OMO SHTICEIII 1IOIOI1SH II IV ACKHOV/LEDGME1TTS I am indebted to Hon. W. V/. Hastings, Member of the United States Congress for books from the Library of Con­ gress and books from his private -library; to Dr. 1!. P. Ham- moiid, president of northeastern State Teachers College, Tahlequah, Oklahoma, for assistance in securing material through the college library; to Dr. Frans Olbrechts, Bel­ gium, to Llr. Lev/is Spence, Edinburgh, Scotland, and Miss Eula E. Fullerton (a student of Cherokee history and life, manners and customs) professor of history, northeastern State Teachers College,, Tahlequah, Oklahoma, for their helpful sug­ gestions; to the Hewberry Library, Chicago, Illinois, for photostats of that part of the John Howard Payne Manuscript dealing v/ith the religious festivals of the Cherokees; to I.Iiss Lucy Ann Babcock, Librarian, northeastern State Teachers College, Tahlequah, Oklahoma, in calling ray attention to cer­ tain books; to Ross Daniels, government official among the Indians, for negatives from which some of the Illustrations are made; to b. J. Seymour, Camden, Arkansas, and Miss A- licia Hagar, Joplin, Missouri, for proof reading; and'to Miss Josephine C. Evans, my secretary, for assistance"in prepar­ ing the bibliography and the index. YI COUTBHIS CHAPTER PAGE I1TTRODUCTIC1T. ............................... I. A GEHERAL ST^TEMEIIT COHCER17ILTG THE AMERICA1I M* ............................. .... 1 The Singular Characteristics of the A- rnerican Indians ....................... 2 The Culture of the American Indians.... 11 The Warfare of the American Indians.... 20 The Religion of the American Indians... 26 The Ethics of the American Indians..... 32 II. A GEliERAL STATEMENT C01TCERHI1IG THE CKSROKEE niDLiilTS ................................... 39 The Cherokee Dialects .................. 45 Founding the Hation. ................... 47 The Seven Clans ........................ 49 The Personality of the Cherokees. ...... 52 Their Physical Characteristics. ........ 53 Christian Priber. ..................... 55 The Revolutionary War. ................. 56 * The Removal West ....................... 58 Eastern Cherokees ...................... 61 The Civil War. ......................... 65 The Last Days .......................... 66 Missions. .............................. 68 Revival of Old Customs. ................. 68 Population. ............................ 70 III. THE BELIEFS OF THE CHEROKEE HID IAHS. ........ 71 Their Idea of God. ..................... 75 animal Gods ................ .......... 77 Inanimate Gods. ........................ 81 Elemental Gods ......................... 82 Personal or Anthropomorphic Gods ....... 87 Other Spirits ........................... 90 Their Idea of the Devil. ............... 95 IV. THEIR IDEA OF ORIGINS ....................... 103 The Origin of the Earth. .............. 105 The Origin of Man. ..................... 109 The Origin of Fire ..................... 114 The origin of the Milky Way . ........... 120 The Origin of the Pleiades and the Pine 121 The Origin of Strawberries. ............ 124 The Origin of Disease and Medicine..,.. 125 VII CHAPTER PAGE V. SOME OF THEIR DOCTRINES..................... 132 Their Idea of Sin......................... 133 Their Idea of the Flood.................... 143 The ir Idea of Prayer....................... 148 Their Idea of Sacrifice.'.................. 154 VI. SOLE OF THEIR DOCTRI1TES (continued) ......... 160 Their I^ea of the Future Life............. 161 Their Idea of Salvation................... 181 VII. CUSTOMS A13D PRACTICES OF THE CHEROKEES...... 188 Departures from the Original Faith........ 196 The Shamans............................... 205 Priesthood................................ 207 Training Boys for the Priesthood.......... 209 Powers and Duties of Medicine Lien......... 213 The Divining Crystal...................... 225 VIII. MAJOR FESTIVALS............................. 232 Festivals of the Cherokees................ 235 The Greater Festivals. .............. .'..... -235 (1) Festival of the First Hev/ Moon of - -' Spring............................. 235 (2) Hew Green Corn Feast................ 243 (3) nature Green Corn Feast............. 247 (4) Great llev/ Moon Festival............. 250 (5) Propitiation or Cementation Festival 253 (6) The Festival of Exalting............ 269 IX. FESTIVALS, Minor Festivals Occasional Fes­ tivals Modification of Festivals......... 271 The Minor Festivals....................... 272 Primitive Occasional Festivals............'274 Concluding Remarks........................ 278 The ancient Festivals Modified............ 279 Occasional Festivals Changed............... 297 Y/oman of the East......................... 308 Ookah Dance............................... 310 X. PRESE1IT DAY KEETOOY/^II CEREM01IIES............ 312 CHEROKEE BIBLIOGRAPHY, Historical References Concerning the Cherokee Indian Tribe...... 332 GE1IERAL BIBLIOGRAPHY, Historical References of the United States Indians.............. 338 I1IDEX................... .................... 347 IX LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS FOLLOVJIHG PAGE PHOTOGRAPHS OF AGED CHEROKEE HID IMS. .............. 10 GROUPS OF CHEROKEE I1IDIA1IS......................... 34 * HOLI3S A1JD SCHOOLS OF CH3ROKEE IHDIAHS.............. 64 HOLIES OF CHEROKEE IIIDIAHS.......................... 89 THE ITIGHTHAY/K SOCIETY.............................. 119 PHOTOGRAPHS OF AGED CHEROKEE IKDIAHS................ 147 HOLIES OF CHEROKEE I1IDIAHS.......................... 174 F^IIILY GROUPS OF CHSROKEE IKDIA1IS.................. 201 I.IODERII SCHOOLS A1ID CHURCHES........................ '228 ILLI1IOIS COU1-ICIL GROU11D HEAR GORE,. OKLAHOMA........ 255 HOLIES OF CHEROKEE I1EDIAIIS.......................... 280 ILLIHOIS COUHCIL GROU1O) HEAR GORE, OKLAHOMA........ 305 BLUE PRI1IT OF ILLHTOIS COUHCIL GROU1ID SHOV/IIIG CLAU SHED r, ALTAR A1ID BALL-PLAY GROU1ID................. 325 XI INTRODUCTION One evening I -had an interview v/ith the Very Reverend \7. P. Paterson, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scot­ land, concerning a subject for a thesis in v/orking for the Doctor of Philosophy degree. After considerable discussion he suggested the theme, "The Religion of the American In- die.ns" . Two or tly?ee weeks later we had another interview relative to the same matter and it was decided it would be advisable to restrict the investigation to a study of one particular tribe, and since I lived at Tahlequah, Oklahoma, the capitol of the old Cherokee Nation, v/e concluded it would be prudent to deal with the subject: "The Religion of the Cherokee Indians". The earliest writers among the Cherokees did not pre­ serve complete records of the religious beliefs and cus­ toms of the tribe. They observed the natives v;ere reli­ gious, but they did not see fit to conserve the details of their faith and practice. As a result the oldest chroni­ cles are fragmentary. Material has been acquired from three sources: 1. The literature in the field of Cherokee lore; 2. A questionnaire v/as prepared, sent to ten emi­ nent anthropologists, seeking information as to the Cher­ okees 1 Idea of God, their Idea of Sin, their Idea of Prayer, their Idea of Sacrifice, their Idea of Immortality, and their Idea of Salvation; 3. Having lived among the Cherokees for ten years, I made original researches by talking to the'ir aged medicine men and by attending their festivals and ceremonies. The late James Hooney, while v/orking under the direc­ tion of the Bureau of American Ethnology, Y/ashington, B.C., so ingratiated himself into .the confidence and good will of the Cherokee Shamans that they intrusted to him their Sacred Formulas (Seventh Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology, Y/ashington) and Ivlyths (Nineteenth Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology, Washington). These findings, along v/ith knowledge from other inquiries, have been em­ ployed in interpreting the Beliefs of the Tribe. ' The dissertation "begins with a chapter entitled: "A General Statement Concerning the American Indians". It contains a discussion of the primary characteristics of the Red men, their culture, their warfare, their morality, and their religion. It .constitutes a basis for a better understanding of a particular tribe the Cherokees. The second chapter is entitled: "A General Statement Concerning the Cherokee Indians". It embraces tribal his- XII tory and prepares the way for the more specific study of their Religion. The thesis, aside from the tv/o chapters just mentioned, treats three main topics: 1. The Beliefs of the Cherokees, based upon their Sacred Formulas, Myths and Legends; 2. Their festivals and customs, based largely upon the records pre­ served in the manuscripts of John Howard Payne; 3. Their present day beliefs and rites, based upon my own researches aiid inve s t i ga t i ons. I have endeavored to give an account 'of their faith and conduct The Story of Their Religion. Ho attempt has been made to classify them as Animists, Totemists, and the like. It is doubtful if they can be classified, for one finds a- mong them elements o£ Animism, Totemism, and so on. I pre­ fer to leave it to the reader to classify them if they are to be classified. The pictures included in these pages were taken by governmental officials and myself. They depict life as it now is among the Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma. The spelling used in the thesis is in keeping with V/ebster r s lieu International Dictionary. X The following abbreviations occur: R.3.A.E.V/. (Re­ port of Bureau of American Ethnology, Washington); A.3 .C.F.1,1. (American Board