Seventh Annual Report Part 86

Diginasklhisti nigesnna. Y!

Hianasgw u?tlyi-gw digalnwistanti snnyi hani?lihn gnasgisti. Ganetsi aye?li asitadisti watsila, gannliyeti aguwayeni andisgi. Siyi tsikanhe itsulahagw.

_Translation._

TO FIX THE AFFECTIONS.

Y! Ha! Now the souls have come together. You are of the Deer (x x) clan. Your name is (x x) Aysta, I am of the Wolf (o-o) clan. Your body, I take it, I eat it. Y! Ha! Now the souls have come together.

You are of the Deer clan. Your name is Aysta. I am of the Wolf clan.

Your flesh I take, I eat. Y!

Y! Ha! Now the souls have come together. You are of the Deer clan.

Your name is Aysta. I am of the Wolf clan. Your spittle I take, I eat. I! Y!

Y! Ha! Now the souls have come together. You are of the Deer clan.

Your name is Aysta. I am of the Wolf clan. Your heart I take, I eat.

Y!

Listen! Ha! Now the souls have met, never to part, you have said, O Ancient One above. O Black Spider, you have been brought down from on high. You have let down your web. She is of the Deer clan; her name is Aysta. Her soul you have wrapped up in (your) web. There where the people of the seven clans are continually coming in sight and again disappearing (i.e. moving about, coming and going), there was never any feeling of loneliness.

Listen! Ha! But now you have covered her over with loneliness. Her eyes have faded. Her eyes have come to fasten themselves on one alone.

Whither can her soul escape? Let her be sorrowing as she goes along, and not for one night alone. Let her become an aimless wanderer, whose trail may never be followed. O Black Spider, may you hold her soul in your web so that it shall never get through the meshes. What is the name of the soul? They two have come together. It is mine!

Listen! Ha! And now you have hearkened, O Ancient Red. Your grandchildren have come to the edge of your body. You hold them yet more firmly in your grasp, never to let go your hold. O Ancient One, we have become as one. The woman has put her (x x x) soul into our hands. We shall never let it go! Y!

(Directions.)--And this also is for just the same purpose (the preceding formula in the ma.n.u.script book is also a love charm). It must be done by stealth at night when they are asleep. One must put the hand on the middle of the breast and rub on spittle with the hand, they say. The other formula is equally good.

_Explanation._

This formula to fix the affections of a young wife is taken from the ma.n.u.script sheets of the late Gatigwanasti. It very much resembles the other formula for the same purpose, obtained from. A?ynini, and the brief directions show that the ceremony is alike in both. The first four paragraphs are probably sung, as in the other formula, on four successive nights, and, as explained in the directions and as stated verbally by A?ynini, this must be done stealthily at night while the woman is asleep, the husband rubbing his spittle on her breast with his hand while chanting the song in a low tone, hardly above a whisper. The prayer to the Ancient One, or Ancient Red (Fire), in both formulas, and the expression, I come to the edge of your body, indicate that the hands are first warmed over the fire, in accordance with the general practice when laying on the hands. The prayer to the Black Spider is a beautiful specimen of poetic imagery, and hardly requires an explanation. The final paragraph indicates the successful accomplishment of his purpose. Your grandchildren (tsetslisi) is an expression frequently used in addressing the more important deities.

MISCELLANEOUS FORMULAS.

SnN'YI ED'HI ESGA ASTnTIYI.

Sge! Uhyntsyi galnlt.i.tla tslthisti, Hisgaya Gigagei, usinuli ditsakni denatlnhisaniga Uy-igawasti dudanti. Nnnhi tatunawati. Usinuli dudant daniynstanili.

Sge! Uhyntlyi galnlt.i.tla tslthisti, Hisgaya Tehalu, _hinawsuki_. Ha-usinuli ngwa ditsakni denatlnhisaniga uy-igawasti dudanti. Nnnhi tatunawati. Usinuli dudant danigalistani.

_Translation._

TO SHORTEN A NIGHT-GOER ON THIS SIDE.

Listen! In the Frigid Land above you repose, O Red Man, quickly we two have prepared your arrows for the soul of the Imprecator. He has them lying along the path. Quickly we two will take his soul as we go along.

Listen! In the Frigid Land above you repose, O Purple Man, * * * *.

Ha! Quickly now we two have prepared your arrows for the soul of the Imprecator. He has them lying along the path. Quickly we two will cut his soul in two.

_Explanation._

This formula, from A?yninis book, is for the purpose of driving away a witch from the house of a sick person, and opens up a most interesting chapter of Cherokee beliefs. The witch is supposed to go about chiefly under cover of darkness, and hence is called snnyi edhi, the night goer. This is the term in common use; but there are a number of formulistic expressions to designate a witch, one of which, uya igawasti, occurs in the body of the formula and may be rendered the imprecator, i.e., the sayer of evil things or curses. As the counteracting of a deadly spell always results in the death of its author, the formula is stated to be not merely to drive away the wizard, but to kill him, or, according to the formulistic expression, to shorten him (his life) on this side.

When it becomes known that a man is dangerously sick the witches from far and near gather invisibly about his house after nightfall to worry him and even force their way in to his bedside unless prevented by the presence of a more powerful shaman within the house. They annoy the sick man and thus hasten his death by stamping upon the roof and beating upon the sides of the house; and if they can manage to get inside they raise up the dying sufferer from the bed and let him fall again or even drag him out upon the floor. The object of the witch in doing this is to prolong his term of years by adding to his own life as much as he can take from that of the sick man. Thus it is that a witch who is successful in these practices lives to be very old.

Without going into extended details, it may be sufficient to state that the one most dreaded, alike by the friends of the sick man and by the lesser witches, is the Klana-ayeliski or Raven Mocker, so called because he flies through the air at night in a shape of fire, uttering sounds like the harsh croak of a raven.

The formula here given is short and simple as compared with some others. There is evidently a mistake in regard to the Red Man, who is here placed in the north, instead of in the east, as it should be.

The reference to the arrows will be explained further on. Purple, mentioned in the second paragraph, has nearly the same symbolic meaning as blue, viz: Trouble, vexation and defeat; hence the Purple Man is called upon to frustrate the designs of the witch.

To drive away the witch the shaman first prepares four sharpened sticks, which he drives down into the ground outside the house at each of the four corners, leaving the pointed ends projecting upward and outward. Then, about noontime he gets ready the Tslagaynli or Old Tobacco (_Nicotiana rustica_), with which he fills his pipe, repeating this formula during the operation, after which he wraps the pipe thus filled in a black cloth. This sacred tobacco is smoked only for this purpose. He then goes out into the forest, and returns just before dark, about which time the witch may be expected to put in an appearance. Lighting his pipe, he goes slowly around the house, puffing the smoke in the direction of every trail by which the witch might be able to approach, and probably repeating the same or another formula the while. He then goes into the house and awaits results.

When the witch approaches under cover of the darkness, whether in his own proper shape or in the form of some animal, the sharpened stick on that side of the house shoots up into the air and comes down like an arrow upon his head, inflicting such a wound as proves fatal within seven days. This explains the words of the formula, We have prepared your arrows for the soul of the Imprecator. He has them lying along the path. A?ynini said nothing about the use of the sharpened sticks in this connection, mentioning only the tobacco, but the ceremony, as here described, is the one ordinarily used. When wounded the witch utters a groan which is heard by those listening inside the house, even at the distance of half a mile. No one knows certainly who the witch is until a day or two afterward, when some old man or woman, perhaps in a remote settlement, is suddenly seized with a mysterious illness and before seven days elapse is dead.

GAHUSTI AGIYAHUSA.

Sge! Ha-ngwa hatnganiga Nnya Wtigei, gahusti tstskadi nigesnna. Ha-ngwa dngihyali. Agiyahusa sikwa, haga tsn-n iynta datsiwakthi. Tla-?ke aya akwatseliga. 0 0 digwadita.

_Translation._

I HAVE LOST SOMETHING.

Listen! Ha! Now you have drawn near to hearken, O Brown Rock; you never lie about anything. Ha! Now I am about to seek for it. I have lost a hog and now tell me about where I shall find it. For is it not mine? My name is ----.

_Explanation._

This formula, for finding anything lost, is so simple as to need but little explanation. Brown in this instance has probably no mythologic significance, but refers to the color of the stone used in the ceremony. This is a small rounded water-worn pebble, in substance resembling quartz and of a reddish-brown color. It is suspended by a string held between the thumb and finger of the shaman, who is guided in his search by the swinging of the pebble, which, according to their theory, will swing farther in the direction of the lost article than in the contrary direction! The shaman, who is always fasting, repeats the formula, while closely watching the motions of the swinging pebble. He usually begins early in the morning, making the first trial at the house of the owner of the lost article. After noting the general direction toward which it seems to lean he goes a considerable distance in that direction, perhaps half a mile or more, and makes a second trial. This time the pebble may swing off at an angle in another direction. He follows up in the direction indicated for perhaps another half mile, when on a third trial the stone may veer around toward the starting point, and a fourth attempt may complete the circuit. Having thus arrived at the conclusion that the missing article is somewhere within a certain circ.u.mscribed area, he advances to the center of this s.p.a.ce and marks out upon the ground a small circle inclosing a cross with arms pointing toward the four cardinal points. Holding the stone over the center of the cross he again repeats the formula and notes the direction in which the pebble swings. This is the final trial and he now goes slowly and carefully over the whole surface in that direction, between the center of the circle and the limit of the circ.u.mscribed area until in theory, at least, the article is found. Should he fail, he is never at a loss for excuses, but the specialists in this line are generally very shrewd guessers well versed in the doctrine of probabilities.

There are many formulas for this purpose, some of them being long and elaborate. When there is reason to believe that the missing article has been stolen, the specialist first determines the clan or settlement to which the thief belongs and afterward the name of the individual. Straws, bread b.a.l.l.s, and stones of various kinds are used in the different formulas, the ceremony differing according to the medium employed. The stones are generally pointed crystals or antique arrowheads, and are suspended as already described, the point being supposed to turn finally in the direction of the missing object.

Several of these stones have been obtained on the reservation and are now deposited in the National Museum. It need excite no surprise to find the hog mentioned in the formula, as this animal has been domesticated among the Cherokees for more than a century, although most of them are strongly prejudiced against it.

HIA UNLE (ATESTIYI).

Yuhahi, yuhahi, yuhahi, yuhahi, yuhahi, Yuhahi, yuhahi, yuhahi, yuhahi, yuhahi--Y!

Sge! Ha-ngwa hinahnski tayi. Ha-tsti-gw gnskaih. Tstalii-gwatina halu?ni. Knigwatina dulaska galnlati-gw witukti. Wignyasehisi.

'tali tsugnyi witetsatannnsi nnnhi tsanelagi degatsanawadisesti. Knst dutsasni atnwastehahi tstnelisesti. Sge!

_Translation._

THIS IS TO FRIGHTEN A STORM.