354 SACRED FORMULAS OF THE CHEROKEES

Explanation.

The Cherokee name

for thisdisease is

Gu

ⁿwani'gistal',

which

sig- nifies 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 cryingas if frightened.

The

^civi-

lized doctor

would

regard these as

symptoms

of the presence of

worms,

but althoughthe

Cherokee name might seem

to indicate the

same

belief, the realtheoryis verydifferent.

Cherokee mothers sometimes hush

crying children

by

telling

them

thatthe screech

owl

is listeningoutin the

woods

orthatthe De'tsata

—

a maliciouslittle

dwarf who

lives in caves in the river bluffs

—

will

come and

getthem. This quietsthe child for the time

and

is

so far successful, but the animals, or the De'tsata, take offense at being

spoken

of inthis

way, and

visit their displeasure

upon

the children horn to the mother aft/ nvard. 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

devotetheir attention to it, using various formulas

and

prescriptions. It is also called atawi'nShl, 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, espe- cially 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

thistheory.

In this

formula

the doctor,

who

is certainly not

overburdened

with modesty, starts out

by

asserting that he is a great ada'wehi,

who

neverfails

and who

surpasses all others.

He

then declares that the disease is caused

by

a

mere

screech owl,

which

he atonce ban- ishes tothelaurel thicket. In the succeeding paragraphs

he

reiter- ates his former boasting, but asserts in turn that the trouble is

caused

by

a

mere

hooting ^owl, a rabbit, or

even by

the De'tsata,

whose

greatest exploit is hiding the arrows of the boys, for

which

the youthful hunters donot hesitate to rate

him

soundly.

These

variousmischief-makers the doctor banishestotheir proper haunts, the hooting owl tothe spruce thicket, the rabbitto the

broom

sage on the

mountain

^side,

and

the De'tsatato 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 ^atthe

end

of the first, second,

and

third paragraphs

and

four times atthe end of the fourth orlast. Indiseases ofthis kind,

which

arenot supposed ^tobe of alocal character, the doctor

blows

mooney]

FORMULA FOR INFANT

DISEASES.

355

first

upon

the

back

of the head, then

upon

the left shoulder, next

upon

the right shoulder,

and

^finally

upon

the breast, the patient beinggenerally sitting, or

propped up

in bed, facing the east.

The

child

must

notbe taken outof doors duringthe four days, because should a bird chance to fly overhead so that its

shadow would

fall

upon

the infant, it

would fan

^tin diseast back intothe

body

of the littleone.

GOWANIGISTU'"! DITANU»WATI'Yl.

Yu! Sg?

! Usinu'li hatu'ⁿgani'ga, Giya'giya' Sa^ka'ni, ew'sata'gl tsul'da'histi. Usinu'li hatlasi'ga. Tsis'kwa-gwii' ulsge'ta uwu'tla-

ni'lel'. Usinuli'yu atsahilu'gisi'ga. Utsina'wa nu'tatanu'"ta.

Yu!

Yu!

SgS! Usinu'li hatu^Dgani'ga, Diga'tiski Watige'i, galu'ⁿlatl iyu'ⁿtaditsul'da'histi.

Ha-na'gwa

usinu'li hatlasi'ga. Tsi'skwa-gwu ditu'nila'w'itsu'ki higese'i. Usiniili ke'tati'gu'lahi'ga. Utsina'wa

adu

ⁿni'ga.

Yu!

Translation.

TO TREAT GUⁿWANIG1STU"I

—

^(SECOND).

Yu! Listen! Quicklyyouhave drawnnear to hearken,

O

Blue Sparrow-Hawk;

in the spreading treetops you areat rest. Quicklyyou have come down. The intruderisonlyabirdwhich has,overshadowed him. Swiftlyyou haveswooped downupon it. Reliefisaccomplished. Yu!

Yu

^{! Listen! Quickly} you have drawn nearto hearken,

O

BrownRabbit-Hawk;

you areat rest there above. Ha! Swiftlynowyou have come down. Itisonly the birds which have come together for acouncil. Quicklyyouhavecome and scatteredthem. Reliefisaccomplished. Yu!

Explanation.

This formula,alsofor

Gu

ⁿwani'gistu'ⁿIorAtawine'hi,

was

obtained

from

A'wan'ita

(Young

Deer),

who

wrote

down

onlythe prayer

and

explained the treatment ^orally.

He

coincides in the opinionthat thisdisease in childrenis caused

by

the birds, but says thatit orig- inates

from

the

shadow

of a bird flying overhead

having

fallen

upon

the pregnant mother.

He

says further that the disease is easilyrecognizedinchildren,butthat it

sometimes

doesnotdevelop until the child has attained maturity,

when

^{it is}

more

difficultto discern the causeof the trouble, although in the*latter case dark circles

around

the eyes are unfailing

symptoms.

The

prayer

—

^likeseveral others

from

the

same

source

—

^{seems in-}

complete,

and

judging

from

analogy is evidently incorrect in

some

respects, butyet exemplifiesthe diseasetheoryin a striking

manner.

The

^{disease is} declared to

have

been caused

by

thebirds, ^it being asserted inthe first

paragraph

that a birdhas cast its

shadow upon

thesufferer, while inthe second ^it is declared that they

have

gath- ered in council(in hisbody). This latteris a favorite expression in theseformulas toindicate the great

number

of the disease animals.

35(>

SACKED FORMULAS OF THE CHEROKEES.

Another

expression of frequent occurrenceis to the effect that the diseaseanimals

have formed

asettlementor established a

townhouse

in the patient's body.

The

^disease animal, being a bird or birds,

must

be dislodged by

something which

preys

upon

birds,

and

ac- cordingly the

Bine Sparrow-Hawk from

thetreetops

and

the

Brown Rabbit-Hawk

(Diga'tiskI

—

_"

_{One who}

_{snatchesup''),}

_fromabove

_are

invoked to drive outthe intruders.

The

formeris then saidto

have swooped down upon them

as a

hawk

darts

upon

its prey, whilethe latteris declaredto

have

scattered the birds

which were

holding

a

council. This being done, relief is accomplished.

Yu!

^is a

mean-

inglessinterjection frequentlyused to introduceorclose

paragraphs

or songs.

The

medicine used is a

warm

decoction of the

bark

of Kunstu'tsI (Sassafras

—

^Sassafras officinale), Kanu'si'ta (Flowering

Dogwood

—

Cornus

florida), Uda'lana (Service tree

— Amelanchier

Canadensis),

and Uni'kwa

(Black

Gum — ^Nyssa

nmltirlora), withthe roots of

two

species (large

and

^{small) of}Dayakall'skI

(Wild Rose —

Rosalucida).

The bark

in everycase 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 aresimplysteeped 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

tohold

up

its

hands

in front of its facewith the

palms

turned out

toward

the doctor,

who

takes

some

ofthe medicinein his

mouth and

repeats theprayer mentally,

blowing

themedicine

upon

the

head and hands

of the patientatthefinal

Yu

^! of each paragraph.

It is probable that the prayer originally consisted of four para- graphs, orelse thatthese

two

paragraphs

were

repeated.

The

child drinks a^little ofthe medicine atthe end of eachtreatment.

The

use ofsaltisprohibitedduringthe four-days of the treatment, the

word

(ama')being understood toincludelye,

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.

HLV DU'NIYUKWATISUU"! KANA'HEHU.

Sge! Nu"dagu'

^llyi tsul'da'histt, Kanani'ski Gigage. UsInuTl 1111'"-

ua gigage hlnu

ⁿni'ga. Hida'wehi-gagu', asti' digi'gage usinu'li dehlkssa'u"tani'ga. Ulsge'ta kane'ge

kayu"ga

gesu'", tsga'ya-gwu higese'i. Ehlstl' hituwa'saniy'tel'. Usinu'li asti' digi'gage dehada'-

uHaniga,

adi'na tsiilstai-yiV'ti-gwu higese'i.

Na'gwa

ganagi'ta da'tsatane'll. Utslna'wa nu'tatanu'ⁿta ntiHuneli'ga.

Yu

^!

HigayiV'li Tsune'ga hatu'"gani'ga. " A'ya-gagu' gatu'ⁿgisge'sti tsungili'sl deagwulstawl'stitege'sti," tsadunu'hl. Na'ski-gagiY itsa'-

mooney.]

FORMULA FOR NEURALGIA. 357

wesu'hi

na'gwa

usinu'li hatu"gani'ga. Utsln&'wa ntitatanuta nu° - tu'neli'ga.

Yu

!

Sge! Uhyu"tla'yl tsul'da'histi Kanani'skiSa'ka'nl. Usinu'li

nu

ⁿ

na

sa'ka'nl hlnu"ni'ga. Hida'wf>hi-gagu, asti' (di)sa'ka'nl usinu'li de-

hlksau

^{ntani'ga. Ulsge'ta kane'ge}

kayu"ga

gesu"¹, tsga'ya-gwu

higese'T. Ehlsti' hituwa'saniy'te(I'). Usinu'li asti' disa'ka'nige de- liada'uⁿtaniga, adi'na tsulstai-yu"ti-gwu ^higese'i.

Na'gwa

^tsga'ya gunagi'ta tsiituneli'ga. Utsina'wa nu'tatanu'"ta

nu

ⁿtuneli'ga.

Yu!

"

Hlgayu'"li Tsfme'ga hatu"gani'ga. "A'ya-gagu' gatu'ⁿgisge'stl tsungili'si deagwulstawi'stitege'sti," tsadunu'hl. Nas'kigagu ^itsa-

wesuhl na'gwa

usinu'li hatu° gani'ga. Utsina'wa nutatanu'Ha

nu

ⁿtuneli'ga.

Yu!

Sge ^! Usuhi'yl tsul'da'histi Kanani'ski U'"nage. Usinu'li

nu"na

u'ⁿ

nage

hlmY'ni'ga. Hida'wehi-gagu, asti'digu'"nage^usinu'lidehlk-

sau

^{ntani'ga. Ulsge'takane'ge}

kayu'ga

gesu'", tsga'ya-gwu higese'i.

Ehlsti' hituwa'saniy'tel'. Usinu'li asti'digu'ⁿ

nage

dehada'u"tani'ga, adi'natsulstai-vu 'ti-gwuhigese'i.

Na'gwa

tsga'ya gunagi'ta ^tsiitu- neli'ga. Utsina'wa nutatanu"ta nu"tuneli'ga.

Yu!

Hlgayu'"H

Tsune'ga hatu"gani'ga.

"A'ya-gagu'

gatu'ⁿgisge'stl tsungili'si deagwulstawi'stitege'sti," tsadunu'hl. Na'skigagu itsa-

wesu'hl

na'gwa

usinu'li hatu'ⁿgani'ga. Utsina'wa nutatanii'"ta

nu

^ntuneli'ga.

Yu!

Sg?

^{! Galu'DlatI} tsul'da'histi, Kanani'ski Tsune'ga. Usinu'li nu'^{n -}

na

une'ga hlnii^uniga. Hida'wehi-gagu, ^asti' tsune'ga ^usinu'li de- hlksa'u" ^tani'ga. Ulsge'takane'ge

kayu'ga

gesu'",tsga'ya-gwuhige-

se'i. Ehlsti' hituwa'saniy'tel'. Usinu'li asti'tsune'gadehada'u"tan-

i'ga, adi'na tsulstai-yu"ti-gwu ^higese'i.

Na'gwa

^tsga'ya gunagi'ta tsiituneli'ga. Utsina'wa nu'tatanu^"ta. niVtfmeli'ga.

Yu!

Higayu"ll

Tsune'ga hatu^ugani'ga. ''A'ya-gagu' gatu'ngisge'sti tsungili'si deagwulstawi'stitege'sti," tsadunu'hl. Naski-gagu' itsa- wesfl'hl

na'gwa

usinu'lihatiV'gaiii'ga. U'tslna'wanutatanu'"tanu"tii- neli'ga.

Yu!

(Degasi'sisgu'"!)— Hia' duniyukwa'tisgu"!

dlkanu"watl

atanu"si-

da'hi yi'gi. Na'skI digu'nstang"ti-gwu ul6' tsltsatii' yie'lisu. Ni-

gu

ⁿ'-gwu usu'na [forusunda'na?] gu'ⁿtati naya'ganu'ⁿwati unanii'"- ska'la'I. Kane'ska ^{dala'nige unaste'tla tsl'gl. Se'lu} dlgahti'nu'hl tsuni'yahlstl' nu'kl tsusu'hita, kanahe'na-'nu naski' ^iga'I udanu'stl hi'gl naya'ga.

Translation.

THIS TELLS ABOUT MOVING PAINS IN THE TEETH (NEURALGIA?).

Listen! In the Sunland you repose,

O

Red Spider. Quickly you have brought andlaiddiiwn the red path.

O

^greatadawehi. quicklyyouhave broughtdownthe red threads from above. The intruder in the tooth has spoken and it is onlya worm. Thetormentor has wrappeditselfaround the root of the tooth. Quickly you have^droppeddownthe red threads,^{for it is just}what youeat.

Now

^{it isfor} youtopickit up. The^reliefhas been causedtocome. Yu!