The Sacred Formulas of the Cherokees Part 7

(2) (3) (4) (5) (6) Sge! Gal[n]lati hinehi hinehiy hinidawe, utsinwa ad[n]niga 12 12 22 34 33 566--Hayi!

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) Sge! U[n]wadhi hinehi, hinehiy hinidawe, utsinwa ad[n]niga 12 12 22 34 33 566--Hayi!

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) Sge! Ntsihi hinehi hinehiy hinidawe utsinwa ad[n]niga 12 12 22 34 33 566--Hayi!

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) Sge! Amyi hinehi, hinehiy hinidawe utsinwa ad[n]niga 12 12 22 33 33 566--Hayi!

Sge! Ha-ngwa hat[n]nganiga, Agaluga Tssdiga, hidawehi, tali tsusdigahi dudawsat[n]

ditsldhisti. (Hidawehi, gahusti tsanul[n]h[n]sgi niges[n]na.) Ha-ngwa datleh[n]g. Usdigi(yu) utiyastan[n](hi) (higesei). (H[n])hiyalagistaniga igti usdighi usahilagi Igtulti n[n]nhi witetsatan[n][n]si. Anetsgeta _getsatnehi_ n[n]glstaniga ig[n]wlstanitasti-gw. Atigaleyata tstneliga. Utsinwa [11] nig[n]tisgesti.

Sge! Ha-ngwa h[n]hat[n]ganiga, Agaluga Hegwahigw.

'tali tsegwhi dudawsat[n] iy[n]ta ditsldhisti.

Agaluga Hegwa, hausinuli datleh[n]g.

Usdigiyu utiyastan[n]hi. Hiyalagistaniga ulsgeta igt-egwhi) usahilagi. (Igat-(egwhi iy[n]ta n[n]nhi witetsatan[n][n]si. Anetsgeta _getsatnelitisesti_ ig[n]wlstanitasti-gw.

Utsinwa-gw nutatan[n]ta. Nigagi Y!

(Degsisisg[n]i)--Unawasti egwa unitl[n]gi.

Taya g[n]tati, ditsatistati. Tsl-agay[n]li yaha ul[n]kwati-gw nasgw.

[Footnote 11: So written and p.r.o.nounced by Ay[n]ini instead of utsinawa.]

_Translation._

TO TREAT THE GREAT CHILL.

Listen! On high you dwell, On high you dwell--you dwell, you dwell.

Forever you dwell, you anidawe, forever you dwell, forever you dwell. Relief has come--has come. Hayi!

Listen! On [n]wadhi you dwell, On [n]wadhi you dwell--you dwell, you dwell. Forever you dwell, you anidawe, forever you dwell, forever you dwell. Relief has come--has come. Hayi!

Listen! In the pines you dwell, In the pines you dwell--you dwell, you dwell. Forever you dwell, you anidawe, forever you dwell, forever you dwell. Relief has come--has come. Hayi!

Listen! In the water you dwell, In the water you dwell, you dwell, you dwell. Forever you dwell, you anidawe, forever you dwell, forever you dwell. Relief has come--has come. Hayii!

Listen! O now you have drawn near to hearken, O Little Whirlwind, O adawehi, in the leafy shelter of the lower mountain, there you repose. O adawehi, you can never fail in anything. Ha! Now rise up.

A very small portion [of the disease] remains. You have come to sweep it away into the small swamp on the upland. You have laid down your paths near the swamp. It is ordained that you shall scatter it as in play, so that it shall utterly disappear. By you it must be scattered.

So shall there be relief.

Listen! O now again you have drawn near to hearken, O Whirlwind, surpa.s.singly great. In the leafy shelter of the great mountain there you repose. O Great Whirlwind, arise quickly. A very small part [of the disease] remains. You have come to sweep the intruder into the great swamp on the upland. You have laid down your paths toward the great swamp. You shall scatter it as in play so that it shall utterly disappear. And now relief has come. All is done. Y!

(Prescription.)--(This is to use) when they are sick with the great chill. Take a decoction of wild cherry to blow upon them. If you have Tsl-agay[n]li (old tobacco--_Nicotiana rustica_) it also is very effective.

_Explanation._

Unawasti, that which chills one, is a generic name for intermittent fever, otherwise known as fever and ague. It is much dreaded by the Indian doctors, who recognize several varieties of the disease, and have various theories to account for them. The above formula was obtained from Ay[n]ni (Swimmer), who described the symptoms of this variety, the Great Chill, as blackness in the face, with alternate high fever and shaking chills. The disease generally appeared in spring or summer, and might return year after year. In the first stages the chill usually came on early in the morning, but came on later in the day as the disease progressed. There might be more than one chill during the day. There was no rule as to appet.i.te, but the fever always produced an excessive thirst. In one instance the patient fainted from the heat and would even lie down in a stream to cool himself. The doctor believed the disease was caused by malicious tsgya, a general name for all small insects and worms, excepting intestinal worms. These tsgya--that is, the disease tsgya, not the real insects and worms--are held responsible for a large number of diseases, and in fact the tsgya doctrine is to the Cherokee pract.i.tioner what the microbe theory is to some modern scientists. The tsgya live in the earth, in the water, in the air, in the foliage of trees, in decaying wood, or wherever else insects lodge, and as they are constantly being crushed, burned or otherwise destroyed through the unthinking carelessness of the human race, they are continually actuated by a spirit of revenge. To accomplish their vengeance, according to the doctors, they establish towns under the skin of their victims, thus producing an irritation which results in fevers, boils, scrofula and other diseases.

The formula begins with a song of four verses, in which the doctor invokes in succession the spirits of the air, of the mountain, of the forest, and of the water. Gal[n]lati, the word used in the first verse, signifies, as has been already explained, on high or above everything, and has been used by translators to mean heaven.

[n]wadhi in the second verse is the name of a bald mountain east of Webster, North Carolina, and is used figuratively to denote any mountains of bold outline. The Cherokees have a tradition to account for the name, which is derived from [n]wadli, provision house. Ntsihi in the third verse signifies pinery, from ntsi, pine, but is figuratively used to denote a forest of any kind.

In the recitation which follows the song, but is used only in serious cases, the doctor prays to the whirlwind, which is considered to dwell among the trees on the mountain side, where the trembling of the leaves always gives the first intimation of its presence. He declares that a small portion of the disease still remains, the spirits invoked in the song having already taken the rest, and calls upon the whirlwind to lay down a path for it and sweep it away into the swamp on the upland, referring to gra.s.sy marshes common in the small coves of the higher mountains, which, being remote from the settlements, are convenient places to which to banish the disease. Not satisfied with this, he goes on to direct the whirlwind to scatter the disease as it scatters the leaves of the forest, so that it shall utterly disappear.

In the Cherokee formula the verb anetsgeta means literally to play, and is generally understood to refer to the ball play, anets, so that to a Cherokee the expression conveys the idea of catching up the disease and driving it onward as a player seizes the ball and sends it spinning through the air from between his ball sticks. Nigagi is a solemn expression about equivalent to the Latin consummatum est.

The doctor beats up some bark from the trunk of the wild cherry and puts it into water together with seven coals of fire, the latter being intended to warm the decoction. The leaves of Tsl-agay[n]li (Indian tobacco--Nicotiana rustica) are sometimes used in place of the wild cherry bark. The patient is placed facing the sunrise, and the doctor, taking the medicine in his mouth, blows it over the body of the sick man. First, standing between the patient and the sunrise and holding the medicine cup in his hand, he sings the first verse in a low tone. Then, taking some of the liquid in his mouth, he advances and blows it successively upon the top of the head, the right shoulder, left shoulder, and breast or back of the patient, making four blowings in all. He repeats the same ceremony with the second, third, and fourth verse, returning each time to his original position.

The ceremony takes place in the morning, and if necessary is repeated in the evening. It is sometimes necessary also to repeat the treatment for several--generally four--consecutive days.

The recitation is not used excepting in the most serious cases, when, according to the formula, a very small portion of the disease still lingers. It is accompanied by blowing _of the breath alone_, without medicine, probably in this case typical of the action of the whirlwind. After repeating the whole ceremony accompanying the song, as above described, the doctor returns to his position in front of the patient and recites in a whisper the first paragraph to the Little Whirlwind, after which he advances and blows his breath upon the patient four times as he has already blown the medicine upon him. Then going around to the north he recites the second paragraph to the Great Whirlwind, and at its conclusion blows in the same manner. Then moving around to the west--behind the patient--he again prays to the Little Whirlwind with the same ceremonies, and finally moving around to the south side he closes with the prayer to the Great Whirlwind, blowing four times at its conclusion. The medicine must be prepared anew by the doctor at the house of the patient at each application morning or evening. Only as much as will be needed is made at a time, and the patient always drinks what remains after the blowing. Connected with the preparation and care of the medicine are a number of ceremonies which need not be detailed here. The wild cherry bark must always be procured fresh; but the Tsl-agay[n]li (Old Tobacco) leaves may be dry. When the latter plant is used four leaves are taken and steeped in warm water with the fire coals, as above described.

HIA TSUNSDIGA DILTADINATANTIYI. I.

Sge! Hisgaya Tssdiga ha-ngwa datleh[n]g kil-gw. Iy[n]ta agay[n]linasi tayai. Eskaniyu unayehisti n[n]ta-yutanati. Sge! tinlitgi!

Tlekiyu tstsestgi hwinagi. Y!

Sge! Higecya tssdiga ha-ngwa datleh[n]g kil-gw. Iy[n]ta tstutunasi tayai. Eskaniyu unayehisti n[n]tayutanati. Sge! tinlitgi!

Tlekiyu tstsest hwinagi. Y!

_Translation._

THIS IS TO MAKE CHILDREN JUMP DOWN.

Listen! You little man, get up now at once. There comes an old woman.

The horrible [old thing] is coming, only a little way off. Listen!

Quick! Get your bed and let us run away. Y!

Listen! You little woman, get up now at once. There comes your grandfather. The horrible old fellow is coming only a little way off.

Listen! Quick! Get your bed and let us run away. Y!

_Explanation._

In this formula for childbirth the idea is to frighten the child and coax it to come, by telling it, if a boy, that an ugly old woman is coming, or if a girl, that her grandfather is coming only a short distance away. The reason of this lies in the fact that an old woman is the terror of all the little boys of the neighborhood, constantly teasing and frightening them by declaring that she means to live until they grow up and then compel one of them to marry her, old and shriveled as she is. For the same reason the maternal grandfather, who is always a privileged character in the family, is especially dreaded by the little girls, and nothing will send a group of children running into the house more quickly than the announcement that an old granny, of either s.e.x is in sight.

As the s.e.x is an uncertain quant.i.ty, the possible boy is always first addressed in the formulas, and if no result seems to follow, the doctor then concludes that the child is a girl and addresses her in similar tones. In some cases an additional formula with the beads is used to determine whether the child will be born alive or dead.

In most instances the formulas were formerly repeated with the appropriate ceremonies by some old female relative of the mother, but they are now the property of the ordinary doctors, men as well as women.

This formula was obtained from the ma.n.u.script book of Ay[n]ini, who stated that the medicine used was a warm decoction of a plant called Dalnige Unastetsi (yellow root--not identified), which was blown successively upon the top of the mothers head, upon the breast, and upon the palm of each hand. The doctor stands beside the woman, who is propped up in a sitting position, while repeating the first paragraph and then blows. If this produces no result he then recites the paragraph addressed to the girl and again blows. A part of the liquid is also given to the woman to drink. Ay[n]ini claimed this was always effectual.

(HIA TSUNSDIGA DILTADINATANTIYI. II.)

Hitsutsa, hitsutsa, tlekiyu, tlekiyu, ehinugi, ehinugi! Hitsutsa, tlekiyu, gltsti, gltsti, tinagna, tinagna!

Higeyutsa, higeyutsa, tlekiyu, tlekiyu, ehinugi, ehinugi! Higeyutsa, tlekiyu, g[n]gusti, g[n]gusti, tinagna, tinagna!

_Translation._