The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1892-07-06
CHEROKEE TALISMANS.
Carefully Guarded Stones, Of Which tn
Greatest Is the ClasuttL

Greatest Is the CI0Surtl
Stones endowed with magic powers
| have held an important place in the
| worlds belief from the days Of the
oracular stone in the breastplate of the
ancient Jewish high priest down to the
Lee penny and the murrain stone of
modern times. The Cherokee medicine
men make use Of several stone tails
mans, commonly crystals found among
| their native mountains One is trans
lucent purple stone about an inch
long, with sharp point With this
the conjurer claimed to be able to find
lost or stolen articles, or to tell the
whereabouts of game in the mountains
To test the matter, a coin was thrown
into the grass at random while he was
not looking, and he was told the money
! was his If he could find it. Procuring 3
string about yard long, he tied one
end Of it around the midd,s of the stone
Then, holding the stone suspended so as
to swing freely, he set II whirling in a
circle, with stroke of his finger. at the
same time reciting in an undertone
some secret formula The stone re-
volred rapidly, then more and more
slowly, and stopped with the point to-
ward the north He walked few feet
further in that direction, gave the stone
another twirl, and again repeated the
formula, explaining that it must be
done seven times, and that on the sew
enth TRIAL the stone would point to the
exact spot where the money was lying.
Having gone through the whole per
fo1nanse. he finally halted at the wrong
place. After hunting in the grass for
some time he was obliged 70 give it up.
He declared that his failurs was due to
the fact that the stone was not fastened
as it should have been. The other In
dams said that the stone was ell right,
but that the man was liar, which was
perfectly true, and that, although
pretty good doctor, ne knew nothing of
magic. They asserted that in the hands
Of certain conjurers, whom they named,
the charm never failed
To obtain a knowledge of future
events, they use another tahsman.
They put it into bowl of water,
where, according TO their testimony, it
moves about on the surface, following
the direction of q knife in the hand OF
the .conjurer, who all the time repeats
bis secret formula. Whipple describes
that ceremony as he witnessed it
among the western Cherokees forty
years ago. The talisman was small
piece of very dry bread.
The greatest of all Cherokee tails
mans Is the Ulasutti literally transpar-
ent) stone. There is no end to the
stories concerning this stone, which the
Indians invariably speak of in a half
frightened manner, as children speak of
ghosts. They assert that it is a magic
scale from the head of a great horned
serpent with a body as large as tree
trunk and two blazing Goals of fire for
eyes. which lived ages ago and worked
terrible destruction among the people
until it was killed by a famous magi-
clan. In the encounter single drop Of
the head Of the slayer, whose hair was
transformed into mass of writhing
snakes.
The Indians describe it as a TRAN
gular crystal, fiat on the bottom and
tapertng up to point, and perfectly
transparent with the exception of a
single red streak running through the
center from top to bottom. 1t is evi-
IDENTIFY beautiful specimen of rutile
quartz, 80 exceedingly rare that the con-
juror who can obtain one outranks all
his rivals
The stone must be fed, the Indians
say, with the blood of small game every
seven days-rubbed over with the blood
of the animal as soon as killed. Twice
a year it demands the blood of deer
or some other large animal 1t is
in some secret cave in the mountains.
We're the tribute of blood to be with
held or neglected the Ulasutti would
issue from its hiding place at night as
great blazing ball of fire, and fly
through the air to satisfy its appetite
by drinking the life blood Of the con-
juror.
The original owner was afraid of 1t,
and he changed it's hiding place fire.
quently, so that the stone might not be
able to find its way out When he died
it was buried with him, as otherwise it
would issue from its cave by night, like
q fiery meteor, to search for his tomb
night after night for seven years. But,
II unable to find it's owner. it would go
back to sleep forever where he had
placed It.
As far back as 1852 Undertake heard
OF the stone with the wonderful story
Of its origin. He said that It was kept
hidden IN some place known only to
two women, who refused TO betray the
secret. Adair, the celebrated trader,
also speaks Of ii few years later. The
conjurer refused to let him see Il for
fear Of proclamation.
When consulting It for an unknown
or future happening the conjuror gazes
into the Ulasutti. and there sees mir
rored all that he wishes TO know, and
by the action Of the specter, or its posi- |
ton near the top or bottom Of the talis-
man, he learns not only the event but |
also It's proximity in time or place
It is believed that only one Of these |
stones is in possession Of the eastern
Cherokees- The owner has refused all /
TO show IL He said that |
he kept Il hidden IN a cave, wrapped In |
its deerskin covering, and that If he |
should expose il to the profane gaze of !
3 white man he could Kill no more 1
game, even Il he were permitted 20 |
i've. It was very evident that he be- /
Iieved what he said, for no offer could /
change his determination Y. Sun. /
How He Looked At 1t.
L