Myths of the Cherokee by James Mooney

noted among the Cherokee myths, being equally well known both east and west. The version here given was obtained from John Ax, with some corrections and additions from Swimmer, Wafford (west) and others. A version of it, "The Stone-shields," in which the tomtit is incorrectly made a jay, is given by Ten Kate, in his "Legends of the Cherokees," in the Journal of American Folk-Lore for January, 1889, as obtained from a mixed-blood informant in Tahlequah. Another version, "The Demon of Consumption," by Capt. James W. Terrell, formerly a trader among the East Cherokee, appears in the same journal for April, 1892. Still another variant, apparently condensed from Terrell's information, is given by Zeigler and Grosscup, "Heart of the Alleghanies," page 24 (Raleigh and Cleveland, 1883). In Ten Kate's version the stone coat of mail broke in pieces as soon as the monster was killed, and the fragments were gathered up and kept as amulets by the people. There is some confusion between this story of U`tlûñ'ta and that of Nûñ'yunu'wi (number 67). According to some myth tellers the two monsters were husband and wife and lived together, and were both alike dressed in stone, had awl fingers and ate human livers, the only difference being that the husband waylaid hunters, while his female partner gave her attention to children. This story has a close parallel in the Creek myth of the Tuggle collection, "The Big Rock Man," in which the people finally kill the stony monster by acting upon the advice of the Rabbit to shoot him in the ear. Far away, in British Columbia, the Indians tell how the Coyote transformed himself to an Elk, covering his body with a hard shell. "Now this shell was like an armor, for no arrow could pierce it; but being hardly large enough to cover all his body, there was a small hole left underneath his throat." He attacks the people, stabbing them with his antlers and trampling them under foot, while their arrows glance harmlessly from his body, until "the Meadow-lark, who was a great telltale, appeared and cried out, 'There is just a little hole at his throat!'" A hunter directs his arrow to that spot and the Elk falls dead (Teit, Thompson River Traditions, pp. 33-34). U`tlûñ'ta--The word means literally "he (or she) has it sharp," i. e., has some sharp part or organ. It might be used of a tooth or finger nail or some other attached portion of the body, but here refers to the awl-like finger. Ten Kate spells the name Uilata. On Little Tennessee river, nearly opposite the entrance of Citico creek, in Blount county, Tennessee, is a place which the Cherokee call U`tlûñtûñ'yi, "Sharp-finger place," because, they say, U`tlûñ'ta used to frequent the spot. Nûñyû'-tlu`gûñ'i--"Tree rock," so called on account of its resemblance to a standing tree trunk; a notable monument-shape rock on the west side of Hiwassee river, about four miles above Hayesville, North Carolina, and nearly on the Georgia line. Whiteside mountain--This noted mountain, known to the Cherokee as Sanigilâ'gi, a name for which they have no meaning, is one of the prominent peaks of the Blue ridge, and is situated southeast from Franklin and about four miles from Highlands, or the dividing line between Macon and Jackson counties, North Carolina. It is 4,900 feet high, being the loftiest elevation on the ridge which forms the watershed between the tributaries of the Little Tennessee and the Chattooga branch of Savannah. It takes its name from the perpendicular cliff on its western exposure, and is also known sometimes as the Devil's courthouse. The Indians compare the appearance of the cliff to that of a sheet of ice, and say that the western summit was formerly crowned by a projecting rock, since destroyed by lightning, which formed a part of the great bridge which U`tlûñ'ta attempted to build across the valley. Lanman's description of this mountain, in 1848, has been quoted in the notes to number 13, "The Great Yellow-jacket." Following is a notice by a later writer: "About five miles from Highlands is that huge old cliff, Whitesides, which forms the advanced guard of all the mountain ranges trending on the south. It is no higher than the Righi, but, like it, rising direct from the plain, it overpowers the spectator more than its loftier brethren. Through all the lowlands of upper Georgia and Alabama this dazzling white pillar of rock, uplifting the sky, is an emphatic and significant landmark. The ascent can be made on horseback, on the rear side of the mountain, to within a quarter of a mile of the summit. When the top is reached, after a short stretch of nearly perpendicular climbing, the traveler finds himself on the edge of a sheer white wall of rock, over which, clinging for life to a protecting hand, he can look, if he chooses, two thousand feet down into the dim valley below. A pebble dropped from his hand will fall straight as into a well. On the vast plain below he can see the wavelike hills on which the great mountain ranges which have stretched from Maine along the continent ebb down finally into the southern plains"--Rebecca H. Davis, Bypaths in the Mountains, in Harper's Magazine, LXI, p. 544, September, 1880. Picking strawberries--For more than a hundred years, as readers of Bartram will remember, the rich bottom lands of the old Cherokee country have been noted for their abundance of strawberries and other wild fruits. My grandchildren--As in most Indian languages, Cherokee kinship terms are usually specialized, and there is no single term for grandchild. "My son's child" is ûñgini'si, plural tsûñgini'si; "my daughter's child" is ûñgili'si, plural tsûñgili'si. The use of kinship terms as expressive of affection or respect is very common among Indians. Taking the appearance--This corresponds closely with the European folk-belief in fairy changelings. To burn the leaves--The burning of the fallen leaves in the autumn, in order to get at the nuts upon the ground below, is still practiced by the white mountaineers of the southern Alleghenies. The line of fire slowly creeping up the mountain side upon a dark night is one of the picturesque sights of that picturesque country. The song--As rendered by Swimmer, the songs seem to be intended for an imitation of the mournful notes of some bird, such as the turtle dove, hidden in the deep forests. Pitfall--The pitfall trap for large game was known among nearly all the tribes, but seems not to have been in frequent use. Chickadee and tomtit--These two little birds closely resemble each other, the Carolina chickadee (Parus carolinensis) or tsikilili being somewhat smaller than the tufted titmouse (Parus bicolor) or utsu`gi, which is also distinguished by a topknot or crest. The belief that the tsikilili foretells the arrival of an absent friend is general among the Cherokee, and has even extended to their neighbors, the white mountaineers. See also number 35, "The Bird Tribes," and accompanying notes. Her heart--The conception of a giant or other monster whose heart or "life" is in some unaccustomed part of the body, or may even be taken out and laid aside at will, so that it is impossible to kill the monster by ordinary means, is common in Indian as well as in European and Asiatic folklore. In a Navaho myth we are told that the Coyote "did not, like other beings, keep his vital principle in his chest, where it might easily be destroyed. He kept it in the tip of his nose and in the end of his tail, where no one would expect to find it." He meets several accidents, any one of which would be sufficient to kill an ordinary creature, but as his nose and tail remain intact he is each time resurrected. Finally a girl whom he wishes to marry beats him into small pieces with a club, grinds the pieces to powder, and scatters the powder to the four winds. "But again she neglected to crush the point of the nose and the tip of the tail," with the result that the Coyote again comes to life, when of course they are married and live happily until the next chapter (Matthews, Navaho Legends, pp. 91-94). In a tale of the Gaelic highlands the giant's life is in an egg which he keeps concealed in a distant place, and not until the hero finds and crushes the egg does the giant die. The monster or hero with but one vulnerable spot, as was the case with Achilles, is also a common concept.