Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-06-25

otIs NJ ioS ms company. oeiong 70 The one
clan which was allotted for yoa. The other
clans are not even good looking. They 20
about clothed with filth. The miserable rain
crow has made them so like himself that they
are 1T only 10 be with him Hal belong 70
the wolf clan. am very handsome"
WORSHIP or ANIMALS.
The religion Of the Cherokees. like that Of
most North American tribes, is a worship OF
everything tangible, but particularly Of ami
malls. Among the animal gods insects and fishes
occupy subordinate place, while qustrupcds.
birds and reptiles are invoked almost constantly.
The 'rktenn"-a mythic groa. horned Ger
Pent-the rat lesnske, the terrapin. the hawk.
the rabbit the Squirrel and the dog are the
prominent phce IN the love aud Efe-destrovins
formulas, its duty being TO entangle the soul OF
the victim In the meshes Of its web or 90 pluck
It from the body Of the doomed man and drag IL
away to the black coffin in the Dsrkening Land
The sun Is invoked by the ball player, while
the hunter prays 70 the ERE; but every import
ant ceremony-whether connected With meSh-
cine, love, hunting or games an inyo-
cation addressed to the Long Person" which
Is the name for water. or, nero strictly speak
ing, for the river; Other formulas invoke the
wind, the cloud. the storm and the frost
Another god invoked In the hunting songs is
'Slsnting Eyes," giant hunter, who lives in
one OF the great mountains Of the Blue Ridge
and owns all the game. Others are the Little
Men, Children of the Thunder, and the Little
People, who are fairies that dwell in the rock
cliffs. There is alec diminutiye sprite which
holds the place OF our Puck. One important
formula is addressed 70 the "Red-headed
Woman, Whose Hair Hangs Down TO the
Ground" When the rabbit, which seems 20 be
great mischief maker In the folklore OF most
races, is identified by the aboriginal phy-
| stefan as the cause OF a disease the
rabbit Hawk" Is summoned to drive
| the wicked animal out 81 the patient. Some
times, after the intruder has been thus eH-
PEELED, "a small portion still remains" in the
| words Of the formula. and accordingly the
whiriwnd is summoned from the tree tops "a
carry the remnant to the uplands, and there
scatter 1t so that it shall never reappear.
NUMEROUS INDICATIONS.
The hunter prays to the fire from which he
draws his omens, to the reed from which he
makes his arrows, to ''slantins Eyes, the great
lord Of the game, and finally to the very ami
mails which be intends to kill. When the war
| ricr is about to set ont upon dangerous expe-
dition he asks the cloud TO enrelop him and
| conceal him from his enemies. Each spirit of
| good or evil has its distinct and appropriate
| place of residence. The rabbit is declared 10
live in the broomsage on the hillside, the fish
dwells in bend of the river under the pendant
hemlock branches, the terrtbin resides in the
/
| IN the leafy tree tops. Each disease animal.
when driven away from its prey by some more
| powerful creature, endesvors to find shelter in
| its accustomed haunt. must be understood
that the animals Of the formulas are not the
ordinary everyday animals, but their mighty
progenitors who live in the upper world above
| the arch of the armament.
Until recently the formulas of the Cherokees
were kept very secret by the priest-physicians
or medicine men. being the most important
! part of their stock in trade. They ere doubt
less of great antiquity and were handed down
orally from generation to generation until the
| famous sylabary was invented about sixty
years ago by a genius OF the tribe. This
syllabary could be so quickly learned that any
| Indian of average intelligence was able TO both
read and write the language after fortnight's
| study. Theformulas were written out in the char
acters of the syllabary and Mr.. James Mooney
OF the bureau Of e.hLology managed TO secure
several books filed with them. although with
much difficulty because of the opposition Of
the native doctors. Formerly the latter sold
the formulas at high prices to those who wished
to use them for charms or otherwise. As much
as e5 was sometimes paid for q single hunting
song, because without such aid it was deemed
impossible to kill any game.
THE FORMULAS.
In many Of the formulas, especially those re-
lating to love and to life destroying the priest
doctor mentions the name and clan Of his client
of the intended victim or Of the girl whose
affections il is desired to win. The Indian re-
CARDS his name not as a mere label but as a dis
tinct part of his personality just as much as hi,
eyes or his teeth, and believes that injury viii
result as surely from the malicious handling o.
it as from a wound inflicted on any part o!
his body. This belief is found among various
| tribes from the Atlantic to the Pacific and has
| occasioned a number OF curious regula-
lions in regard TO the concealment and
change Of names. II is supposed to have been
on this account that both Powhatan and Poca-
hontas are known in history under assumed up
| pellations, their true names having been con-
cealed from the whites until the pseudonymf
were too firmly established to be supplanted.
Cherokee mothers sometimes hush crying
children by telling them thst the screech owl i
| tie dwarf, who lives in a cave. will come and GET
them. This usually quicts the youngster, Blu,
the owl and the dwarf take offense at being
spoken of IN this way and visit their displeasurt
upon the children born to the mother after
ward. This they do by sending an animal into
the body of the child to gnaw its vitals The
rattlesnake Is regarded as a supernatural being
40 great pains are taken not to offend IL Ac-
cordingly II is never said among the people that
person has been bitten by q snake, but that he
has been scratched by brier." In the same
way, when an eagle has been shot. it is an
AouhSSd u suoNDifu nhs DcSu kllleQ. the
purpose being TO deceive the snake spirit or
eagle spirit, which might be listening insects are
| supposed to cause q great number of dis
eases, being actuated by motives OF revenge, be-
cause they are constantly being crushed or
otherwise destroyed through the carelessness OF
| the human race. They establish communities
under the skin Of their victims. thus producing
an irritation which results in fevers, boils and
scrofula. This idea is to Cherokee physicians
what the mlcrobe theory is to modern scientists.
THE MEDICINE MANS POWER.
When the medicine man. wishes to DESTROY
the life of person either for his own purposes
or for hire he conceals himself near the trail
along which the victim is likely to pass. he
follows the latter secretly until he chances to
spit upon the ground Then he collects on the
end of a stick little of the dust moistened with
the UNFORTUNATELY saliva, the possession Of which
gives him power over the life Of the man him
self The saliva thus obtained may be caused
to breed animals or sprout corn in the body of
its former owner. The operator also puts into a
joint of the poisonous wild parsnip seven earth
worms beaten into paste and as many splinters
from a tree which has been struck by lightning.
These things he buries with proper ceremony
and the person aimed ct is expected to shrivel
up and die within seven DAYS. However. IL by
counter spells he can turn the curse aside from
himself It VIII return upon the one who invoked
it.
The Cherokee hunter shoots such small game
as rabbits, squirrels and birds with a blow gun,