Seventh Annual Report Part 78

The disease, figuratively called the intruder (ulsgta), is regarded as a living being, and the verbs used in speaking of it show that it is considered to be long, like a snake or fish. It is brought by the deer chief and put into the body, generally the limbs, of the hunter, who at once begins to suffer intense pain. It can be driven out only by some more powerful animal spirit which is the natural enemy of the deer, usually the dog or the Wolf. These animal G.o.ds live up above beyond the seventh heaven and are the great prototypes of which the earthly animals are only diminutive copies. They are commonly located at the four cardinal points, each of which has a peculiar formulistic name and a special color which applies to everything in the same connection. Thus the east, north, west, and south are respectively the Sun Land, the Frigid Land, the Darkening Land, and Wahala, while their respective mythologic colors are Red, Blue, Black, and White.

Whala is said to be a mountain far to the south. The white or red spirits are generally invoked for peace, health, and other blessings, the red alone for the success of an undertaking, the blue spirits to defeat the schemes of an enemy or bring down troubles upon him, and the black to compa.s.s his death. The white and red spirits are regarded as the most powerful, and one of these two is generally called upon to accomplish the final result.

In this case the doctor first invokes the Red Dog in the Sun Land, calling him a great adwehi, to whom nothing is impossible and who never fails to accomplish his purpose. He is addressed as if out of sight in the distance and is implored to appear running swiftly to the help of the sick man. Then the supplication changes to an a.s.sertion and the doctor declares that the Red Dog has already arrived to take the disease and has borne away a small portion of it to the uttermost ends of the earth. In the second, third, and fourth paragraphs the Blue Dog of the Frigid Land, the Black Dog of the Darkening Land, and the White Dog of Whala are successively invoked in the same terms and each bears away a portion of the disease and disposes of it in the same way. Finally, in the fifth paragraph, the White Terrapin of Whala is invoked. He bears off the remainder of the disease and the doctor declares that relief is accomplished. The connection of the terrapin in this formula is not evident, beyond the fact that he is regarded as having great influence in disease, and in this case the beads and a portion of the medicine are kept in a terrapin sh.e.l.l placed upon the diseased part while the prayer is being recited.

The formulas generally consist of four paragraphs, corresponding to four steps in the medical ceremony. In this case there are five, the last being addressed to the terrapin instead of to a dog. The prayers are recited in an undertone hardly audible at the distance of a few feet, with the exception of the frequent _ha_, which seems to be used as an interjection to attract attention and is always uttered in a louder tone. The beads--which are here white, symbolic of relief--are of common use in connection with these formulas, and are held between the thumb and finger, placed upon a cloth on the ground, or, as in this case, put into a terrapin sh.e.l.l along with a small portion of the medicine. According to directions, the sh.e.l.l has no other part in the ceremony.

The blowing is also a regular part of the treatment, the doctor either holding the medicine in his mouth and blowing it upon the patient, or, as it seems to be the case here, applying the medicine by rubbing, and blowing his breath upon the spot afterwards. In some formulas the simple blowing of the breath const.i.tutes the whole application. In this instance the doctor probably rubs the medicine upon the affected part while reciting the first paragraph in a whisper, after which he blows once upon the spot. The other paragraphs are recited in the same manner, blowing once after each. In this way the whole formula is repeated four times, with four blows at the end of the final repet.i.tion. The directions imply that the doctor blows only at the end of the whole formula, but this is not in accord with the regular mode of procedure and seems to be a mistake.

The medicine consists of a warm decoction of the roots of four varieties of fern, rubbed on with the hand. The awkward description of the species shows how limited is the Indians power of botanic cla.s.sification. The application is repeated four times during the same morning, beginning just at daybreak and ending at noon. Four is the sacred number running through every detail of these formulas, there being commonly four spirits invoked in four paragraphs, four blowings with four final blows, four herbs in the decoction, four applications, and frequently four days gaktunta or tabu. In this case no tabu is specified beyond the fact that both doctor and patient must be fasting. The tabu generally extends to salt or lye, hot food and women, while in rheumatism some doctors forbid the patient to eat the foot or leg of any animal, the reason given being that the limbs are generally the seat of the disease. For a similar reason the patient is also forbidden to eat or even to touch a squirrel, a buffalo, a cat, or any animal which humps itself. In the same way a scrofulous patient must not eat turkey, as that bird seems to have a scrofulous eruption on its head, while ball players must abstain from eating frogs, because the bones of that animal are brittle and easily broken.

HIA?-N NASGW DIDnLESKI ADANnWTI.

Asgaya ykannwi Y! Hige?ya Gigagei tsdantelhi _Age?ya Giagagei_ atati; gesei. Ulsgeta hitsanuytanilei.

age?ya-n ykannwi Ha-Nndgnyi Ulsgeta _Asgaya Gigagei_ atati. hitsanuytanilei.

Ha-Nndgnyi nntatsdalenhi gesei. Gasgil gigagei tsusdiga tetsadiile detsalasidite-gei.

Hangwa usinuliyu detsaldisiyi.

Utsi(na)wa nutatannta. Us.h.i.+ta nutanna.

Utsinawa-gw nigntisgesti.

(Degsisisgni)--Hia-gw niga kanheta. N?kiba nagnkwtisga dagnstiski. Sgwa nnskwta gnstni agnstagis-ki hntsatasgi n?kine-?n nskwta n?ki nntstasgi.

Hia-?n nnwti: Egnli, Yna-?n Utsesdgi, (U)wasgili tsigi Egnli, tali tsinudaleha, Kga-?n Asgntage tsinnsehi, Dayi-?n Uwyi tsinnsehi. Sutali iyutalegi unastetsa agti, uganaw?n dagnsta?tisgi nnwti asnga?lai. Us.h.i.+ adannwti, nu?ki tsus.h.i.+ta dulsinisn adannwti. A?nawagi-?n dilasulagi gesni le tsikanikagai gwsdi-gw utsawata a?nawa-gw-n.

Hia-n gaktnta glkwgi tsus.h.i.+ta.

Gnwadanadatlahisti nigesnna--Salli, gi?li-?n, wesa-?n, atats-n, ama-?n, anige?ya-n. Uda?li yakannwiya n?kiha tsus.h.i.+ta unada.n.a.ltsi-tasti nigesnna. Gasgilgi-?n uwasun-gw uskiladisti uwas n?ki tsus.h.i.+ta. Disi-?n degasgil ntsa n?na uwa?ti yigesi n?ki tsus.h.i.+ta.

_Translation._

AND THIS ALSO IS FOR TREATING THE CRIPPLER.

Y! O Red Woman, you have caused it. You have put the intruder under him. Ha! now you have come from the Sun Land. You have brought the small red seats, with your feet resting upon them. Ha! now they have swiftly moved away from you. Relief is accomplished. Let it not be for one night alone. Let the relief come at once.

(Prescription)--(_corner note at top_.) If treating a man one must say _Red Woman_, and if treating a woman one must say _Red Man_.

This is just all of the prayer. Repeat it four times while laying on the hands. After saying it over once, with the hands on (the body of the patient), take off the hands and blow once, and at the fourth repet.i.tion blow four times. And this is the medicine. Egnli (a species of fern). Y-na-Utsesta (bears bed, the Aspidium acrostichoides or Christmas fern), _two_ varieties of the soft-(leaved) Egnli (one, the small variety, is the Cinnamon fern, Osmunda cinnamonea), and what is called Kga Asgntage (crows s.h.i.+n, the Adiantum pedatum or Maidenhair fern) and what is called Dayi-Uwyi (beavers paw--not identified). Boil the roots of the six varieties together and apply the hands warm with the medicine upon them. Doctor in the evening. Doctor four consecutive nights. (The pay) is cloth and moccasins; or, if one does not have them, just a little dressed deerskin and some cloth.

And this is the tabu for seven nights. One must not touch a squirrel, a dog, a cat, the mountain trout, or women. If one is treating a married man they (_sic_) must not touch his wife for four nights. And he must sit on a seat by himself for four nights, and must not sit on the other seats for four nights.

_Explanation._

The treatment and medicine in this formula are nearly the same as in that just given, which is also for rheumatism, both being written by Gahuni. The prayer differs in several respects from any other obtained, but as the doctor has been dead for years it is impossible to give a full explanation of all the points. This is probably the only formula in the collection in which the spirit invoked is the Red Woman, but, as explained in the corner note at the top, this is only the form used instead of Red Man, when the patient is a man. The Red Man, who is considered perhaps the most powerful G.o.d in the Cherokee pantheon, is in some way connected with the thunder, and is invoked in a large number of formulas. The change in the formula, according to the s.e.x of the patient, brings to mind a belief in Irish folk medicine, that in applying certain remedies the doctor and patient must be of opposite s.e.xes. The Red Man lives in the east, in accordance with the regular mythologic color theory, as already explained. The seats also are red, and the form of the verb indicates that the Red Woman is either standing upon them (plural) or sitting with her feet resting upon the rounds. These seats or chairs are frequently mentioned in the formulas, and always correspond in color with the spirit invoked. It is not clear why the Red Woman is held responsible for the disease, which is generally attributed to the revengeful efforts of the game, as already explained. In agreement with the regular form, the disease is said to be put under (not into) the patient. The a.s.sertion that the chairs have swiftly moved away would seem from a.n.a.logy to mean that the disease has been placed upon the seats and thus borne away. The verb implies that the seats move by their own volition. Immediately afterward it is declared that relief is accomplished. The expression us.h.i.+ta nutanna occurs frequently in these formulas, and may mean either let it not be for one night alone, or let it not stay a single night, according to the context.

The directions specify not only the medicine and the treatment, but also the doctors fee. From the form of the verb the tabu, except as regards the seat to be used by the sick person, seems to apply to both doctor and patient. It is not evident why the mountain trout is prohibited, but the dog, squirrel, and cat are tabued, as already explained, from the fact that these animals frequently a.s.sume positions resembling the cramped att.i.tude common to persons afflicted by rheumatism. The cat is considered especially uncanny, as coming from the whites. Seven, as well as four, is a sacred number with the tribe, being also the number of their gentes. It will be noted that time is counted by nights instead of by days.

HI' INAT YUNISKLTSA ADANNWTI.

1. _Dnuwa_, dnuwa, dnuwa, dnuwa, dnuwa, dnuwa (_song_).

Sge! Ha-Walsi-gw tsnlntaniga.

2. _Dayuha_, dayuha, dayuha, dayuha dayuha (_song_).

Sge! Ha-_Usugi_-gw tsn-ln-taniga.

(Degsisisgni).--Kangita nyga hia dilentisgni. Tali ignkwta?ti, le taline tsutannna nasgw tli ignkwta?ti. Tsla agannlieski tsla yikanigngi watsila-gw gannliyeti uniskl?tsni. N?ki nagadestisgi agannliesgni. Akskni gadesta?ti, n?ki nagade sta hntsatasgi.

Hia-?n inat aktisi udesti yign?ka, naski-?n tsagadlagisgi iyusti gatgni.

_Translation._

THIS IS TO TREAT THEM IF THEY ARE BITTEN BY A SNAKE.

1. Dnuwa, dnuwa, dnuwa, dnuwa, dnuwa, dnuwa.

Listen! Ha! It is only a common frog which has pa.s.sed by and put it (the intruder) into you.

2. Dayuha, dayuha, dayuha, dayuha, dayuha.

Listen! Ha! It is only an _Usu?gi_ which has pa.s.sed by and put it into you.

(Prescription.)--Now this at the beginning is a song. One should say it twice and also say the second line twice. Rub tobacco (juice) on the bite for some time, or if there be no tobacco just rub on saliva once. In rubbing it on, one must go around four times. Go around toward the left and blow four times in a circle. This is because in lying down the snake always coils to the right and this is just the same (_lit._ means like) as uncoiling it.

_Explanation._

This is also from the ma.n.u.script book of Gahuni, deceased, so that no explanation could be obtained from the writer. The formula consists of a song of two verses, each followed by a short recitation. The whole is repeated, according to the directions, so as to make four verses or songs; four, as already stated, being the sacred number running through most of these formulas. Four blowings and four circuits in the rubbing are also specified. The words used in the songs are sometimes composed of unmeaning syllables, but in this case dnuwa and dayuha seem to have a meaning, although neither the interpreter nor the shaman consulted could explain them, which may be because the words have become altered in the song, as frequently happens. Dnuwa appears to be an old verb, meaning it has penetrated, probably referring to the tooth of the reptile. These medicine songs are always sung in a low plaintive tone, somewhat resembling a lullaby. Usu?gi also is without explanation, but is probably the name of some small reptile or batrachian.

As in this case the cause of the trouble is evident, the Indians have no theory to account for it. It may be remarked, however, that when one dreams of being bitten, the same treatment and ceremonies must be used as for the actual bite; otherwise, although perhaps years afterward, a similar inflammation will appear on the spot indicated in the dream, and will be followed by the same fatal consequences. The rattlesnake is regarded as a supernatural being or adawehi, whose favor must be propitiated, and great pains are taken not to offend him. In consonance with this idea it is never said among the people that a person has been bitten by a snake, but that he has been scratched by a brier. In the same way, when an eagle has been shot for a ceremonial dance, it is announced that a s...o...b..rd has been killed, the purpose being to deceive the rattlesnake or eagle spirits which might be listening.

The a.s.sertion that it is only a common frog or only an Usu?gi brings out another characteristic idea of these formulas. Whenever the ailment is of a serious character, or, according to the Indian theory, whenever it is due to the influence of some powerful disease spirit the doctor always endeavors to throw contempt upon the intruder, and convince it of his own superior power by a.s.serting the sickness to be the work of some inferior being, just as a white physician might encourage a patient far gone with consumption by telling him that the illness was only a slight cold. Sometimes there is a regular scale of depreciation, the doctor first ascribing the disease to a rabbit or groundhog or some other weak animal, then in succeeding paragraphs mentioning other still less important animals and finally declaring it to be the work of a mouse, a small fish, or some other insignificant creature. In this instance an ailment caused by the rattlesnake, the most dreaded of the animal spirits, is ascribed to a frog, one of the least importance.

In applying the remedy the song is probably sung while rubbing the tobacco juice around the wound. Then the short recitation is repeated and the doctor blows four times in a circle about the spot. The whole ceremony is repeated four times. The curious directions for uncoiling the snake have parallels in European folk medicine.

GnWANIGIST'I ADANUnWTI.

Sge! Ha-tsidaweiyu, gahusti aginl?ti nigesnna.

Gngwadaganad?diy tsidaweiyu. Ha-Wahuhu-gw hitagusgastane?hei. Ha-ngwa hu?kikahn ha-dusu?gahi digesni, iynta wn?kidhistaniga.

Sge! Ha-tsidaweiyu, gahusti aginul?ti nigesnna.

Gngwadaganaddiy tsidaweiyu. Ha-Uguku-gw hitagusgastanehei udhiyu tagusgastanehei.

Ha-nagwadina hnkikahnn. Ha-nnhi digesuni iynta wn?kidhistaniga.

Sge! Ha-tsidaweiyu, gahusti aginul?ti nigesnna.

Gngwadaganaddiy tsidaweiyu. Ha-Tsistu-gw hitagusgastaneheiudhiyu tagusgastanehei.

Ha-ngwadina hnkikahnn. Ha-sunndasi iynta kaneskawdihi digesni, wn?kidhistaniga.

Sge! Ha-tsidaweiyu, gahusti aginul?ti nigesnna.

Gngwadaganaddiy tsidaweiyu. Ha-Detsata-gw (hi)tagusgastanehei udhiyu tagusgastanehei.

Ha-ngwadina hnkikahna. Ha-udtaleta digesni, iynta wn?kidhistaniga.