Seventh Annual Report Part 79

(Degsisisgni)--Hia-skini unsdiya dikannwti tsa?natsayihi tsaniskaihai; gnwanigistai hiandisgai. Ama dtsatistisgi n?ki tsus.h.i.ta dikannwti Ulsinidena dakannwisgi. Untsa iynta wituninidasti yigesi.

_Translation._

TO TREAT THEM WHEN SOMETHING IS CAUSING SOMETHING TO EAT THEM.

Listen! Ha! I am a great adawehi, I never fail in anything. I surpa.s.s all others--I am a great adawehi. Ha! It is a mere screech owl that has frightened him. Ha! now I have put it away in the laurel thickets. There I compel it to remain.

Listen! Ha! I am a great adawehi, I never fail in anything. I surpa.s.s all others--I am a great adawehi. Ha! It is a mere hooting owl that has frightened him. Undoubtedly that has frightened him. Ha!

At once I have put it away in the spruce thickets. Ha! There I compel it to remain.

Listen! Ha! I am a great adawehi, I never fail in anything. I surpa.s.s all others--I am a great adawehi. Ha! It is only a rabbit that has frightened him. Undoubtedly that has frightened him. Ha!

Instantly I have put it away on the mountain ridge. Ha! There in the broom sage I compel it to remain.

Listen! Ha! I am a great adawehi, I never fail in anything. I surpa.s.s all others--I am a great adawehi. Ha! It is only a mountain sprite that has frightened him. Undoubtedly that has frightened him.

Ha! Instantly I have put it away on the bluff. Ha! There I compel it to remain.

(Prescription)--Now this is to treat infants if they are affected by crying and nervous fright. (Then) it is said that something is causing something to eat them. To treat them one may blow water on them for four nights. Doctor them just before dark. Be sure not to carry them about outside the house.

_Explanation._

The Cherokee name for this disease is Gunwanigisti, which signifies that something is causing something to eat, or gnaw the vitals of the patient. The disease attacks only infants of tender age and the symptoms are nervousness and troubled sleep, from which the child wakes suddenly crying as if frightened. The civilized doctor would regard these as symptoms of the presence of worms, but although the Cherokee name might seem to indicate the same belief, the real theory is very different.

Cherokee mothers sometimes hush crying children, by telling them that the screech owl is listening out in the woods or that the Detsata--a malicious little dwarf who lives in caves in the river bluffs--will come and get them. This quiets the child for the time and is so far successful, but the animals, or the Detsata, take offense at being spoken of in this way, and visit their displeasure upon the _children born to the mother afterward_. This they do by sending an animal into the body of the child to gnaw its vitals. The disease is very common and there are several specialists who devote their attention to it, using various formulas and prescriptions. It is also called atawinehi, signifying that it is caused by the dwellers in the forest, i.e., the wild game and birds, and some doctors declare that it is caused by the revengeful comrades of the animals, especially birds, killed by the father of the child, the animals tracking the slayer to his home by the blood drops on the leaves. The next formula will throw more light upon this theory.

In this formula the doctor, who is certainly not overburdened with modesty, starts out by a.s.serting that he is a great adawehi, who never fails and who surpa.s.ses all others. He then declares that the disease is caused by a mere screech owl, which he at once banishes to the laurel thicket. In the succeeding paragraphs he reiterates his former boasting, but a.s.serts in turn that the trouble is caused by a mere hooting owl, a rabbit, or even by the Detsata, whose greatest exploit is hiding the arrows of the boys, for which the youthful hunters do not hesitate to rate him soundly. These various mischief-makers the doctor banishes to their proper haunts, the hooting owl to the spruce thicket, the rabbit to the broom sage on the mountain side, and the Detsata to the bluffs along the river bank.

Some doctors use herb decoctions, which are blown upon the body of the child, but in this formula the only remedy prescribed is water, which must be blown upon the body of the little sufferer just before dark for four nights. The regular method is to blow once each at the end of the first, second, and third paragraphs and four times at the end of the fourth or last. In diseases of this kind, which are not supposed to be of a local character, the doctor blows first upon the back of the head, then upon the left shoulder, next upon the right shoulder, and finally upon the breast, the patient being generally sitting, or propped up in bed, facing the east. The child must not be taken out of doors during the four days, because should a bird chance to fly overhead so that its shadow would fall upon the infant, it would _fan the disease back_ into the body of the little one.

GnWANIGISTnI DITANnWTIYI

Y! Sge! Usinuli hatnganiga, Giyagiya Sa?kani, ewsatgi tsl?dahisti. Usinuli hatlasiga.

Tsiskwa-gw ulsgeta uwutlani?lei. Usinuliyu atsahilugisiga. Utsinawa nutatannta. Y!

Y! Sge! Usinuli hatnganiga, Digatiski Wtigei, galnlati iynta ditsl?dhisti. Ha-ngwa usinuli hatlasiga. Tsiskwa-gw ditunilawitshi higesei. Usinli ke?tatig?lahiga. Utsinawa adnniga. Y!

_Translation._

TO TREAT GnWANIGISTnI--(SECOND).

Y! Listen! Quickly you have drawn near to hearken, O Blue Sparrow-Hawk; in the spreading tree tops you are at rest. Quickly you have come down. The intruder is only a bird which has overshadowed him. Swiftly you have swooped down upon it. Relief is accomplished.

Y!

Y! Listen! Quickly you have drawn near to hearken, O Brown Rabbit-Hawk; you are at rest there above. Ha! Swiftly now you have come down. It is only the birds which have come together for a council. Quickly you have come and scattered them. Relief is accomplished. Y!

_Explanation._

This formula, also for Gnwanigistni or Atawinehi, was obtained from A?wanita (Young Deer), who wrote down only the prayer and explained the treatment orally. He coincides in the opinion that this disease in children is caused by the birds, but says that it originates from the shadow of a bird flying overhead having fallen upon the pregnant mother. He says further that the disease is easily recognized in children, but that it sometimes does not develop until the child has attained maturity, when it is more difficult to discern the cause of the trouble, although in the latter case dark circles around the eyes are unfailing symptoms.

The prayer--like several others from the same source--seems incomplete, and judging from a.n.a.logy is evidently incorrect in some respects, but yet exemplifies the disease theory in a striking manner.

The disease is declared to have been caused by the birds, it being a.s.serted in the first paragraph that a bird has cast its shadow upon the sufferer, while in the second it is declared that they have gathered in council (in his body). This latter is a favorite expression in these formulas to indicate the great number of the disease animals. Another expression of frequent occurrence is to the effect that the disease animals have formed a settlement or established a townhouse in the patients body. The disease animal, being a bird or birds, must be dislodged by something which preys upon birds, and accordingly the Blue Sparrow-Hawk from the tree tops and the Brown Rabbit-Hawk (Digatiski--One who s.n.a.t.c.hes up), from above are invoked to drive out the intruders. The former is then said to have swooped down upon them as a hawk darts upon its prey, while the latter is declared to have scattered the birds which were holding a council. This being done, relief is accomplished. Y! is a meaningless interjection frequently used to introduce or close paragraphs or songs.

The medicine used is a warm decoction of the bark of Knsttsi (Sa.s.safras--Sa.s.safras officinale), Kannsita (Flowering Dogwood--Cornus florida), Udlana (Service tree--Amelanchier Canadensis), and Unikwa (Black Gum--Nyssa multiflora), with the roots of two species (large and small) of Dayakaliski (Wild Rose--Rosa lucida). The bark in every case is taken from the east side of the tree, and the roots selected are also generally, if not always, those growing toward the east. In this case the roots and barks are not bruised, but are simply steeped in warm water for four days. The child is then stripped and bathed all over with the decoction morning and night for four days, no formula being used during the bathing. It is then made to hold up its hands in front of its face with the palms turned out toward the doctor, who takes some of the medicine in his mouth and repeats the prayer mentally, blowing the medicine upon the head and hands of the patient at the final _Y!_ of each paragraph.

It is probable that the prayer originally consisted of four paragraphs, or else that these two paragraphs were repeated. The child drinks a little of the medicine at the end of each treatment.

The use of salt is prohibited during the four days of the treatment, the word (ama) being understood to include lye, which enters largely into Cherokee food preparations. No chicken or other feathered animal is allowed to enter the house during the same period, for obvious reasons, and strangers are excluded for reasons already explained.

HIA DUNIYUKWATISGn KANAHH.

Sge! Nndgnyi tsl?dhisti, Kananiski Gigage. Usinuli nnn gigage hinnniga.

Hidawehi-gg, asti digigage usinli dehikssantaniga. Ulsgeta kanege kayu?ga gesn, tsgya-gw higesei. Ehisti hituwasaniytei.

Usinuli asti digigage dehadantaniga, adina tslstai-y?ti-gw higesei. Ngwa gnagita datsataneli. Utsinawa nutatannta nntneliga.

Y!

Higaynli Tsnega hatnganiga. Aya-gg gatngisgesti tsngilisi deagwlstawist.i.tegesti, tsadnhi. Naski-gg itsaweshi ngwa usinuli hatunganiga. Utsinawa ntatanta nntneliga.

Y!

Sge! Uhyntlyi tsl?dhisti Kananiski Sa?kani. Usinuli nnn sa?kani hinnniga.

Hidawehi-gg, asti (di)sa?kani usinuli dehiksantaniga. Ulsgeta kanege kayu?ga gesn, tsgya-gw higesei. Ehisti hituwasaniy?te(i).

Usinuli asti disa?kanige dehadantaniga, adina tslstai-y?ti-gw higesei. Ngwa tsgya gnagita tstneliga. Utsinawa nutatannta nntneliga.

Y!

Higaynli Tsnega hatnganiga. Aya-gg gatngisgesti tsngilisi deagwlstawist.i.tegesti, tsadnhi. Naskigg itsaweshi ngwa usinuli hatnganiga. Utsinawa nutatannta nntneliga.

Y!

Sge! Ushiyi tsl?dhisti Kananiski nnage.

Usinuli nnn nnage hinnniga.

Hidawehi-gg, asti dignnage usinuli dehiksantaniga. Ulsgeta kanege kayu?ga gesn, tsgya-gw higesei. Ehisti hituwasaniy?tei.

Usinuli asti dignnage dehadantaniga, adina tslstai-y?ti-gw higesei. Ngwa tsgya gnagita tstneliga. Utsinawa nutatannta nntneliga. Y!

Higaynli Tsnega hatnganiga. Aya-gg gatngisgesti tsngilisi deagwlstawist.i.tegesti, tsadnhi. Naskigg itsaweshi ngwa usinuli hatnganiga. Utsinawa nutatannta nntneliga.

Y!

Sge! Galnlati tsl?dhisti, Kananiski Tsnega.

Usinuli nnn unega hinnniga. Hidawehi-gg, asti tsunega usinuli dehiksan taniga. Ulsgeta kanege kayu?ga gesn, tsgya-gw higesei.

Ehisti hituwasaniytei. Usinuli asti tsunega dehadantaniga, adina tslstai-y?ti-gw higesei.

Ngwa tsgya gnagita tstneliga. Utsinawa nutatannta, nntneliga. Y!

Higaynli Tsnega hatnganiga. Aya-gg gatngisgesti tsngilisi deagwlstawist.i.tegesti, tsadnhi. Naski-gg itsaweshi ngwa usinuli hatnganiga. Utsinawa nutatannta nntneliga.

Y!

(Degasisisgni)--Hia duniyukwatisgni dikannwti atannsidahi yigi. Naski dignstane?ti-gw le tsitst yielis.

Nign-gw usna [_for_ usndana?] gntati nayga nnwati unannska?lai. Kaneska dalnige unastetla tsigi. Selu digah?nhi tsuniyahisti n?ki tsus.h.i.ta, kanhena-?n naski igai udansti higi nayga.