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

His skin was clean—The idea of purification or cleansing through the efficacy of the sweat-bath is very common in Indian myth and ceremonial. In an Omaha story given by Dorsey the hero has been transformed, by witchcraft, into a mangy dog. He builds a sweat lodge, goes into it as a dog and sweats himself until, on his command, the people take off the blankets, when “Behold, he was not a dog; he was a very handsome man” (“Adventures of Hingpe-agce,” in Contributions to North American Ethnology, VI, p. 175).

Honey-locust tree—The favorite honey-locust tree and the seat with thorns of the same species in the home of the Thunder Man may indicate that in Indian as in Aryan thought there was an occult connection between the pinnated leaves and the lightning, as we know to be the case with regard to the European rowan or mountain ash.

All kinds of snakes—It will be remembered that the boy’s father was a thunder god. The connection between the snake and the rain or thunder spirit has already been noted. It appears also in number 84, “The Man who Married the Thunder’s Sister.”

Sunset land—The Cherokee word here used is Wusûhihûñ′yĭ, “there where they stay over night.” The usual expression in the sacred formula is usûñhi′yĭ, “the darkening, or twilight place”; the common word is wude′ligûñ′yĭ, “there where it (the sun) goes down.”

Lightning at every stroke—In the Omaha myth of “The Chief’s Son and the Thunders,” given by Dorsey, some young men traveling to the end of the world meet a Thunder Man, who bids the leader to select one of four medicine bags. Having been warned in advance, he selects the oldest, but most powerful, and is then given also a club which causes thunder whenever flourished in the air (Contributions to North American Ethnology, VI, p. 185).

The brass rubbed off—The beautiful metallic luster on the head of Phanæus carnifex is thus accounted for. The common roller beetle is called “dung roller,” but this species is distinguished as the “horned, brass” beetle. It is also sometimes spoken of as the dog of the Thunder Boys.

Beavers gnaw at the grapevine—Something like this is found among the Cheyenne: “The earth rests on a large beam or post. Far in the north there is a beaver as white as snow who is a great father of all mankind. Some day he will gnaw through the support at the bottom. We shall be helpless and the earth will fall. This will happen when he becomes angry. The post is already partly eaten through. For this reason one band of the Cheyenne never eat beaver or even touch the skin. If they do touch it, they become sick” (Kroeber, Cheyenne Tales, in Journal of American Folk-Lore, July, 1900).

64.The nest of the Tlă′nuwă (p. 315): This story was obtained first from John Ax and Ta′gwadihi′, and was afterward heard of frequently in connection with the cave at Citico. It is mentioned by Ten Kate in “Legends of the Cherokees,” obtained in the Indian Territory, in the Journal of American Folk-Lore, January, 1889.

Tlă′nuwă—The Tlă′nuwă (Tsă′nuwă or Sû′năwă in the Middle dialect) is a mythic bird, described as a great hawk, larger than any bird now existing. There is a small hawk called tlă′nuwă usdi′, “little tlă′nuwă,” which is described as its smaller counterpart or image, and which the Cherokee say accompanies flocks of wild pigeons, occasionally when hungry swooping down and killing one by striking it with its sharp breast bone. It is probably the goshawk (Astur atricapillus). The great Tlă′nuwă, like the other animals, “went up.” According to Adair (History of the American Indians, p. 17) the Cherokee used to compare a miserly person to a “sinnawah.” When John Ax first recited the story he insisted that the whites must also believe it, as they had it pictured on their money, and holding up a silver coin, he triumphantly pointed out what he claimed was the figure of the Tlă′nuwă, holding in its talons the arrows and in its beak the serpent. He was not so far wrong, as it is well known that the Mexican coat of arms, stamped upon the coins of the republic, has its origin in a similar legend handed down from the Aztec. Myths of dangerous monster serpents destroyed by great birds were common to a number of tribes. The Tuscarora, formerly eastern neighbors of the Cherokee, told “a long tale of a great rattlesnake, which, a great while ago, lived by a creek in that river, which was Neus, and that it killed abundance of Indians; but at last a bald eagle killed it, and they were rid of a serpent that used to devour whole canoes full of Indians at a time” (Lawson, Carolina, p. 346).

Tlă′nuwă′ĭ—“Tlă′nuwă place,” the cliff so called by the Cherokee, with the cave half way up its face, is on the north bank of Little Tennessee river, a short distance below the entrance of the Citico creek, on land formerly belonging to Colonel John Lowrey, one of the Cherokee officers at the battle of the Horseshoe bend (Wafford). Just above, but on the opposite side of the river, is Uʻtlûñti′yĭ, the former haunt of the cannibal liver eater (see number 66, “Uʻtlûñta, the Spear-finger”).

Holes are still there—The place which the Cherokee call Tlă′nuwă-a′tsiyelûñisûñ′yĭ, “Where the Tlă′nuwă cut it up,” is nearly opposite Citico, on Little Tennessee river, just below Talassee ford, in Blount county, Tennessee. The surface of the rock bears a series of long trenchlike depressions, extending some distance, which, according to the Indians, are the marks where the pieces bitten from the body of the great serpent were dropt by the Tlă′nuwă.

66.Uʻtlûñ′ta, the Spear-finger (p. 316): This is one of the most noted among the Cherokee myths, being equally well known both east and west. The version here given was obtained from John Ax, with some corrections and additions from Swimmer, Wafford (west) and others. A version of it, “The Stone-shields,” in which the tomtit is incorrectly made a jay, is given by Ten Kate, in his “Legends of the Cherokees,” in the Journal of American Folk-Lore for January, 1889, as obtained from a mixed-blood informant in Tahlequah. Another version, “The Demon of Consumption,” by Capt. James W. Terrell, formerly a trader among the East Cherokee, appears in the same journal for April, 1892. Still another variant, apparently condensed from Terrell’s information, is given by Zeigler and Grosscup, “Heart of the Alleghanies,” page 24 (Raleigh and Cleveland, 1883). In Ten Kate’s version the stone coat of mail broke in pieces as soon as the monster was killed, and the fragments were gathered up and kept as amulets by the people.

There is some confusion between this story of Uʻtlûñ′ta and that of Nûñ′yunu′wĭ (number 67). According to some myth tellers the two monsters were husband and wife and lived together, and were both alike dressed in stone, had awl fingers and ate human livers, the only difference being that the husband waylaid hunters, while his female partner gave her attention to children.

Far away, in British Columbia, the Indians tell how the Coyote transformed himself to an Elk, covering his body with a hard shell. “Now this shell was like an armor, for no arrow could pierce it; but being hardly large enough to cover all his body, there was a small hole left underneath his throat.” He attacks the people, stabbing them with his antlers and trampling them under foot, while their arrows glance harmlessly from his body, until “the Meadow-lark, who was a great telltale, appeared and cried out, ‘There is just a little hole at his throat!’” A hunter directs his arrow to that spot and the Elk falls dead (Teit, Thompson River Traditions, pp. 33–34).

Uʻtlûñ′ta—The word means literally “he (or she) has it sharp,” i. e., has some sharp part or organ. It might be used of a tooth or finger nail or some other attached portion of the body, but here refers to the awl-like finger. Ten Kate spells the name Uilata. On Little Tennessee river, nearly opposite the entrance of Citico creek, in Blount county, Tennessee, is a place which the Cherokee call Uʻtlûñtûñ′yĭ, “Sharp-finger place,” because, they say, Uʻtlûñ′ta used to frequent the spot.

Nûñyû′-tluʻgûñ′ĭ—“Tree rock,” so called on account of its resemblance to a standing tree trunk; a notable monument-shape rock on the west side of Hiwassee river, about four miles above Hayesville, North Carolina, and nearly on the Georgia line.

Whiteside mountain—This noted mountain, known to the Cherokee as Sanigilâ′gĭ, a name for which they have no meaning, is one of the prominent peaks of the Blue ridge, and is situated southeast from Franklin and about four miles from Highlands, or the dividing line between Macon and Jackson counties, North Carolina. It is 4,900 feet high, being the loftiest elevation on the ridge which forms the watershed between the tributaries of the Little Tennessee and the Chattooga branch of Savannah. It takes its name from the perpendicular cliff on its western exposure, and is also known sometimes as the Devil’s courthouse. The Indians compare the appearance of the cliff to that of a sheet of ice, and say that the western summit was formerly crowned by a projecting rock, since destroyed by lightning, which formed a part of the great bridge which Uʻtlûñ′ta attempted to build across the valley. Lanman’s description of this mountain, in 1848, has been quoted in the notes to number 13, “The Great Yellow-jacket.” Following is a notice by a later writer:

“About five miles from Highlands is that huge old cliff, Whitesides, which forms the advanced guard of all the mountain ranges trending on the south. It is no higher than the Righi, but, like it, rising direct from the plain, it overpowers the spectator more than its loftier brethren. Through all the lowlands of upper Georgia and Alabama this dazzling white pillar of rock, uplifting the sky, is an emphatic and significant landmark. The ascent can be made on horseback, on the rear side of the mountain, to within a quarter of a mile of the summit. When the top is reached, after a short stretch of nearly perpendicular climbing, the traveler finds himself on the edge of a sheer white wall of rock, over which, clinging for life to a protecting hand, he can look, if he chooses, two thousand feet down into the dim valley below. A pebble dropped from his hand will fall straight as into a well. On the vast plain below he can see the wavelike hills on which the great mountain ranges which have stretched from Maine along the continent ebb down finally into the southern plains”—Rebecca H. Davis, Bypaths in the Mountains, in Harper’s Magazine, LXI, p. 544, September, 1880.

My grandchildren—As in most Indian languages, Cherokee kinship terms are usually specialized, and there is no single term for grandchild. “My son’s child” is ûñgini′sĭ, plural tsûñgini′sĭ; “my daughter’s child” is ûñgili′sĭ, plural tsûñgili′sĭ. The use of kinship terms as expressive of affection or respect is very common among Indians.

To burn the leaves—The burning of the fallen leaves in the autumn, in order to get at the nuts upon the ground below, is still practiced by the white mountaineers of the southern Alleghenies. The line of fire slowly creeping up the mountain side upon a dark night is one of the picturesque sights of that picturesque country.

Chickadee and tomtit—These two little birds closely resemble each other, the Carolina chickadee (Parus carolinensis) or tsĭkĭlilĭ being somewhat smaller than the tufted titmouse (Parus bicolor) or utsuʻgĭ, which is also distinguished by a topknot or crest. The belief that the tsĭkĭlilĭ foretells the arrival of an absent friend is general among the Cherokee, and has even extended to their neighbors, the white mountaineers. See also number 35, “The Bird Tribes,” and accompanying notes.

Her heart—The conception of a giant or other monster whose heart or “life” is in some unaccustomed part of the body, or may even be taken out and laid aside at will, so that it is impossible to kill the monster by ordinary means, is common in Indian as well as in European and Asiatic folklore.

In a Navaho myth we are told that the Coyote “did not, like other beings, keep his vital principle in his chest, where it might easily be destroyed. He kept it in the tip of his nose and in the end of his tail, where no one would expect to find it.” He meets several accidents, any one of which would be sufficient to kill an ordinary creature, but as his nose and tail remain intact he is each time resurrected. Finally a girl whom he wishes to marry beats him into small pieces with a club, grinds the pieces to powder, and scatters the powder to the four winds. “But again she neglected to crush the point of the nose and the tip of the tail,” with the result that the Coyote again comes to life, when of course they are married and live happily until the next chapter (Matthews, Navaho Legends, pp. 91–94).

In a tale of the Gaelic highlands the giant’s life is in an egg which he keeps concealed in a distant place, and not until the hero finds and crushes the egg does the giant die. The monster or hero with but one vulnerable spot, as was the case with Achilles, is also a common concept.

67.Nûñyunu′wĭ, the Stone Man (p. 319): This myth, although obtained from Swimmer, the best informant in the eastern band, is but fragmentary, for the reason that he confounded it with the somewhat similar story of Uʻtlûñ′ta (number 66). It was mentioned by Ayâsta and others (east) and by Wafford (west) as a very old and interesting story, although none of these could recall the details in connected form. It is noted as one of the stories heard in the Territory by Ten Kate (Legends of the Cherokees, in Journal of American Folk-Lore, January, 1889), who spells the name Nayunu′wi.

A very close parallel is found among the Iroquois, who have traditions of an invasion by a race of fierce cannibals known as the Stonish Giants, who, originally like ordinary humans, had wandered off into the wilderness, where they became addicted to eating raw flesh and wallowing in the sand until their bodies grew to gigantic size and were covered with hard scales like stone, which no arrow could penetrate (see Cusick, in Schoolcraft, Indian Tribes, V, p. 637). One of these, which preyed particularly upon the Onondaga, was at last taken in a pitfall and thus killed. Another, in tracking his victims used “something which looked like a finger, but was really a pointer made of bone. With this he could find anything he wished.” The pointer was finally snatched from him by a hunter, on which the giant, unable to find his way without it, begged piteously for its return, promising to eat no more men and to send the hunter long life and good luck for himself and all his friends. The hunter thereupon restored it and the giant kept his promises (Beauchamp, W. M., Iroquois Notes, in Journal of American Folk-Lore, Boston, July, 1892.) As told by Mrs Smith (“The Stone Giant’s Challenge,” Myths of the Iroquois, in Second Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, 1883), the pointer was a human finger. “He placed it upright upon his hand, and it immediately pointed the way for him to go.”

Menstrual woman—Among all our native tribes it is believed that there is something dangerous or uncanny in the touch or presence of a menstrual woman. Hence the universal institution of the “menstrual lodge,” to which the woman retires at such periods, eating, working, and sleeping alone, together with a host of tabus and precautions bearing upon the same subject. Nearly the same ideas are held in regard to a pregnant woman.