Myths of the Cherokee Extract from the Nineteenth Annual...

“In the first place, the Senecas, a great many years ago, devised a plan for us to become friends. When the plan was first laid, the Seneca rose up and said, I fear the Cherokee, because the tomahawk is stuck in several parts of his head. The Seneca afterwards remarked, that he saw the tomahawk still sticking in all parts of the Cherokee’s head, and heard him whooping and hallooing say [sic] that he was too strong to die. The Seneca further said, Our warriors in old times used to go to war; when they did go, they always went to fight the Cherokees; sometimes one or two would return home—sometimes none. He further said, The Great Spirit must love the Cherokees, and we must be in the wrong, going to war with them. The Seneca then said, Suppose we make friends with the Cherokee, and wash his wounds and cause them to heal up, that he may grow larger than he was before. The Seneca, after thus speaking, sat down. The Wyandot then rose and said, You have done right, and let it be. I am your youngest brother, and you our oldest. This word was told to the Shawnees; They replied, We are glad, let it be; you are our elder brothers. The Senecas then said, they would go about and pray to the Great Spirit for four years to assist them in making peace, and that they would set aside a vessel of water and cover it, and at the end of every year they would take the cover off, and examine the water, which they did; every time they opened it they found it was changed; at the end of four years they uncovered the vessel and found that the water had changed to a colour that suited them.

“The Seneca then said, Before we make peace, we must give our neighboring tribes some fire; for it will not do to make peace without it,—they might be traveling about, and run against each other, and probably cause them to hurt each other. These three tribes said, before making peace, that this fire which was to be given to them should be kindled in order that a big light may be raised, so they may see each other at a long distance; this is to last so long as the earth stands; They said further, that this law of peace shall last from generation to generation—so long as there shall be a red man living on this earth: They also said, that the fire shall continue among us and shall never be extinguished as long as one remains. The Seneca further said to the Shawnees, I have put a belt around you, and have tied up the talk in a bundle, and placed it on your backs; we will now make a path on which we will pass to the Sioux. The Seneca said further, You shall continue your path until it shall reach the lodge of the Osage. When the talk was brought to the Sioux, they replied, we feel thankful to you and will take your talk; we can see a light through the path you have made for us.

“When the Shawnees brought the talk to the Osages, they replied, By to-morrow, by the middle of the day, we shall have finished our business. The Osage said further, The Great Spirit has been kind to me. He has brought something to me, I being fatigued hunting for it. When the Shawnees returned to the lodge of the Osages, they were informed that they were to be killed, and they immediately made their escape.

“The Seneca then said to the Shawnees, that the Osages must be mistaken. The Shawnees went again to see the Osages—they told them their business. The Osages remarked, The Great Spirit has been good to us,—to-morrow by the middle of the day he will give us something without fatigue. When the Shawnees arrived at the lodge, an old man of the Osages told them that they had better make their escape; that if they did not, by the middle of the following day, they were all to be destroyed, and directed them to the nearest point of the woods. The Shawnees made their escape about midday. They discovered the Osages following them, and threw away their packs, reserving the bag their talk was in, and arrived at their camp safe. When the Shawnees arrived home, they said they had come near being killed, and the Osages refused to receive their talk. The Seneca then said, If the Osages will not take our talk, let them remain as they are; and when the rising generation shall become as one, the Osages shall be like some herb standing alone. The Seneca further said, The Osages shall be like a lone cherry-tree, standing in the prairies, where the birds of all kinds shall light upon it at pleasure. The reason this talk was made about the Osages was, that they prided themselves upon their warriors and manhood, and did not wish to make peace.

“The Seneca further said, we have succeeded in making peace with all the Northern and neighbouring tribes. The Seneca then said to the Shawnees, You must now turn your course to the South: you must take your path to the Cherokees, and even make it into their houses. When the Shawnees started at night they took up their camp and sat up all night, praying to the Great Spirit to enable them to arrive in peace and safety among the Cherokees. The Shawnees still kept their course, until they reached a place called Tah-le-quah, where they arrived in safety, as they wished, and there met the chiefs and warriors of the Cherokees. When they arrived near Tah-le-quah, they went to a house and sent two men to the head chiefs. The chief’s daughter was the only person in the house. As soon as she saw them, she went out and met them, and shook them by the hand and asked them into the house to sit down. The men were all in the field at work—the girl’s father was with them. She ran and told him that there were two men in the house, and that they were enemies. The chief immediately ran to the house and shook them by the hand, and stood at the door. The Cherokees all assembled around the house, and said, Let us kill them, for they are enemies. Some of the men said, No, the chief’s daughter has taken them by the hand; so also has our chief. The men then became better satisfied. The chief asked the two men if they were alone. They answered, No; that there were some more with them. He told them to go after them and bring them to his house.

When these two men returned with the rest of their people, the chief asked them what their business was. They then opened this valuable bundle, and told him that it contained a talk for peace. The chief told them, I cannot do business alone; all the chiefs are assembled at a place called Cho-qua-ta [for E-cho-ta], where I will attend to your business in general council. When the messengers of peace arrived at Cho-qua-ta, they were kindly received by the chiefs, who told them they would gladly receive their talk of peace. The messengers of peace then said to the Cherokees, We will make a path for you to travel in, and the rising generation may do the same,—we also will keep it swept clean and white, so that the rising generation may travel in peace. The Shawnee further said, We will keep the doors of our houses open, so that when the rising generation come among us they shall be welcome. He further said, This talk is intended for all the different tribes of our red brothers, and is to last to the end of time. He further said, I have made a fire out of the dry elm—this fire is for all the different tribes to see by. I have put one chunk toward the rising sun, one toward the north, and one toward the south. This fire is not to be extinguished so long as time lasts. I shall stick up a stick close by this fire, in order that it may frequently be stirred, and raise a light for the rising generation to see by; if any one should turn in the dark, you must catch him by the hand, and lead him to the light, so that he can see that he was wrong.

“I have made you a fire-light, I have stripped some white hickory bark and set it up against the tree, in order that when you wish to remove this fire, you can take it and put it on the bark; when you kindle this fire it will be seen rising up toward the heavens. I will see it and know it; I am your oldest brother. The messenger of peace further said, I have prepared white benches for you, and leaned the white pipe against them, and when you eat you shall have but one dish and one spoon. We have done everything that was good, but our warriors still hold their tomahawks in their hands, as if they wished to fight each other. We will now take their tomahawks from them and bury them; we must bury them deep under the earth where there is water; and there must be winds, which we wish to blow them so far that our warriors may never see them again.

“The messenger further said, Where there is blood spilt I will wipe it up clean—wherever bones have been scattered, I have taken them and buried them, and covered them with white hickory bark and a white cloth—there must be no more blood spilt; our warriors must not recollect it any more. Our warriors said that the Cherokees were working for the rising generation by themselves; we must take hold and help them.

“The messengers then said that you Cherokees are placed now under the centre of the sun; this talk I leave with you for the different tribes, and when you talk it, our voice shall be loud enough to be heard over this island. This is all I have to say.”45

Wampum—The celebrated wampum was a species of bead cut from the shell of the clam, conch, or other shell-bearing mollusk of the coast or the larger streams. The common name is derived from an Algonquian word signifying white, and was properly applied only to one variety, the generic term varying with the tribe. The beads were rather cylindrical than globular, and were of two colors, white and purple or dark. They were rated at definite values. The wampum was manufactured by the coast tribes, being traded by them to those of the interior, and was largely used everywhere east of the Mississippi for necklaces, collars, belts, and other purposes of personal adornment, as well as in connection with the noted wampum belts, by means of which the memory of treaties and tribal traditions was handed down. These belts were woven with various designs in wampum, either pictographic or symbolic, the meaning of which was preserved and explained on public occasions by an officer appointed to that duty. In ancient times no treaty or covenant was considered binding, and no tribal embassy was recognized as official, without the delivery of a wampum belt as a guaranty and memorial. The colonial documents are full of references to this custom. Up to the end of the last century the Cherokee still tendered such belts in their treaties with the Government, and one was delivered in the same manner so late as the treaty of Prairie des Chiens in 1825.

The Iroquois still preserve several ancient belts, of which a good idea is afforded by the illustration and accompanying description (figure 2, page 354). On account of the high estimation in which these shell beads were held they were frequently used in the East as a standard of exchange, as eagle feathers were in the West, and among the Cherokee the same word, atela, is used alike for bead and for money. On the Pacific coast, shells were more generally shaped into pendants and gorgets. For a good eye-witness account of the manufacture and use of wampum and gorgets of shell among the South Atlantic tribes, see Lawson, History of Carolina, 315–316.

90.Hiadeoni, the Seneca (p. 356): Of this story Schoolcraft says: “The following incident in the verbal annals of Iroquois hardihood and heroism was related to me by the intelligent Seneca, Tetoyoah, William Jones of Cattaraugus, along with other reminiscences of the ancient Cherokee wars.” Hewitt thinks the proper Seneca form of the name may be Hăia′di′oñnĭ, signifying “His body lies supine.”

92.Escape of the Seneca boys (p. 359): The manuscript notes from which this and several following traditions are arranged are in the archives of the Bureau of American Ethnology, and were obtained in 1886–87 among the Seneca Indians of New York by Mr Jeremiah Curtin, since noted as the author of several standard collections of Indian and European myths and the translator of the works of the Polish novelist, Sienkiewicz.

Animal Protectors—The leading incident of this tale is closely paralleled by a Kiowa story, told by the old men as an actual occurrence of some fifty years ago, concerning a warrior who, having been desperately wounded in an engagement with Mexican troops in southern Texas, was abandoned to die by his retreating comrades. At night, while lying upon the ground awaiting death, and unable to move, he heard a long howl in the distance, which was repeated nearer and nearer, until at last he heard the patter of feet in the sand, and a wolf came up and licked the festering wounds of the warrior with such soothing effect that he fell asleep. This was repeated several times until the man was able to sit up, when the wolf left him, after telling him—not in the vision of a dream, but as a companion face to face—that he must keep up his courage, and that he would get back in safety to his tribe. Soon afterward the wounded warrior was found by a party of Comanche, who restored him to his people. At the next Sun dance he made public thanksgiving for his rescue (see the author’s Calendar History of the Kiowa Indians, in Seventeenth Annual Report Bureau of American Ethnology, part 1, 1901). The story is not impossible. A wolf may easily have licked the wounded man’s sores, as a dog might do, and through the relief thus afforded, if not by sympathy of companionship, have enabled him to hold out until rescued by friends. The rest is easy to the imagination of an Indian, who believes that there is no essential difference between himself and other animals.

The War Woman—The women described as having power to decide the fate of captives, mentioned also in the next story (number 94), are evidently the female dignitaries among the ancient Cherokee known to early writers as “War Women” or “Pretty Women.” Owing to the decay of Cherokee tradition and custom it is now impossible to gather anything positive on the subject from Indian informants, but from documentary references it is apparent that there existed among the Cherokee a custom analogous to that found among the Iroquois and probably other Eastern tribes, by which the decision of important questions relating to peace and war was left to a vote of the women. Among the Iroquois this privilege was exercised by a council of matrons, the mothers of the tribes. It may have been the same among the Cherokee, with the “Pretty Woman” to voice the decision of the council, or the final rendering may have been according to the will of the “Pretty Woman” herself. The institution served in a measure to mitigate the evils of war and had its origin in the clan system. Under this system a captive enemy was still an enemy until he had been adopted into the tribe, which could only be done through adoption into a clan and family. As clan descent was reckoned through the women it rested with them to decide the question of adoption. If they were favorable all was well, and the captive became at once a member of a family and clan and of the tribe at large. Otherwise, as a public enemy, only death remained to him, unless he was ransomed by friends.

The proper Cherokee title of this female arbiter of life and death is unknown. The clan of the Ani′-Gilâ′hĭ, or “Long-hairs,” is sometimes spoken of as the Pretty-woman clan, and the office may have been hereditary in that clan. The Seneca stories imply that there were two of these female officers, but from Haywood’s account there would seem to have been but one. An upper tributary of Savannah river in Georgia bears the name War-woman creek.

At the Hopewell treaty conference in 1785 the principal chief of Echota, after an opening speech, said: “I have no more to say, but one of our beloved women has, who has borne and raised up warriors.” After delivering a string of wampum to emphasize the importance of the occasion, “the war woman of Chota then addressed the commissioners.” Having expressed her pleasure at the peace, she continued: “I have a pipe and a little tobacco to give to the commissioners to smoke in friendship. I look on you and the red people as my children. Your having determined on peace is most pleasing to me, for I have seen much trouble during the late war. I am old, but I hope yet to bear children, who will grow up and people our nation, as we are now to be under the protection of Congress and shall have no more disturbance. The talk I have given is from the young warriors I have raised in my town, as well as myself. They rejoice that we have peace, and we hope the chain of friendship will never more be broken.” Two strings of wampum, a pipe, and some tobacco accompanied her words (American State Papers; Indian Affairs, I, p. 41, 1832).

Haywood says in 1823: “The Cherokees had the law or custom of assigning to a certain woman the office of declaring what punishment should be inflicted on great offenders; whether, for instance, burning or other death, or whether they should be pardoned. This woman they called the pretty woman. Mrs Ward exercised this office when Mrs Bean, about the year 1776, was taken from the white settlements on the upper parts of Holston. Being bound and about to be burned on one of the mounds, the pretty woman interfered and pronounced her pardon” (Nat. and Aborig. Hist. Tenn., p. 278). See also historical note 20, “Peace Towns and Towns of Refuge.”

Between two lines of people—This custom, known to colonial writers as “running the gauntlet,” was very common among the eastern tribes, and was intended not so much to punish the captive as to test his courage and endurance, with a view to adoption if he proved worthy. It was practiced only upon warriors, never upon women or children, and although the blows were severe they were not intended to be fatal. The prisoner was usually unbound and made to run along a cleared space in the center of the village toward a certain goal, and was safe for the time being if he succeeded in reaching it.

Canebrake—The tall cane reed (Arundinaria), called i′hya by the Cherokee, is common along the southern streams, as such names as Cany fork, Cut-cane creek, and Young-cane creek testify. It was greatly valued among the Indians for fishing rods, blowguns, and baskets, as well as for fodder for stock. The best canebrakes were famous far and wide, and were resorted to from long distances in the gathering season. Most of the cane now used by the East Cherokee for blowguns and baskets is procured by long journeys on foot to the streams of upper South Carolina, or to points on the French Broad above Knoxville, Tennessee.

My grandson—Among all the eastern and plains tribes this is a term of affectionate address to a dependent or inferior, as “grandfather” is a respectful address to one occupying a superior station, or venerable by reason of age or dignity, both words being thus used without any reference to kinship. In tribal councils nearly all the eastern tribes except the Iroquois addressed the Delaware representatives as “grandfather,” and in an Arapaho song of the Ghost dance the Whirlwind is thus addressed.

95.Hemp-carrier (p. 364): This story of the old wars was obtained from Colonel William H. Thomas, who says that Tâle′danigi′skĭ was a chief formerly living near Valleytown, in Cherokee county. The name is variously rendered “Hemp-carrier,” “Nettle-carrier,” or “Flax-toter,” from tâle′ta, the richweed (Pilea pumila), a plant with a fibrous stalk from which the Indians wove thread and cordage. The trail along which the Seneca came ran from Valley river across the ridge to Cheowa (Robbinsville) and thence northwest to connect with the “great war path” in Tennessee (see historical note 19).

Cairns—Stone cairns were formerly very common along the trails throughout the Cherokee country, but are now almost gone, having been demolished by treasure hunters after the occupation of the country by the whites. They were usually sepulchral monuments built of large stones piled loosely together above the body to a height of sometimes 6 feet or more, with a corresponding circumference. This method of interment was used only when there was a desire to commemorate the death, and every passer-by was accustomed to add a stone to the heap. The custom is ancient and world-wide, and is still kept up in Mexico and in many parts of Europe and Asia. Early references to it among the southern tribes occur in Lederer (1670), Travels, page 10, ed. 1891, and Lawson (1700), History of Carolina, pages 43 and 78, ed. 1860. The latter mentions meeting one day “seven heaps of stones, being the monuments of seven Indians that were slain in that place by the Sinnagers or Troquois [Iroquois]. Our Indian guide added a stone to each heap.” The common name is the Gaelic term, meaning literally “a pile.”

Seven wives—Polygamy was common among the Cherokee, as among nearly all other tribes, although not often to such an exaggerated extent as in this instance. The noted chief Yânûgûñskĭ, who died in 1839, had two wives. With the plains tribes, and perhaps with others, the man who marries the eldest of several daughters has prior claim upon her unmarried sisters.

96.The Seneca peacemakers (p. 365): This story was told to Schoolcraft by the Seneca more than fifty years ago. A somewhat similar story is related by Adair (Hist. American Indians, p. 392) of a young “Anantooeah” (i. e., Nûndăwegĭ or Seneca) warrior taken by the Shawano.

Death song—It seems to have been a chivalrous custom among the eastern tribes to give to the condemned prisoner who requested it a chance to recite his warlike deeds and to sing his death song before proceeding to the final torture. He was allowed the widest latitude of boasting, even at the expense of his captors and their tribe. The death song was a chant belonging to the warrior himself or to the war society of which he was a member, the burden being farewell to life and defiance to death. When the great Kiowa war chief, Set-ängya, burst his shackles at Fort Sill and sprang upon the soldiers surrounding him, with the deliberate purpose to sell his life rather than to remain a prisoner, he first sang the war song of his order, the Kâitseñ′ko, of which the refrain is: “O earth, you remain forever, but we Kâitseñ′ko must die” (see the author’s Calendar History of the Kiowa Indians, in Seventeenth Annual Report of the Bureau American Ethnology, part 1, 1901).

97.Origin of the Yontoñwisas dance (p. 365): This is evidently the one called by Morgan (League of Iroquois, p. 290) the Untowesus. He describes both this and the Oaskanea as a “shuffle dance” for women only. The spelling of the Seneca names in the story is that given in the manuscript.

Not to go after—Morgan, in his work quoted above, asserts that the Iroquois never made any effort to recover those of their people who have been captured by the enemy, choosing to consider them thenceforth as lost to their tribe and kindred. This, if true, is doubly remarkable, in view of the wholesale adoption of prisoners and subjugated tribes by the Iroquois.