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Myths of the Cherokee

Long ago there was a Cherokee clan called the Ani'-Tsâ'gûhï, and in one family of this clan was a boy who used to leave home and be gone all day in the mountains. After a while he went oftener and stayed longer, until at last he would not eat in the house at all, but started off at daybreak and did not come back until night. His parents scolded, but that did no good, and the boy, still went every day until they noticed that long brown hair was beginning to grow out all over his body. Then they wondered and asked him why it was that he wanted to be so much in the woods that he would not even eat at home. Said the boy, "I find plenty to eat there, and it is better than the corn and beans we have in the settlements, and pretty soon I am going into the woods to stay all the time." His parents were worried and begged him not to leave them, but he said, "It is better there than here, and you see I am beginning to be different already, so that I can not live here any longer. If you will come with me, there is plenty for all of us and you will never have to work for it; but if you want to come you must first fast seven days."

The father and mother talked it over and then told the headmen of the clan. They held a council about the matter and after everything had been said they decided: "Here we must work hard and have not always enough. There he says there is always plenty without work. We will go with him." So they fasted seven days, and on the seventh morning all the Ani'-Tsâ'gûhï left the settlement and started for the mountains as the boy led the way.

When the people of the other towns heard of it they were very sorry and sent their headmen to persuade the Ani'-Tsâ'gûhï to stay at home and not go into the woods to live. The messengers found them already on the way, and were surprised to notice that their bodies were beginning to be covered with hair like that of animals, because for seven days they had not taken human food and their nature was changing. The Ani'-Tsâ'gûhï would not come back, but said, "We are going where there is always plenty to eat. Hereafter we shall be called yânû (bears), and when you yourselves are hungry come into the woods and call us and we shall come to give you our own flesh. You need not be afraid to kill us, for we shall live always." Then they taught the messengers the songs with which to call them, and the bear hunters have these songs still. When they had finished the songs the Ani'-Tsâ'gûhï started on again and the messengers turned back to the settlements, but after going a little way they looked back and saw a drove of bears going into the woods.

First Bear Song

He-e! Ani'-Tsâ'gûhï, Ani'-Tsâ'gûhï, akwandu'li e'lanti' ginûn'ti,

Ani'-Tsâ'gûhï, Ani'-Tsâ'gûhï, akwandu'li e'lanti' ginûn'ti – Yû!

He-e! The Ani'-Tsâ'gûhï, the Ani'-Tsâ'gûhï, I want to lay them low on the ground,

The Ani'-Tsâ'gûhï, the Ani'-Tsâ'gûhï, I want to lay them low on the ground, – Yû!

The bear hunter starts out each morning fasting and does not eat until near evening. He sings this song as he leaves camp, and again the next morning, but never twice the same day.

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Second Bear Song

This song also is sung by the bear hunter, in order to attract the bears, while on his way from the camp to the place where he expects to hunt during the day. The melody is simple and plaintive.

He-e! Hayuya'haniwä', hayuya'haniwä', hayuya'haniwä', hayuya'haniwä',

Tsistuyi' nehandu'yanû', Tsistuyi' nehandu'yanû' – Yoho-o!

He-e! Hayuya'haniwä', hayuya'haniwä', hayuya'haniwä', hayuya'haniwä',

Kuwâhi' nehandu'yanû', Kuwâhi' nehandu'yanû', – Yoho-o!

He-e! Hayuya'haniwä', hayuya'haniwä', hayuya'haniwä', hayuya'haniwä',

Uyâhye' nehandu'yanû', Uyâhye' nehandu'yanû', – Yoho-o!

He-e! Hayuya'haniwä', hayuya'haniwä', hayuya'haniwä', hayuya'haniwä',

Gâte'gwâ' nehandu'yanû', Gâte'gwâ' nehandu'yanû', – Yoho-o!

(Recited) Ûlë-`nû' asëhï' tadeyâ'statakûhï' gûñ'näge astû' tsïkï'

He! Hayuya'haniwä' (four times),

In Tsistu'yï you were conceived (two times) – Yoho!

He! Hayuya'haniwä' (four times),

In Kuwâ'hï you were conceived (two times) – Yoho!

He! Hayuya'haniwä' (four times),

In Uyâ'hye you were conceived (two times) – Yoho!

He! Hayuya'haniwä' (four times),

In Gâte'gwâ you were conceived (two times) – Yoho!

And now surely we and the good black things, the best of all, shall see each other.

Comments:

This story was told by Swimmer, from whom were also obtained the hunting songs, and was frequently referred to by other informants. The Ani′-Tsâ′gûhĭ are said to have been an actual clan in ancient times. For parallels, see number 76, “The Bear Man.”

Had not taken human food – The Indian is a thorough believer in the doctrine that “man is what he eats.” Says Adair (History of the American Indians, p. 133): “They believe that nature is possessed of such a property as to transfuse into men and animals the qualities, either of the food they use or of those objects that are presented to their senses. He who feeds on venison is, according to their physical system, swifter and more sagacious than the man who lives on the flesh of the clumsy bear or helpless dunghill fowls, the slow-footed tame cattle, or the heavy wallowing swine. This is the reason that several of their old men recommend and say that formerly their greatest chieftains observed a constant rule in their diet, and seldom ate of any animal of a gross quality or heavy motion of body, fancying it conveyed a dullness through the whole system and disabled them from exerting themselves with proper vigour in their martial, civil, and religious duties.” A continuous adherence to the diet commonly used by a bear will finally give to the eater the bear nature, if not also the bear form and appearance. A certain term of “white man’s food” will give the Indian the white man’s nature, so that neither the remedies nor the spells of the Indian doctor will have any effect upon him (see the author’s “Sacred Formulas of the Cherokees,” in Seventh Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, 1891).

Shall live always – For explanation of the doctrine of animal reincarnation, see number 15, “The Four-footed Tribes.”

The songs – These are fair specimens of the hunting songs found in every tribe, and intended to call up the animals or to win the favor of the lords of the game (see also deer songs in notes to number 3, “Kana′tĭ and Selu”). As usual, the word forms are slightly changed to suit the requirements of the tune. The second song was first published by the author in the paper on sacred formulas, noted above. Tsistu′yĭ, Kuwâ′hĭ, Uya′hye, and Gâte′gwâ (-hĭ) are four mountains, under each of which the bears have a townhouse in which they hold a dance before retiring to their dens for their winter sleep. At Tsistu′yĭ, “Rabbit place,” known to us as Gregory bald, in the Great Smoky range, dwells the Great Rabbit, the chief of the rabbit tribe. At Kuwâ′hĭ, “Mulberry place,” farther northeast along the same range, resides the White Bear, the chief of the bear tribe, and near by is the enchanted lake of Atagâ′hĭ, to which wounded bears go to bathe and be cured (see number 15, “The Four-footed Tribes,” and number 69, “Atagâ′hĭ, the Enchanted Lake”). Uyâhye is also a peak of the Great Smokies, while Gâtegwâ′hĭ, “Great swamp or thicket (?),” is southeast of Franklin, North Carolina, and is perhaps identical with Fodderstack mountain (see also the glossary).

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