the summit of which there is said to be a large rock somewhat resembling in appearance a circular townhouse with a part wanting from one side. Du′stiyaʻlûñ′yĭ, “Where it was shot,” i. e., “Where it was struck by lightning,” is the territory on Hiwassee river, about the mouth of Shooting creek, above Hayesville, in Clay county (see alsoglossary).No one must shout—The same injunction occurs in the legend of Tsulʻkălû′ (number 81). The necessity for strict silence while under the conduct of fairy guides is constantly emphasized in European folklore.Townhouse in the water below—Breton legend tells of a submerged city which rises out of the sea at long intervals, when it can be seen by those who possess the proper talisman, and we know that in Ireland“On Lough Neagh’s banks as the fisherman strays,When the clear cold eve’s declining,He sees the round towers of other daysIn the wave beneath him shining.”80.The spirit defenders of Nĭkwăsĭ′(p.336): This story was obtained from Swimmer. Nĭkwăsĭ′ or Nĭkwʼsĭ′, one of the most ancient settlements of the Cherokee, was on the west bank of Little Tennessee river, where is now the town of Franklin, in Macon county, North Carolina. The mound upon which the townhouse stood, in a field adjoining the river, is probably the largest in western Carolina and has never been explored. The Cherokee believe that it is the abode of the Nûñnĕ′hĭ or Immortals (seenumber 78) and that a perpetual fire burns within it. The name, which can not be translated, appears as Nucassee in old documents. The British agent held a council here with the Cherokee as early as 1730. Although twice destroyed, the town was rebuilt and continued to be occupied probably until the land was sold in 1819.Bring the news home—It was a frequent custom in Indian warfare to spare a captive taken in battle in order that he might carry back to his people the news of the defeat. After the disastrous defeat of the French under D’Artaguette by the Chickasaw in upper Mississippi in 1736, D’Artaguette, Lieutenant Vincennes, Father Senac, and fifteen others were burned at the stake by the victors, but “one of the soldiers was spared to carry the news of the triumph of the Chickasaws and the death of these unhappy men to the mortified Bienville” (Pickett, History of Alabama, p. 298, ed. 1896).81.Tsulʻkălû′, the slant-eyed giant(p.337): The story of Tsulʻkălû′ is one of the finest and best known of the Cherokee legends. It is mentioned as early as 1823 by Haywood, who spells the name Tuli-cula, and the memory is preserved in the local nomenclature of western Carolina. Hagar also alludes briefly to it in his manuscript Stellar Legends of the Cherokee. The name signifies literally “he has them slanting,” being understood to refer to his eyes, although the word eye (aktă′, pluraldiktă′) is not a part of it. In the plural form it is also the name of a traditional race of giants in the far west (seenumber 106, “The Giants from the West”). Tsulʻkălû′ lives in Tsunegûñ′yĭ and is the great lord of the game, and as such is frequently invoked in the hunting formulas. The story was obtained from Swimmer and John Ax, the Swimmer version being the one here followed. For parallels to the incident of the child born from blood see notes tonumber 3, “Kana′tĭ and Selu.”In the John Ax version it is the girl’s father and mother, instead of her mother and brother, who try to bring her back. They are told they must fast seven days to succeed. They fast four days before starting, and then set out and travel two days, when they come to the mouth of the cave and hear the sound of the drum and the dance within. They are able to look over the edge of the rock and see their daughter among the dancers, but can not enter until the seventh day is arrived. Unluckily the man is very hungry by this time, and after watching nearly all night he insists that it is so near daylight of the seventh morning that he may safely take a smallbite. His wife begs him to wait until the sun appears, but hunger overcomes him and he takes a bite of food from his pouch. Instantly the cave and the dancers disappear, and the man and his wife find themselves alone on the mountain. John Ax was a very old man at the time of the recital, with memory rapidly failing, and it is evident that his version is only fragmentary.Haywood notes the story on the authority of Charles Hicks, an educated halfbreed (Nat. and Aborig. Hist. Tenn., p. 280): “They have a fabulous tradition respecting the mounds, which proves that they are beyond the events of their history. The mounds, they say, were caused by the quaking of the earth and great noise with it, a ceremony used for the adoption of their people into the family of Tuli-cula, who was an invisible person and had taken a wife of one of their town’s people. And at the time when his first son was born the quaking of the earth and noise had commenced, but had ceased at the alarm whoop, which had been raised by two imprudent young men of the town, in consequence of which the mounds had been raised by the quaking noise. Whereupon the father took the child and mother and removed to near Brasstown, and had made the tracks in the rocks which are to be seen there.”From Buttrick we get the following version of the tradition, evidently told for the missionary’s special benefit: “God directed the Indians to ascend a certain mountain—that is, the warriors—and he would there send them assistance. They started and had ascended far up the mountain, when one of the warriors began to talk about women. His companion immediately reproved him, but instantly a voice like thunder issued from the side of the mountain and God spoke and told them to return, as he could not assist them on account of that sin. They put the man to death, yet the Lord never returned to them afterwards” (Antiquities, p. 14). On the next page he tells it in a somewhat different form: “It is said that before coming to this continent, while in their own country, they were in great distress from their enemies, and God told them to march to the top of a certain mountain and He would come down and afford them relief. They ascended far up the mountain and thought they saw something coming down from above, which they supposed was for their aid. But just then one of the warriors,” etc.Zeigler and Grosscup give another version, which, although dressed up for advertising purposes, makes a fairly good story:“But there is another legend of the Balsams more significant than any of these. It is the Paradise Gained of Cherokee mythology, and bears some distant resemblance to the Christian doctrine of mediation. The Indians believed that they were originally mortal in spirit as well as body, but above the blue vault of heaven there was, inhabited by a celestial race, a forest into which the highest mountains lifted their dark summits. * * *“The mediator, by whom eternal life was secured for the Indian mountaineers, was a maiden of their own tribe. Allured by the haunting sound and diamond sparkle of a mountain stream, she wandered far up into a solitary glen, where the azalea, the kalmia, and the rhododendron brilliantly embellished the deep, shaded slopes, and filled the air with their delicate perfume. The crystal stream wound its crooked way between moss-covered rocks over which tall ferns bowed their graceful stems. Enchanted by the scene, she seated herself upon the soft moss, and, overcome by fatigue, was soon asleep. The dream picture of a fairyland was presently broken by the soft touch of a strange hand. The spirit of her dream occupied a place at her side, and, wooing, won her for his bride.“Her supposed abduction caused great excitement among her people, who made diligent search for her recovery in their own villages. Being unsuccessful, they made war upon the neighboring tribes in the hope of finding the place of her concealment. Grieved because of so much bloodshed and sorrow, she besought the great chief of the eternal hunting grounds to make retribution. She was accordinglyappointed to call a council of her people at the forks of the Wayeh (Pigeon) river. She appeared unto the chiefs in a dream, and charged them to meet the spirits of the hunting ground with fear and reverence.“At the hour appointed the head men of the Cherokees assembled. The high Balsam peaks were shaken by thunder and aglare with lightning. The cloud, as black as midnight, settled over the valley, then lifted, leaving upon a large rock a cluster of strange men, armed and painted as for war. An enraged brother of the abducted maiden swung his tomahawk and raised the war whoop, but a swift thunderbolt dispatched him before the echo had died in the hills. The chiefs, terror-stricken, fled to their towns.“The bride, grieved by the death of her brother and the failure of the council, prepared to abandon her new home and return to her kindred in the valleys. To reconcile her the promise was granted that all brave warriors and their faithful women should have an eternal home in the happy hunting ground above, after death. The great chief of the forest beyond the clouds became the guardian spirit of the Cherokees. All deaths, either from wounds in battle or disease, were attributed to his desire to make additions to the celestial hunting ground, or, on the other hand, to his wrath, which might cause their unfortunate spirits to be turned over to the disposition of the evil genius of the mountain tops.”—Heart of the Alleghanies, pp. 22–24.Kănu′ga—An ancient Cherokee town on Pigeon river, in the present Haywood county, North Carolina. It was deserted before the beginning of the historic period, but may have been located about the junction of the two forks of Pigeon river, a few miles east of Waynesville, where there are still a number of mounds and ancient cemeteries extending for some miles down the stream. Being a frontier town, it was probably abandoned early on account of its exposed position. The name, signifying “scratcher,” is applied to a comb, used for scratching the ballplayers, and is connected withkănugû′ʻlă, ornugû′ʻlă, a blackberry bush or brier. There are other mounds on Richland creek, in the neighborhood of Waynesville.Tsulʻkălû′ Tsunegûñ′yĭ—Abbreviated Tsunegûñ′yĭ; the mountain in which the giant is supposed to have his residence, is Tennessee bald, in North Carolina, where the Haywood, Jackson, and Transylvania county lines come together, on the ridge separating the waters of Pigeon river from those flowing into Tennessee creek and Cany fork of the Tuckasegee, southeastward from Waynesville and Webster. The name seems to mean, “at the white place,” fromune′ga, “white,” and may refer to a bald spot of perhaps a hundred acres on the top, locally known among the whites as Jutaculla old fields, from a tradition, said to be derived from the Indians, that it was a clearing made by “Jutaculla” (i. e., Tsulʻkălû′) for a farm. Some distance farther west, on the north side of Cany fork and about ten miles above Webster, in Jackson county, is a rock known as Jutaculla rock, covered with various rude carvings, which, according to the same tradition, are scratches made by the giant in jumping from his farm on the mountain to the creek below. Zeigler and Grosscup refer to the mountain under the name of “Old Field mountain” and mention a tradition among the pioneers that it was regarded by the Indians as the special abode of the Indian Satan!“On the top of the mountain there is a prairie-like tract, almost level, reached by steep slopes covered with thickets of balsam and rhododendron, which seem to garrison the reputed sacred domain. It was understood among the Indians to be forbidden territory, but a party one day permitted their curiosity to tempt them. They forced a way through the entangled thickets, and with merriment entered the open ground. Aroused from sleep and enraged by their audacious intrusion, the devil, taking the form of an immense snake, assaulted the party and swallowed fifty of them before the thicket could be gained. Among the first whites who settled among the Indians, and traded with them, was a party of hunters who used this superstitionto escape punishment for their reprehensible conduct. They reported that they were in league with the great spirit of evil, and to prove that they were, frequented this ‘old field.’ They described his bed, under a large overhanging rock, as a model of neatness. They had frequently thrown into it stones and brushwood during the day, while the master was out, but the place was invariably as clean the next morning ‘as if it had been brushed with a bunch of feathers’” (Heart of the Alleghanies, p. 22).The footprints can still be seen—Shining rock or Cold mountain, between the Forks of Pigeon river, in Haywood county, North Carolina, is known to the Cherokee as Datsu′nălâsgûñ′yĭ, “where their tracks are this way,” on account of a rock at its base, toward Sonoma and three miles south of the trail, upon which are impressions said to be the footprints made by the giant and his children on their way to Tsunegûñ′yĭ. Within the mountain is also the legendary abode of invisible spirits. Haywood confounds this with Track Rock gap, near Blairsville, Georgia, where are other noted petroglyphs (seenumber 125, Minor Legends of Georgia).The rapid growth of the two children is paralleled in many other tribal mythologies. The sequence of growth as indicated by the footprints reminds us of the concluding incident of the Arabian Nights, when Queen Scheherazade stands before the king to make a last request: “And the king answered her, ‘Request, thou shalt receive, O Scheherazade.’ So thereupon she called out to the nurses and the eunuchs and said to them, ‘Bring ye my children.’ Accordingly they brought them to her quickly, and they were three male children; one of them walked, and one crawled, and one was at the breast.”Must not raise the war whoop—See note undernumber 79, “The Removed Townhouses.”82.Kăna′sta, the lost settlement(p.341): This story, obtained from Swimmer, bears resemblance to those of Tsulʻkălû′, Tsuwe′năhĭ, The Removed Townhouses, and others, in which individuals, or even whole settlements, elect to go with the invisible spirit people in order to escape hardships or coming disaster.Kăna′sta—Abbreviated from Kănastûñ′yĭ, a name which can not be translated, is described as an ancient Cherokee town on the French Broad where the trail from Tennessee creek of the Tuckasegee comes in, near the present Brevard, in Transylvania county, North Carolina. No mounds are known there, and we find no notice of the town in history, but another of the same name existed on Hiwassee and was destroyed in 1776.Tsuwaʻtel′da—Abbreviated from Tsuwaʻteldûñ′yĭ, and known to the whites as Pilot knob, is a high mountain in Transylvania county, about eight miles north of Brevard. On account of the peculiar stratified appearance of the rocks, the faces of the cliffs are said frequently to present a peculiar appearance under the sun’s rays, as of shining walls with doors, windows, and shingled roofs.Datsu′nălâsgûñ′yĭ—Shining rock. See note undernumber 81, “Tsulʻkălû′.”Fast seven days—This injunction of a seven days’ fast upon those who would join the spirit people appears in several Cherokee myths, the idea being, as we learn from the priests, to spiritualize the human nature and quicken the spiritual vision by abstinence from earthly food. The doctrine is exemplified in an incident of the legend of Tsuwe′năhĭ, q. v. In a broader application, the same idea is a foundation principle of every ancient religion. In ordinary Cherokee ceremonial the fast is kept for one day—i. e., from midnight to sunset. On occasions of supreme importance it continues four or even seven days. Among the plains tribes those who voluntarily enter the Sun dance to make supplication and sacrifice for their people abstain entirely from food and drink during the four days and nights of the ceremony.The Thunders—Seenumber 3, “Kana′tĭ and Selu” and notes, andnumber 8, “The Moon and the Thunders,” with notes.83.Tsuwe′năhĭ, a legend of Pilot knob(p.343): This story, from Swimmer,is of the same order as the legends of Tsulʻkălû′, Kăna′sta, etc. The people whom the hunter met inside the enchanted mountain are evidently the same described in the last-named story (number 82), with the guests from the lost settlement.The name Tsuwe′năhĭ can not be translated, but may possibly have, a connection withuwe′năhĭ, “rich.”Kanu′ga and Tsuwaʻtel′da—See notes undernumber 81, “Tsulʻkălû′,” andnumber 82, “Kana′sta.”Parched corn—This was the standard provision of the warrior when on the march among all the tribes east of the Mississippi and probably among all the corn-growing tribes of America. It is the pinole of the Tarumari and other Mexican tribes. The Cherokee call itgăhăwĭ′sita. Hawkins thus describes it as seen with his Cherokee guides in 1796: “They are small eaters, use no salt and but little bread. They carry their parched corn meal,wissactaw, and mix a handful in a pint of water, which they drink. Although they had plenty of corn and fowls, they made no other provision than a small bag of this for the path. I have plenty of provisions and give them some at every meal. I have several times drank of the wissactaw, and am fond of it with the addition of some sugar. To make of the best quality, I am told the corn should first be boiled, then parched in hot ashes, sifted, powdered, and made into flour.”43The seat was a turtle—This incident also occurs innumber 84, “The Man whoMarriedthe Thunder’s Sister.” The species meant is the săligu′gĭ or common water turtle.Like dogs’ paws—No reason is given for this peculiarity, which is nowhere else mentioned as a characteristic of the mountain spirits.Old tobacco—Tsâl-agăyûñ′li, “ancient tobacco,” theNicotiana rustica, sacred among all the eastern tribes. Seenumber 6, “How they Brought back the Tobacco,” andnumber 126, “Plant Lore.”Thorns of honey locust—This incident occurs also innumber 63, “Ûñtsaiyĭ′, The Gambler.”84.The man who married the Thunder’s sister(p.345): This story was heard first from John Ax, and afterward with additions and variants from Swimmer and others. It is also briefly noted in Hagar’s manuscript “Stellar Legends of the Cherokee.”As explained elsewhere, the Thunder spirits are supposed to have their favorite residence under cataracts, of which Tallulah falls is probably the greatest in the Cherokee country. The connection of Thunder and Rain spirits with snakes and water animals is a matter of universal primitive belief and has already been noted. One Cherokee informant told Hagar (see above) that “Thunder is a horned snake (?), and lightning its tongue, and it lives with water and rains.” It is hardly necessary to state that the dance was, and is, among all the tribes, not only the most frequent form of social amusement, but also an important part of every great religious or other ceremonial function.Sâkwi′yĭ—Abbreviated Sâkwi′, an ancient town about on the site of the present village of Soquee on the creek of the same name near Clarkesville, in Habersham county, Georgia.Marry him—Among nearly all the tribes, with the exception of the Pueblo, the marriage ceremony was simple, consisting chiefly of the giving, by the lover, of certain presents to the parents of the intended bride, by way of compensating them for the loss of their daughter, after she herself had first signified her consent to the union. Although this has been represented as a purchase, it was really only a formal ratification of the contract, which the girl was free to accept or reject as she chose. On the other hand, should the presents be insufficient to satisfy the parents, they wererefused or returned and the marriage could not take place, however willing the girl might be. The young man usually selected a friend to act as go-between with the girl’s family, and in all tribes—as now in the West—the result seems to have been largely at the disposal of her brother, who continued to exercise some supervision and claim over her even after her marriage.Lawson’s statement concerning the eastern Carolina tribes in 1700 will hold almost equally good to-day in any part of the West: “As for the Indian marriages, I have read and heard of a great deal of form and ceremony used, which I never saw; nor yet could learn in the time I have been amongst them any otherwise than I shall here give you an account of, which is as follows:“When any young Indian has a mind for such a girl to his wife, he, or some one for him, goes to the young woman’s parents, if living; if not, to her nearest relations, where they make offers of the match betwixt the couple. The relations reply, they will consider of it; which serves for a sufficient answer, till there be a second meeting about the marriage, which is generally brought into debate before all the relations that are old people, on both sides, and sometimes the king with all his great men give their opinions therein. If it be agreed on and the young woman approve thereof—for these savages never give their children in marriage without their own consent—the man pays so much for his wife, and the handsomer she is the greater price she bears” (History of Carolina, pp. 302–303).According to Adair, who makes it a little more formal among the Gulf tribes, “When an Indian makes his first address to the young woman he intends to marry, she is obliged by ancient custom to sit by him till he hath done eating and drinking, whether she likes or dislikes him; but afterward she is at her own choice whether to stay or retire” (Hist. Am. Indians, p. 139).Would surely die—In Cherokee myth and ritual we frequently meet the idea that one who reveals supernatural secrets will die. Sometimes the idea is reversed, as when the discovery of the nefarious doings of a wizard or conjurer causes his death. The latter belief has its parallel in Europe.Smooth as a pumpkin—This is the rendering of the peculiar tautologic Cherokee expression,i′ya iya′-tăwi′skage—tăwi′skage i′ya-iyu′stĭ, literally, “pumpkin, of pumpkin smoothness—smooth like a pumpkin.” The rendering is in line with the repetition in such children’s stories as that of “The House that Jack Built,” but the translation fails to convey the amusing sound effect of the original.A large turtle—This incident occurs also innumber 83, “Tsuwe′năhĭ.”A horse—Although the reference to the horse must be considered a more modern interpolation it may easily date back two centuries, or possibly even to De Soto’s expedition in 1540. Among the plains tribes the horse quickly became so essential a part of Indian life that it now enters into their whole social and mythic system.The bracelets were snakes—The same concept appears also innumber 63, “Ûñtsaiyĭ′,” when the hero visits his father, the Thunder god.85.The haunted whirlpool(p.347): This legend was related by an East Cherokee known to the whites as Knotty Tom. For a description of the whirlpool rapids known as The Suck, see notes undernumber 63, “Ûñtsaiyĭ′, the Gambler.”86.Yahula(p.347): This fine myth was obtained in the Territory from Wafford, who had it from his uncle, William Scott, a halfbreed who settled upon Yahoola creek shortly after the close of the Revolution. Scott claimed to have heard the bells and the songs, and of the story itself Wafford said, “I’ve heard it so often and so much that I’m inclined to believe it.” It has its explanation in the beliefs connected with the Nûñnĕ′hĭ (seenumber 78and notes), in whom Wafford had firm faith.Yahula—This is a rather frequent Cherokee personal name, but seems to be of Creek origin, having reference to the song used in the “black drink” or “busk” ceremony of that tribe, and the songs which the lost trader used to sing may have been those of that ceremony. See theglossary.Tinkling of the bells—Among the southern tribes in the old days the approach of a trader’s cavalcade along the trail was always heralded by the jingling of bells hung about the necks of the horses, somewhat in the manner of our own winter sleighing parties. Among the plains tribes the children’s ponies are always equipped with collars of sleigh bells.In his description of a trader’s pack-train before the Revolution, Bartram says (Travels, p. 439): “Every horse has a bell on, which being stopped, when we start in the morning, with a twist of grass or leaves, soon shakes out, and they are never stopped again during the day. The constant ringing and clattering of the bells, smacking of the whips, whooping and too frequent cursing these miserable quadrupeds, cause an incessant uproar and confusion inexpressibly disagreeable.”87.The water cannibals(p.349): This story was obtained from Swimmer and contains several points of resemblance to other Cherokee myths. The idea of the spirit changeling is common to European fairy lore.Tĭkwăli′tsĭ—This town, called by the whites Tuckalechee, was on Tuckasegee river, at the present Bryson City, in Swain county, North Carolina, where traces of the mound can still be seen on the south side of the river.Afraid of the witches—Seenumber 120, “The Raven Mocker,” and notes.88.First contact with whites(p.350): The story of the jug of whisky left near a spring was heard first from Swimmer; the ulûñsû′tĭ story from Wafford; the locomotive story from David Blythe. Each was afterward confirmed from other sources.The story of the book and the bow, quoted from the Cherokee Advocate of October 26, 1844, was not heard on the reservation, but is mentioned by other authorities. According to an old Cherokee quoted by Buttrick, “God gave the red man a book and a paper and told him to write, but he merely made marks on the paper, and as he could not read or write, the Lord gave him a bow and arrows, and gave the book to the white man.” Boudinot, in “A Star in the West,”44quoted by the same author, says: “They have it handed down from their ancestors, that the book which the white people have was once theirs; that while they had it they prospered exceedingly; but that the white people bought it of them and learned many things from it, while the Indians lost credit, offended the Great Spirit, and suffered exceedingly from the neighboring nations; that the Great Spirit took pity on them and directed them to this country,” etc. It is simply another version of the common tale of decadent nations, “We were once as great as you.”89.The Iroquois wars(p.351):The Iroquois league—The Iroquois league consisted originally of a confederacy of five kindred tribes, the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca, in what is now the state of New York; to these were added the cognate Tuscarora after their expulsion from Carolina about 1715. The name Iroquois, by which they were known to the French, is supposed to be a derivative from some Indian term. To the English they were known as the Five, afterward the Six Nations. They called themselves by a name commonly spelt Hodenosaunee, and interpreted “People of the Long House.” Of this symbolic long house the Mohawk guarded the eastern door, while the Seneca protected the western. Their remarkable governmental and clan system is still well preserved, each tribe, except the Mohawk and Oneida, having eight clans, arranged in two groups or phratries. The Mohawk and Oneida are said to have now but three clans apiece, probably because of their losses by withdrawals to the French missions. The Seneca clans, which are nearly the same for the other tribes, are the Wolf, Bear, Turtle, Beaver, Deer, Snipe, Heron, and Hawk. The confederacy is supposed to have been formed about the middle of the sixteenth century, and by 1680 the Iroquois had conquered and destroyed or incorporated all the surrounding tribes, and had asserted a paramountclaim over the whole territory from the Cherokee border to Hudson bay and from southern New England to the Mississippi. According to a careful estimate in 1677 the Five Nations then numbered 2,150 warriors, or about 10,750 persons. The Tuscarora in Carolina were estimated a few years later at 1,200 warriors, or 5,000 persons, but this is probably an exaggeration. The league afterward lost heavily by wars with the French, and still more by withdrawals of Christianized Indians to the French Catholic mission colonies at Caughnawaga, Saint Regis, and elsewhere, the Mohawk being the chief sufferers. The Revolution brought about another separation, when about two-fifths of those remaining, including nearly all of the Mohawk and Cayuga, removed in a body to Canada. A mixed band of Seneca and Cayuga, known as the “Seneca of Sandusky,” had previously settled in Ohio, whence they removed in 1831 to Indian Territory. Between 1820 and 1826 the greater portion of the Oneida removed from New York to lands in Wisconsin purchased from the Menomini. In spite, however, of wars and removals the Iroquois have held their own with a tenacity and a virility which mark their whole history, and both in this country and in Canada they are fairly prosperous and are increasing in population, being apparently more numerous to-day than at any former period. Those in New York and Pennsylvania, except the Saint Regis, and on the Grand River reservation in Canada, constituting together about one-half of the whole number, still keep up the forms and ceremonies of the ancient league.According to a special bulletin of the census of 1890 the total number of Indians then belonging to the tribes originally constituting the Six Nations was 15,833, of whom 8,483 were living in Canada and 7,350 in the United States, excluding from the latter count 37 resident members of other tribes. Those in the United States were on six reservations in the State of New York, one in Pennsylvania, one in Wisconsin, and one in the Indian Territory, and were classed as follows:
77.The Great Leech of Tlanusi′yĭ(p.329): This legend was heard first from Swimmer and Chief Smith, the latter of whom was born near Murphy; it was confirmed by Wafford (west) and others, being one of the best known myths in the tribe and embodied in the Cherokee name for Murphy. It is apparently founded upon a peculiar appearance, as of something alive or moving, at the bottom of a deep hole in Valley river, just below the old Unicoi turnpike ford, at Murphy, in Cherokee county, North Carolina. It is said that a tinsmith of the town once made a tin bomb which he filled with powder and sank in the stream at this spot with the intention of blowing up the strange object to see what it might be, but the contrivance failed to explode. The hole is caused by a sudden drop or split in the rock bed of the stream, extending across the river. Wafford, who once lived on Nottely river, adds the incident of the two women and says that the Leech had wings and could fly. He asserts also that he found rich lead ore in the hole, but that the swift current prevented working it. About two miles above the mouth of Nottely river a bend of the stream brings it within about the same distance of the Hiwassee at Murphy.This nearest point of approach on Nottely is also known to the Cherokee as Tlanusi′yĭ, “leech place,” and from certain phenomena common to both streams it is a general belief among Indians and whites that they are connected here by a subterranean water way. The legend and the popular belief are thus noted in 1848 by Lanman, who incorrectly makes the leech a turtle:
“The little village of Murphy, whence I date this letter, lies at the junction of the Owassa and Valley rivers, and in point of location is one of the prettiest places in the world. Its Indian name was Klausuna, or the Large Turtle. It was so called, says a Cherokee legend, on account of its being the sunning place of an immense turtle which lived in its vicinity in ancient times. The turtle was particularly famous for its repelling power, having been known not to be at all injured by a stroke of lightning. Nothing on earth had power to annihilate the creature; but, on account of the many attempts made to take its life, when it was known to be a harmless and inoffensive creature, it became disgusted with this world, and burrowed its way into the middle of the earth, where it now lives in peace.
“In connection with this legend, I may here mention what must be considered a remarkable fact in geology. Running directly across the village of Murphy is a belt of marble, composed of the black, grey, pure white and flesh-colored varieties, which belt also crosses the Owassa river. Just above this marble causeway the Owassa, for a space of perhaps two hundred feet, is said to be over one hundred feet deep, and at one point, in fact, a bottom has never been found. All this is simple truth, but I have heard the opinion expressed that there is a subterranean communication between this immense hole in Owassa and the river Notely, which is some two miles distant. The testimony adduced in proof of this theory is, that a certain log was once marked on the Notely, which log was subsequently found floating in the pool of the Deep Hole in the Owassa” (Letters, pp. 63–64).
78.The Nûñnĕ′hĭ and other spirit folk(p.330): The belief in fairies and kindred spirits, frequently appearing as diminutive beings in human form, is so universal among all races as to render citation of parallels unnecessary. Every Indian tribe has its own spirits of the woods, the cliffs, and the waters, usually benevolent and kindly when not disturbed, but often mischievous, and in rare cases malicious and revengeful. These invisible spirit people are regarded as a sort of supernatural human beings, entirely distinct from ghosts and from the animal and plant spirits, as well as from the godlike beings who rule the sun, the rain, and the thunder. Most of the Nûñnĕ′hĭ stories here given were told by Wafford, who believed them all firmly in spite of his white man’s blood and education. The others, excepting that of the offended spirits (Wahnenauhi MS) and the Fire-carrier (Wafford), were heard from various persons upon the reservation. For other Nûñnĕ′hĭ references see the stories of Tsuwe′năhĭ, Kăna′sta, Yahula, etc.
Nûñnĕ′hĭ—This word (gûñnĕ′hĭin a dialectic form andnayĕ′hĭin the singular) may be rendered “dwellers anywhere” or “those who live anywhere,” but is understood to mean “those who live forever,” i. e., Immortals. It is spelledNanehiby Buttrick andNuhnayiein the Wahnenauhi manuscript. The singular form,Nayĕ′hĭ, occurs also as a personal name, equivalent toEdâ′hĭ, “One who goes about.”
Some invisible townhouse—The ancient Creek town of Okmulgee, where now is the city of Macon, in Georgia, was destroyed by the Carolina people about the time of the Yamassee war. Sixty years later Adair says of the Creeks: “They strenuously aver that when the necessity forces them to encamp there, they always hear at the dawn of the morning the usual noise of Indians singing their joyful religious notes and dancing, as if going down to the river to purify themselves, and then returning to the old townhouse; with a great deal more to the same effect. Whenever I have been there, however, all hath been silent.... But they say this was ‘because I am an obdurate infidel that way’” (Hist. Am. Indians, p. 36).
Nottely town—Properly Na′dûʻlĭ, was on Nottely river, a short distance aboveRaper creek in Cherokee county, North Carolina. The old townhouse was upon a large mound on the west side of the river and about five miles below the Georgia line. The town was practically deserted before the removal in 1838 (seeglossary).
Hemptown—Properly Gatûñlti′yĭ, “Hemp place,” existed until the Removal, on Hemptown creek, a branch of Toccoa river, a few miles north of the present Morganton, in Fannin county, Georgia.
Noted circular depression—This may have been a circular earthwork of about thirty feet diameter, described as existing in 1890 a short distance east of Soquee post-office near the head of Soquee creek, about ten miles northwest of Clarkesville, Habersham county, Georgia. There are other circular structures of stone on elevated positions within a few miles of Clarkesville (see author’s manuscript notes on Cherokee archeology, in Bureau of American Ethnology archives). The same story about throwing logs and stones into one of these sacred places, only to have them thrown out again by invisible hands, is told by Zeigler and Grosscup, in connection with the Jutaculla old fields (see note undernumber 81, “Tsulʻkălû′”).
Bewildered—“Crazy persons were supposed to be possessed with the devil or afflicted with the Nanehi” (Buttrick, Antiquities, p. 14). According to Hagar’s informant: “The little people cause men to lose their minds and run away and wander in the forests. They wear very long hair, down to their heels” (MS Stellar Legends of the Cherokee). In Creek belief, according to the Tuggle manuscript, “Fairies or little people live in hollow trees and on rocky cliffs. They often decoy people from their homes and lose them in the woods. When a man’s mind becomes bewildered—not crazy—this is caused by the little people.”
Loaves seemed to shrink—The deceptive and unsatisfactory character of all fairy belongings when the spell is lifted is well known to the European peasantry.
Tsăwa′sĭ and Tsăga′sĭ—These sprites are frequently named in the hunting prayers and other sacred formulas.
Scratching—This is a preliminary rite of the ballplay and other ceremonies, as well as the doctor’s method of hypodermic injection. As performed in connection with the ballplay it is a painful operation, being inflicted upon the naked skin with a seven-toothed comb of turkey bone, the scratches being drawn in parallel lines upon the breast, back, arms and legs, until the sufferer is bleeding from head to foot. In medical practice, in order that the external application may take hold more effectually, the scratching is done with a rattlesnake’s tooth, a brier, a flint, or a piece of glass. See author’s Cherokee Ball Play, in American Anthropologist, April, 1890, and Sacred Formulas of the Cherokees, in Seventh Annual Report Bureau of Ethnology, 1891. The practice seems to have been general among the southern tribes, and was sometimes used as a punishment for certain delinquents. According to Adair the doctor bled patients by scratching them with the teeth of garfish after the skin had been first well softened by the application of warm water, while any unauthorized person who dared to intrude upon the sacred square during ceremonial performances “would be dry-scratched with snakes’ teeth, fixed in the middle of a split reed or piece of wood, without the privilege of warm water to supple the stiffened skin” (Hist. Am. Indians, pp. 46, 120).
The Fire-carrier—This is probably the gaseous phenomenon known as the will-of-the-wisp, which has been a thing of mystery and fear to others beside Indians.
79.The removed townhouses(p.335): The first of these stories was told by John Ax. The second was obtained from Salâ′lĭ, “Squirrel,” mentioned elsewhere as a self-taught mechanic of the East Cherokee. Wafford (west) had also heard it, but confused it with that of Tsalʻkălû′ (number 81).
Excepting Gustĭ′, the localities are all in western North Carolina. The large mound of Sĕʻtsĭ is on the south side of Valley river, about three miles below Valleytown, in Cherokee county. Anisgaya′yĭ town is not definitely located by the story teller, but was probably in the same neighborhood. Tsudayeʻlûñ′yĭ, literally “where it is isolated,” or “isolated place,” is a solitary high peak near Cheowa Maximum, afew miles northeast of Robbinsville, in Graham county, on the summit of which there is said to be a large rock somewhat resembling in appearance a circular townhouse with a part wanting from one side. Du′stiyaʻlûñ′yĭ, “Where it was shot,” i. e., “Where it was struck by lightning,” is the territory on Hiwassee river, about the mouth of Shooting creek, above Hayesville, in Clay county (see alsoglossary).
No one must shout—The same injunction occurs in the legend of Tsulʻkălû′ (number 81). The necessity for strict silence while under the conduct of fairy guides is constantly emphasized in European folklore.
Townhouse in the water below—Breton legend tells of a submerged city which rises out of the sea at long intervals, when it can be seen by those who possess the proper talisman, and we know that in Ireland
“On Lough Neagh’s banks as the fisherman strays,When the clear cold eve’s declining,He sees the round towers of other daysIn the wave beneath him shining.”
“On Lough Neagh’s banks as the fisherman strays,
When the clear cold eve’s declining,
He sees the round towers of other days
In the wave beneath him shining.”
80.The spirit defenders of Nĭkwăsĭ′(p.336): This story was obtained from Swimmer. Nĭkwăsĭ′ or Nĭkwʼsĭ′, one of the most ancient settlements of the Cherokee, was on the west bank of Little Tennessee river, where is now the town of Franklin, in Macon county, North Carolina. The mound upon which the townhouse stood, in a field adjoining the river, is probably the largest in western Carolina and has never been explored. The Cherokee believe that it is the abode of the Nûñnĕ′hĭ or Immortals (seenumber 78) and that a perpetual fire burns within it. The name, which can not be translated, appears as Nucassee in old documents. The British agent held a council here with the Cherokee as early as 1730. Although twice destroyed, the town was rebuilt and continued to be occupied probably until the land was sold in 1819.
Bring the news home—It was a frequent custom in Indian warfare to spare a captive taken in battle in order that he might carry back to his people the news of the defeat. After the disastrous defeat of the French under D’Artaguette by the Chickasaw in upper Mississippi in 1736, D’Artaguette, Lieutenant Vincennes, Father Senac, and fifteen others were burned at the stake by the victors, but “one of the soldiers was spared to carry the news of the triumph of the Chickasaws and the death of these unhappy men to the mortified Bienville” (Pickett, History of Alabama, p. 298, ed. 1896).
81.Tsulʻkălû′, the slant-eyed giant(p.337): The story of Tsulʻkălû′ is one of the finest and best known of the Cherokee legends. It is mentioned as early as 1823 by Haywood, who spells the name Tuli-cula, and the memory is preserved in the local nomenclature of western Carolina. Hagar also alludes briefly to it in his manuscript Stellar Legends of the Cherokee. The name signifies literally “he has them slanting,” being understood to refer to his eyes, although the word eye (aktă′, pluraldiktă′) is not a part of it. In the plural form it is also the name of a traditional race of giants in the far west (seenumber 106, “The Giants from the West”). Tsulʻkălû′ lives in Tsunegûñ′yĭ and is the great lord of the game, and as such is frequently invoked in the hunting formulas. The story was obtained from Swimmer and John Ax, the Swimmer version being the one here followed. For parallels to the incident of the child born from blood see notes tonumber 3, “Kana′tĭ and Selu.”
In the John Ax version it is the girl’s father and mother, instead of her mother and brother, who try to bring her back. They are told they must fast seven days to succeed. They fast four days before starting, and then set out and travel two days, when they come to the mouth of the cave and hear the sound of the drum and the dance within. They are able to look over the edge of the rock and see their daughter among the dancers, but can not enter until the seventh day is arrived. Unluckily the man is very hungry by this time, and after watching nearly all night he insists that it is so near daylight of the seventh morning that he may safely take a smallbite. His wife begs him to wait until the sun appears, but hunger overcomes him and he takes a bite of food from his pouch. Instantly the cave and the dancers disappear, and the man and his wife find themselves alone on the mountain. John Ax was a very old man at the time of the recital, with memory rapidly failing, and it is evident that his version is only fragmentary.
Haywood notes the story on the authority of Charles Hicks, an educated halfbreed (Nat. and Aborig. Hist. Tenn., p. 280): “They have a fabulous tradition respecting the mounds, which proves that they are beyond the events of their history. The mounds, they say, were caused by the quaking of the earth and great noise with it, a ceremony used for the adoption of their people into the family of Tuli-cula, who was an invisible person and had taken a wife of one of their town’s people. And at the time when his first son was born the quaking of the earth and noise had commenced, but had ceased at the alarm whoop, which had been raised by two imprudent young men of the town, in consequence of which the mounds had been raised by the quaking noise. Whereupon the father took the child and mother and removed to near Brasstown, and had made the tracks in the rocks which are to be seen there.”
From Buttrick we get the following version of the tradition, evidently told for the missionary’s special benefit: “God directed the Indians to ascend a certain mountain—that is, the warriors—and he would there send them assistance. They started and had ascended far up the mountain, when one of the warriors began to talk about women. His companion immediately reproved him, but instantly a voice like thunder issued from the side of the mountain and God spoke and told them to return, as he could not assist them on account of that sin. They put the man to death, yet the Lord never returned to them afterwards” (Antiquities, p. 14). On the next page he tells it in a somewhat different form: “It is said that before coming to this continent, while in their own country, they were in great distress from their enemies, and God told them to march to the top of a certain mountain and He would come down and afford them relief. They ascended far up the mountain and thought they saw something coming down from above, which they supposed was for their aid. But just then one of the warriors,” etc.
Zeigler and Grosscup give another version, which, although dressed up for advertising purposes, makes a fairly good story:
“But there is another legend of the Balsams more significant than any of these. It is the Paradise Gained of Cherokee mythology, and bears some distant resemblance to the Christian doctrine of mediation. The Indians believed that they were originally mortal in spirit as well as body, but above the blue vault of heaven there was, inhabited by a celestial race, a forest into which the highest mountains lifted their dark summits. * * *
“The mediator, by whom eternal life was secured for the Indian mountaineers, was a maiden of their own tribe. Allured by the haunting sound and diamond sparkle of a mountain stream, she wandered far up into a solitary glen, where the azalea, the kalmia, and the rhododendron brilliantly embellished the deep, shaded slopes, and filled the air with their delicate perfume. The crystal stream wound its crooked way between moss-covered rocks over which tall ferns bowed their graceful stems. Enchanted by the scene, she seated herself upon the soft moss, and, overcome by fatigue, was soon asleep. The dream picture of a fairyland was presently broken by the soft touch of a strange hand. The spirit of her dream occupied a place at her side, and, wooing, won her for his bride.
“Her supposed abduction caused great excitement among her people, who made diligent search for her recovery in their own villages. Being unsuccessful, they made war upon the neighboring tribes in the hope of finding the place of her concealment. Grieved because of so much bloodshed and sorrow, she besought the great chief of the eternal hunting grounds to make retribution. She was accordinglyappointed to call a council of her people at the forks of the Wayeh (Pigeon) river. She appeared unto the chiefs in a dream, and charged them to meet the spirits of the hunting ground with fear and reverence.
“At the hour appointed the head men of the Cherokees assembled. The high Balsam peaks were shaken by thunder and aglare with lightning. The cloud, as black as midnight, settled over the valley, then lifted, leaving upon a large rock a cluster of strange men, armed and painted as for war. An enraged brother of the abducted maiden swung his tomahawk and raised the war whoop, but a swift thunderbolt dispatched him before the echo had died in the hills. The chiefs, terror-stricken, fled to their towns.
“The bride, grieved by the death of her brother and the failure of the council, prepared to abandon her new home and return to her kindred in the valleys. To reconcile her the promise was granted that all brave warriors and their faithful women should have an eternal home in the happy hunting ground above, after death. The great chief of the forest beyond the clouds became the guardian spirit of the Cherokees. All deaths, either from wounds in battle or disease, were attributed to his desire to make additions to the celestial hunting ground, or, on the other hand, to his wrath, which might cause their unfortunate spirits to be turned over to the disposition of the evil genius of the mountain tops.”—Heart of the Alleghanies, pp. 22–24.
Kănu′ga—An ancient Cherokee town on Pigeon river, in the present Haywood county, North Carolina. It was deserted before the beginning of the historic period, but may have been located about the junction of the two forks of Pigeon river, a few miles east of Waynesville, where there are still a number of mounds and ancient cemeteries extending for some miles down the stream. Being a frontier town, it was probably abandoned early on account of its exposed position. The name, signifying “scratcher,” is applied to a comb, used for scratching the ballplayers, and is connected withkănugû′ʻlă, ornugû′ʻlă, a blackberry bush or brier. There are other mounds on Richland creek, in the neighborhood of Waynesville.
Tsulʻkălû′ Tsunegûñ′yĭ—Abbreviated Tsunegûñ′yĭ; the mountain in which the giant is supposed to have his residence, is Tennessee bald, in North Carolina, where the Haywood, Jackson, and Transylvania county lines come together, on the ridge separating the waters of Pigeon river from those flowing into Tennessee creek and Cany fork of the Tuckasegee, southeastward from Waynesville and Webster. The name seems to mean, “at the white place,” fromune′ga, “white,” and may refer to a bald spot of perhaps a hundred acres on the top, locally known among the whites as Jutaculla old fields, from a tradition, said to be derived from the Indians, that it was a clearing made by “Jutaculla” (i. e., Tsulʻkălû′) for a farm. Some distance farther west, on the north side of Cany fork and about ten miles above Webster, in Jackson county, is a rock known as Jutaculla rock, covered with various rude carvings, which, according to the same tradition, are scratches made by the giant in jumping from his farm on the mountain to the creek below. Zeigler and Grosscup refer to the mountain under the name of “Old Field mountain” and mention a tradition among the pioneers that it was regarded by the Indians as the special abode of the Indian Satan!
“On the top of the mountain there is a prairie-like tract, almost level, reached by steep slopes covered with thickets of balsam and rhododendron, which seem to garrison the reputed sacred domain. It was understood among the Indians to be forbidden territory, but a party one day permitted their curiosity to tempt them. They forced a way through the entangled thickets, and with merriment entered the open ground. Aroused from sleep and enraged by their audacious intrusion, the devil, taking the form of an immense snake, assaulted the party and swallowed fifty of them before the thicket could be gained. Among the first whites who settled among the Indians, and traded with them, was a party of hunters who used this superstitionto escape punishment for their reprehensible conduct. They reported that they were in league with the great spirit of evil, and to prove that they were, frequented this ‘old field.’ They described his bed, under a large overhanging rock, as a model of neatness. They had frequently thrown into it stones and brushwood during the day, while the master was out, but the place was invariably as clean the next morning ‘as if it had been brushed with a bunch of feathers’” (Heart of the Alleghanies, p. 22).
The footprints can still be seen—Shining rock or Cold mountain, between the Forks of Pigeon river, in Haywood county, North Carolina, is known to the Cherokee as Datsu′nălâsgûñ′yĭ, “where their tracks are this way,” on account of a rock at its base, toward Sonoma and three miles south of the trail, upon which are impressions said to be the footprints made by the giant and his children on their way to Tsunegûñ′yĭ. Within the mountain is also the legendary abode of invisible spirits. Haywood confounds this with Track Rock gap, near Blairsville, Georgia, where are other noted petroglyphs (seenumber 125, Minor Legends of Georgia).
The rapid growth of the two children is paralleled in many other tribal mythologies. The sequence of growth as indicated by the footprints reminds us of the concluding incident of the Arabian Nights, when Queen Scheherazade stands before the king to make a last request: “And the king answered her, ‘Request, thou shalt receive, O Scheherazade.’ So thereupon she called out to the nurses and the eunuchs and said to them, ‘Bring ye my children.’ Accordingly they brought them to her quickly, and they were three male children; one of them walked, and one crawled, and one was at the breast.”
Must not raise the war whoop—See note undernumber 79, “The Removed Townhouses.”
82.Kăna′sta, the lost settlement(p.341): This story, obtained from Swimmer, bears resemblance to those of Tsulʻkălû′, Tsuwe′năhĭ, The Removed Townhouses, and others, in which individuals, or even whole settlements, elect to go with the invisible spirit people in order to escape hardships or coming disaster.
Kăna′sta—Abbreviated from Kănastûñ′yĭ, a name which can not be translated, is described as an ancient Cherokee town on the French Broad where the trail from Tennessee creek of the Tuckasegee comes in, near the present Brevard, in Transylvania county, North Carolina. No mounds are known there, and we find no notice of the town in history, but another of the same name existed on Hiwassee and was destroyed in 1776.
Tsuwaʻtel′da—Abbreviated from Tsuwaʻteldûñ′yĭ, and known to the whites as Pilot knob, is a high mountain in Transylvania county, about eight miles north of Brevard. On account of the peculiar stratified appearance of the rocks, the faces of the cliffs are said frequently to present a peculiar appearance under the sun’s rays, as of shining walls with doors, windows, and shingled roofs.
Datsu′nălâsgûñ′yĭ—Shining rock. See note undernumber 81, “Tsulʻkălû′.”
Fast seven days—This injunction of a seven days’ fast upon those who would join the spirit people appears in several Cherokee myths, the idea being, as we learn from the priests, to spiritualize the human nature and quicken the spiritual vision by abstinence from earthly food. The doctrine is exemplified in an incident of the legend of Tsuwe′năhĭ, q. v. In a broader application, the same idea is a foundation principle of every ancient religion. In ordinary Cherokee ceremonial the fast is kept for one day—i. e., from midnight to sunset. On occasions of supreme importance it continues four or even seven days. Among the plains tribes those who voluntarily enter the Sun dance to make supplication and sacrifice for their people abstain entirely from food and drink during the four days and nights of the ceremony.
The Thunders—Seenumber 3, “Kana′tĭ and Selu” and notes, andnumber 8, “The Moon and the Thunders,” with notes.
83.Tsuwe′năhĭ, a legend of Pilot knob(p.343): This story, from Swimmer,is of the same order as the legends of Tsulʻkălû′, Kăna′sta, etc. The people whom the hunter met inside the enchanted mountain are evidently the same described in the last-named story (number 82), with the guests from the lost settlement.
The name Tsuwe′năhĭ can not be translated, but may possibly have, a connection withuwe′năhĭ, “rich.”
Kanu′ga and Tsuwaʻtel′da—See notes undernumber 81, “Tsulʻkălû′,” andnumber 82, “Kana′sta.”
Parched corn—This was the standard provision of the warrior when on the march among all the tribes east of the Mississippi and probably among all the corn-growing tribes of America. It is the pinole of the Tarumari and other Mexican tribes. The Cherokee call itgăhăwĭ′sita. Hawkins thus describes it as seen with his Cherokee guides in 1796: “They are small eaters, use no salt and but little bread. They carry their parched corn meal,wissactaw, and mix a handful in a pint of water, which they drink. Although they had plenty of corn and fowls, they made no other provision than a small bag of this for the path. I have plenty of provisions and give them some at every meal. I have several times drank of the wissactaw, and am fond of it with the addition of some sugar. To make of the best quality, I am told the corn should first be boiled, then parched in hot ashes, sifted, powdered, and made into flour.”43
The seat was a turtle—This incident also occurs innumber 84, “The Man whoMarriedthe Thunder’s Sister.” The species meant is the săligu′gĭ or common water turtle.
Like dogs’ paws—No reason is given for this peculiarity, which is nowhere else mentioned as a characteristic of the mountain spirits.
Old tobacco—Tsâl-agăyûñ′li, “ancient tobacco,” theNicotiana rustica, sacred among all the eastern tribes. Seenumber 6, “How they Brought back the Tobacco,” andnumber 126, “Plant Lore.”
Thorns of honey locust—This incident occurs also innumber 63, “Ûñtsaiyĭ′, The Gambler.”
84.The man who married the Thunder’s sister(p.345): This story was heard first from John Ax, and afterward with additions and variants from Swimmer and others. It is also briefly noted in Hagar’s manuscript “Stellar Legends of the Cherokee.”
As explained elsewhere, the Thunder spirits are supposed to have their favorite residence under cataracts, of which Tallulah falls is probably the greatest in the Cherokee country. The connection of Thunder and Rain spirits with snakes and water animals is a matter of universal primitive belief and has already been noted. One Cherokee informant told Hagar (see above) that “Thunder is a horned snake (?), and lightning its tongue, and it lives with water and rains.” It is hardly necessary to state that the dance was, and is, among all the tribes, not only the most frequent form of social amusement, but also an important part of every great religious or other ceremonial function.
Sâkwi′yĭ—Abbreviated Sâkwi′, an ancient town about on the site of the present village of Soquee on the creek of the same name near Clarkesville, in Habersham county, Georgia.
Marry him—Among nearly all the tribes, with the exception of the Pueblo, the marriage ceremony was simple, consisting chiefly of the giving, by the lover, of certain presents to the parents of the intended bride, by way of compensating them for the loss of their daughter, after she herself had first signified her consent to the union. Although this has been represented as a purchase, it was really only a formal ratification of the contract, which the girl was free to accept or reject as she chose. On the other hand, should the presents be insufficient to satisfy the parents, they wererefused or returned and the marriage could not take place, however willing the girl might be. The young man usually selected a friend to act as go-between with the girl’s family, and in all tribes—as now in the West—the result seems to have been largely at the disposal of her brother, who continued to exercise some supervision and claim over her even after her marriage.
Lawson’s statement concerning the eastern Carolina tribes in 1700 will hold almost equally good to-day in any part of the West: “As for the Indian marriages, I have read and heard of a great deal of form and ceremony used, which I never saw; nor yet could learn in the time I have been amongst them any otherwise than I shall here give you an account of, which is as follows:
“When any young Indian has a mind for such a girl to his wife, he, or some one for him, goes to the young woman’s parents, if living; if not, to her nearest relations, where they make offers of the match betwixt the couple. The relations reply, they will consider of it; which serves for a sufficient answer, till there be a second meeting about the marriage, which is generally brought into debate before all the relations that are old people, on both sides, and sometimes the king with all his great men give their opinions therein. If it be agreed on and the young woman approve thereof—for these savages never give their children in marriage without their own consent—the man pays so much for his wife, and the handsomer she is the greater price she bears” (History of Carolina, pp. 302–303).
According to Adair, who makes it a little more formal among the Gulf tribes, “When an Indian makes his first address to the young woman he intends to marry, she is obliged by ancient custom to sit by him till he hath done eating and drinking, whether she likes or dislikes him; but afterward she is at her own choice whether to stay or retire” (Hist. Am. Indians, p. 139).
Would surely die—In Cherokee myth and ritual we frequently meet the idea that one who reveals supernatural secrets will die. Sometimes the idea is reversed, as when the discovery of the nefarious doings of a wizard or conjurer causes his death. The latter belief has its parallel in Europe.
Smooth as a pumpkin—This is the rendering of the peculiar tautologic Cherokee expression,i′ya iya′-tăwi′skage—tăwi′skage i′ya-iyu′stĭ, literally, “pumpkin, of pumpkin smoothness—smooth like a pumpkin.” The rendering is in line with the repetition in such children’s stories as that of “The House that Jack Built,” but the translation fails to convey the amusing sound effect of the original.
A large turtle—This incident occurs also innumber 83, “Tsuwe′năhĭ.”
A horse—Although the reference to the horse must be considered a more modern interpolation it may easily date back two centuries, or possibly even to De Soto’s expedition in 1540. Among the plains tribes the horse quickly became so essential a part of Indian life that it now enters into their whole social and mythic system.
The bracelets were snakes—The same concept appears also innumber 63, “Ûñtsaiyĭ′,” when the hero visits his father, the Thunder god.
85.The haunted whirlpool(p.347): This legend was related by an East Cherokee known to the whites as Knotty Tom. For a description of the whirlpool rapids known as The Suck, see notes undernumber 63, “Ûñtsaiyĭ′, the Gambler.”
86.Yahula(p.347): This fine myth was obtained in the Territory from Wafford, who had it from his uncle, William Scott, a halfbreed who settled upon Yahoola creek shortly after the close of the Revolution. Scott claimed to have heard the bells and the songs, and of the story itself Wafford said, “I’ve heard it so often and so much that I’m inclined to believe it.” It has its explanation in the beliefs connected with the Nûñnĕ′hĭ (seenumber 78and notes), in whom Wafford had firm faith.
Yahula—This is a rather frequent Cherokee personal name, but seems to be of Creek origin, having reference to the song used in the “black drink” or “busk” ceremony of that tribe, and the songs which the lost trader used to sing may have been those of that ceremony. See theglossary.
Tinkling of the bells—Among the southern tribes in the old days the approach of a trader’s cavalcade along the trail was always heralded by the jingling of bells hung about the necks of the horses, somewhat in the manner of our own winter sleighing parties. Among the plains tribes the children’s ponies are always equipped with collars of sleigh bells.
In his description of a trader’s pack-train before the Revolution, Bartram says (Travels, p. 439): “Every horse has a bell on, which being stopped, when we start in the morning, with a twist of grass or leaves, soon shakes out, and they are never stopped again during the day. The constant ringing and clattering of the bells, smacking of the whips, whooping and too frequent cursing these miserable quadrupeds, cause an incessant uproar and confusion inexpressibly disagreeable.”
87.The water cannibals(p.349): This story was obtained from Swimmer and contains several points of resemblance to other Cherokee myths. The idea of the spirit changeling is common to European fairy lore.
Tĭkwăli′tsĭ—This town, called by the whites Tuckalechee, was on Tuckasegee river, at the present Bryson City, in Swain county, North Carolina, where traces of the mound can still be seen on the south side of the river.
Afraid of the witches—Seenumber 120, “The Raven Mocker,” and notes.
88.First contact with whites(p.350): The story of the jug of whisky left near a spring was heard first from Swimmer; the ulûñsû′tĭ story from Wafford; the locomotive story from David Blythe. Each was afterward confirmed from other sources.
The story of the book and the bow, quoted from the Cherokee Advocate of October 26, 1844, was not heard on the reservation, but is mentioned by other authorities. According to an old Cherokee quoted by Buttrick, “God gave the red man a book and a paper and told him to write, but he merely made marks on the paper, and as he could not read or write, the Lord gave him a bow and arrows, and gave the book to the white man.” Boudinot, in “A Star in the West,”44quoted by the same author, says: “They have it handed down from their ancestors, that the book which the white people have was once theirs; that while they had it they prospered exceedingly; but that the white people bought it of them and learned many things from it, while the Indians lost credit, offended the Great Spirit, and suffered exceedingly from the neighboring nations; that the Great Spirit took pity on them and directed them to this country,” etc. It is simply another version of the common tale of decadent nations, “We were once as great as you.”
89.The Iroquois wars(p.351):The Iroquois league—The Iroquois league consisted originally of a confederacy of five kindred tribes, the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca, in what is now the state of New York; to these were added the cognate Tuscarora after their expulsion from Carolina about 1715. The name Iroquois, by which they were known to the French, is supposed to be a derivative from some Indian term. To the English they were known as the Five, afterward the Six Nations. They called themselves by a name commonly spelt Hodenosaunee, and interpreted “People of the Long House.” Of this symbolic long house the Mohawk guarded the eastern door, while the Seneca protected the western. Their remarkable governmental and clan system is still well preserved, each tribe, except the Mohawk and Oneida, having eight clans, arranged in two groups or phratries. The Mohawk and Oneida are said to have now but three clans apiece, probably because of their losses by withdrawals to the French missions. The Seneca clans, which are nearly the same for the other tribes, are the Wolf, Bear, Turtle, Beaver, Deer, Snipe, Heron, and Hawk. The confederacy is supposed to have been formed about the middle of the sixteenth century, and by 1680 the Iroquois had conquered and destroyed or incorporated all the surrounding tribes, and had asserted a paramountclaim over the whole territory from the Cherokee border to Hudson bay and from southern New England to the Mississippi. According to a careful estimate in 1677 the Five Nations then numbered 2,150 warriors, or about 10,750 persons. The Tuscarora in Carolina were estimated a few years later at 1,200 warriors, or 5,000 persons, but this is probably an exaggeration. The league afterward lost heavily by wars with the French, and still more by withdrawals of Christianized Indians to the French Catholic mission colonies at Caughnawaga, Saint Regis, and elsewhere, the Mohawk being the chief sufferers. The Revolution brought about another separation, when about two-fifths of those remaining, including nearly all of the Mohawk and Cayuga, removed in a body to Canada. A mixed band of Seneca and Cayuga, known as the “Seneca of Sandusky,” had previously settled in Ohio, whence they removed in 1831 to Indian Territory. Between 1820 and 1826 the greater portion of the Oneida removed from New York to lands in Wisconsin purchased from the Menomini. In spite, however, of wars and removals the Iroquois have held their own with a tenacity and a virility which mark their whole history, and both in this country and in Canada they are fairly prosperous and are increasing in population, being apparently more numerous to-day than at any former period. Those in New York and Pennsylvania, except the Saint Regis, and on the Grand River reservation in Canada, constituting together about one-half of the whole number, still keep up the forms and ceremonies of the ancient league.
According to a special bulletin of the census of 1890 the total number of Indians then belonging to the tribes originally constituting the Six Nations was 15,833, of whom 8,483 were living in Canada and 7,350 in the United States, excluding from the latter count 37 resident members of other tribes. Those in the United States were on six reservations in the State of New York, one in Pennsylvania, one in Wisconsin, and one in the Indian Territory, and were classed as follows: