SMITHSONIAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO ANTHROPOLOGY 

VOLUME 2, Number 3 

Muskogean Charm Songs 

Among the Oklahoma Cherokees 

Jack Frederick Kilpatrick and Anna Gritts Kilpatrick 

SMITHSONIAN PRESS 

Washington : 1967 
A Publication of the 

SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 

United States National Museum 

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CARD 65-62172 

U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON : 1967 

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office 

Washington, D.C. 20402 - Price 20 cents 
Contents 

Page 

INTRODUCTION , 29 

T H E MUSKOGEAN ENCLAVES 29 

T H E SONGS 30 

1. To "remake" a comb 31 

2. To cure flatulence 31 

3. For divining the outcome of a love affair 33 

4. To make a woman lovesick 33 

5. To prevent fever from eating green com 35 

6. To "remake" tobacco for use in attracting a woman 36 

7. For himting 37 

8. For hunting deer 38 

9. For hunting deer (incomplete) 39 

10. For stopping bleeding 40 

LITERATURE CITED 40 

Illustrations 

TEXT FIGURES 

1. Song to "remake" a comb 31 

2. Song to cure flatulence 32 

3. Song for divining the outcome of a love affair 33 

4. Song to make a woman lovesick . 34 

5. Alternate beginning to Song 4 34 

6. Song to prevent fever from eating green corn 35 

7. Song to "remake" tobacco for use in attracting a woman . 36 

8. Song for hunting 37 

9. Song for hunting deer (part 1) 38 

10. Song for hunting deer (part 2) 39 

11. Song for hunting deer (incomplete) 40 
The authors wish to acknowledge that certain aspects of the research necessary to the 

preparation of this paper were made possible by a grant from the National Science 

Foundation. 
MUSKOGEAN CHARM SONGS AMONG THE 

OKLAHOMA CHEROKEES 

By Jack Frederick Kilpatrick and Anna Gritts Kilpatrick 

Introduction 

Manuscript works on medicine and magic among 

the Oklahoma Cherokees sometimes contain idi:gawe:sdi 

{to he said, them, by one) or the texts of charm songs 

that, although written or partially written in the 

Sequoyah syllabary, are not in the Cherokee language. 

Cherokee din(a)da:hnvwi:sg(i) {those who cure them — 

medicine men), who as a rule know no Indian language 

other than their own, are aware that such writings, 

in some instances handed down to them through 

several generations, are in either Creek or Natchez. 

But only rarely does one encounter a medicine man 

who thinks that he knows the meaning of a specific 

word here or there. More commonly he will not 

know even the general drift of what is written, and 

is not quite sure which particular grouping of syllables constitutes a word. But he does know that 

his saying or song is powerful—'alive/ as he expresses 

it—and there the matter rests. 

Since some of the phonemes of Muskogean languages are not found in Cherokee, a certain amount 

of ingenuity had to be exerted in representing them 

in the Sequoyah syllabary. The Sequoyan symbol for 

gwa, for example, may have been chosen to stand for 

pa. We have seen examples wherein new symbols 

had been created, or standard symbols reversed or 

inverted. We have also seen examples in which 

recourse to the English alphabet had been made in 

order to compensate for specific deficiencies in the 

Sequoyah syllabary. 

In addition to these Muskogean materials in the possession of din(a)da:hnvwi:sg(i), there is a corpus of 

charms, chiefly pertaining to hunting, that was once, 

and perhaps to a certain extent still is, employed by 

the laity. As pointed out in Kilpatrick and Kilpatrick (1967) for some reason as yet undetermiued 

the aboriginal Cherokee hunting charms were largely 

supplanted by those of Muskogean origin. 

As one might expect, Muskogean medicomagic is 

most commonly encountered in the southern part of 

the territory of the Oklahoma Cherokees, a region 

containing several clearly defined and long-established 

Muskogean enclaves. 

The Muskogean Enclaves 

There exists a tradition to the effect that during 

the period of the Removal from the Southeast, a 

boatload of Creeks, traveling up the Arkansas River, 

did not continue on to the territory assigned to them, 

but instead debarked in the vicinity of Webbers 

Falls (Muskogee County). Fearful of the possibility 

of high water in the lowlands along the river, they 

decided to settle a few miles farther north, up in the 

hill country. Very probably they divided, one segment going northwest and uniting with their Muskogean relatives, the band of Natchez that had removed 

with the Cherokee and had settled between what is 

now Braggs (Muskogee County) and the Illinois 

River (Sequoyah County). The other segment went 

northeast, on the opposite jside of the Illinois River, 

and eventually established its residence in the valley 

of Vian Creek (Sequoyah County). 

These Muskogeans were accepted as Cherokees, both 

by the Cherokees themselves and the United States 

Government, and at the dissolution of tribal government were enrolled and allotted as Cherokees. They 

took an active part in Cherokee political and cultural 

29 
30 SMITHSONIAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO ANTHROPOLOGY VOLUME 2 

affairs, and were especially prominent in the nativistic 

Redbird Smith Movement (ca. 1896-1918) (Thomas, 

1961). 

The viable ceremonial centers of the Muskogean 

enclaves these days are the Creek Baptist Churches 

which, from west to east, are: (1) Sand Springs, a 

couple of miles or so south of Braggs on the tableland 

that constitutes the top of a very considerable upland 

between the valley of the Illinois River to the east and 

the valley of the Arkansas River to the west; (2) 

Cedar Springs, lying in a cove in the easternmost 

outthrust of the hills into the valley of the Illinois 

River, between Gore and the lower end of TenkUler 

Lake (both in Sequoyah County);^ (3) Vian Creek 

(usually referred to by the Whites as Eveningshade), in 

the valley of Vian Creek, north of Vian; and (4) 

Beaver, atop a mountain south of the Adair County 

community of Bunch.^ 

Unlike most of the Cherokee Baptist Churches, these 

Creek churches are not affiliated with the Southern 

Baptist Convention. The Creeks have their own 

convention. In the Creek fashion, each of these 

ch lurches has camp houses adjacent to it. 

Services are ordinarily conducted in the Creek 

language, and there are significant differences between 

them and those conducted in the Cherokee Baptist 

Churches—especially in the area of hymnody (the 

hymnology both of the Creek and the Cherokee stands in 

need of investigation). Depending upon the linguistic 

attainments of the pastor and the composition of the 

congregation upon a given occasion, however, a service 

may be conducted in Creek and Cherokee, or perhaps in 

Creek, Cherokee, and English. Certainly three of 

these churches, and possibly all four of them, have 

Cherokee communicants who, through intermarriage 

or as a result of having been reared in a Muskogean 

community, speak Creek as a first language. In one 

of these churches (Beaver), Muskogeans appear to be 

in the minority. Upon every occasion that we have 

visited it, Cherokees and Whites (most of the latter 

married to Indian husbands and wives) outnumbered 

Creeks. Its present (1964) pastor, a grandnephew 

of John R. Swan ton's (1929) Natchez informant, Watt 

Sam, is thoroughly competent in Creek, Cherokee, and 

English, and he usually preaches in all three languages. 

Not all of these Cherokee-Muskogeans are Christians, 

of course, but most of them appear to be. To our certain knowledge, however, a great deal of mixed Creek, 

Natchez, and Cherokee medicine and magic is practiced 

by the Christians as well as by the non-Christians. 

The Songs 

In December of 1963 we obtained from a Cherokee 

shaman living in eastern Cherokee County a stationery 

tablet, 5X8 inches in size. Upon the rectos of the 9 

sheets of paper remaining in it he had written in blue 

ink with a ballpoint pen 10 song texts in Sequoyah 

syllabary. Although he had spent his entire life in a 

Cherokee community, he had some degree of Muskogean 

blood, probably Natchez, and he was of the opinion 

that the song texts, orally handed down in his family, 

were in both Creek and Natchez. Each text was 

captioned in Cherokee and provided with a few additional explanatory words written in pencil in rather 

poor English. 

At the time of the acquisition of the manuscript it 

was not possible to obtain the tunes to the texts. Upon 

July 20, 1964, however, the opportunity arose for 

transcribing the music, and each song was set down with 

as close conformity as circumstances would permit to 

the tempo and pitch at which it was sung. Upon the 

' In a sense, Sand Springs and Cedar Springs are but two aspects of the same social 

unity, that of Natcheetown [Natcheztown], the former locus of the Cherokee Natchez. 

One gets the Impression, however, that the Muskogean blood at Sand Springs is 

largely Creek; that at Cedar Springs a mixture of Creek and Natchez. 

2 The descendants of a single individual, Creek Beaver, appear to constitute the 

nucleus of this community. This patriarch died about 1920 at the reputed age of 117. 

same occasion additional data relative to the purpose 

and to the traditional attendant ritualism of each song 

were supplied. 

The reconstitution of these charm songs gave rise to 

fascinating problems relative to tribal origins. To our 

knowledge, no thorough investigation of Natchez or 

Cherokee music has ever been made, and the study by 

Speck (1911) of Creek music deals primarily with 

material of a nature quite different from the songs 

under discussion here (none of which was in Speck, 

incidentally).^ Any one of these songs could have had 

a Creek, Natchez, or even Cherokee origin; the possibility of a song having originally been Cherokee, of its 

having been borrowed by Muskogeans and garbled to a 

degree that would make it unrecognizable, and then 

having been reacquired by the Cherokee, could not be 

ruled out. A composite tune or a macaronic text were 

other possibilities. 

Our primary purpose has been to call attention to the 

existence of these songs, not to establish for them 

definitive tribal origins—a task that could be successfully accomplished only by a competent Muskogeanist. 

' A comparison of these songs with those of Densmore (1956) was equally 

unproductive. 
NUMBER 3 KILPATRICK: MUSKOGEAN CHARM SONGS 31 

We felt, however, that a certain amount of preliminary 

screening might well be in the interests of eventual 

positive identification. 

Had such been possible, the logical approach to 

tentative identification would have been to bring these 

songs before the inspection of a traditionalist from both 

the Creek and Natchez Tribes. But the Natchez have 

been extinct for more than a generation, and the only 

avenue open to us in establishing a strong possibiHty of 

the Natchez derivation of a given song was by means 

of determining that it was neith.er Creek nor Cherokee. 

The Cherokee medicine men from whom these songs 

were obtained categorically assigned to them a Muskogean lineage. We reasoned that a Creek traditionalist 

living in the cultural milieu of one of the Muskogean 

enclaves would be more likely to have a greater familiarity with these materials than would an individual 

living in Creek territory; a few days subsequent to 

having transcribed the songs, therefore, we brought 

them before the inspection of a Creek medicine man 

living in the Sand Springs area, an individual who 

understood thoroughly what was required of him. 

1. TO "REMAKE" A COMB 

J = LOO circa 

^ ^ ^ ^ 

Sa bi - ya - ma - hi ya do - ya - ya - di 

WV^ii r r J li r J ^ 

ya ghu dhu 

CHEROKEE CAPTION: Ahl(i)dhuwo:sdi {to comb, 

o?ie)/godhlvhi:so?di {to remake,'^ 07ie)/ghanogi:sdi {to 

sing, one). "Song to 'remake' a comb." 

ENGLISH EXPLANATION: how to Be a Beautiful [•] 

man Father [either] woman [•] notche [na:tsi=Natchez] 

Indian Song. 

COMMENTARY : This is an example of a type of charm 

called an ado:du:hiso'?dl:yi {to rebeautify oneself). As 

stated in Kilpatrick and Kilpatrick (1967), charms of 

this nature constitute a subspecies of a larger class of 

magical sayings and songs known as ado:dhlvhi:so?-

df:yi. Both are numerous among the Cherokee; both 

are for the purpose of attracting the opposite sex. 

As is the case in most examples of Cherokee erotic 

ya ghu dhu. 

magic, this charm is primarily for the use of a man, 

although it is held to be equally effective if employed 

by a woman. It can be used at any time and place. 

One faces east, the Cherokee sacred direction, and 

sings it four times. After each time the song is sung, 

the singer blows his breath upon the comb and then 

sharply expectorates upon it. 

While our Creek informant was able to make two 

words—sapiya {they go, [ritual.])/mahi {surely)—out of 

what is written as one word in the Sequoyah syllabary, the remainder of the text was unintelligible 

to him. He was unfamiliar with the tune. It was his 

opinion that the resemblance here to Creek may be 

entirely accidental.^ 

2. TO CURE FLATULENCE 

CHEROKEE CAPTION: Unisgwo:hli {their stomachs)/ 

une[hi]sda :nehv :i ^ {hurting, they). ' 'For stomachache." 

ENGLISH EXPLANATION: Creek. Song. 

COMMENTARY: While the Creek informant was not 

familiar with this song, it was his opinion that the 

tune was Creek. From the text he was able with 

* To infuse with magical powers. 

' The syllable hi had been omitted. 

considerable ease to reconstruct the following words: 

simanihe'cka {made attractive with ornament)/juxx'Tanses 

{to that extent)/ksi'ki {sitting there, they)/sihvik.i {standing 

' The Cherokee shaman stated that a hunter heard this song being sung, and 

upon investigating the origin of the singing discovered that it emanated from a purple 

flower of the yu:gwil(a) {Venus' flytrap) plant. This is essentially the same story 

quoted by Swanton (1928, p. 600) from the Tuggle Collection. It is indeed strange 

that the Creek medicine man did not associate sa-bi-ya in the above song with the 

vegetable or mineral talisman of the Creeks which in Swanton's orthography is 

rendered sabia (ibid., pp. 498-501). To a Cherokee, a vegetable talisman and 

yu:gwil(a) are almost synonymous. 
32 SMITHSONIAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO ANTHROPOLOGY 

J =LL2 circ a 

(9 1 0 19-

VOLUME 2 

'VHH g g g i i t 

Sa - ma - ni hets(i) - ga mo - mo - se s ga - gi - hli 

'»^^J) § s I MM 

ga gl - hli ga - gi - hli sa - mi - ni* hets(i) - ga 

•0- -0- #-19 -

i •^•^ ^ it H i t 

mo - mo - se s si - ho - gi - hli si - ho - gi - hli 

n^ p r P MM 

si - ho - gi - till sa - ma - ni hets(i) - ga mo - mo - se s 

s ^ 

irr ir r ? 

in(i)-do - ba - ya - hi sa - ya - ma - si sa - ya - ma - si 

•JILLCL ^ ^ MM 

s 

sa - ya - ma - si 

M 

sa - mi - ni hets(i) - ga 

•J) 

mo - mo - se s 

n^iT r I 

ga gi - hli ga 

The alternation of sa-mi-ni with sa-ma-ni may be the result of careless spelling. 

gi - hli ga gi - hli. 

there, iAey)/sa'nyama'si {it has just become gentle). His 

exegesis was to the effect that the curer is fully cognizant of the agencies that caused the malady; beings 

that, gaily bedecked as if upon some festive occasion, 

sit about and stand about in the body of the patient. 

He overpowers them and alleviates the patient's pain. 

Many Cherokee curing conjurations terminate in a 

stereotype that is somewhat analogous to the Creek 

assurance of the restoration of calm: utsi:hnawa/(relief) nigvdi :sge :sdi {then I will be saying) (Kilpatrick 

and Kilpatrick, 1964 a). 

The ritual that accompanies this song appears to be 

basically Cherokee, not Creek. The patient reclines 

with his head toward the east. The doctor warms his 

hands over coals (preferably from lightning-struck 

wood). He then applies warm ashes from the fireplace or stove to the patient's abdomen, and standing 

to the patient's right, kneads the ashes with a counterclockwise circling motion as he sings the song. This 

procedure is followed the regulation four times. 
NUMBER 3 KILPATRICK: MUSKOGEAN CHARM SONGS 

3. FOR DIVINING THE OUTCOME OF A LOVE AFFAIR 

33 

J = L20 Circa 

vv'i^ i i' M 1?^ ^ f ^m 

Tsi-hi-wa-tso-lo-tsi wag(a)-ho - gats(a)-sge som(a)-ho - gi - ya-hli 

':>\\\ P r ^m r i i>, r r r 

s. '^!>i 

no - hi - ya - ni no - hi - ya - ni no - hi - ya - ni 

^ ^ 

MH 

^ ^ 

& ^^m 

no - hi - ya - ni no - hi - ya - ni no - hi - ya - ni. 

CHEROKEE CAPTION: Age:hyv {woman)/&mB, {water)/ 

uhyv:dla (coZc?)/agh(a)dho?di {to examine, o?ie)/agh(a)-

dhv:do'i*di {to do it with, one). "For examining with 

cold water concerning a woman." 

COMMENTARY: The text of this song would appear to 

be Creek. Our Creek informant identified it as: cihi'wa 

{your wife)/cn'\a,c\ {little, o^(i)/wakhu'gatski {you [2] were 

^ym^)/sum'huki'yali {we [2] will be gone). He felt that 

no-hi-ya-ni is a mere vocalization, and not a word. 

A part of the above tune bears some slight motival 

resemblance to a Stomp Dance song with a Cherokee 

text obtained from a nonagenarian in the Beaver community in the summer of 1961 (Kilpatrick and Kilpatrick, 1964 b, pp. 155-157, 194). Both tunes are 

probably Muskogean. 

The purpose of the above song is to ascertain if a 

love suit is destined to prosper. The medicine man 

and his cHent, the lover, go at daybreak to the brink 

of running water ("new water" or "cold water" are 

Cherokee synonyms for it) that they can face .and at 

the same time face east. The shaman puts down a 

silver dollar at the edge of the water, steps back from 

it about 8 feet, and sings the song four times. After 

each delivery of it he blows his breath toward the coin. 

He then inspects the dollar. If the coin has turned 

over, the client will gain the affections of the woman of 

his choice; if the coin is found to be remaining just as 

it wa^ placed, the ceremony is repeated the next 

morning. If after the completion of a series of ceremonies upon four successive mornings no turning over 

of the coin has been observed, the client's suit is deemed 

to be hopeless. 

There are two motifs in this ceremony that are 

quite foreign to Cherokee magic: divination to learn 

the outcome of a love affair and prognostication by 

means of a coin turning over. We have yet to encounter in Cherokee erotic magic any recognition of 

the role of chance. Love magic is universally held to 

be essentially infallible. If a specific measure should 

prove to be inadequate, then the use of a more powerful 

one is indicated. Large numbers of them, of varying 

degrees of potency, are available. The possibility of 

acquiring magic of a power superior to that of any 

rival always exists; failure is never predestined. Silver 

coins are used in Cherokee divining, but not in this 

manner—they are suspended upon a thong, or string. 

4. TO MAKE A WOMAN LOVESICK 

CHEROKEE CAPTION: Age:hyv (•M;oman)/digehlay6:-

hisdo?di {to make them suffer with, one). "To make a 

woman suffer." 

ENGLISH EXPLANATION: make a woman Blues . 

COMMENTARY: The text of this song as written in 

the manuscript differs significantly enough from the 

text as sung as to warrant a statement of it as written: 

Tsa-no-tsi [7 times]/u-la-yes/tsa-no-tsi [3 times]/a-layes/tsa-no-tsi [2 times]/a-ya-yes/tsa-no-tsi 

One observes that in singing, u-la-yes was amended 

to hu-la-yes; that a-la-yes (probably an erroneous spelling of a-ya-yes) was omitted, and that the pattern of 

repetition of the tsa-no-tsi was altered. It is obvious 
34 SMITHSONIAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO ANTHROPOLOGY VOLUME 2 

J =96 Circa 

')'¥'! j) ^ ^ f laiL 

Tsa - no - tsi - hi tsa - no tsi tsa - no - tsi 

'^"liM K ' r > iiit f r If' J'^ *^ # t ~?7f 

tsa - no - tsi tsa-n o - tsi tsa - no -tsi tsa -n o - tsi 

•^-^il"^ P f f hi J. ^ * g t IZZ S ? 

tsa -no - tsi hu - hia -yes tsa - no - tsi tsa - no - tsi 

'y\H P f ['==F^ -jn. 

tsa - no - tsi tsa - no - tsi tsa - no - tsi 

-yhH g f r ' f ^' • m 3 

tsa - no - tsi ya - yes tsa - no tsi. 

that when the Cherokee shaman wrote down the text, 

his recollection of the song was not clear, but that in 

singing it, he was able to match correctly the text with 

the tune. The initially sung word, tsa-no-tsi-hi, contains the interpolated syllable hi, doubtlessly meaningless, that the singer remembered having heard his 

father (perhaps idiosyncratically) employ. The singer 

was of the opinion that one was at liberty to make a 

choice between singing the word as Avritten or thusly: 

^^ W J C * 

Ts a - no - tsi 

The singer's father had stated that the song was 

Natchez, and that the word tsa-no-tsi was a term 

(ritualistic ?) for a honeybee, the word a-ya-yes a 

synonym for the Cherokee uhi:so?dhI (a supernaturally 

induced melancholia). The singer was of the opinion 

that these words were those that a woman who had 

fallen victim to love magic would sing in expression of 

her emotional state, although he did not care to speculate upon the possible significance of the honeybee. 

Although he was not familiar with the song, our 

Creek informant was of the opinion that the text made 

acceptable Creek, and that the drift of its meaning was 

in conformity with Creek magical concepts. He made 

of it this: canu'ci (/ drowse [ritual.])/hu"layis {[even] 

if standing, /)/ayayis {[even] if going, I). He stated 

that the verb of which "I drowse" is a form, is used in 

Creek magic in a context very similar to that in which 

the Cherokee employ uhI:so''dhi. 

In Cherokee magic the above song was formerly used 

to accompany the apphcation of awo:di {yaint) to the 

body. Most commonly this was done in preparation 

for a dance (there is a North Carolina Cherokee ritual 

of the same genre in Mooney, 1891, pp. 379-380). 

While singing the song, the singer dipped a cardinal 

feather in paint which itself had to be prepared ritualistically and applied it as follows: to the forehead; to 
NUMBER 3 KILPATRICK: MUSKOGEAN CHARM SONGS 35 

the tip of the nose; to the chin; to the right cheek; to 

the left cheek; diagonally downward across the chest, 

from right to left; diagonally downward across the 

chest, from left to right. One will observe that the 

applications totaled seven—the supremely sacrosanct 

Cherokee number. The song was sung and the ritual 

performed a total of four times. 

Inasmuch as there is no lacuna in either the song or 

the ritual for a statement of the name and clan affiliation 

of a particular desired woman, one assumes that the 

purpose of this magic was to create in its user an attractiveness to women in general. 

5. TO PREVENT FEVER FROM EATING GREEN CORN 

J = 144 circa 

'y'H\i > j^ I r p r' lif O r i p r ^ 

O - yi agh(i)-fo-ts o do hi do di - hla - a - go 

•jllilL ! 

^ ^ ^ ^ 

a - ga - SI fo - da - bi - tsi a-h i hi- i - hi 

v'^ii*'^,! > T M f r ^ ^ -^ 

a-h i hi- i - hi 

CHEROKEE CAPTION: Udi:hlehv:sgi (/gz)er)/nv:wo:dhi 

{medicine)/amsi (wa^r)/godhlvhi:so'i'di {to remake, one)/ 

ghanogLsdi {to sing, one)/se:lu {corn)/i'^ts6:i {new)/ 

unenu:da {comsilk)/a,su:ye:di {to mix, one)/i^is€:i {new)/ 

ama ('M;ate/')/ama:yi {water-place)/diye-}A\ {middle)/ge:sv 

{being, 'i^)/wiga'?luhi:sdl {there to go, one)/nahna:hno: 

{there, ancf)/godhlvhi:so?di {to remake, one). "To 

'remake' fever medicine water. One sings. One mixes 

new cornsUk with fresh water in the middle of the 

stream, and there it is 'remade.' " 

ENGLISH EXPLANATION: Natche [Natchez] Song— 

fever med; [medicine] fixed cold water and drink Before 

you Eat the Rosnear [roasting ear] corn; in Earley in 

Spring time, that Keep away from fever; [.] 

COMMENTARY: The ritual accompanying this song is 

this: The medicine man cuts off the sharp ends of a 

number of newly ripe roasting ears and puts them, 

together with a quantity of cornsilk from the young 

corn, into a container the size of a gallon or more. At 

dawn he wades out into the middle of a stream, faces 

east, and permits water to flow into the container until 

it and the cob ends and cornsilk almost fill the vessel. 

With a section of newly cut cornstalk, 18 inches or so 

long, he stirs the contents of the container with a 

a-h i hi- i - hi. 

counterclockwise motion as he stands in the middle of 

the stream. As he stirs, he sings the song four times. 

The liquid from the container is subsequently drunk, 

used to wash the hands or face, or employed as bath 

water, by an individual or a family group. 

This ritual does not appear to be an aspect of the 

Creek busk (cf. Swanton, 1928, pp. 546-614), but 

whether it be vestigial of the Cherokee Preliminary 

Green Com Feast (cf. Gilbert, 1943, p. 327) or of a 

Natchez festival, we are not prepared to say. The 

song, however, is Creek, and the Creek informant of 

the writers with no difficulty identified it as a corruption 

of the first part of a quadrifid song used in treating a 

febrile patient. In its entirety, the text of this Creek 

song makes reference tt) four \vild ducks, each of a 

species different from the others, scratching in the snow 

and throwing up into the air behind them snow sprays. 

The fragment above refers to but one species of duck, 

the English name for which the informant did not know: 

fucu"ski {a species of wild du^ck)/h\dM'i\ (snow)/la'kku 

(6i^)/a"ka'si {he is scratching)/iut&pi'ci {itforms a spray). 

One notes that the resources of the Sequoyah syllabary were somewhat strained in Avriting down this 

song: fo (fu), for example, was represented by the 

symbol for ho; bi (pi) by the symbol for wi. 
36 SMITHSONIAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO ANTHROPOLOGY VOLUME 2 

6. TO "REMAKE" TOBACCO FOR USE IN ATTRACTING A WOMAN 

J = 144 circa 

^ ? i ^ ^ ^ ^ 

San(i)-da-lagh(i)-tsa - di a - hi - tsa di ma - ya - ho 

nKi i' ? ^ ^ 

3 d 

ma - ya - ho san(i)-da - lagh(i)-tsa - di a-h i - tsa -

^ 

; # 

^ 

• * ^m ? 

di ma-ya - ma-ho ma-ya - ma-ho agh(a)-ma - ya - tsa -

rA ^ ^ f ^ l-r^J (! f L^' 15 ^' ^- "^l ^ 

di a-h i - tsa - di ma -y a - ho ma - ya - ho tsa -

m i r r '^ r I'^r r ^ i^^p r P-I>|':^> ^ ^' ^ 

lo-hadh(i)-gi a - hi-tsa-d i 

CHEROKEE CAPTION: Age:hyv (woma7i)/gan(i)sane 

sdo'^di {to draw one with, one)/tso-lsi (/o6acco)/godhlvhi 

so-'di {to remake, one)/asu:ye:di {to mix owe)/udhelv 

l(a)dvnv:hi {grapevine). "To attract a woman with. 

One mixes grapevine with tobacco." 

ENGLISH EXPLANATION : Creek. Song. How to make 

a pretty girl want you; Song. 

COMMENTARY: The use of "remade" tobacco in Cherokee erotic magic is popularly held to be a bit sinister; 

the addition of grapevine or cedarberries to the tobacco 

is a definite deepening of the hue of the magic. The 

substitution of tso:lagayv:li {tobacco, ancient=Nicotiana 

rustica) for ordinary commercial tobacco is quite reprehensible inasmuch as the life of the woman upon whom 

it is used is endangered. 

The song and its attendant ritual would more than 

likely be known by a medicine man or a dida:hnese:sgi 

{putter-in and drawer-out of them=a sorcerer, witch), 

who would use them to prepare tobacco for a client, 

but magic known to a layman can be used by a layman. 

The customary ritual is this: While stating the name 

and clan of the woman toward whom magic is to be 

ma-ya-ma-ho ma-ya - ma -ho . 

directed, the conjurer cuts off a section of wild grapevine, about one-half of an inch in length, out of which 

a tendril has grown and wrapped itself about the segment of vine that is cut off. He goes to the brink of 

running water at sunrise, faces east, and states the name 

and clan of his client (or of himself, if he be the lover) 

as he shreds the vine and its tendril and mixes the fragments of them with a handful of cut plug tobacco. He 

holds the mixture between the palms of both hands, 

extends his arms and hands (thumbs upward) on a direct line with the upper rim of the newly risen sun, and 

then slowly lowers his arms and hands until they have 

traversed the space occupied in the sky by the disk of 

the sun. The tobacco is then placed in the palm of the 

left hand and, as the magician sings the above song four 

times, he rolls the tobacco and its additive in a counterclockwise motion with the four extended fingers of the 

right hand. After each statement of the song he blows 

his breath upon the mixture and then bestows upon it 

a small sharp expectoration. 

If the tobacco is being "remade" for a cUent, and the 

client is present upon the occasion of its preparation, 
NUMBER 3 KILPATRICK: MUSKOGEAN CHARM SONGS 37 

the client himself states the name and clan of the woman 

he desires, and it is the client who blows and expectorates upon the mixture. The magical tobacco is generally used in one of two fashions: If circumstances 

permit, its smoke is blown directly upon the target 

individual, for a total of four times if possible; if this 

is impracticable, the smoke is blown toward where the 

victim of the moment is, or is likely to be—at dawn, 

midmorning, midafternoon, and dusk, for 4 days. 

The text of the song created no little uncertainty 

in the mind of our Creek informant. With rather 

slight conviction he hypothesized that the following 

words might be incorporated in it: cati {red)/ a'hicati 

{she is looking continually)/m&'jahn {she is signalling 

[ritual.])/ma'yamahu {she is signalling more and more 

[ritual.])/a"k?maya'cati {down there she is signalling 

[ritual.])/hat'ki {white). 

While on the surface this reading is quite plausible, 

the reservations of the Creek shaman—whether they 

stemmed from word forms or repetition patterns of 

word's, or from some subtle clash with what he knew 

to be the true ethos of Creek magic—may have been 

well grounded. The text originally may have been a 

Cherokee one that was borrowed by the Creelis or the 

Natchez perhaps as long as a century ago, thoroughly 

corrupted, and then returned to the Cherokee, who 

had long forgotten it. 

It may have run something like this: Tsa:n(a)da:leg(i) 

{they just pulled themselves o'MO/a:di:h(a) {he says)/ 

a:tsa'i'di (^sA)/ama:yi {water-place) ho:? (AoO/tsalo:"^-

di[a] {he pushes you off a high ^Zacg)/a:di:h(a) {he says)/ 

a:tsa?di {fish)/sima.:yi {water-place)/]io:'^ {ho\). 

"They just pulled themselves out," he says, "the 

fish [the quarry=women] in the stream. Ho! 

He pushes you [a rival?] off a high place, he says. 

The fish m the stream! Ho!" 

In offering this as a possible reading, we nurture 

fully as many doubts as did the Creek medicine man 

while advancing his h5T)othesis. This song, of exceptional musical worth, may be Natchez. 

7. FOR HUNTING 

J = L00ci r e a 

•».. j) 

r r r r ^m ^ ^ 

I - tsa - na - da i - ha - swa ha - tsa - gi - ma - da 

^y.L [ f ^ M r u f nm i^^p^ 

ha - tsa - gi - ma - da ha - tsa - gi - ma - da ha - tsa - gi - ma-da 

"'ii' I I I I I' K i^r'i' p p 

#-^^ 

^ 

i-tso-n a da-gats(a)-go ha-dha-gi-ma-d a ha - dha - gi-ma-da 

r-h r r M ^ 

na - dha - gi-ma-da 

r "} ; f liif 

ha - dha - gi-ma-da 

0=^ 

^ 

ha - tsa - gi-ma-da 

a 0—^^^^ M r I r f^ m ^ 0 0 * 

ha - tsa -gi-ma-d a ha - tsa - gi-ma-d a 

^ 

ha - tsa - gi-ma-da. 
38 SMITHSONIAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO ANTHROPOLOGY VOLUME 2 

CHEROKEE CAPTION: A:h(a)wi^ {deer)/dohjo]iy:i {if 

seeking them, one)/gano:hLlv:dv {hunt)/gh&nogi'.sdi {to 

sing, owe)/o:lu:ha {silt)/&m&:ji {water-place) fh&wi-.m 

{deep)/tsiD.u:sd6:i {which present [hab.])/adanv:li:ye:dl 

{to apply to oneself, one). "Song if one is looking for 

deer when hunting. One applies to oneself silt from 

the bottom of a stream." 

ENGLISH EXPLANATION: wild Turkey Hunting Song, 

[in Cherokee: gv:na, turkey]. 

COMMENTARY: The contradiction between the Cherokee caption, which states that this is a song for hunting 

deer, and the English explanation, which identifies the 

charm as turkey-hunting magic, is illusory. In actuality, it is serviceable in hunting any kind of game. The 

hunter who employs it first decides upon what game he 

wants, then as he hunts he very softly sings the song 

four times. If he flushes any game other than that 

which he is resolved to kill, squirrels excepted, he must 

ignore it, or he wiU not be able to bag that which he set 

out to get. 

The application of silt to the body (face, chest ?) of 

the hunter almost certainly serves some purpose other 

that of mere disguise. One suspects that silt is applied 

for chiefly magical reasons, and that there is, or perhaps 

once was, a ceremony used in obtaining and applying 

the silt. While the magical powers of running water 

and of objects floating in running water are fundamental 

motifs in Cherokee medicomagic, we are unaware of the 

use of silt having been previously reported and have 

never before encountered it either in the published literature or in manuscript sources. One suspects it is 

Muskogean, probably Natchez, not Cherokeean. 

The Cherokee shaman was of the opinion that the 

words of the song were Natchez, and that the thought, 

if not the exact wording, "I am asking you to come to 

me" was embedded somewhere in the text. The Creek 

medicine man, on the other hand, inclined toward the 

view that the text was corrupted Creek, and while some 

of it remained obscure to him, he was able to discover 

in it these words: i'cu {deer)/no, {body, Ais)/ihuswa 

{penis, A'is)/ha"ca'kima'ta {they were intoxicated),. 

4 =96 circ a 

8. FOR HUNTING DEER 

^M I ^ 

Da - me da - ga ya da - me da - ga ya 

^ 

•t>, . \i 

^ ^ ? 

da - hi da - ya yi da - hi da - ya yi 

^ I 3 D L 

^ ? 

da - hi da - ya yi 

CHEROKEE CAPTION: [in reference to part 1] Adi:sgo'i'i 

{he says [hab.])/a'i'hwi (c?eer)/galagi:na {buck)/[in reference to part 2] Ada:hnese:sgo'^i {he conjures [hab.])/ 

adudale.-sdo'i'di {to free oneself unth, one)/hi?a?gwu {this, 

just)/ig&w6 :sdi {to besaidit, by one)/geso :i {being, it [hab.])/ 

aganohile:gv:i {if hunting, one), [in reference to part 1] 

"What the buck says." [in reference to part 2] "To 

7 This is a dialectal pronunciation that is reflected in the Sequoyan spelling. One 

notes that in the caption to No. 8 the conventional a''hwi is employed. 

da - me da - ga ya. 

free oneself when he conjures, this is to say when 

hunting." 

ENGLISH EXPLANATION: Creek Song [•] Hunting 

Song 

[Spoken]: Wayuhe'i' 

COMMENTARY: The Cherokee shaman stated that 

the first part of this song is what a buck sings in his 

attempt to conjure the hunter, and that the second 
NUMBER 3 KILPATRICK: MUSKOGEAN CHARM SONGS 

J= 84 circa 

39 

\\n\\i H r [J r I p K Or W'u ^^- ^ 

Ho-wa-ya hi - ne ho-wa-y a hi - ne ho-wa-y a - a-hu= 

^m ^ ^ n iM r Lr r i 

« 

0 # - S ^ 

ho-wa-y a hi - ne ho-wa-y a hi - ne ho-wa -y a - a-hu 

n\\i nn p^^^ 0 0 

^ 

tsa-tsi-l a ga-si-g o tsa-tsi-l a yats(i)-sg a do-na-y a - li 

^m ^ f ^ iir M r -^' ^ 

i - sdi -hi - o-yi-w a -ha hi-la-di -hi ha - gi-la-di - hi 

'm,i n r ; c r \fU r r m^M ^^ 

tsa-tsi-l a ga-si-g o 

•This word is written ho-wa-ya-hu in the book and repeated. 

tsa-tsi-l a yats(i)-sga do-na-y a - li. 

part is what the hunter sings (four times, as he walks) 

in order to overcome the magic of the deer. A buck, 

the medicine man said, has a channel from his root 

foot up to his right ear, and through it he is able to 

pick up the sound of a hunter as far as 4 miles away. 

The medicine man did not know the purpose of the 

spoken Wayuhe*!*. 

Although he did not have the song in his repertoire, 

our Creek informant conceded that it was Creek, 

and was able to form from the text these words: ta'yi 

(/ am great) ta'yayi (/ am very great)/c&'c]l& {you 

tou^h me)/yickati'siku {never)/yi'cka, {do you?). 

9. FOR HUNTING DEER (Incomplete) 

CHEROKEE CAPTION: A?hwi (c?eer)/an6:hya:dhahi 

{wild, ^Aey)/dighel(a)y6:hisdoMi {to catch up with 

them, with, owg)/yigan6:hile:na {when one goes hunting)/ 

inage:i {woods). "To catch up with wild deer with 

when one goes hunting in the woods." 

ENGLISH EXPLANATION : Creek Song [.] Deer Hunter 

Song. 

COMMENTARY: The Cherokee medicine man wrote 

down the complete text of this song, a charm that 

presumably one employs in the same manner as No. 

8, but he could not remember aU of the tune. 

The complete written text is: Sa-tsa/wa-na/ha-gi-noma-di/sa-tsa/wa-na/ha-gi-no-ma/sa-tsa/wa-na/ha-gi-noma-di/sa-tsa/wa-na/ha-gi-no-ma / wa-li-go-tsi / i-ha-tsi/ 

sa-tsa/wa-na/ha-gi-no-ma-di/sa-tsa/wa-na/ha-gi-no-ma/ 

sa-tsa/wa-na/ha-gi-no-ma-di/sa-tsa/wa-na/ha-gi-no-ma. 

One observes that this is slightly at variance with 

the text as sung. 

With little conviction the Creek shaman offered as 

a possible, but highly improbable, reading: aca'winayi" 

cska {are you smelling me f). He was of the opinion 

that the text was almost certainly Natchez. 
40 SMITHSONIAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO ANTHROPOLOGY VOLUME 2 

J =96 circa 

^m ^B i ^ ^ ^ 0 # 

Sa - tsa wa - na ha - gi - no - ma - di 

, 5 , 

'h\\i g r g ^ ^ i ^ -osa - ts a wa - na ha - gi - no - ma 

1 5 , 

di 

'^''^w ^ r ^ ^ 

s a - tsa wa - na ha - gi - no - ma . 

CHEROKEE CAPTION. 

10. FOR STOPPING BLEEDING (Text only) 

ENGLISH EXPLANATION: Notche [Natchez]. Song; 

Bad Cut Bleeding Stop with this Song. 

COMMENTARY: The Cherokee shaman could not remember any of the tune of this song. Inasmuch as 

we therefore could not be certain as to the proper 

grouping of the syllables, the text was not brought to 

the attention of the Creek informant. 

The text is: Hi-ga-gi-la-go-da-di/lii-o-gi-ha-[di ?]-gida-di/na-hi-yu [8 times] /hi-ya-ha-la-sgo-da-di/hi-ni-daha-di-gi-da-di/na-hi-yu [8 times] /hi-o-gi-ha-di-gi-da-di/ 

hi-ni-da-ha-di-ga-da-di/na-hi-yu [2 times]. 

Literature Cited 

DENSMORE, FRANCES 

1956. Seminole music. Bur. Amer. Ethnol. Bull. 161. 

GILBERT, WILLIAM H. , JR. 

1943. The Eastern Cherokees. Bur. Amer. Ethnol. Bull. 133, Anthrop. Pap. No. 23, pp. 169-414. 

KILPATRICK, JACK FREDERICK, AND KILPATRICK, ANNA GRITTS 

1964a. Cherokee burn conjurations. Jour. Grad. Res. Ctr., South. Meth. Univ., vol. 33, No. 1, pp. 

17-21. 

1964b. Friends of thunder. Folktales of the Oklahoma Cherokees. Dallas, Tex. 

1967. Run toward the nightland. Dallas, Tex. 

MOONEY, JAMES 

1891. Sacred formulas of the Cherokees. 7th Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer. Ethnol., 1885-86, pp. 302-397. 

SPECK, FRANK G. 

1911. Ceremonial songs of the Creek and Yuchi Indians. Univ. Penn. Mus. Anthrop. Publ., vol. 1, 

pp. 157-245. 

SWANTON, JOHN R. 

1928. Religious beliefs and medical practices of the Creek Indians. 42d Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer. 

Ethnol., 1924-25, pp. 473-672. 

1929. Myths and tales of the southeastern Indians. Bur. Amer. Ethnol. Bull. 88. 

THOMAS, ROBERT K . 

1961. The Redbird Smith movement. In "Symposium on Cherokee and Iroquois culture," ed. by 

William N. Fenton and John Gulick. Bur. Amer. Ethnol. Bull. 180, pp. 159-166. 

it U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1967—0-226-383