Myths of the Cherokee
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MYTHS OF THE CHEROKEE By James Mooney From Nineteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology 1897-98, Part I. [1900] Scanned at www.sacred-texts.com, January-February 2001 Contents COSMOGONIC MYTHS 1. How The World Was Made 2. The First Fire 3. Kana'tï And Selu: The Origin Of Game And Corn 4. Origin Of Disease And Medicine 5. The Daughter Of The Sun 6. How They Brought Back The Tobacco 7. The Journey To The Sunrise 8. The Moon And The Thunders. 9. What The Stars Are Like 10. Origin Of The Pleiades And The Pine 11. The Milky Way 12. Origin Of Strawberries 13. The Great Yellow-jacket: Origin Of Fish And Frogs 14. The Deluge QUADRUPED MYTHS 15. The Fourfooted Tribes 16. The Rabbit Goes Duck Hunting 17. How The Rabbit Stole The Otter's Coat 18. Why The Possum's Tail Is Bare 19. How The Wildcat Caught The Gobbler 20. How The Terrapin Beat The Rabbit 21. The Rabbit And The Tar Wolf 22. The Rabbit And The Possum After A Wife 23. The Rabbit Dines The Bear 24. The Rabbit Escapes From The Wolves 25. Flint Visits The Rabbit 26. How The Deer Got His Horns 27. Why The Deer's Teeth Are Blunt 28. What Became Of The Rabbit 29. Why The Mink Smells 30. Why The Mole Lives Underground 31. The Terrapin's Escape From The Wolves 32. Origin Of The Groundhog Dance: The Groundhog's Head 33. The Migration Of The Animals 34. The Wolf's Revenge--the Wolf And The Dog BIRD MYTHS 35. The Bird Tribes 36. The Ball Game Of The Birds And Animals 37. How The Turkey Got His Beard 38. Why The Turkey Gobbles 39. How The Kingfisher Got His Bill 40. How The Partridge Got His Whistle 41. How The Redbird Got His Color 42. The Pheasant Beating Corn; Origin Of The Pheasant Dance 43. The Race Between The Crane And The Hummingbird 44. The Owl Gets Married 45. The Huhu Gets Married 46. Why The Buzzard's Head Is Bare 47. The Eagle's Revenge 48. The Hunter And The Buzzard SNAKE, FISH, AND INSECT MYTHS 49. The Snake Tribe 50. The Uktena And The Ulûñsû'tï 51. Âgän-uni'tsï's Search For The Uktena 52. The Red Man And The Uktena 53. The Hunter And The Uksu'hï 54. The Ustû'tlï 55. The Uw`tsûñ'ta 56. The Snake Boy 57. The Snake Man 58. The Rattlesnake's Vengeance 59. The Smaller Reptiles--fishes And Insects 60. Why The Bullfrog's Head Is Striped 61. The Bullfrog Lover 62. The Katydid's Warning WONDER STORIES 63. Ûñtsaiyï', The Gambler 64. The Nest Of The Tlä'nuwä 65. The Hunter And The Tlä'nuwä 66. U`tlûñ'ta, The Spear-finger 67. Nûñ'yunu'wï, The Stone Man 68. The Hunter In The Däkwä' 69. Atagâ'hï, The Enchanted Lake 70. The Bride From The South 71. The Ice Man 72. The Hunter And Selu 73. The Underground Panthers 74. The Tsundige'wï 75. Origin Of The Bear: The Bear Songs 76. The Bear Man 77. The Great Leech Of Tlanusi'yï 78. The Nûñnë'hï And Other Spirit Folk 79. The Removed Townhouses 80. The Spirit Defenders Of Nïkwäsï' 81. Tsul'kälû, The Slant-eyed Giant 82. Käna'sta, The Lost Settlement 83. Tsuwe'nähï: A Legend Of Pilot Knob 84. The Man Who Married The Thunder's Sister 85, The Haunted Whirlpool 86. Yahula 87. The Water Cannibals HISTORICAL TRADITIONS 88. First Contact With Whites 89. The Iroquois Wars 90. Hiadeoni, The Seneca 91. The Two Mohawks 92. Escape Of The Seneca Boys 93. The Unseen Helpers 94. Hatcinoñdoñ's Escape From The Cherokee 95. Hemp-carrier 96. The Seneca Peacemakers 97. Origin Of The Yontoñwisas Dance 98. Ga?na?'s Adventures Among The Cherokee 99. The Shawano Wars 100. The Raid On Tïkwäli'tsï 101. The Last Shawano Invasion 102. The False Warriors Of Chilhowee 103. Cowee Town 104. The Eastern Tribes 105. The Southern And Western Tribes 106. The Giants From The West 107. The Lost Cherokee 108. The Massacre Of The Ani'-kuta'nï 109. The War Medicine 110. Incidents Of Personal Heroism 111. The Mounds And The Constant Fire: The Old Sacred Things MISCELLANEOUS MYTHS AND LEGENDS 112. The Ignorant Housekeeper 113. The Man In The Stump 114. Two Lazy Hunters 115. The Two Old Men 116. The Star Feathers 117. The Mother Bear's Song 118. Baby Song, To Please The Children 119. When Babies Are Born: The Wren And The Cricket. 120. The Raven Mocker 121. Herbert's Spring 122. Local Legends Of North Carolina 123. Local Legends Of South Carolina 124. Local Legends Of Tennessee 125. Local Legends Of Georgia 126. Plant Lore 1. How The World Was Made The earth is a great island floating in a sea of water, and suspended at each of the four cardinal points by a cord hanging down from the sky vault, which is of solid rock. When the world grows old and worn out, the people will die and the cords will break and let the earth sink down into the ocean, and all will be water again. The Indians are afraid of this. When all was water, the animals were above in Gälûñ'lätï, beyond the arch; but it was very much crowded, and they were wanting more room. They wondered what was below the water, and at last Dâyuni'sï, "Beaver's Grandchild," the little Water-beetle, offered to go and see if it could learn. It darted in every direction over the surface of the water, but could find no firm place to rest. Then it dived to the bottom and came up with some soft mud, which began to grow and spread on every side until it became the island which we call the earth. It was afterward fastened to the sky with four cords, but no one remembers who did this. At first the earth was flat and very soft and wet. The animals were anxious to get down, and sent out different birds to see if it was yet dry, but they found no place to alight and came back again to Gälûñ'lätï. At last it seemed to be time, and they sent out the Buzzard and told him to go and make ready for them. This was the Great Buzzard, the father of all the buzzards we see now. He flew all over the earth, low down near the ground, and it was still soft. When he reached the Cherokee country, he was very tired, and his wings began to flap and strike the ground, and wherever they struck the earth there was a valley, and where they turned up again there was a mountain. When the animals above saw this, they were afraid that the whole world would be mountains, so they called him back, but the Cherokee country remains full of mountains to this day. When the earth was dry and the animals came down, it was still dark, so they got the sun and set it in a track to go every day across the island from east to west, just overhead. It was too hot this way, and Tsiska'gïlï', the Red Crawfish, had his shell scorched a bright red, so that his meat was spoiled; and the Cherokee do not eat it. The conjurers put the sun another hand-breadth higher in the air, but it was still too hot. They raised it another time, and another, until it was seven handbreadths high and just under the sky arch. Then it was right, and they left it so. This is why the conjurers call the highest place Gûlkwâ'gine Di'gälûñ'lätiyûñ', "the seventh height," because it is seven hand-breadths above the earth. Every day the sun goes along under this arch, and returns at night on the upper side to the starting place. There is another world under this, and it is like ours in everything--animals, plants, and people--save that the seasons are different. The streams that come down from the mountains are the trails by which we reach this underworld, and the springs at their heads are the doorways by which we enter, it, but to do this one must fast and, go to water and have one of the underground people for a guide. We know that the seasons in the underworld are different from ours, because the water in the springs is always warmer in winter and cooler in summer than the outer air. When the animals and plants were first made--we do not know by whom--they were told to watch and keep awake for seven nights, just as young men now fast and keep awake when they pray to their medicine. They tried to do this, and nearly all were awake through the first night, but the next night several dropped off to sleep, and the third night others were asleep, and then others, until, on the seventh night, of all the animals only the owl, the panther, and one or two more were still awake. To these were given the power to see and to go about in the dark, and to make prey of the birds and animals which must sleep at night. Of the trees only the cedar, the pine, the spruce, the holly, and the laurel were awake to the end, and to them it was given to be always green and to be greatest for medicine, but to the others it was said: "Because you have not endured to the end you shall lose your, hair every winter." Men came after the animals and plants.