see textFig. 36.—Leech Lake Midē´ song.The initial character onFig. 36appears to be at the right hand upper corner, and represents the Bear Man´idō. The third figure is that of the Midē´wiwin, with four man´idōs within it, probably the guardians of the four degrees. The owner of the song was a Midē´ of the second degree, as was stated in connection with his Midē´wi-gwas or “medicine chart,” illustrated on Plate III, C.see textFig. 37.—Leech Lake Midē´ song.Fig. 37represents what appears to be a mishkiki or medicine song, as is suggested by the figures of plants and roots. It is impossible to state absolutely at which side the initial character is placed, though it would appear that the human figure at the upper left hand corner would be more in accordance with the common custom.see textFig. 38.—Leech Lake Midē´ song.Fig. 38seems to pertain to hunting, and may have been recognized as a hunter’s chart. According to the belief of several Midē´, it is lead from right to left, the human figure indicating the direction according to the way in which the heads of the crane, bear, etc., are turned. The lower left hand figure of a man has five marks upon the breast, which probably indicate mī´gis spots, to denote the power of magic influence possessed by the recorder.see textFig. 39.—Leech Lake Midē´ song.The characters onFig. 39are found to be arranged so as to read from the right hand upper corner toward the left, the next line continuing to the right and lastly again to the left, terminating with the figure of a Midē´ with the mī´gis upon his breast. This is interesting on account of the boustrophic system of delineating the figures, and also because such instances are rarely found to occur.DRESS AND ORNAMENTS.While it is customary among many tribes of Indians to use as little clothing as possible when engaged in dancing, either of a social or ceremonial nature, the Ojibwa, on the contrary, vie with one another in the attempt to appear in the most costly and gaudy dress attainable. The Ojibwa Midē´ priests, take particular pride in their appearance when attending ceremonies of the Midē´ Society, and seldom fail to impress this fact upon visitors, as some of the Dakotan tribes, who have adopted similar medicine ceremonies after the custom of their Algonkian neighbors, are frequently without any clothing other than the breechcloth and moccasins, and the armlets and other attractive ornaments. This disregard of dress appears, to the Ojibwa, as a sacrilegious digression from the ancient usages, and it frequently excites severe comment.Apart from facial ornamentation, of such design as may take the actor’s fancy, or in accordance with the degree of which the subject may be a member, the Midē´ priests wear shirts, trousers, and moccasins, the first two of which may consist of flannel or cloth and be either plain or ornamented with beads, while the latter are always of buckskin, or, what is more highly prized, moose skin, beaded or worked with colored porcupine quills.dancing gartersdancing gartersPlate XXIII. Midē´ Dancing Garters.Immediately below each knee is tied a necessary item of an Ojibwa’s dress, a garter, which consists of a band of beads varying in different specimens from 2 to 4 inches in width, and from 18 to 20 inches in length, to each end of which strands of colored wool yarn, 2 feet long, are attached so as to admit of being passed around the leg and tied in a bow-knot in front. These garters are made by the women in such patterns as they may be able to design or elaborate. OnPl.XXIIIare reproductions of parts of two patterns which are of more than ordinary interest, because of the symbolic signification of the colors and the primitive art design in one, and the substitution of colors and the introduction of modern designs in the other. The upper one consists of green, red, and white beads, the first two colors being in accord with those of one of the degree posts, while the white is symbolical of the mī´gis shell. In the lower illustration is found a substitution of color for the preceding, accounted for by the Midē´ informants, who explained that neither of the varieties of beads of the particular color desired could be obtained when wanted. The yellow beads are substituted for white, the blue for green, and the orange and pink for red. The design retains the lozenge form, though in a different arrangement, and the introduction of the blue border is adapted after patterns observed among their white neighbors. In the former is presented also what the Ojibwa term the groundwork or type of their original style of ornamentation, i.e., wavy or gently zigzag lines. Later art work consistschiefly of curved lines, and this has gradually become modified through instruction from the Catholic sisters at various early mission establishments until now, when there has been brought about a common system of working upon cloth or velvet, in patterns, consisting of vines, leaves, and flowers, often exceedingly attractive though not aboriginal in the true sense of the word.Bands of flannel or buckskin, handsomely beaded, are sometimes attached to the sides of the pantaloons, in imitation of an officer’s stripes, and around the bottom. Collars are also used, in addition to necklaces of claws, shells, or other objects.Armlets and bracelets are sometimes made of bands of beadwork, though brass wire or pieces of metal are preferred.Bags made of cloth, beautifully ornamented or entirely covered with beads, are worn, supported at the side by means of a broad band or baldric passing over the opposite shoulder. The head is decorated with disks of metal and tufts of colored horse hair or moose hair and with eagle feathers to designate the particular exploits performed by the wearer.Few emblems of personal valor or exploits are now worn, as many of the representatives of the present generation have never been actively engaged in war, so that there is generally found only among the older members the practice of wearing upon the head eagle feathers bearing indications of significant markings or cuttings. A feather which has been split from the tip toward the middle denotes that the wearer was wounded by an arrow. A red spot as large as a silver dime painted upon a feather shows the wearer to have been wounded by a bullet. The privilege of wearing a feather tipped with red flannel or horse hair dyed red is recognized only when the wearer has killed an enemy, and when a great number have been killed in war the so-called war bonnet is worn, and may consist of a number of feathers exceeding the number of persons killed, the idea to be expressed being “a great number,” rather than a specific enumeration.Although the Ojibwa admit that in former times they had many other specific ways of indicating various kinds of personal exploits, they now have little opportunity of gaining such distinction, and consequently the practice has fallen into desuetude.FUTURE OF THE SOCIETY.According to a treaty now being made between the United States Government and the Ojibwa Indians, the latter are to relinquish the several areas of land at present occupied by them and to remove to portions of the Red Lake and White Earth Reservations and take lands in severalty. By this treaty about 4,000,000 acres of land will be ceded to the Government, and the members of the various bands will become citizens of the United States, and thus their tribal tieswill be broken and their primitive customs and rites be abandoned.The chief Midē´ priests, being aware of the momentous consequences of such a change in their habits, and foreseeing the impracticability of much longer continuing the ceremonies of so-called “pagan rites,” became willing to impart them to me, in order that a complete description might be made and preserved for the future information of their descendants.There is scarcely any doubt that these ceremonies will still be secretly held at irregular intervals; but under the watchful care of the national authorities it is doubtful whether they will be performed with any degree of completeness, and it will be but a comparatively short time before the Midē´wiwin will be only a tradition.Footnotes115.Coll. Minn. Hist. Soc., 1885, vol. 5, p. 130.116.Reproduced from the ninth volume of the New York Colonial Documents, pp. 1054, 1055.117.New Voyages to North America, London, 1703, vol. 2, pp. 47, 48.118.London, 1689, p. 59, et seq.119.Information respecting the history, condition, and prospects of the Indian tribes of the United States. Philadelphia, 1851, vol. 1, p. 319.120.Ibid., p. 362.121.Op. cit., vol. 5, p. 423.122.Op. cit., pp. 65, 66.123.Op. cit., vol. 5, p, 71.114.Op. cit., p. 25.125.History of the Ojebway Indians, London [1843(?)], pp. 143,144.126.Op. cit., p. 78 et seq.127.Op. cit., p. 81.114.Vol. 1, No. 3, 1888, p. 216, Figs. 2 and 3.129.History of the Ojebway Indians, etc., London (1843?), pp. 145, 146.130.Hist. of the Ojebway Indians. London [1843?], p. 155.Linguistic NotesA number of Ojibwa words are recorded withwwhere the correct form hasb. Since w:b is not an attested dialectal variation, these may be mishearings on the part of the original transcriber. Other errors such as G:S or h:k can be attributed to misreading of handwritten text.Transcriber’s Footnotes:A.The long gap followed by “gē´” is not explained in the text. It may refer to the structure of the song.page imageB.Gi´-gi-min´-ĕ-go´-min mi-dē´-wi-wĭn mi-dē´ man´-i-dō´ ’n-gi-gĭn´-o-a-mâkThe apostrophe in’n-gi-gĭn´-o-a-mâkoccurs nowhere else in the text; it may be phonetic (elision of i?) or an error.Note on MIDI FilesDepending on your browser, the MIDI files accompanying each piece of music may play when clicked, or may need to be downloaded and played in a separate application.The “music” directory containing the MIDI samples also includes the musical notation in Lilypond (.ly) format. If you have the Lilypond application (free) installed, these files can be used to generate free-standing pdf files. These are simplified versions of the songs, omitting lyrics and dynamic marks. The meter is as printed, except that most songs marked 6/8 were changed to 3/4.Please note that these sound files are meant only to give a rough approximation of each melody. All musical selections were originally vocal, some with drum accompaniment. The three MIDI “instruments” were selected to offer the user a choice of sounds, and are not intended to be authentic.THESACRED FORMULAS OF THE CHEROKEES.BYJAMES MOONEY.CONTENTSIntroduction307How the formulas were obtained.310The A‘yûninĭ (Swimmer) manuscript310The Gatigwanastĭ (Belt) manuscript312The Gahunĭ manuscript313The Inâlĭ (Black Fox) manuscript314Other manuscripts316The Kanâhe´ta Ani-Tsa´lagĭ Etĭ or Ancient Cherokee Formulas317Character of the formulas—the Cherokee religion318Myth of the origin of disease and medicine319Theory of disease—animals, ghosts, witches322Selected list of plants used324Medical practice—theory of resemblances—fasting—tabu—seclusion—women328Illustration of the gaktûnta or tabu331Neglect of sanitary regulations332The sweat bath—bleeding—rubbing—bathing338Opposition of shamans to white physicians336Medicine dances337Description of symptoms337The ugista´‘tĭ or pay of the shaman337Ceremonies for gathering plants and preparing medicine339The Cherokee gods and their abiding places340Color symbolism342Importance attached to names343Language of the formulas343Specimen formulas344Medicine345To treat the crippler (rheumatism)—from Gahuni345Second formula for the crippler—from Gahuni349Song and prescription for snake bites—from Gahuni351When something is causing something to eat them—Gahuni353Second formula for the same disease—A‘wanita355For moving pains in the teeth (neuralgia?)—Gatigwanasti356Song and prayer for the great chill—A‘yûnini359To make children jump down (child birth)—A‘yûnini363Second formula for child birth—Takwatihi364Song and prayer for the black yellowness (biliousness)—A‘yûnini365To treat for ordeal diseases (witchcraft)—A‘yûnini366Hunting369Concerning hunting—A‘yûnini369For hunting birds—A‘yûnini371To shoot dwellers in the wilderness—A‘wanita372Bear song—A‘yûnini373For catching large fish—A‘yûnini374Love375Concerning living humanity—Gatigwanasti376For going to water—Gatigwanasti378Yûnwehi song for painting—Gatigwanasti379Song and prayer to fix the affections—A‘yûnini380To separate lovers—A‘yûnini381Song and prayer to fix the affections—Gatigwanasti382Miscellaneous384To shorten a night goer on this side—A‘yûnini384To find lost articles—Gatigwanasti386To frighten away a storm—A‘yûnini387To help warriors—A´wanita388To destroy life (ceremony with beads)—A‘yûnini391To take to water for the ball play—A‘yûnini395ILLUSTRATIONSPl.XXIV.Portrait of A‘yûnini (Swimmer)306XXV.Facsimile of A‘yûnini manuscript—Formula for Dalâni Ûnnagei310XXVI.Facsimile of Gatigwanasti manuscript—Yûnwĕhĭ formula312XXVII.Facsimile of Gahuni manuscript—Formula for Didûnlĕskĭ314BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGYSEVENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. XXIVsee captionA‘YUNINI (SWIMMER).SACRED FORMULAS OF THE CHEROKEES.By James Mooney.INTRODUCTION.The sacred formulas here given are selected from a collection of about six hundred, obtained on the Cherokee reservation in North Carolina in 1887 and 1888, and covering every subject pertaining to the daily life and thought of the Indian, including medicine, love, hunting, fishing, war, self-protection, destruction of enemies, witchcraft, the crops, the council, the ball play, etc., and, in fact, embodying almost the whole of the ancient religion of the Cherokees. The original manuscripts, now in the possession of the Bureau of Ethnology, were written by the shamans of the tribe, for their own use, in the Cherokee characters invented by Sikwâ´ya (Sequoyah) in 1821, and were obtained, with the explanations, either from the writers themselves or from their surviving relatives.Some of these manuscripts are known to be at least thirty years old, and many are probably older. The medical formulas of all kinds constitute perhaps one-half of the whole number, while the love charms come next in number, closely followed by the songs and prayers used in hunting and fishing. The great number of love charms will doubtless be a surprise to those who have been educated in the old theory that the Indian is insensible to the attractions of woman. The comparatively small number of war formulas is explained by the fact that the last war in which the Cherokees, as a tribe, were engaged on their own account, closed with the Revolutionary period, so that these things were well nigh forgotten before the invention of the alphabet, a generation later. The Cherokees who engaged in the Creek war and the late American civil war fought in the interests of the whites, and their leaders were subordinated to white officers, hence there was not the same opportunity for the exercise of shamanistic rites that there would have been had Indians alone been concerned. The prayers for hunting, fishing, and the ball play being in more constant demand, have been better preserved.These formulas had been handed down orally from a remote antiquity until the early part of the present century, when the invention of the Cherokee syllabary enabled the priests of the tribe to put them into writing. The same invention made it possible for their rivals, the missionaries, to give to the Indians the Bible in their own language, so that the opposing forces of Christianity and shamanism alike profited by the genius of Sikwâya. The pressure of the new civilization was too strong to be withstood, however, and though the prophets of the old religion still have much influence with the people, they are daily losing ground and will soon be without honor in their own country.Such an exposition of the aboriginal religion could be obtained from no other tribe in North America, for the simple reason that no other tribe has an alphabet of its own in which to record its sacred lore. It is true that the Crees and Micmacs of Canada and the Tukuth of Alaska have so-called alphabets or ideographic systems invented for their use by the missionaries, while, before the Spanish conquest, the Mayas of Central America were accustomed to note down their hero legends and priestly ceremonials in hieroglyphs graven upon the walls of their temples or painted upon tablets made of the leaves of the maguey. But it seems never to have occurred to the northern tribes that an alphabet coming from a missionary source could be used for any other purpose than the transcription of bibles and catechisms, while the sacred books of the Mayas, with a few exceptions, have long since met destruction at the hands of fanaticism, and the modern copies which have come down to the present day are written out from imperfect memory by Indians who had been educated under Spanish influences in the language, alphabet and ideas of the conquerors, and who, as is proved by an examination of the contents of the books themselves, drew from European sources a great part of their material. Moreover, the Maya tablets were so far hieratic as to be understood only by the priests and those who had received a special training in this direction, and they seem therefore to have been entirely unintelligible to the common people.The Cherokee alphabet, on the contrary, is the invention or adaptation of one of the tribe, who, although he borrowed most of the Roman letters, in addition to the forty or more characters of his own devising, knew nothing of their proper use or value, but reversed them or altered their forms to suit his purpose, and gave them a name and value determined by himself. This alphabet was at once adopted by the tribe for all purposes for which writing can be used, including the recording of their shamanistic prayers and ritualistic ceremonies. The formulas here given, as well as those of the entire collection, were written out by the shamans themselves—men who adhere to the ancient religion and speak only their native language—in order that their sacred knowledge might be preserved in asystematic manner for their mutual benefit. The language, the conception, and the execution are all genuinely Indian, and hardly a dozen lines of the hundreds of formulas show a trace of the influence of the white man or his religion. The formulas contained in these manuscripts are not disjointed fragments of a system long since extinct, but are the revelation of a living faith which still has its priests and devoted adherents, and it is only necessary to witness a ceremonial ball play, with its fasting, its going to water, and its mystic bead manipulation, to understand how strong is the hold which the old faith yet has upon the minds even of the younger generation. The numerous archaic and figurative expressions used require the interpretation of the priests, but, as before stated, the alphabet in which they are written is that in daily use among the common people.In all tribes that still retain something of their ancient organization we find this sacred knowledge committed to the keeping of various secret societies, each of which has its peculiar ritual with regular initiation and degrees of advancement. From this analogy we may reasonably conclude that such was formerly the case with the Cherokees also, but by the breaking down of old customs consequent upon their long contact with the whites and the voluntary adoption of a civilized form of government in 1827, all traces of such society organization have long since disappeared, and at present each priest or shaman is isolated and independent, sometimes confining himself to a particular specialty, such as love or medicine, or even the treatment of two or three diseases, in other cases broadening his field of operations to include the whole range of mystic knowledge.It frequently happens, however, that priests form personal friendships and thus are led to divulge their secrets to each other for their mutual advantage. Thus when one shaman meets another who he thinks can probably give him some valuable information, he says to him, “Let us sit down together.” This is understood by the other to mean, “Let us tell each other our secrets.” Should it seem probable that the seeker after knowledge can give as much as he receives, an agreement is generally arrived at, the two retire to some convenient spot secure from observation, and the first party begins by reciting one of his formulas with the explanations. The other then reciprocates with one of his own, unless it appears that the bargain is apt to prove a losing one, in which case the conference comes to an abrupt ending.It is sometimes possible to obtain a formula by the payment of a coat, a quantity of cloth, or a sum of money. Like the Celtic Druids of old, the candidate for the priesthood in former times found it necessary to cultivate a long memory, as no formula was repeated more than once for his benefit. It was considered that one who failed to remember after the first hearing was not worthy to be accounted a shaman. This task, however, was not so difficult as might appear onfirst thought, when once the learner understood the theory involved, as the formulas are all constructed on regular principles, with constant repetition of the same set of words. The obvious effect of such a regulation was to increase the respect in which this sacred knowledge was held by restricting it to the possession of a chosen few.Although the written formulas can be read without difficulty by any Cherokee educated in his own language, the shamans take good care that their sacred writings shall not fall into the hands of the laity or of their rivals in occult practices, and in performing the ceremonies the words used are uttered in such a low tone of voice as to be unintelligible even to the one for whose benefit the formula is repeated. Such being the case, it is in order to explain how the formulas collected were obtained.HOW THE FORMULAS WERE OBTAINED.On first visiting the reservation in the summer of 1887, I devoted considerable time to collecting plants used by the Cherokees for food or medicinal purposes, learning at the same time their Indian names and the particular uses to which each was applied and the mode of preparation. It soon became evident that the application of the medicine was not the whole, and in fact was rather the subordinate, part of the treatment, which was always accompanied by certain ceremonies and “words.” From the workers employed at the time no definite idea could be obtained as to the character of these words. One young woman, indeed, who had some knowledge of the subject, volunteered to write the words which she used in her prescriptions, but failed to do so, owing chiefly to the opposition of the half-breed shamans, from whom she had obtained her information.THE SWIMMER MANUSCRIPT.Some time afterward an acquaintance was formed with a man named A‘yûn´inĭ or “Swimmer,” who proved to be so intelligent that I spent several days with him, procuring information in regard to myths and old customs. He told a number of stories in very good style, and finally related the Origin of the Bear131. The bears were formerly a part of the Cherokee tribe who decided to leave their kindred and go into the forest. Their friends followed them and endeavored to induce them to return, but the Ani-Tsâ´kahĭ, as they were called, were determined to go. Just before parting from their relatives at the edge of the forest, they turned to them and said, “It is better for you that we should go; but we will teach you songs, and some day when you are in want of food come out to the woods and sing these songs and we shall appear and give you meat.” Theirfriends, after learning several songs from them, started back to their homes, and after proceeding a short distance, turned around to take one last look, but saw only a number of bears disappearing in the depths of the forest. The songs which they learned are still sung by the hunter to attract the bears.BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGYSEVENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. XXVsee captionFACSIMILE OF GAHUNI MANUSCRIPT.Formula for Didùnlĕckĭ. (Page349.)When Swimmer had finished the story he was asked if he knew these songs. He replied that he did, but on being requested to sing one he made some excuse and was silent. After some further efforts the interpreter said it would be useless to press the matter then as there were several other Indians present, but that to-morrow we should have him alone with us and could then make another attempt.The next day Swimmer was told that if he persisted in his refusal it would be necessary to employ some one else, as it was unfair in him to furnish incomplete information when he was paid to tell all he knew. He replied that he was willing to tell anything in regard to stories and customs, but that these songs were a part of his secret knowledge and commanded a high price from the hunters, who sometimes paid as much as $5 for a single song, “because you can’t kill any bears or deer unless you sing them.”He was told that the only object in asking about the songs was to put them on record and preserve them, so that when he and the half dozen old men of the tribe were dead the world might be aware how much the Cherokees had known. This appeal to his professional pride proved effectual, and when he was told that a great many similar songs had been sent to Washington by medicine men of other tribes, he promptly declared that he knew as much as any of them, and that he would give all the information in his possession, so that others might be able to judge for themselves who knew most. The only conditions he made were that these secret matters should be heard by no one else but the interpreter, and should not be discussed when other Indians were present.As soon as the other shamans learned what was going on they endeavored by various means to persuade him to stop talking, or failing in this, to damage his reputation by throwing out hints as to his honesty or accuracy of statement. Among other objections which they advanced was one which, however incomprehensible to a white man, was perfectly intelligible to an Indian, viz: That when he had told everything this information would be taken to Washington and locked up there, and thus they would be deprived of the knowledge. This objection was one of the most difficult to overcome, as there was no line of argument with which to oppose it.These reports worried Swimmer, who was extremely sensitive in regard to his reputation, and he became restive under the insinuations of his rivals. Finally on coming to work one day he produced a book from under his ragged coat as he entered the house, and said proudly: “Look at that and now see if I don’t know something.” Itwas a small day-book of about 240 pages, procured originally from a white man, and was about half filled with writing in the Cherokee characters. A brief examination disclosed the fact that it contained just those matters that had proved so difficult to procure. Here were prayers, songs, and prescriptions for the cure of all kinds of diseases—for chills, rheumatism, frostbites, wounds, bad dreams, and witchery; love charms, to gain the affections of a woman or to cause her to hate a detested rival; fishing charms, hunting charms—including the songs without which none could ever hope to kill any game; prayers to make the corn grow, to frighten away storms, and to drive off witches; prayers for long life, for safety among strangers, for acquiring influence in council and success in the ball play. There were prayers to the Long Man, the Ancient White, the Great Whirlwind, the Yellow Rattlesnake, and to a hundred other gods of the Cherokee pantheon. It was in fact an Indian ritual and pharmacopœia.After recovering in a measure from the astonishment produced by this discovery I inquired whether other shamans had such books. “Yes,” said Swimmer, “we all have them.” Here then was a clew to follow up. A bargain was made by which he was to have another blank book into which to copy the formulas, after which the original was bought. It is now deposited in the library of the Bureau of Ethnology. The remainder of the time until the return was occupied in getting an understanding of the contents of the book.THE GATIGWANASTI MANUSCRIPT.Further inquiry elicited the names of several others who might be supposed to have such papers. Before leaving a visit was paid to one of these, a young man named Wilnoti, whose father, Gatigwanasti, had been during his lifetime a prominent shaman, regarded as a man of superior intelligence. Wilnoti, who is a professing Christian, said that his father had had such papers, and after some explanation from the chief he consented to show them. He produced a box containing a lot of miscellaneous papers, testaments, and hymnbooks, all in the Cherokee alphabet. Among them was his father’s chief treasure, a manuscript book containing 122 pages of foolscap size, completely filled with formulas of the same kind as those contained in Swimmer’s book. There were also a large number of loose sheets, making in all nearly 20 0 foolscap pages of sacred formulas.On offering to buy the papers, he replied that he wanted to keep them in order to learn and practice these things himself—thus showing how thin was the veneer of Christianity, in his case at least. On representing to him that in a few years the new conditions would render such knowledge valueless with the younger generation, and that even if he retained the papers he would need some one else to explain them to him, he again refused, saying that they mightfall into the hands of Swimmer, who, he was determined, should never see his father’s papers. Thus the negotiations came to an end for the time.BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGYSEVENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. XXVIsee captionFACSIMILE OF SWIMMER MANUSCRIPT.Formula for Dalàni Ùnnagei (Page364.)On returning to the reservation in July, 1888, another effort was made to get possession of the Gatigwanasti manuscripts and any others of the same kind which could be procured. By this time the Indians had had several months to talk over the matter, and the idea had gradually dawned upon them that instead of taking their knowledge away from them and locking it up in a box, the intention was to preserve it to the world and pay them for it at the same time. In addition the writer took every opportunity to impress upon them the fact that he was acquainted with the secret knowledge of other tribes and perhaps could give them as much as they gave. It was now much easier to approach them, and on again visiting Wilnoti, in company with the interpreter, who explained the matter fully to him, he finally consented to lend the papers for a time, with the same condition that neither Swimmer nor anyone else but the chief and interpreter should see them, but he still refused to sell them. However, this allowed the use of the papers, and after repeated efforts during a period of several weeks, the matter ended in the purchase of the papers outright, with unreserved permission to show them for copying or explanation to anybody who might be selected. Wilnoti was not of a mercenary disposition, and after the first negotiations the chief difficulty was to overcome his objection to parting with his father’s handwriting, but it was an essential point to get the originals, and he was allowed to copy some of the more important formulas, as he found it utterly out of the question to copy the whole.These papers of Gatigwanasti are the most valuable of the whole, and amount to fully one-half the entire collection, about fifty pages consisting of love charms. The formulas are beautifully written in bold Cherokee characters, and the directions and headings are generally explicit, bearing out the universal testimony that he was a man of unusual intelligence and ability, characteristics inherited by his son, who, although a young man and speaking no English, is one of the most progressive and thoroughly reliable men of the band.THE GAHUNI MANUSCRIPT.The next book procured was obtained from a woman named Ayâsta, “The Spoiler,” and had been written by her husband, Gahuni, who died about 30 years ago. The matter was not difficult to arrange, as she had already been employed on several occasions, so that she understood the purpose of the work, besides which her son had been regularly engaged to copy and classify the manuscripts already procured. The book was claimed as common property byAyâsta and her three sons, and negotiations had to be carried on with each one, although in this instance the cash amount involved was only half a dollar, in addition to another book into which to copy some family records and personal memoranda. The book contains only eight formulas, but these are of a character altogether unique, the directions especially throwing a curious light on Indian beliefs. There had been several other formulas of the class called Y´û´nwĕhĭ, to cause hatred between man and wife, but these had been torn out and destroyed by Ayâsta on the advice of an old shaman, in order that her sons might never learn them. In referring to the matter she spoke in a whisper, and it was evident enough that she had full faith in the deadly power of these spells.In addition to the formulas the book contains about twenty pages of Scripture extracts in the same handwriting, for Gahuni, like several others of their shamans, combined the professions of Indian conjurer and Methodist preacher. After his death the book fell into the hands of the younger members of the family, who filled it with miscellaneous writings and scribblings. Among other things there are about seventy pages of what was intended to be a Cherokee-English pronouncing dictionary, probably written by the youngest son, already mentioned, who has attended school, and who served for some time as copyist on the formulas. This curious Indian production, of which only a few columns are filled out, consists of a list of simple English words and phrases, written in ordinary English script, followed by Cherokee characters intended to give the approximate pronunciation, together with the corresponding word in the Cherokee language and characters. As the language lacks a number of sounds which are of frequent occurrence in English, the attempts to indicate the pronunciation sometimes give amusing results. Thus we find:Fox(English script);kwâgisĭ´(Cherokee characters);tsú‘lû´(Cherokee characters). As the Cherokee language lacks the labialfand has no compound sound equivalent to ourx,kwâgisĭ´is as near as the Cherokee speaker can come to pronouncing our wordfox. In the same way “bet” becomeswĕtĭ, and “sheep” issíkwĭ, while “if he has no dog” appears in the disguise ofikwĭ hâsĭ nâ dâ´ga.THE INÂLI MANUSCRIPT.In the course of further inquiries in regard to the whereabouts of other manuscripts of this kind we heard a great deal about Inâ´lĭ, or “Black Fox,” who had died a few years before at an advanced age, and who was universally admitted to have been one of their most able men and the most prominent literary character among them, for from what has been said it must be sufficiently evident that the Cherokees have their native literature and literary men. Like those already mentioned, he was a full-blood Cherokee, speaking no English, and in the course of a long lifetime he had filled almost everyposition of honor among his people, including those of councilor, keeper of the townhouse records, Sunday-school leader, conjurer, officer in the Confederate service, and Methodist preacher, at last dying, as he was born, in the ancient faith of his forefathers.
see text
Fig. 36.—Leech Lake Midē´ song.
The initial character onFig. 36appears to be at the right hand upper corner, and represents the Bear Man´idō. The third figure is that of the Midē´wiwin, with four man´idōs within it, probably the guardians of the four degrees. The owner of the song was a Midē´ of the second degree, as was stated in connection with his Midē´wi-gwas or “medicine chart,” illustrated on Plate III, C.
see text
Fig. 37.—Leech Lake Midē´ song.
Fig. 37represents what appears to be a mishkiki or medicine song, as is suggested by the figures of plants and roots. It is impossible to state absolutely at which side the initial character is placed, though it would appear that the human figure at the upper left hand corner would be more in accordance with the common custom.
see text
Fig. 38.—Leech Lake Midē´ song.
Fig. 38seems to pertain to hunting, and may have been recognized as a hunter’s chart. According to the belief of several Midē´, it is lead from right to left, the human figure indicating the direction according to the way in which the heads of the crane, bear, etc., are turned. The lower left hand figure of a man has five marks upon the breast, which probably indicate mī´gis spots, to denote the power of magic influence possessed by the recorder.
see text
Fig. 39.—Leech Lake Midē´ song.
The characters onFig. 39are found to be arranged so as to read from the right hand upper corner toward the left, the next line continuing to the right and lastly again to the left, terminating with the figure of a Midē´ with the mī´gis upon his breast. This is interesting on account of the boustrophic system of delineating the figures, and also because such instances are rarely found to occur.
While it is customary among many tribes of Indians to use as little clothing as possible when engaged in dancing, either of a social or ceremonial nature, the Ojibwa, on the contrary, vie with one another in the attempt to appear in the most costly and gaudy dress attainable. The Ojibwa Midē´ priests, take particular pride in their appearance when attending ceremonies of the Midē´ Society, and seldom fail to impress this fact upon visitors, as some of the Dakotan tribes, who have adopted similar medicine ceremonies after the custom of their Algonkian neighbors, are frequently without any clothing other than the breechcloth and moccasins, and the armlets and other attractive ornaments. This disregard of dress appears, to the Ojibwa, as a sacrilegious digression from the ancient usages, and it frequently excites severe comment.
Apart from facial ornamentation, of such design as may take the actor’s fancy, or in accordance with the degree of which the subject may be a member, the Midē´ priests wear shirts, trousers, and moccasins, the first two of which may consist of flannel or cloth and be either plain or ornamented with beads, while the latter are always of buckskin, or, what is more highly prized, moose skin, beaded or worked with colored porcupine quills.
dancing garters
Immediately below each knee is tied a necessary item of an Ojibwa’s dress, a garter, which consists of a band of beads varying in different specimens from 2 to 4 inches in width, and from 18 to 20 inches in length, to each end of which strands of colored wool yarn, 2 feet long, are attached so as to admit of being passed around the leg and tied in a bow-knot in front. These garters are made by the women in such patterns as they may be able to design or elaborate. OnPl.XXIIIare reproductions of parts of two patterns which are of more than ordinary interest, because of the symbolic signification of the colors and the primitive art design in one, and the substitution of colors and the introduction of modern designs in the other. The upper one consists of green, red, and white beads, the first two colors being in accord with those of one of the degree posts, while the white is symbolical of the mī´gis shell. In the lower illustration is found a substitution of color for the preceding, accounted for by the Midē´ informants, who explained that neither of the varieties of beads of the particular color desired could be obtained when wanted. The yellow beads are substituted for white, the blue for green, and the orange and pink for red. The design retains the lozenge form, though in a different arrangement, and the introduction of the blue border is adapted after patterns observed among their white neighbors. In the former is presented also what the Ojibwa term the groundwork or type of their original style of ornamentation, i.e., wavy or gently zigzag lines. Later art work consistschiefly of curved lines, and this has gradually become modified through instruction from the Catholic sisters at various early mission establishments until now, when there has been brought about a common system of working upon cloth or velvet, in patterns, consisting of vines, leaves, and flowers, often exceedingly attractive though not aboriginal in the true sense of the word.
Bands of flannel or buckskin, handsomely beaded, are sometimes attached to the sides of the pantaloons, in imitation of an officer’s stripes, and around the bottom. Collars are also used, in addition to necklaces of claws, shells, or other objects.
Armlets and bracelets are sometimes made of bands of beadwork, though brass wire or pieces of metal are preferred.
Bags made of cloth, beautifully ornamented or entirely covered with beads, are worn, supported at the side by means of a broad band or baldric passing over the opposite shoulder. The head is decorated with disks of metal and tufts of colored horse hair or moose hair and with eagle feathers to designate the particular exploits performed by the wearer.
Few emblems of personal valor or exploits are now worn, as many of the representatives of the present generation have never been actively engaged in war, so that there is generally found only among the older members the practice of wearing upon the head eagle feathers bearing indications of significant markings or cuttings. A feather which has been split from the tip toward the middle denotes that the wearer was wounded by an arrow. A red spot as large as a silver dime painted upon a feather shows the wearer to have been wounded by a bullet. The privilege of wearing a feather tipped with red flannel or horse hair dyed red is recognized only when the wearer has killed an enemy, and when a great number have been killed in war the so-called war bonnet is worn, and may consist of a number of feathers exceeding the number of persons killed, the idea to be expressed being “a great number,” rather than a specific enumeration.
Although the Ojibwa admit that in former times they had many other specific ways of indicating various kinds of personal exploits, they now have little opportunity of gaining such distinction, and consequently the practice has fallen into desuetude.
According to a treaty now being made between the United States Government and the Ojibwa Indians, the latter are to relinquish the several areas of land at present occupied by them and to remove to portions of the Red Lake and White Earth Reservations and take lands in severalty. By this treaty about 4,000,000 acres of land will be ceded to the Government, and the members of the various bands will become citizens of the United States, and thus their tribal tieswill be broken and their primitive customs and rites be abandoned.
The chief Midē´ priests, being aware of the momentous consequences of such a change in their habits, and foreseeing the impracticability of much longer continuing the ceremonies of so-called “pagan rites,” became willing to impart them to me, in order that a complete description might be made and preserved for the future information of their descendants.
There is scarcely any doubt that these ceremonies will still be secretly held at irregular intervals; but under the watchful care of the national authorities it is doubtful whether they will be performed with any degree of completeness, and it will be but a comparatively short time before the Midē´wiwin will be only a tradition.
Footnotes115.Coll. Minn. Hist. Soc., 1885, vol. 5, p. 130.116.Reproduced from the ninth volume of the New York Colonial Documents, pp. 1054, 1055.117.New Voyages to North America, London, 1703, vol. 2, pp. 47, 48.118.London, 1689, p. 59, et seq.119.Information respecting the history, condition, and prospects of the Indian tribes of the United States. Philadelphia, 1851, vol. 1, p. 319.120.Ibid., p. 362.121.Op. cit., vol. 5, p. 423.122.Op. cit., pp. 65, 66.123.Op. cit., vol. 5, p, 71.114.Op. cit., p. 25.125.History of the Ojebway Indians, London [1843(?)], pp. 143,144.126.Op. cit., p. 78 et seq.127.Op. cit., p. 81.114.Vol. 1, No. 3, 1888, p. 216, Figs. 2 and 3.129.History of the Ojebway Indians, etc., London (1843?), pp. 145, 146.130.Hist. of the Ojebway Indians. London [1843?], p. 155.
115.Coll. Minn. Hist. Soc., 1885, vol. 5, p. 130.
116.Reproduced from the ninth volume of the New York Colonial Documents, pp. 1054, 1055.
117.New Voyages to North America, London, 1703, vol. 2, pp. 47, 48.
118.London, 1689, p. 59, et seq.
119.Information respecting the history, condition, and prospects of the Indian tribes of the United States. Philadelphia, 1851, vol. 1, p. 319.
120.Ibid., p. 362.
121.Op. cit., vol. 5, p. 423.
122.Op. cit., pp. 65, 66.
123.Op. cit., vol. 5, p, 71.
114.Op. cit., p. 25.
125.History of the Ojebway Indians, London [1843(?)], pp. 143,144.
126.Op. cit., p. 78 et seq.
127.Op. cit., p. 81.
114.Vol. 1, No. 3, 1888, p. 216, Figs. 2 and 3.
129.History of the Ojebway Indians, etc., London (1843?), pp. 145, 146.
130.Hist. of the Ojebway Indians. London [1843?], p. 155.
Linguistic NotesA number of Ojibwa words are recorded withwwhere the correct form hasb. Since w:b is not an attested dialectal variation, these may be mishearings on the part of the original transcriber. Other errors such as G:S or h:k can be attributed to misreading of handwritten text.Transcriber’s Footnotes:A.The long gap followed by “gē´” is not explained in the text. It may refer to the structure of the song.page imageB.Gi´-gi-min´-ĕ-go´-min mi-dē´-wi-wĭn mi-dē´ man´-i-dō´ ’n-gi-gĭn´-o-a-mâkThe apostrophe in’n-gi-gĭn´-o-a-mâkoccurs nowhere else in the text; it may be phonetic (elision of i?) or an error.Note on MIDI FilesDepending on your browser, the MIDI files accompanying each piece of music may play when clicked, or may need to be downloaded and played in a separate application.The “music” directory containing the MIDI samples also includes the musical notation in Lilypond (.ly) format. If you have the Lilypond application (free) installed, these files can be used to generate free-standing pdf files. These are simplified versions of the songs, omitting lyrics and dynamic marks. The meter is as printed, except that most songs marked 6/8 were changed to 3/4.Please note that these sound files are meant only to give a rough approximation of each melody. All musical selections were originally vocal, some with drum accompaniment. The three MIDI “instruments” were selected to offer the user a choice of sounds, and are not intended to be authentic.
A number of Ojibwa words are recorded withwwhere the correct form hasb. Since w:b is not an attested dialectal variation, these may be mishearings on the part of the original transcriber. Other errors such as G:S or h:k can be attributed to misreading of handwritten text.
Transcriber’s Footnotes:A.The long gap followed by “gē´” is not explained in the text. It may refer to the structure of the song.page imageB.Gi´-gi-min´-ĕ-go´-min mi-dē´-wi-wĭn mi-dē´ man´-i-dō´ ’n-gi-gĭn´-o-a-mâkThe apostrophe in’n-gi-gĭn´-o-a-mâkoccurs nowhere else in the text; it may be phonetic (elision of i?) or an error.
A.The long gap followed by “gē´” is not explained in the text. It may refer to the structure of the song.
page image
B.Gi´-gi-min´-ĕ-go´-min mi-dē´-wi-wĭn mi-dē´ man´-i-dō´ ’n-gi-gĭn´-o-a-mâk
The apostrophe in’n-gi-gĭn´-o-a-mâkoccurs nowhere else in the text; it may be phonetic (elision of i?) or an error.
Depending on your browser, the MIDI files accompanying each piece of music may play when clicked, or may need to be downloaded and played in a separate application.
The “music” directory containing the MIDI samples also includes the musical notation in Lilypond (.ly) format. If you have the Lilypond application (free) installed, these files can be used to generate free-standing pdf files. These are simplified versions of the songs, omitting lyrics and dynamic marks. The meter is as printed, except that most songs marked 6/8 were changed to 3/4.
Please note that these sound files are meant only to give a rough approximation of each melody. All musical selections were originally vocal, some with drum accompaniment. The three MIDI “instruments” were selected to offer the user a choice of sounds, and are not intended to be authentic.
Introduction307How the formulas were obtained.310The A‘yûninĭ (Swimmer) manuscript310The Gatigwanastĭ (Belt) manuscript312The Gahunĭ manuscript313The Inâlĭ (Black Fox) manuscript314Other manuscripts316The Kanâhe´ta Ani-Tsa´lagĭ Etĭ or Ancient Cherokee Formulas317Character of the formulas—the Cherokee religion318Myth of the origin of disease and medicine319Theory of disease—animals, ghosts, witches322Selected list of plants used324Medical practice—theory of resemblances—fasting—tabu—seclusion—women328Illustration of the gaktûnta or tabu331Neglect of sanitary regulations332The sweat bath—bleeding—rubbing—bathing338Opposition of shamans to white physicians336Medicine dances337Description of symptoms337The ugista´‘tĭ or pay of the shaman337Ceremonies for gathering plants and preparing medicine339The Cherokee gods and their abiding places340Color symbolism342Importance attached to names343Language of the formulas343Specimen formulas344Medicine345To treat the crippler (rheumatism)—from Gahuni345Second formula for the crippler—from Gahuni349Song and prescription for snake bites—from Gahuni351When something is causing something to eat them—Gahuni353Second formula for the same disease—A‘wanita355For moving pains in the teeth (neuralgia?)—Gatigwanasti356Song and prayer for the great chill—A‘yûnini359To make children jump down (child birth)—A‘yûnini363Second formula for child birth—Takwatihi364Song and prayer for the black yellowness (biliousness)—A‘yûnini365To treat for ordeal diseases (witchcraft)—A‘yûnini366Hunting369Concerning hunting—A‘yûnini369For hunting birds—A‘yûnini371To shoot dwellers in the wilderness—A‘wanita372Bear song—A‘yûnini373For catching large fish—A‘yûnini374Love375Concerning living humanity—Gatigwanasti376For going to water—Gatigwanasti378Yûnwehi song for painting—Gatigwanasti379Song and prayer to fix the affections—A‘yûnini380To separate lovers—A‘yûnini381Song and prayer to fix the affections—Gatigwanasti382Miscellaneous384To shorten a night goer on this side—A‘yûnini384To find lost articles—Gatigwanasti386To frighten away a storm—A‘yûnini387To help warriors—A´wanita388To destroy life (ceremony with beads)—A‘yûnini391To take to water for the ball play—A‘yûnini395
Introduction307
How the formulas were obtained.310
The A‘yûninĭ (Swimmer) manuscript310
The Gatigwanastĭ (Belt) manuscript312
The Gahunĭ manuscript313
The Inâlĭ (Black Fox) manuscript314
Other manuscripts316
The Kanâhe´ta Ani-Tsa´lagĭ Etĭ or Ancient Cherokee Formulas317
Character of the formulas—the Cherokee religion318
Myth of the origin of disease and medicine319
Theory of disease—animals, ghosts, witches322
Selected list of plants used324
Medical practice—theory of resemblances—fasting—tabu—seclusion—women328
Illustration of the gaktûnta or tabu331
Neglect of sanitary regulations332
The sweat bath—bleeding—rubbing—bathing338
Opposition of shamans to white physicians336
Medicine dances337
Description of symptoms337
The ugista´‘tĭ or pay of the shaman337
Ceremonies for gathering plants and preparing medicine339
The Cherokee gods and their abiding places340
Color symbolism342
Importance attached to names343
Language of the formulas343
Specimen formulas344
Medicine345
To treat the crippler (rheumatism)—from Gahuni345
Second formula for the crippler—from Gahuni349
Song and prescription for snake bites—from Gahuni351
When something is causing something to eat them—Gahuni353
Second formula for the same disease—A‘wanita355
For moving pains in the teeth (neuralgia?)—Gatigwanasti356
Song and prayer for the great chill—A‘yûnini359
To make children jump down (child birth)—A‘yûnini363
Second formula for child birth—Takwatihi364
Song and prayer for the black yellowness (biliousness)—A‘yûnini365
To treat for ordeal diseases (witchcraft)—A‘yûnini366
Hunting369
Concerning hunting—A‘yûnini369
For hunting birds—A‘yûnini371
To shoot dwellers in the wilderness—A‘wanita372
Bear song—A‘yûnini373
For catching large fish—A‘yûnini374
Love375
Concerning living humanity—Gatigwanasti376
For going to water—Gatigwanasti378
Yûnwehi song for painting—Gatigwanasti379
Song and prayer to fix the affections—A‘yûnini380
To separate lovers—A‘yûnini381
Song and prayer to fix the affections—Gatigwanasti382
Miscellaneous384
To shorten a night goer on this side—A‘yûnini384
To find lost articles—Gatigwanasti386
To frighten away a storm—A‘yûnini387
To help warriors—A´wanita388
To destroy life (ceremony with beads)—A‘yûnini391
To take to water for the ball play—A‘yûnini395
BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGYSEVENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. XXIVsee captionA‘YUNINI (SWIMMER).
The sacred formulas here given are selected from a collection of about six hundred, obtained on the Cherokee reservation in North Carolina in 1887 and 1888, and covering every subject pertaining to the daily life and thought of the Indian, including medicine, love, hunting, fishing, war, self-protection, destruction of enemies, witchcraft, the crops, the council, the ball play, etc., and, in fact, embodying almost the whole of the ancient religion of the Cherokees. The original manuscripts, now in the possession of the Bureau of Ethnology, were written by the shamans of the tribe, for their own use, in the Cherokee characters invented by Sikwâ´ya (Sequoyah) in 1821, and were obtained, with the explanations, either from the writers themselves or from their surviving relatives.
Some of these manuscripts are known to be at least thirty years old, and many are probably older. The medical formulas of all kinds constitute perhaps one-half of the whole number, while the love charms come next in number, closely followed by the songs and prayers used in hunting and fishing. The great number of love charms will doubtless be a surprise to those who have been educated in the old theory that the Indian is insensible to the attractions of woman. The comparatively small number of war formulas is explained by the fact that the last war in which the Cherokees, as a tribe, were engaged on their own account, closed with the Revolutionary period, so that these things were well nigh forgotten before the invention of the alphabet, a generation later. The Cherokees who engaged in the Creek war and the late American civil war fought in the interests of the whites, and their leaders were subordinated to white officers, hence there was not the same opportunity for the exercise of shamanistic rites that there would have been had Indians alone been concerned. The prayers for hunting, fishing, and the ball play being in more constant demand, have been better preserved.
These formulas had been handed down orally from a remote antiquity until the early part of the present century, when the invention of the Cherokee syllabary enabled the priests of the tribe to put them into writing. The same invention made it possible for their rivals, the missionaries, to give to the Indians the Bible in their own language, so that the opposing forces of Christianity and shamanism alike profited by the genius of Sikwâya. The pressure of the new civilization was too strong to be withstood, however, and though the prophets of the old religion still have much influence with the people, they are daily losing ground and will soon be without honor in their own country.
Such an exposition of the aboriginal religion could be obtained from no other tribe in North America, for the simple reason that no other tribe has an alphabet of its own in which to record its sacred lore. It is true that the Crees and Micmacs of Canada and the Tukuth of Alaska have so-called alphabets or ideographic systems invented for their use by the missionaries, while, before the Spanish conquest, the Mayas of Central America were accustomed to note down their hero legends and priestly ceremonials in hieroglyphs graven upon the walls of their temples or painted upon tablets made of the leaves of the maguey. But it seems never to have occurred to the northern tribes that an alphabet coming from a missionary source could be used for any other purpose than the transcription of bibles and catechisms, while the sacred books of the Mayas, with a few exceptions, have long since met destruction at the hands of fanaticism, and the modern copies which have come down to the present day are written out from imperfect memory by Indians who had been educated under Spanish influences in the language, alphabet and ideas of the conquerors, and who, as is proved by an examination of the contents of the books themselves, drew from European sources a great part of their material. Moreover, the Maya tablets were so far hieratic as to be understood only by the priests and those who had received a special training in this direction, and they seem therefore to have been entirely unintelligible to the common people.
The Cherokee alphabet, on the contrary, is the invention or adaptation of one of the tribe, who, although he borrowed most of the Roman letters, in addition to the forty or more characters of his own devising, knew nothing of their proper use or value, but reversed them or altered their forms to suit his purpose, and gave them a name and value determined by himself. This alphabet was at once adopted by the tribe for all purposes for which writing can be used, including the recording of their shamanistic prayers and ritualistic ceremonies. The formulas here given, as well as those of the entire collection, were written out by the shamans themselves—men who adhere to the ancient religion and speak only their native language—in order that their sacred knowledge might be preserved in asystematic manner for their mutual benefit. The language, the conception, and the execution are all genuinely Indian, and hardly a dozen lines of the hundreds of formulas show a trace of the influence of the white man or his religion. The formulas contained in these manuscripts are not disjointed fragments of a system long since extinct, but are the revelation of a living faith which still has its priests and devoted adherents, and it is only necessary to witness a ceremonial ball play, with its fasting, its going to water, and its mystic bead manipulation, to understand how strong is the hold which the old faith yet has upon the minds even of the younger generation. The numerous archaic and figurative expressions used require the interpretation of the priests, but, as before stated, the alphabet in which they are written is that in daily use among the common people.
In all tribes that still retain something of their ancient organization we find this sacred knowledge committed to the keeping of various secret societies, each of which has its peculiar ritual with regular initiation and degrees of advancement. From this analogy we may reasonably conclude that such was formerly the case with the Cherokees also, but by the breaking down of old customs consequent upon their long contact with the whites and the voluntary adoption of a civilized form of government in 1827, all traces of such society organization have long since disappeared, and at present each priest or shaman is isolated and independent, sometimes confining himself to a particular specialty, such as love or medicine, or even the treatment of two or three diseases, in other cases broadening his field of operations to include the whole range of mystic knowledge.
It frequently happens, however, that priests form personal friendships and thus are led to divulge their secrets to each other for their mutual advantage. Thus when one shaman meets another who he thinks can probably give him some valuable information, he says to him, “Let us sit down together.” This is understood by the other to mean, “Let us tell each other our secrets.” Should it seem probable that the seeker after knowledge can give as much as he receives, an agreement is generally arrived at, the two retire to some convenient spot secure from observation, and the first party begins by reciting one of his formulas with the explanations. The other then reciprocates with one of his own, unless it appears that the bargain is apt to prove a losing one, in which case the conference comes to an abrupt ending.
It is sometimes possible to obtain a formula by the payment of a coat, a quantity of cloth, or a sum of money. Like the Celtic Druids of old, the candidate for the priesthood in former times found it necessary to cultivate a long memory, as no formula was repeated more than once for his benefit. It was considered that one who failed to remember after the first hearing was not worthy to be accounted a shaman. This task, however, was not so difficult as might appear onfirst thought, when once the learner understood the theory involved, as the formulas are all constructed on regular principles, with constant repetition of the same set of words. The obvious effect of such a regulation was to increase the respect in which this sacred knowledge was held by restricting it to the possession of a chosen few.
Although the written formulas can be read without difficulty by any Cherokee educated in his own language, the shamans take good care that their sacred writings shall not fall into the hands of the laity or of their rivals in occult practices, and in performing the ceremonies the words used are uttered in such a low tone of voice as to be unintelligible even to the one for whose benefit the formula is repeated. Such being the case, it is in order to explain how the formulas collected were obtained.
On first visiting the reservation in the summer of 1887, I devoted considerable time to collecting plants used by the Cherokees for food or medicinal purposes, learning at the same time their Indian names and the particular uses to which each was applied and the mode of preparation. It soon became evident that the application of the medicine was not the whole, and in fact was rather the subordinate, part of the treatment, which was always accompanied by certain ceremonies and “words.” From the workers employed at the time no definite idea could be obtained as to the character of these words. One young woman, indeed, who had some knowledge of the subject, volunteered to write the words which she used in her prescriptions, but failed to do so, owing chiefly to the opposition of the half-breed shamans, from whom she had obtained her information.
Some time afterward an acquaintance was formed with a man named A‘yûn´inĭ or “Swimmer,” who proved to be so intelligent that I spent several days with him, procuring information in regard to myths and old customs. He told a number of stories in very good style, and finally related the Origin of the Bear131. The bears were formerly a part of the Cherokee tribe who decided to leave their kindred and go into the forest. Their friends followed them and endeavored to induce them to return, but the Ani-Tsâ´kahĭ, as they were called, were determined to go. Just before parting from their relatives at the edge of the forest, they turned to them and said, “It is better for you that we should go; but we will teach you songs, and some day when you are in want of food come out to the woods and sing these songs and we shall appear and give you meat.” Theirfriends, after learning several songs from them, started back to their homes, and after proceeding a short distance, turned around to take one last look, but saw only a number of bears disappearing in the depths of the forest. The songs which they learned are still sung by the hunter to attract the bears.
BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGYSEVENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. XXVsee captionFACSIMILE OF GAHUNI MANUSCRIPT.Formula for Didùnlĕckĭ. (Page349.)
When Swimmer had finished the story he was asked if he knew these songs. He replied that he did, but on being requested to sing one he made some excuse and was silent. After some further efforts the interpreter said it would be useless to press the matter then as there were several other Indians present, but that to-morrow we should have him alone with us and could then make another attempt.
The next day Swimmer was told that if he persisted in his refusal it would be necessary to employ some one else, as it was unfair in him to furnish incomplete information when he was paid to tell all he knew. He replied that he was willing to tell anything in regard to stories and customs, but that these songs were a part of his secret knowledge and commanded a high price from the hunters, who sometimes paid as much as $5 for a single song, “because you can’t kill any bears or deer unless you sing them.”
He was told that the only object in asking about the songs was to put them on record and preserve them, so that when he and the half dozen old men of the tribe were dead the world might be aware how much the Cherokees had known. This appeal to his professional pride proved effectual, and when he was told that a great many similar songs had been sent to Washington by medicine men of other tribes, he promptly declared that he knew as much as any of them, and that he would give all the information in his possession, so that others might be able to judge for themselves who knew most. The only conditions he made were that these secret matters should be heard by no one else but the interpreter, and should not be discussed when other Indians were present.
As soon as the other shamans learned what was going on they endeavored by various means to persuade him to stop talking, or failing in this, to damage his reputation by throwing out hints as to his honesty or accuracy of statement. Among other objections which they advanced was one which, however incomprehensible to a white man, was perfectly intelligible to an Indian, viz: That when he had told everything this information would be taken to Washington and locked up there, and thus they would be deprived of the knowledge. This objection was one of the most difficult to overcome, as there was no line of argument with which to oppose it.
These reports worried Swimmer, who was extremely sensitive in regard to his reputation, and he became restive under the insinuations of his rivals. Finally on coming to work one day he produced a book from under his ragged coat as he entered the house, and said proudly: “Look at that and now see if I don’t know something.” Itwas a small day-book of about 240 pages, procured originally from a white man, and was about half filled with writing in the Cherokee characters. A brief examination disclosed the fact that it contained just those matters that had proved so difficult to procure. Here were prayers, songs, and prescriptions for the cure of all kinds of diseases—for chills, rheumatism, frostbites, wounds, bad dreams, and witchery; love charms, to gain the affections of a woman or to cause her to hate a detested rival; fishing charms, hunting charms—including the songs without which none could ever hope to kill any game; prayers to make the corn grow, to frighten away storms, and to drive off witches; prayers for long life, for safety among strangers, for acquiring influence in council and success in the ball play. There were prayers to the Long Man, the Ancient White, the Great Whirlwind, the Yellow Rattlesnake, and to a hundred other gods of the Cherokee pantheon. It was in fact an Indian ritual and pharmacopœia.
After recovering in a measure from the astonishment produced by this discovery I inquired whether other shamans had such books. “Yes,” said Swimmer, “we all have them.” Here then was a clew to follow up. A bargain was made by which he was to have another blank book into which to copy the formulas, after which the original was bought. It is now deposited in the library of the Bureau of Ethnology. The remainder of the time until the return was occupied in getting an understanding of the contents of the book.
Further inquiry elicited the names of several others who might be supposed to have such papers. Before leaving a visit was paid to one of these, a young man named Wilnoti, whose father, Gatigwanasti, had been during his lifetime a prominent shaman, regarded as a man of superior intelligence. Wilnoti, who is a professing Christian, said that his father had had such papers, and after some explanation from the chief he consented to show them. He produced a box containing a lot of miscellaneous papers, testaments, and hymnbooks, all in the Cherokee alphabet. Among them was his father’s chief treasure, a manuscript book containing 122 pages of foolscap size, completely filled with formulas of the same kind as those contained in Swimmer’s book. There were also a large number of loose sheets, making in all nearly 20 0 foolscap pages of sacred formulas.
On offering to buy the papers, he replied that he wanted to keep them in order to learn and practice these things himself—thus showing how thin was the veneer of Christianity, in his case at least. On representing to him that in a few years the new conditions would render such knowledge valueless with the younger generation, and that even if he retained the papers he would need some one else to explain them to him, he again refused, saying that they mightfall into the hands of Swimmer, who, he was determined, should never see his father’s papers. Thus the negotiations came to an end for the time.
BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGYSEVENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. XXVIsee captionFACSIMILE OF SWIMMER MANUSCRIPT.Formula for Dalàni Ùnnagei (Page364.)
On returning to the reservation in July, 1888, another effort was made to get possession of the Gatigwanasti manuscripts and any others of the same kind which could be procured. By this time the Indians had had several months to talk over the matter, and the idea had gradually dawned upon them that instead of taking their knowledge away from them and locking it up in a box, the intention was to preserve it to the world and pay them for it at the same time. In addition the writer took every opportunity to impress upon them the fact that he was acquainted with the secret knowledge of other tribes and perhaps could give them as much as they gave. It was now much easier to approach them, and on again visiting Wilnoti, in company with the interpreter, who explained the matter fully to him, he finally consented to lend the papers for a time, with the same condition that neither Swimmer nor anyone else but the chief and interpreter should see them, but he still refused to sell them. However, this allowed the use of the papers, and after repeated efforts during a period of several weeks, the matter ended in the purchase of the papers outright, with unreserved permission to show them for copying or explanation to anybody who might be selected. Wilnoti was not of a mercenary disposition, and after the first negotiations the chief difficulty was to overcome his objection to parting with his father’s handwriting, but it was an essential point to get the originals, and he was allowed to copy some of the more important formulas, as he found it utterly out of the question to copy the whole.
These papers of Gatigwanasti are the most valuable of the whole, and amount to fully one-half the entire collection, about fifty pages consisting of love charms. The formulas are beautifully written in bold Cherokee characters, and the directions and headings are generally explicit, bearing out the universal testimony that he was a man of unusual intelligence and ability, characteristics inherited by his son, who, although a young man and speaking no English, is one of the most progressive and thoroughly reliable men of the band.
The next book procured was obtained from a woman named Ayâsta, “The Spoiler,” and had been written by her husband, Gahuni, who died about 30 years ago. The matter was not difficult to arrange, as she had already been employed on several occasions, so that she understood the purpose of the work, besides which her son had been regularly engaged to copy and classify the manuscripts already procured. The book was claimed as common property byAyâsta and her three sons, and negotiations had to be carried on with each one, although in this instance the cash amount involved was only half a dollar, in addition to another book into which to copy some family records and personal memoranda. The book contains only eight formulas, but these are of a character altogether unique, the directions especially throwing a curious light on Indian beliefs. There had been several other formulas of the class called Y´û´nwĕhĭ, to cause hatred between man and wife, but these had been torn out and destroyed by Ayâsta on the advice of an old shaman, in order that her sons might never learn them. In referring to the matter she spoke in a whisper, and it was evident enough that she had full faith in the deadly power of these spells.
In addition to the formulas the book contains about twenty pages of Scripture extracts in the same handwriting, for Gahuni, like several others of their shamans, combined the professions of Indian conjurer and Methodist preacher. After his death the book fell into the hands of the younger members of the family, who filled it with miscellaneous writings and scribblings. Among other things there are about seventy pages of what was intended to be a Cherokee-English pronouncing dictionary, probably written by the youngest son, already mentioned, who has attended school, and who served for some time as copyist on the formulas. This curious Indian production, of which only a few columns are filled out, consists of a list of simple English words and phrases, written in ordinary English script, followed by Cherokee characters intended to give the approximate pronunciation, together with the corresponding word in the Cherokee language and characters. As the language lacks a number of sounds which are of frequent occurrence in English, the attempts to indicate the pronunciation sometimes give amusing results. Thus we find:Fox(English script);kwâgisĭ´(Cherokee characters);tsú‘lû´(Cherokee characters). As the Cherokee language lacks the labialfand has no compound sound equivalent to ourx,kwâgisĭ´is as near as the Cherokee speaker can come to pronouncing our wordfox. In the same way “bet” becomeswĕtĭ, and “sheep” issíkwĭ, while “if he has no dog” appears in the disguise ofikwĭ hâsĭ nâ dâ´ga.
In the course of further inquiries in regard to the whereabouts of other manuscripts of this kind we heard a great deal about Inâ´lĭ, or “Black Fox,” who had died a few years before at an advanced age, and who was universally admitted to have been one of their most able men and the most prominent literary character among them, for from what has been said it must be sufficiently evident that the Cherokees have their native literature and literary men. Like those already mentioned, he was a full-blood Cherokee, speaking no English, and in the course of a long lifetime he had filled almost everyposition of honor among his people, including those of councilor, keeper of the townhouse records, Sunday-school leader, conjurer, officer in the Confederate service, and Methodist preacher, at last dying, as he was born, in the ancient faith of his forefathers.