The Fourfooted Tribes

The Fourfooted Tribes In Cherokee mythology, as in that of Indian
tribes generally, there is no essential difference between men and
animals. In the primal genesis period they seem to be completely
undifferentiated, and we find all creatures alike living and working
together in harmony and mutual helpfulness until man, by his
aggressiveness and disregard for the rights of the others, provokes
their hostility, when insects, birds, fishes, reptiles, and
fourfooted beasts join forces against him (see story, "Origin of
Disease and Medicine"). Henceforth their lives are apart, but the
difference is always one of degree only. The animals, like the
people, are organized into tribes and have like them their chiefs
and townhouses, their councils and ballplays, and the same hereafter
in the Darkening land of Us'ûñhi'yï. Man is still the paramount
power, and hunts and slaughters the others as his own necessities
compel, but is obliged to satisfy the animal tribes in every
instance, very much as a murder is compounded for, according to the
Indian system, by "covering the bones of the dead" with presents for
the bereaved relatives. This pardon to the hunter is made the easier
through a peculiar p. 262 doctrine of reincarnation, according to
which, as explained by the shamans, there is assigned to every
animal a definite life term which can not be curtailed by violent
means. If it is killed before the expiration of the allotted time
the death is only temporary and the body is immediately resurrected
in its proper shape from the blood drops, and the animal continues
its existence until the end of the predestined period, when the body
is finally dissolved and the liberated spirit goes to join its
kindred shades in the Darkening land. This idea appears in the story
of the bear man and in the belief concerning the Little Deer. Death
is thus but a temporary accident and the killing a mere minor crime.
By some priests it is held that there are seven successive
reanimations before the final end. Certain supernatural personages,
Kana'tï and Tsul`kälû' (see the myths), have dominion over the
animals, and are therefore regarded as the distinctive gods of the
hunter. Kana'tï at one time kept the game animals, as well as the
pestiferous insects, shut up in a cave under ground, from which they
were released by his undutiful sons. The primeval animals-the actors
in the animal myths and the predecessors of the existing species-are
believed to have been much larger, stronger, and cleverer than their
successors of the present day. In these myths we find the Indian
explanation of certain peculiarities of form, color, or habit, and
the various animals are always consistently represented as acting in
accordance with their well-known characteristics. First and most
prominent in the animal myths is the Rabbit (Tsistu), who figures
always as a trickster and deceiver, generally malicious, but often
beaten at his own game by those whom he had intended to victimize.
The connection of the rabbit with the dawn god and the relation of
the Indian myths to the stories current among the southern negroes
are discussed in another place. Ball players while in training are
forbidden to eat the flesh of the rabbit, because this animal so
easily becomes confused in running. On the other hand, their spies
seek opportunity to strew along the path which must be taken by
their rivals a soup made of rabbit hamstrings, with the purpose of
rendering them timorous in action. I In a ball game between the
birds and the fourfooted animals (see story) the Bat, which took
sides with the birds, is said to have won the victory for his party
by his superior dodging abilities. For this reason the wings or
sometimes the stuffed skin of the bat are tied to the implements
used in the game to insure success for the players. According to the
same myth the Flying Squirrel (Tewa) also aided in securing the
victory, and hence both these animals are still invoked by the ball
player. The meat of the common gray squirrel (sälâ'lï) is forbidden
to rheumatic patients, on account of the squirrel's habit of
assuming a cramped position when eating. The stripes upon the back
of the p. 263 ground squirrel (kiyu`ga) are the mark of scratches
made by the angry animals at a memorable council in which he took it
upon himself to say a good word for the archenemy, Man (see "Origin
of Disease and Medicine"). The peculiarities of the mink (sûñgï) are
accounted for by another story. The buffalo, the largest game animal
of America, was hunted in the southern Allegheny region until almost
the close of the last century, the particular species being probably
that known in the West as the wood or mountain buffalo. The name in
use among the principal gulf tribes was practically the same, and
can not be analyzed, viz, Cherokee, yûñsû'; Hichitee, ya'nasi;
Creek, yëna'sa; Choctaw, yanash. Although the flesh of the buffalo
was eaten, its skin dressed for blankets and bed coverings, its long
hair woven into belts, and its horns carved into spoons, it is yet
strangely absent from Cherokee folklore. So far as is known it is
mentioned in but a single one of the sacred formulas, in which a
person under treatment for rheumatism is forbidden to eat the meat,
touch the skin, or use a spoon made from the horn of the buffalo,
upon the ground of an occult connection between the habitual cramped
attitude of a rheumatic and the natural "hump" of that animal. The
elk is known, probably by report, under the name of a`wï
e'gwa, "great deer", but there is no myth or folklore in connection
with it. The deer, a`wï', which is still common in the mountains,
was the principal dependence of the Cherokee hunter, and is
consequently prominent in myth, folklore, and ceremonial. One of the
seven gentes of the tribe is named from it (Ani'-Kawï', "Deer
People"). According to a myth given elsewhere, the deer won his
horns in a successful race with the rabbit. Rheumatism is usually
ascribed to the work of revengeful deer ghosts, which the hunter has
neglected to placate, while on the other hand the aid of the deer is
invoked against frostbite, as its feet are believed to be immune
from injury by frost. The wolf, the fox, and the opossum are also
invoked for this purpose, and for the same reason. When the redroot
(Ceanothus americanus) puts forth its leaves the people say the
young fawns are then in the mountains. On killing a deer the hunter
always cuts out the hamstring from the hind quarter and throws it
away, for fear that if he ate it he would thereafter tire easily in
traveling. The powerful chief of the deer tribe is the A`wï' Usdi',
or "Little Deer," who is invisible to all except the greatest
masters of the hunting secrets, and can be wounded only by the
hunter who has supplemented years of occult study with frequent
fasts and lonely vigils. The Little Deer keeps constant protecting
watch over his subjects, and sees well to it that not one is ever
killed in wantonness. When a deer is shot by the hunter the Little
Deer knows it at once and is instantly at the spot. Bending low his
head he asks of the blood stains upon the ground if they have heard,
if the hunter has asked pardon for the life that he has taken. If
the formulistic prayer has been made, all is well, because the
necessary sacrifice has been atoned for; but if otherwise, the
Little Deer tracks the hunter to his house by the blood drops along
the trail, and, unseen and unsuspected, puts into his body the
spirit of rheumatism that shall rack him with aches and pains from
that time henceforth. As seen at rare intervals--perhaps once in a
long lifetime-the Little Deer is pure white and about the size of a
small dog, has branching antlers, and is always in company with a
large herd of deer. Even though shot by the master hunter, he comes
to life again, being immortal, but the fortunate huntsman who can
thus make prize of his antlers has in them an unfailing talisman
that brings him success in the chase forever after. The smallest
portion of one of those horns of the Little Deer, when properly
consecrated, attracts the deer to the hunter, and when exposed from
the wrapping dazes them so that they forget to run and thus become
an easy prey. Like the Ulûñsû'tî stone, it is a dangerous prize when
not treated with proper respect, and is--or was--kept always in a
secret place away from the house to guard against sacrilegious
handling. Somewhat similar talismanic power attached to the down
from the young antler of the deer when properly consecrated. So firm
was the belief that it had influence over "anything about a deer"
that eighty and a hundred years ago even white traders used to
bargain with the Indians for such charms in order to increase their
store of deerskins by drawing the trade to themselves. The faith in
the existence of the miraculous Little Deer is almost as strong and
universal to-day among the older Cherokee as is the belief in a
future life. The bears (yânû) are transformed Cherokee of the old
clan of the Ani'-Tsâ'gûhï (see story, "Origin of the Bear"). Their
chief is the White Bear, who lives at Kuwâ'hï, "Mulberry place," one
of the high peaks of the Great Smoky mountains, near to the
enchanted lake of Atagâ'hï to which the wounded bears go to be
cured of their hurts. Under Kuwâ'hï and each of three other peaks in
the same mountain region the bears have townhouses, where they
congregate and hold dances every fall before retiring to their dens
for the winter. Being really human, they can talk if they only
would, and once a mother bear was heard singing to her cub in words
which the hunter understood. There is one variety known as kalâs'-
gûnâhi'ta, "long hams," described as a large black bear with long
legs and small feet, which is always lean, and which the hunter does
not care to shoot, possibly on account of its leanness. It is
believed that new-born cubs are hairless, like mice. The wolf
(wa'`ya) is revered as the hunter and watchdog of Kana'tï, and the
largest gens in the tribe bears the name of Ani'- wa'`ya, "Wolf
people." The ordinary Cherokee will never kill one if he can
possibly avoid it, but will let the animal go by unharmed, believing
that the kindred of a slain wolf will surely revenge his death, and
that the weapon with which the deed is done will be rendered
worthless for further shooting until cleaned and exercised by a
medicine man. Certain persons, however, having knowledge of the
proper atonement rites, may kill wolves with impunity, and are hired
for this purpose by others who have suffered from raids upon their
fish traps or their stock. Like the eagle killer (see "The Bird
Tribes"), the professional wolf killer, after killing one of these
animals, addresses to it a prayer in which he seeks to turn aside
the vengeance of the tribe by laying the burden of blame upon the
people of some other settlement. He then unscrews the barrel of his
gun and inserts into it seven small sourwood rods heated over the
fire, and allows it to remain thus overnight in the running stream;
in the morning the rods are taken out and the barrel is thoroughly
dried and cleaned. The dog (gi`lï'), although as much a part of
Indian life among the Cherokee as in other tribes, hardly appears in
folklore. One myth makes him responsible for the milky way; another
represents him as driving the wolf from the comfortable house fire
and taking the place for himself. He figures also in connection with
the deluge. There is no tradition of the introduction of the horse
(sâ'gwälï, from asâ'gwälihû', from "a pack or burden") or of the cow
(wa'`ka, from the Spanish, vaca). The hog is called, sïkwä, this
being originally the name of the opossum, which somewhat resembles
it in expression, and which is now distinguished as sïkwä
utse'tstï, "grinning sïkwä". In the same way the sheep, another
introduced animal, is called a`wï' unäde'na, "woolly deer"; the
goat, a`wï' ahänu'lähï, "bearded deer," and the mule, "sâ'gwä'lï
digû'lanähi'ta", "long-eared horse." The cat, also obtained from the
whites, is called wesä, an attempt at the English "pussy." When it
purrs by the fireside, the children say it is counting in
Cherokee, "ta'ladu', nûñ'gï, ta'ladu', nûñ'gï," "sixteen, four,
sixteen, four." The elephant, which a few of the Cherokee have seen
in shows, is called by them käma'mä u'tänû, "great butterfly," from
the supposed resemblance of its long trunk and flapping ears to the
proboscis and wings of that insect. The anatomical peculiarities of
the opossum, of both sexes, are the subject of much curious
speculation among the Indians, many of whom believe that its young
are produced without any help from the male. It occurs in one or two
of the minor myths. The fox (tsu'`lä) is mentioned in one of the
formulas, but does no appear in the tribal folklore. The black fox
is known by a different name (inâ'lï). The odor of the skunk (dïlä')
is believed to keep off contagious diseases, and the scent bag is
therefore taken out and hung over the doorway, a small hole being
pierced in it in order that the contents may ooze out upon the
timbers. At times, as in the smallpox epidemic of 1866, the entire
body of the animal was thus hung up, and in some cases, as an
additional safeguard, the meat was cooked and eaten and the oil
rubbed over the skin of the person. The underlying idea is that the
fetid smell repels the disease spirit, and upon the same principle
the buzzard, which is so evidently superior to carrion smells, is
held to be powerful against the same diseases. The beaver (dâ'yï),
by reason of its well-known gnawing ability, against which even the
hardest wood is not proof, is invoked on behalf of young children
just getting their permanent teeth. According to the little formula
which is familiar to nearly every mother in the tribe, when the
loosened milk tooth is pulled out or drops out of itself, the child
runs with it around the house, repeating four times, "Dâ'yï, skïntä'
(Beaver, put a new tooth into my jaw)" after which he throws the
tooth upon the roof of the house. In a characteristic song formula
to prevent frostbite the traveler, before starting out on a cold
winter morning, rubs his feet in the ashes of the fire and sings a
song of four verses, by means of which, according to the Indian
idea, he acquires in turn the cold- defying powers of the wolf,
deer, fox, and opossum, four animals whose feet, it is held, are
never frostbitten. After each verse he imitates the cry and the
action of the animal. The words used are archaic in form and may be
rendered "I become a real wolf," etc. The song runs.