What were
the Cherokee people like before the white man came? How did they live?
What did they eat? What were the Cherokee beliefs and habits? Our research
into the old books and articles have revealed the following. We have taken
nothing for granted, and have searched for verification of everything.
In most cases we include the source and page number. If you know of material
that should be included, please advise us of it, to : email: oukah2@yahoo.com
WHEN CHEROKEES WERE
CHEROKEE
compiled
by
Oukah
and
Lee Ross MacDonald
1st Edition, March 26, 2001 Last change 8/28/2001
Our research has convinced
us that it was over by 1880 -- that is, by then all the people of Cherokee
blood in the Oklahoma area were living just like their white pioneer neighbors
around them. There was nothing Cherokee left. There were no more clans,
no council meetings, no teaching of the young in ancient Cherokee ways,
because by then nobody alive knew anything about it. It only takes one
generation (who are not taught) for it to be gone forever, and that time
had passed. The previous generation had just been moved (mostly through
the Trail of Tears) from their ancestral grounds east of the Mississippi
into what is now the northeastern part of Oklahoma. The times had been
hard. Many had died. Very little, if anything, had been passed on by word
of mouth. It was gone.
Fortunately, some of the old
ways had been written down... not enough, but some. It seems impossible
that the names of the seven Cherokee clans (which controlled all Cherokee
affairs) cannot be accurately ascertained today. There are a half dozen
lists of them, none of which totally agree.
And, late in the 20th century,
we never found a person claiming Cherokee blood (even the ones who can
prove their Cherokee ancestry, and have a registration card to prove it)
who ever heard of a Cherokee "king", much less can give you the
names of even one. The genocide had worked -- whether deliberate or due
to cruel circumstances, knowledge of ancient Cherokee life ("before the
white man came and ruined everything") was gone. .
All the living Cherokees of
the last century ever heard was this "chief" crap (chief is an English
word which became a generic term, like "moccasin" and "tomahawk")
but it is not Native American at all, in any language. It was not in general
use, or official use, by the Cherokees, Creeks, Choctaws, Chickasaws, etc.
until into the 19th century, about the time they wrote their constitutions
in the 1830's. Until then, the Cherokees were presided over by an Oukah
(uku, ukuh, ookuh) which was always translated as "king", the Creeks, Choctaws,
Alabamu's, etc (Muskogeean) by a "Micco", always translated as 'king".
Young Cherokees today tell us
they grew up being told they were an "Indian" belonging to a "tribe". They
should have been told they are a "Cherokee" belonging to a "nation".
Introducing an "oukah" (king)
to them has been an almost impossible task, and introducing them to some
truth of their own heritage has been like beating our heads against a stone
wall. What little they do know is all wrong, produced by "old wives tales"
made up at the moment, bad western movies and worse comic strips. Yet they
clasp that poison to their breasts, not knowing it is poison and is killing
them. It is their lies, and it is all that they know. Still, we
have persisted in trying to teach some of the truth that we know, and have
uncovered, and discovered. We do so again with this work, which nobody
else has seen fit to produce, or has known enough about to produce. Here,
below, is the best we can do, along with as many sources as we can name,
or feel necessary to prove the point.
Lee MacDonald, Editor, Triskelion Press
Cherokees of North Texas, Inc.
"The clan was the most
important social entity to which a person belonged. Membership in a
clan was more important than membership in anything else. An alien had
no rights, no legal security, unless he was adopted into a clan. For example,
if a war party happened to capture an enemy and the captive was not adopted
by a clan, then any sort of torture could be inflicted upon him. But if
he were adopted into one of his captors' clans, then no one could touch
him for fear of suffering vengeance from the adopting clan. The rights
of clansmanship were so fundamental they were seldom if ever challenged."
(Hudson, 193,194)
Sometimes Cherokee citizens
would choose to "adopt" a person from another nation or tribe - somebody
who was not Cherokee by blood. This was because of friendship, for great
affection was sometimes forged between those of alien nations. Some Cherokee
women had Creek friends, for instance, and sometimes named their children
for them, which accounts for some Cherokees ending up with foreign names
(names that were not Cherokee in origin). These adopted Cherokees were
given the same protection and privileges of any other member of the clan.
So it can truly be said that membership in a Cherokee clan could be either
by birth or adoption, both carrying the same weight, and no distinction
being made between the two.
ADOPT A RELATIVE: "This seems to point to a custom
which has escaped the notice of earlier
writers on the eastern tribes, but which is well known
in Africa and other parts of the world, and is
closely analogous to a still existing ceremony among
the plains Inds. by which two young men of
the same tribe formally agree to become brothers, and
ratify the compact by a public exchange of
names and gifts." (Mooney, 493)
Private adoptions were
not unusual, and the selection of someone as a "particular friend" was
a very serious matter, to last a lifetime. This was usually "symbolized
by a complete exchange of clothing and sometimes of names as well. It lasted
throughout life, binding the Ind. at least, in loyalty to his special friend,
and often it was the means of saving" a whiteman's life. "This custom is
reflected in the name of 'Judd's Friend' which was applied
to the great warrior Ostenaco; and it may be hazarded, too, that the devotion
of Atta Kulla Kulla, who which Captain John Stuart owed his escape from
the Fort Loudoun massacre, was an exhibition of Ind. loyalty to a "special
friend". (quoted, Rothrock, 16)
ADORNMENTS & JEWELRY
Some of the ornaments
made of stone, bone, shell and copper hint of 'ancient ideas of adornment'.
"Bone bracelets were made from animal rib bones, the backbones of
snakes were sometimes strung on cords to serve as ready-made necklaces.
Among other odd items strung for necklaces were bear and bobcat eye teeth
and turtle thigh bones. Some of the bone ornaments were decorated with
engraving. Marine shell and copper ornaments have occasionally been found
but were rare because the shells had to come from the distant Gulf of Mexico
and the copper from the Lake Superior region. Small shells were merely
perforated, while large conchs were cut up and made into beads of various
sizes." (Lewis & Kneberg, 30,31)
"They strung turkey bone
beads around their necks 'in such manner that the breast was frequently
nearly covered with beads'". (Hill, 23) Longe & Payne.
"The carving and engraving of shell
was another art in which the late temple mound builders excelled....
dug from the walls of large marine conchs, the disks range in diameter
from an inch and a half to seven inches. Two small holes, drilled close
together near the edge, indicate that they were worn suspended from necklaces,
with the concave surfaces showing elaborately engraved designs.
"The cross design, which was used
frequently, represented either the four quarters of the world or the sun,
since it was occasionally surrounded by a sun circle motif.
"Another design with a central symbol
composed of three radiating whorls surrounded by a pattern of concentric
circles had the scalloped edge that completed the design. Variations of
the central symbol, called a triskelion, are also found in the Old World
where they appear on many different objects.
"Animal motifs also were present on
the gorgets. An intricately balanced design was formed by a coiled rattlesnake
with gaping jaws. Pileated woodpeckers, wild turkeys and spiders were depicted
with a combination of realism and stylized art. All of these creatures
-- snakes, birds and insects, figured in mythology..."
Beads: "One reason for the
profuse use of beads as ornaments was the fact that they also constituted
a medium of exchange and could be made useful in that capacity at a minute's
notice, besides furnishing visible witness to the standing and credit of
the wearer." (Swanton, #137, 481)
"Lavish use of shell
beads -- as many of ten thousand have been found with a single skeleton
(in the excavations). Small fresh water and marine shells, unaltered except
for perforations, formed necklaces or were sewn into garments and headbands.
Beads cut from the cores of marine conchs were used in the same manner
and also for legbands, belts and wrist cuffs. While most of these beads
were small, having disk, globular, and tubular shapes, others were as large
as walnuts. ... "Fresh water pearls, skillfully perforated with very small
drills, were another source of beads. One (excavated) necklace contained
a thousand pearls, and individual examples a half inch in diameter have
been found... The fabulous size and beauty of the pearls... impressed the
early Spanish and English explorers who, seeing in them a possible
source of wealth, secured as many as they could by barter." (Lewis &
Kneberg, 111,112,113)
The two main types of
beads are the tubular and the disk. ...Disk-shaped beads were generally
cut from bivalves and pierced. ...beads have been found made of shell,
bone, clay, antler, stone, copper, and trade beads (the latter of white,
blue and green glass, obtained after the white man came).
Beads (Sacred): Every
shaman was in possession of sacred beads, some red, some black, some white.
One way these were used is explained in the chapter of the Ball Game. Beads (Wampum): "Under
the classification of shell beads, perhaps those commonly known as
wampum may be considered the most important. During the early days of white
settlement in the northern continent wampum was a recognized medium of
exchange, or, when arranged on strings in a particular order as to color,
served in the conveyance of intertribal messages, or, when woven into a
form known as belts, played an important part in the ratification of treaties.
In personal adornment, the belts were very effective. Woven into the form
of collars, or on strings as necklaces, ear-pendants, or wristlets, they
were more commonly used.
"The wampum to be discussed ... is
to be understood as having the form of small cylindrical shell beads, averaging
about a quarter of an inch in length by an eighth of an inch in diameter
--- the wampum in mind is the cylindrical kind which was made in two colors,
white and purple. The quahog, or hard-clam (Venus mercenaria), furnished
extensively the material for the manufacture of both colors of wampum,
although other shells of a suitable nature, such as the columellae
of the conch, were used for the white beads.... (Orchard, 70)
...the large clam is too old
and tough for food, and the smaller, younger clams are the ones usually
seen. It was only the large, inedible clams that had a shell thick enough
to have a purple band of three-eights of an inch thick, or thereabout.
"If this Wampum Peak be black
or purple, as some Part of that Shell is, then it is twice the Value. This
the Inds. grind on Stones and other things ..., but the Drilling is the
most difficult ... which is managed with a Nail stuck in a Cane or Reed.
Then they roll it continually on their Thighs with their Right-hand, holding
the Bit of Shell with their left, so in time they drill a Hole quite through
it, which is a very tedious Work. (Lawson, 194)
.... they "had nothing which
they reckoned Riches, before the English went among them, except Peak,
Roenoke, and such like trifles made out of the Conk-shell. These
past with them instead of Gold and Silver, and serv'd them both for Money,
and Ornament....
"Peak is of two sorts, or rather
of two colours, for both are made of one Shell, tho of different parts;
one is a dark Purple Cylinder, and the other a white; they are both made
in size, and figure alike, and commonly much resembling the English Buglas
(bugle beads), but not as transparent nor so brittle. They are wrought
as smooth as Glass, being one third of an inch long, and about a quarter,
diameter, strung by a hole drill'd thro the Center. The dark colour is
the dearest, and distinguish'd by the name of Wampom Peak. The English-men
that are called Ind. Traders, value the Wampom Peak, at eighteen
pence per Yard, and the white Peak at nine pence." (Beverley, 58,59)
Copper... was the rarest of
the materials used for ornaments and was probably the most highly prized
because of its scarcity. Its only use was for small beads that added bright
accents to necklaces of white shell beads." (Lewis & Kneberg, 50) (see
Earth materials)
Belts: "The belt was
very frequently made to combine decorative with utilitarian functions like
the head band or necklace. LeMoyne (1875, p. 14) indicates what looks like
a bead or pearl belt worn for purely ornamental purposes..." (Swanton,
#137, 523)
Bracelets: "Cherokees wore
bracelets on their arms and wrists... " (Timberlake, 75). Some bracelets
were made of wampum and other beads, such as pearls. Others were made of
deer bones, bleached and smoothed. After the white traders came, there
was an enormous interest in obtaining silver bracelets for both the upper
and lower arms. These were almost always requested as gifts from the Cherokee
men visiting Charlestown, especially wide silver bracelets for the upper
arm.
Combs: "Antler and bone,decorated
with carving and engraving, wee used for ornaments as well as tools. Large
engraved antler combs that resemble the ones worn in the hair by Spanish
women may have served the same purpose...Combs were sometimes used in hand
weaving to tighten the weft strands." (Perdue, Tribes, 48)
Ear Rings: "The ears
are slit and stretched to an enormous size, putting the person who
undergoes the operation to incredible pain, being unable to lie on either
side for near forty days. To remedy this, they generally slit but one at
a time; so soon as the patient can bear it, they are wound round with wire
to expand them, and are adorned with silver pendants and rings, which they
likewise wear at the nose. This custom does not belong originally to the
Cherokees, but (was) taken by them from the Shawnese, or other northern
nations. (Timberlake, in Williams, 75-76).
Gorgets (Shell):
Beverley, in his 'History of Virginia' says, "Of this shell
(the conch) they also make round tablets of about four inches in diameter,
which they polish as smooth as the other, and sometimes they etch or grave
thereon circles, stars, a half-moon, or any other figure suitable to their
fancy". Adair states, in his 'History of the American Inds."
that the priest wears a breastplate made of a white conch-shell, with
two holes bored in the middle of it, through which he puts the ends of
an otter skin strap, and fastens a buck-horn white button to the outside
of each."
"They often
times make, of this Shell, a sort of Gorge, which they wear about their
Neck in a string; so it hangs on their Collar, whereon sometimes is engraven
a Cross, or some odd sort of Figure, which comes next in their Fancy. There
are other sorts valued at a Doe-Skin, yet the Gorges will sometimes sell
for three or four Buck-Skins ready drest. (Lawson, 203)
"....shell gorgets, are
usually round, although some are squared, and they have two perforations
for suspension. On the concave surface some are engraved, and in North
Carolina the rattlesnake, the cross, and some other designs have been found.
The figures on a few have been designed by cutting away part of the shell."
(Rights, 273)
"The shell gorgets that most
excite our admiration are not the ones with iconographic designs, but those
depicting men engaged in various activities. The drawings are springhtly,
indicating a sense of movement. Men are shown fighting, running, dancing,
playing games, and performing ritual acts...Some of the men depicted have
animal features, perhaps representing spiritual beings or men mimicking
animals. A wealth of information is contained in these gorgets, much of
it still not well understood." Hudson). Gorgets (Stone): These
stone pieces, presumably ornaments for suspension about the throat or worn
on the breast, have two perforations, and the wear of the cords for attachment
is plainly indicated on some of the gorgets. Slate is the favorite material.
Headbands: "For a headdress
they wear a thick skein of thread in whatever color they desire which
they wind about their heads and tie the ends over the forehead in two half-knots,
so that one end hangs down over either temple as far as the ears. (Garcilaso,
17-18)
Of a Natchez headband: "The
crown is composed of a cap and a diadem, surmounted by large feathers.
The cap is made of a netting which holds the diadem, a texture 2 inches
broad, tied as tightly behind as is desired. The cap is of black threads,
but the diadem is red and embellished with little beads or small white
seeds as hard as beads. The feathers which surmount the diadem are white.
These in front may be 8 inches long and those behind 4 inches. These feathers
are arranged in a curved line. At the end of each is a tuft of hair and
above a little hairy tassel, all being only an inch and a half long and
dyed a very beautiful red. (duPratz, vol 2, 201; Swanton, #137, 509)
Of "Mico Chlucco,
the Long Warrior, King of the Seminoles", "a very curious diadem
or band, about four inches broad, and ingeniously wrought or woven, and
curiously decorated with stones, beads, wampum, porcupine quills, etc.,
encircles their temples; the front peak of it being embellished with a
high waving plume, or crane or heron feathers." (Bartram, 499,500)
Leg Ornaments: "Most Southeastern
Inds. wore leggings at times, and beaded garters, made of bison hair,
opossum hair, or other material, were constant accompaniments of these.
"Strings of beads seem sometimes to
have been worn by men even without their leggings..." (Swanton, #137, 523).
It seems that whatever was suitable to hang around their necks, or around
their arms, was also used to decorate their legs.
Other leg ornaments were the terrapin
shells which were strapped to the legs. During the ceremonial dances the
shells were filled with pebbles, which made a rhythmic sound.
Necklaces: 'Four sorts
of neck ornaments are mentioned, necklaces proper, collars, gorgets
of shell, and gorgets of metal. The distribution of the first was most
general or, at least, there are more references to this type of ornamentation."
(Swanton, #137, 516).
Strings of animal teeth... most
frequently came from bears, but bobcat, groundhog, elk, dog, and even human
teeth were combined with them. On some of the most elaborate necklaces
the teeth alternated with marine shell beads which came from the Gulf of
Mexico. Beads were often shaped like flat disks, but some were inch-long
tubes whose performations represent remarkable skill with a very small
drill." (Perdue)
Pendants: There
are some small triangular cutouts of conch shell with a groove near the
apex for attaching string. Pierced pendants of the same material have been
recorded.
Pendants with perforation near the top for suspension
were made of soapstone, slate, and granitic material. Some had notches
on the base or side for decoration.
AGRICULTURE
Cherokees, like other natives of
the Southwest, relied on agriculture for only a part of their
food supply. Hunting, fishing, and the gathering of wild
foods, roots, fruits, berries, augmented the cooking pots. Every Cherokee
realized that they were merely caretakers of the land, or "trustee" for
future occupants. To them, no one could "own" the land - they could only
use or abuse it.
Towns were occasionally moved,
and it is possible that this was in part owing to the fact that the land
for these garden plots would gradually become exhausted, as would the firewood
supply. As the town became surrounded by more and more useless land, the
women would have to walk farther and farther to tend their gardens and
gather firewood until at last the town would become an undesirable place
to live.
Fields that had never been used
had to be cleared of all vegetation. Fields that had been used the year
before had to be cleared, in the early spring, of the weeds and cane that
had since grown up. Although agriculture was principally an activity for
the women and children, the initial clearing of the fields, and preparation
for the new planting, was done by the men.
CROPS: "The chief cultivated plants were melons,
maize, beans, tobacco, peas, cabbages, potatoes, and pumpkins." (Gilbert,
316)
CORN: "Inds. in the eastern United
States began cultivating beans at about the same time they began cultivating
the eastern flint corn, at around AD 800 to 1000. The common bean (Phaseolus
vulgaris L.) occurs in hundreds of varieties, including kidney, navy,
pinto, snap, and pole beans. Some of these beans grow on bushy plants,
while others grow on vines, requiring that they be planted alongside cornstalks
or poles. Most of these varieties ripen in about ten weeks.
they "began cultivating squash perhaps
as early as 1000 B.C., far earlier than they began cultivating corn and
beans. They planted the northern species, Cucurbita pepo L., a species
comprising pumpkins and summer squashes. Squash is a good vegetable because
it is relatively easy to grow and it is highly productive. Some varieties
of squash could be stored in a cool, dry place and kept through the winter.
"Corn, beans and squash were
unusually well suited to each other. When grown in the same field they
complemented each other, and in recognition of their basic compatibility
the Iroquois called them the "three sisters"... Corn and beans are particularly
suited to each other, because while corn removes nitrogen from the soil,
beans replace nitrogen, and the soil is therefore exhausted more slowly.
Moreover, beans and corn complement each other in a dietary sense. Corn
supplies some of the protein which is essential for good nutrition, but
it lacks the amino acid lysine, which, as it turns out, is relatively abundant
in beans. Thus when eaten together corn and beans are a relatively good
source of vegetable protein.
"....sunflowers... yielded "large
quantities of oily seeds rich in vitamins. With their hard shells, sunflower
seeds would have been easy to store for use in winter. And considering
the importance of the sun in their belief system, the Southeastern Inds.
would not have failed to notice that the sunflower turns to face the sun
when it rises, and then follows it across the heavens to where it sets
in the west.
Fields were cleared "...of large
trees by girdling them with rings cut into the bark. Before contact they
used stone axes for this, for European steel axes were so superior that
they quickly became one of the items which were most desired. ..After the
girdled trees died, they were either burned or simply left to stand and
rot. Fields that had been used the year before had to be cleared in the
spring of the weeds and cane that had grown up in the past season. Although
agriculture was principally a woman's occupation, the initial clearing
of the fields was done by men.
"The time when crops were planted
depended upon the climate. The first planting of early corn usually
came in March or April; in the northerly parts the first planting usually
came in May. They planted the early corn as soon as the threat of frost
had passed, but they waited another month or so before planting the late
corn because by that time there were wild foods available to deflect the
attention of crows and other pests. Early corn was planted in the garden
plots in and around the town, and late corn was planted in the large fields
in the river bottoms. The garden plots were planted by the women, but the
large fields were planted by both sexes. The labor in the large fields
was communal. Early in the morning of a working day, one of the old leaders
would stand on top of a mound or in the plaza and call all of the people
out to work. Those who failed to come had fines imposed upon them. Before
the Natchez planted seed, they took it to the Great Sun to have it sanctified.
This may have been done in one form or another throughout the Southeast.
"Although labor was communal,
the large fields were divided into individual allotments. Each household
or lineage had its own plot, separated from the others by a strip of untilled
soil. All the people worked together on one plot until it was worked up
and planted, and then they moved on to another. In some cases an entire
field would be cultivated by the people... and its produce turned over
to the chief to use for ritual occasions and for redistribution to people
in need. Planting had a festive quality, and there was always a great deal
of singing and joking. They worked the soil with digging sticks and with
short hoes that had wooden handles and blades made of shell, flint, or
the shoulder blade of a large mammal. The Inds. did not till the entire
field, but instead worked up small "hills" a foot or more in diameter.
This both prevented soil erosion and preserved the fertility of the soil
longer than did the plow-agriculture introduced by the European colonists.
Hills were laid out in straight lines and spaced three or four feet apart
in both directions. Laying out the corn in a regular pattern made weeding
easier later on. In each hill.. they.. made a cluster of four to six holes
spaced about one or two inches apart. Seed that had been soaked for
a day to hasten germination was dropped in, one grain to a hole. A little
hill of dirt was then piled over each group of seeds. Some of the Inds.
carefully planted just four grains of corn in each cluster; others probably
planted more and thinned out the less robust stalks after they came up.
"The kind of soil suitable for
riverine agriculture was scarce, and because of its scarcity, the agricultural
strategy of the Southeastern Inds. was designed to produce maximum yield
from relatively small fields. They accomplished this by two techniques:
intercropping and multiple cropping. Intercropping was the planting of
several kinds of vegetables mixed together in the same field. As
we have seen, corn, beans, and squash complemented each other. The Inds.
planted corn and beans together so that the bean vines grew up they twined
around the corn stalks. In between the hills of corn and around the edges
of the field they planted gourds, squash, pumpkins, and sunflowers, and
chenopodium (goosefoot plant) came up wherever they allowed it to grow.
"Multiple cropping was the planting
of two successive crops on the same field in one season. They.. used this
technique on their early corn, which ripened early and was picked and eaten
green. As soon as they could clear the field of the first crop, they planted
another crop in the same field to be eaten later in the season....
"After they planted their corn,
cultivation consisted of "hilling" the corn, keeping predators away, and
keeping the weeds down. After the corn came up a few inches, they.. hilled
it by piling loose dirt around the roots. Corn requires a large quantity
of water during its growing season, but it also needs good drainage so
that the plants do not drown. Hilling helps satisfy both of these requirements.
Furthermore, corn has roots that are relatively weak and shallow for its
size, and hilling helps keep the stalks from being blown over by the wind.
"People stayed on watch in the
fields during the day in order to frighten away bird and animal pests.
At night fires were sometimes built around the fields for the same purpose.
This job of watching the fields fell to old women, or to young boys under
the supervision of old men. Watching the fields was a rather dangerous
and sometimes fatal occupation because enemies would seize upon the watchman's
lack of protection for a surprise attack. (Note: there is not one recorded
incidence that this ever happened.).
"Some... employed a particularly clever
way of keeping pests out of their gardens. They placed poles around the
gardens and on the poles they hung gourd houses for purple martins. Purple
martins not only consume large numbers of insects each day, but they are
also aggressive toward crows and blackbirds, both of which are especially
destructive of newly planted corn... also, some "may also have encouraged
the nesting of swifts and wrens, which also eat insect pests and chase
away crows and blackbirds.
"When the corn was about one foot
high," they "went through their fields with hoes, cutting down the weeds.
Some repeated this weeding several times during the summer, but others
were less meticulous, letting the weeds grow up to compete with their crops.
Each they they weeded the corn, they hilled it a little more, until by
the end of the summer a noticeable mound of earth was piled around the
bases of the Stalks. Some.. "suckered" their corn by breaking off the secondary
shoots which grew at the bases of the stalks. This was to make the ears
grow larger, increasing the yield. In August, after growth had stopped,
the ears of the late corn were bent down against the stalk to keep water
from running into the husk and rotting the corn.
"They harvested this late corn as
soon as it was dry enough, usually in September or October. Each household
or lineage harvested its own plot of corn, though in some places the plot
assigned to the chief was harvested with volunteer labor from the entire
town. They went through the fields collecting the ears of corn in large
pack baskets carried on their backs. In some places each household or lineage
contributed a portion of its crop to the chief's store.
"The last essential step
in raising a crop of corn was storing it and keeping it safe from field
mice and other animals. In some places.. (they).. stored their corn in
cribs raised seven or eight feet from the ground on posts which were polished
so mice could not climb them. The crib itself was plastered inside and
out with mud. The only entrance was a small door which was sealed with
mud each time it was used. They stacked the ears of corn in rows, with
the better corn near the back of the crib, and the poorer corn near the
entrance where it could be used first. In other places ..they.. stored
their corn in special rooms in the houses in which they lived." ... "sometimes...
ears of dried corn "were protected from insects by wrapping each one with
grass and then plastering it all over with wet clay mixed with grass. In
this manner they were able to keep corn from one year to another." (Hudson,
292-299).
FIELDS: "In the spring, women walked "a considerable
distance from the town" to sow fields of "pompions, and different sorts
of melons". They chose to plant when days were longer and warmer and predators
might bypass their fields in favor of other succulent foods. By May "the
wild fruit is so ripe," wrote Adair, "as to draw off the birds from picking
up the grain." After planting time, old women guarded outfields form high
scaffolds that overlooked "this favorite part of their vegetable possessions"
If hungry animals or birds approached, the sentries frightened them away
"with their screetches". It was dangerous work, for human predators came
first to such far-flung fields and "sometimes kills them in this strict
watch duty". Long past the age of farming, older women continued to share
responsibility for food, even endangering their lives to do so.
"Community fields of corn, beans,
and other staples stretched two to four miles beyond the towns. In addition
to small, early corn,... the diversity and sequential planting of staple
foods offered a slender margin of defense against crop failures and pest
invasions. At the very least, seeds from limited crops could be harvested
and stored for the following year.
"Town priests allotted land to each
clan in proportion to their numbers and need. In May, the entire town joined
together to plant under the direction of a chosen leader. They began "fellowshiply
on one End", continuing across each field "till they have finished all".
As they worked "one of their old orators cheers them on with jests and
humorous old tales, and sings some of their most agreeable wild tunes".
Drumming and singing, joking and calling, elders urged on planters while
reinforcing town customs and community solidarity. Everyone, including
chiefs, joined the labor. Though disdainful Europeans usually described
them solely as hunters and warriors, men -- brothers -- also prepared community
fields, clan by clan, as Selu had instructed. Landholdings remained centered
in the matrilineage, cared for by male as well as female members.
"...Farming was a great leveler of
social distinctions. Community lands meant community crops so that "thire
vitols" could be "comen to all people". Portions from every clan's field
went into the "publick Granery", a resource "to repair to in case of necessity".
Since every family contributed, each could claim an allotment if their
own food "falls short, or is destroyed by accidents, or otherwise". The
public storehouse also made it possible to offer hospitality to "armies,
travelers, or sojourners", as well as neighboring towns.
"When fields 'became impoverished',
town members left them 'with one consent' and found a fresh spot to clear
and sow. Old fields then became in important component of a settlement's
changing resources. Fallowing fields were gradually colonized by useful
weeds like poke and by fleshy fruits such as strawberries, maypops, sumac,
plums, and persimmon. Over time, pioneering shrubs and tree seedlings transformed
old fields into patches of secondary growth. Such scrub communities supplied
food, medicine, and dye to gatherers and attracted a variety of animals
and birds for hunters. Bartram journe'd through five miles of such fields
"now under grass, but which appeared to have been planted the last season."
"...Farming skill and fertile soil
produced an "abundance of corn, beans, and vegetables" unless disasters
intervened; but forces of nature frequently injured or destroyed even the
most carefully tended fields. Floods, droughts, or crop failures were reported
several times a decade throughout the eighteenth century, and surely many
'hungary times' went unrecorded... The specter of famine hovered over Southeastern
fields, and farmers of all races and both sexes regularly watched the skies
and felt the soil with anxiety.
"Long memories of early frosts, harsh winters,
spring floods, and summer droughts contributed to a rich complex of religious
beliefs and social behaviors. Townswomen enacted secret rituals to avert
disaster; for example, they disrobed every full moon 'at the dead of night'
to circle 'entirely around the field of corn'. They said 'thanks and prayers
in a series of devotional chaunts' to Selu while they tended corn and weeded
fields. When drought came, women from each clan fasted while men brought
deerskins and meat to the priest. The priest then prayed to the creator
moon and sun, shaking a terrapin shell filled with pebbles to summon thunder
and rain. To avert cold, priests built fire of seven special woods and
sacrificed to the Woman of the East a terrapin shell filled with old tobacco.
In ritual speeches at Green Corn Festivals, priests urged strict adherence
to customs and prohibitions i "Corn, or Maize;... besides
the Stalks bruis'd and boil'd, make very pleasant Beer, being sweet like
the Sugar-Cane." (Lawson, 81)
Several varieties of Apples
are said to make good Cider. In the old days, however, of which we are
concerned, there was little if any fermenting of corn or grape to make
an alcohol. Perhaps the nearest to it was persimmon beer:
A medical student, Rafinesque,
wrote in his Medical Flora in 1818: "The Persimmon Beer is made by forming
the fruits into cakes with bran, drying them in an open oven, and bruising
these cakes afterwards in water. The large variety has fruits as big as
an egg, and deserves to be cultivated on a large scale as a fruit tree".
Another writer gave this procedure:
"Wheat bran is kneaded with persimmons in fall and baked as a pone. The
pones are broken into pieces and placed in a runlet. Warm water is added
and left for about nine days. Wheat chaff or hay straw may be placed in
as a strainer". It should be noted that this straw will aid in the growth
of bacteria and fungi which abound in such a medium as it decomposes.
Another recipe went like this:
Put a bunch of wheat straw above mouth of hopper and then layer of ashes..Next
layer of persimmons to layer of honey locust beans. Put boiling water on
and let seep through. Must have a large ash cake put above the ashes to
act as yeast".
Most made this in a barrel with
a spigot near the bottom. After it fermented they opened the spigot and
let out a little into a cup, it being filtered through the straw. Since
it contained penicillin and gramicidin, no wonder the users of it remained
more healthy than other folks.
ALCOHOLIC SPIRITS
ALTARS
Speaking of the council
house: "Inside, near the center of the floor, was always an altar,
a circular or rectangular platform modeled from clay with a small central
fire basin where the sacred fire burned perpetually." (Lewis & Kneberg,
85).
AMPHIBIANS
"Although the early Cherokees lacked
a notable amount of fish lore, there were a number of myths related to
amphibians and reptiles. Huey and Stupka list seventy-one amphibians and
reptiles found in the Great Smoky Mountain area.
"The common snapping turtle ranged throughout
the region and was commonly found in muddy-bottomed ponds or shallow streams.
Kindred to the snapping turtle were the spiny soft-shelled turtle, musk
turtle, painted turtle, and map turtle. All these turtles were aquatic
species and preferred either a river habitat or slackwater cove. They hibernated
in winter and could be captured most easily in the early spring to November
period.
"Most important of the turtle species,
however, was the land tortoise, or box turtle, which was found at elevations
up to 4,000 feet and preferred a scrubby oak-pine habitat. These terrestrial
animals were very prominent in Cherokee folklore, and were probably more
common in the mountain habitat of the Cherokees than the water species.
The tortoise was considered to have been a great warrior in old times and,
thus, Cherokee warriors would rub the thick turtle legs to their own legs
in an attempt at transferring that sought-after quality (ability to withstand
stout blows). Turtle shells were also used as cups, containers, and hand
and leg rattles." (Goodwin, 75, quoting Mooney and Rights)
"At water's edge, on forest
floors, or in grassy fields, nesting and feeding areas abounded for reptiles
and amphibians. Lizards, frogs, turtles, more than two dozen kinds of salamanders,
and an equal number of snake species populated Cherokee settlement areas.
Important in ecosystems as food and feeders ... they appeared in myths,
songs, medicine formulas, dances, and often as giants in folktales. For
sacred dances, ... women wore leg rattles made from the shells of box turtle..
as the women danced, pebbles clattered rhythmically inside the shells."
(Hill, 24)
For a list of Amphibians and their
habitats, see Index section.
ANIMALS
"...scarcely
any animal was domesticated in the older days. The dog appears to have
been tamed and possibly also the bee, and turkeys were kept in captivity
when young. The chief pursuit of the Cherokee men in the older period was
the hunt. The principal objects of the hunt were bears, deer, bison, eagles,
elk, beaver, turkeys, wild duck, and geese. These animals were hunted for
food and for their hides, feathers, teeth, and bones." (Gilbert, 185)
"The characteristic native
mammals of the area are bats, moles, shrews, raccoons, skunks, weasels,
otters, bears, wolves, foxes, wildcats, panthers, hares, porcupines, groundhogs,
beavers, rats and mice, squirrels, bison, deer, opossum, and a native dog."
(Gilbert, 185)
Prehistoric: "Remains of two elephant
species, moth and mastodon, have been found in the Southeast at Natchez,
Mississippi & at Vero & Melbourne, Florida. (Lewis & Kneberg,
11)
"The Beasts of Carolina are
the: Buffalo, or wild Beef; Bear; Panther; Cat-a-Mount-Wild Cat; Wolf;
Tyger; Polecat; Otter; Beaver; Musk-Rat; Possum; Raccoon; Minx; Watr-Rat;
Rabbet (two sorts); Elks; Stags; Fallow-Deer; Squirrel (four sorts); Fox;
Lion and Jackall on the Lake; Rats (two sorts); Mice (two sorts) Moles;
Weasel, Dormouse; Bearmouse." (Lawson, 120). He then goes on to give detailed
descriptions of each, which you may research if you are interested. We
will touch only on a few.
BEAR: "The flesh of this Beast is very good, and
nourishing, and not inferior to the best Pork in Taste. It stands betwixt
Beef and Pork, and the young Cubs are a Dish for the greatest Epicure
living. I prefer their Flesh before any Beef, Veal, Pork, or Mutton; and
they look as well as they eat, their fat being as white as Snow, and the
sweetest of any Creature's in the World. If a Man drink a Quart thereof
melted, it never will rise in his Stomach. We prefer it above all things,
to fry Fish and other things in. Those that are strangers to it may judge
otherwise; But I who have eaten a great deal of Bears Flesh in my Life-time
(since my being an Inhabitant in America) do think it equalizes,
if not excels, any Meat I ever eat in Europe. The Bacon made thereof
is extraordinary Meat; but it must be well saved, otherwise it will rust....
They are seemingly a very clumsy Creature, yet are very nimble in running
up Trees, and traversing every Limb thereof. When they come down, they
run Tail foremost. ...There is one thing more to be consider'd of this
Creature, which is, that no Man, either Christian or Indian, has ever kill'd
a She-bear with Young.
"...The Oil of the Bear is very Sovereign
for Strains, Aches, and old Pains. The fine Fur at the bottom of the Belly,
is used for making Hats, in some places. The Fur itself is fit for several
Uses; as for making Muffs, facing Caps, etc. but the black Cub-skin is
preferable to all sorts of that kind, for Muffs. Its Grain is like Hog
Skin." (Lawson, 121,122)
"Black bear (yanu, yona)
also held a place of honor. The largest omnivore in the Southern Appalachians,
black bear dwell in deep forests, whose dense understories protect their
young. The primarily solitary adults mate in early summer, and subsequent
pregnancy coincides with the time of greatest abundance of food resources
in late summer and fall. "The she-bear" wrote Adair, "takes an old hollow
tree for the yearning winter-house, and chuses to have the door above"
to protect her cubs. Males make winter beds in "solitary thickets" by breaking
"a great many branches of trees" for the bottom and adding "the green tops
of large canes". In January of alternate years, sows give birth to one
or two cubs, who remain with their mother for a year. Never in a true state
of hibernation, a black bear sleeps intermittently through two months of
Southern Appalachian winter." (Hill, 19,20)
"Bear oil was a favorite food
among both Europeans and Cherokees, particularly after the animals fattened
on Acorns, Chestnuts and Chinkapins, Wild Honey and Wild Grapes. Women
fried the oil, "mixing plenty of sassafras and wild cinnamon with it over
the fire" and stored it "in large earthen jars, covered in the ground".
The oil was delicious, claimed Adair, and also "nutritive to hair". Women
oiled their hair with bear fat as a mark of beauty, and both women and
men greased their bodies with it to ward off insects. Bear claws, teeth,
and bone became tools and jewelry in the hands of artisans. Women also
processed the skins for clothing, bedding, and blankets, and they spun
the coarse black hair into thread." (Hill, 20)
"The animal that fell into
both the human category and the four-footed animal category was the bear,
an animal which is four-footed, but which often walks upright on two legs,
and it frequently eats the same kinds of food men eat. We shall presently
see that the Cherokees used to tell a story about a clan of people turning
into bears, and the bear shows up in the Cherokee oral tradition about
the origin of disease and medicine, which is itself primarily concerned
with the opposition between men and animals." (Hudson, 139)
"The black bear was a valued
game animal in the Southeast, but it was valued in a different way than
the deer. Because the bear has a low reproductive rate, it was a scarce
animal, and the number of bears the Inds. killed was negligible compared
to the number of deer they killed. But where was the deer was killed as
a staple food, the bear was killed mainly for the oil that could be extracted
from its fat.
"The preferred season for hunting
bear was winter, for then the bears were spending most of their time sleeping.
The females were particularly fond of hibernating high up in the trunks
of hollow trees. The Inds. would locate them by finding claw marks on the
tree. One of the hunters would imitate the sound of a bear cub in distress,
and the female bear would reveal herself. A man would then climb a nearby
tree and throw a bundle of burning canes into the hollow tree, and when
the bear was driven out by the fire and began descending the tree, it was
an easy matter for the hunters to shoot and kill it. If, however,
they only succeeded in wounding the bear, all the hunters would run
and climb saplings that were too small for the bear to climb in pursuit."
(Hudson, 279,280)
Bearskins were highly
prized as bed covers, matchcoats (mantles, like capes), their teeth
were always saved as ornaments for necklaces, as were their claws.
"The black bear was commonly found
anywhere from the lowlands and floodplains, all the way to the spruce-fir
uplands -- although generally, it preferred to establish relatively well-defined
home ranges, e.g., females stayed within a ten mile radius of a chosen
habitat, while the male might wander slightly farther.
"The bear sought a variety of
food, and usually preferred chestnuts and acorns, although it was satisfied
with any of a vast array of available grasses, berries, fish, reptiles,
amphibians, honey, fruits, tender under bark, and insects...
"Bears were killed only
after great ceremonial preparation. The bear hunter fasted the entire day
before the kill and considered the entire process an act of reverence,
always asking the animal's spirit for forgiveness." (Goodwin, 70)
Skinning and Dressing: "Cut jugular vein and bleed,
or cut head off. Slice down the middle of the underside from the neck to
the back legs, sliding the knife between the hide and the flesh. Roll the
bear from side to side while cutting until the hide is off.
"With the axe, cut off the legs below
the knees, cut through the breastbone, and cut between the buttocks to
the backbone. Cut the end of the large intestine and strip out the innards.
Cut on either side of the backbone (as in the hog) separating the meat
into two halves. Cut out the hams and shoulders for curing in salt. Cut
the neck, flank, and lower part of the shoulder into small pieces for stewing
at once."
BEAVER: "Bevers are very numerous in
Carolina, their being abundance of their Dams in all Parts of the Country,
where I have travel'd. They are the most industrious and greatest Artificers
(in building their Dams and Houses) of any four-footed Creatures in the
World. Their Food is chiefly the Barks of Trees and Shrubs, viz. Sassafras,
Ash, Sweet-Gum, and several others. If you take them young, they become
very tame and domestick, but are very mischievious in spoiling Orchards,
by breaking the Trees, and blocking up your Doors in the Night, with the
Sticks and Wood they bring thither. If they eat any thing that is salt,
it kills them. Their Flesh is a sweet Food; especially, their Tail, which
is held very dainty. There Fore-Feet are open, like a Dog's; their Hind-Feet
webb'd like a Water-Fowl's. The Skins are good Furs for several Uses, which
everyone knows. The Leather is very thick; I have known Shooes made thereof..
which lasted well. It makes the best Hedgers Mittens that can be used."
(Lawson, 125)
BUFFALO: "The Buffelo is a wild Beast of America,
which has a Hunch on his Back... his chief Haunt being in the Land of Messiasippi,
which is, for the most part, a plain Country; yet I have known some kill'd
on the Hilly Part of Cape-Fear-River...I have eaten of their Meat, but
do not think it so good as our Beef; yet the younger Calves are cry'd up
for excellent Food, as very likely they may be. It is conjectured, that
these Buffelos, mixt in Breed with our tame Cattle, would much better the
Breed for Largeness and Milk, which seems very probable. Of the wild Bull's
Skin, Buff is made. The Inds. cut the Skins into Quarters for the Ease
of their Transportation, and made Beds to lie on. They spin the Hair into
Garters, Girdles, Sashes, and the like, it being long and curled, and often
of a chestnut or red Colour. These Monsters are found to weight (as I am
informed by a Traveller of Credit) from 1600 to 2400 Weight. (Lawson, 120,121)
"The availability of buffalo
must have transformed Cherokee life. By the 1700s, buffalo provided food,
clothing, bedding, war paraphernalia, utensils, and musical instruments.
According to Adair, women "continually wear a beaded string round their
legs, made of buffalo hair" as ornamentation and to prevent misfortune,
thus weaving together concepts of beauty and medico-magic. In winter, "they
wrapped themselves in the softened skin of buffalo calves" with "the shagged
wool inward." Alexander Longe wrote that one of the "great many dances
to divert their king" honored the buffalo. Warriors made quivers of buffalo
hide, and shields of buffalo crania, and war chiefs wore bracelets and
headbands of buffalo skin. Men blew through buffalo horn trumpets and crafted
horns into spoons and scapula into hoes. Women prepared the nourishing
meat, spun hair for thread, and dressed calfskins for the special bedding
of infant girls." (Hill, 18)
"Bison (buffalo) skins
were used for matchcoats (a mantle usually made of animal skins and worn
over one or both shoulders in colder weather). It extended down to the
knees.
COON: Skinning and dressing: Many hunters cut
the jugular vein and bleed the coon as soon as they have killed one to
prevent the meat from spoiling. Then they either bring it home and skinit,
or skin it in the field. It is done as follows:
Ring the hind legs and the front legs
at the foot joint. Split the pelt on the inside middle of both hind legs
from the ring to the crotch.
Repeat on front legs, splitting to
the middle of the chest.
Then split the pelt up the middle
of the underside from the crotch, through the split from the front legs,
and up to the end of the bottom jaws.
Cut around tail on the underside ONLY.
Connect split. Skin out both hind legs, and make a small slice between
bone and tendon and insert a gamblin' stick. Hang the coon up. Take two
small sticks, and grip them together firmly so that the base of the tail
is between. Pull carefully while holding the sticks tightly clamped together,
and the tail will slide off the tail bone. If you want to keep the skin,
be sure not to pull the tail off.
Work the pelt off to the front legs,
slicing the mesentery between skin and muscle when necessary. Slice up
to front legs, and then skin the front legs out. If you want to eat the
coon, remove the two pear-shaped musk glands from under the forearms.
Skin around the neck until you get
to the head. Cut the ears off even with the head. If you make a bad ear
hole, the pelt's value will be reduced by fifty cents. Skin right around
the eyes leaving only the eyeballs. Then go down the snout, cutting off
the end so that the nose button is still attached to the pelt.
Now split the flesh down the middle
from throat to crotch and remove intestines and organs. Cut off the head,
tail, and feet, and soak the carcas in cold water (preferably overnight
unless you have just killed it) to get the blood out.
DEER: "The most important Cherokee game animal
was white-tail deer (ahwi), which gave name to one of the seven
clans (Ani-Kawi: Deer Clan). Deer frequent forest edges and continually
after forest composition by feeding on succulent foliage during spring
and early summer, on woody leaves and shoots in late summer, and on forest
mast in autumn and winter. Dependent on shrubby growth for cover, they
restrict their range to sheltered areas of lower elevations in winter months.
Among Cherokees, extensive hunting coincided with deer concentrations in
relatively small, predictable locales.
"Cherokees utilized virtually all
parts of the deer, which comprised as much as half the meat in their diet.
Payment for tribal obligations could be made in deerskins. Women and men
made deer sinews into string and made entrails into bow strings and thread.
They worked antler and bone into tools, musical instruments, and beads.
Women boiled antlers and hooves for glue and converted small bones into
needles and awls. They tanned hides with deer brains, then fashioned the
leather into clothing or bedding, moccasins or hairpieces, bags or belts.
For dances they fastened rattles on "white-drest deerskin" tied onto their
legs.
"During special ceremonies and at
annual celebrations, the priest sat on one deerskin, which was painted
or chalked white, and rested his feet on another. To assemble a general
council, the "beloved man" (uku) raised over the town house a deerskin
painted white with red spots... "Ceremonial feasts always included ritual
sacrifice of deer tongue. The priest 'cuts 4 other pieces and throws one
north the other south the other east and the other west. After the ritual
offering, he passed the remainder of meat "through the flame of the fire
and then (gave) it to the women to dress for the priest and all others
that pleases to eat of it"" (Hill, 19)
Deerskins provided the
clothing for both men and women. For a woman, a short deer-skin skirt covered
her from the waist to her knees. Ceremonial pouches, such as medicine bags,
were traditionally made out of deerskin, with the hair on the outside.
They were sometimes as large as one foot by two feet, and a half foot thick.
"No deer could be killed indiscriminately
and without proper ritualistic preparation since animals had afterlife
and could be vengeful. Ceremonial observances were made before slaying
the animal, or else the powerful protector of deer and agent of revenge,
the invisible "Little Deer" would condemn the hunter to a life of perpetual
pain by implanting the spirit of rheumatism." (Goodwin, 68)
Skinning and Dressing: "After
killing, remove the scent glands (on the hind legs at the inside of the
knee joint), the testes, and cut the jugular vein immediately. Then hang
the carcass up by its hind legs, and ring each of the back legs below the
knee. Cut down the inside of the back legs to the crotch, cut down the
belly to the center of the chest, and ring the front legs in a manner similar
to the back. Cut down the inside of the front legs to meet the cut in the
chest. Peel the hide off the back legs to meet the cut in the chest. Peel
the hide off the back legs, down the body, and off the front legs up the
neck to the ears. Cut off the head right behind the ears with an axe.
"With the same axe, chop down between
the hams. Cut from the hams to the chest with a knife, and then separate
the ribs using the axe again. Cut down to the brisket with the knife, cut
around the anus, and then remove the entrails. Save the heart and liver
if desired.
"Another method used by local hunters
was to make a diagonal cut just behind the chest cavity about twelve inches
long. The entrails were removed through this cut, which was plenty large
enough and yet small enough to prevent dirt and leaves from entering the
cavity.
Curing: Sometimes hunters would
salt the entire carcass with about 25 pounds of salt, let it dry, and hang
it in the smokehouse. When they needed pieces, they simply stripped them
off and cooked them.
"Others cut the deer into pieces very
similar to those that a beef is cut into (legs, ribs, rump, loin, etc.)
These pieces were either dried in the sun until all the moisture was out
and then put in the smokehouse; put into a fairly thick salt brine and
left; or salted down (about one inch thick) and put in the smokehouse to
cure in the same manner as pork.
GROUNDHOG: Dressing: Skin the groundhog, remove
the glands from under the legs, gut, and soak overnight in salty water.
The hide was often placed in a bucket of ashes over which water was poured.
After the ashes had taken the hair off, the hide was removed, dried, kneaded,
and cut up in strips for shoe strings.
HOGS: Today, hogs are very important to Cherokees,
but the ancient Cherokees did not have hogs before the white man came.
DeSoto was said to have some that he drove throughout his travels, but
they did not come into Cherokee hands until the mid-1700's. They became
very important, very soon, thereafter. Today, Cherokee feasts are "hog
frys" -- but this is not ancient Cherokee, any more than "squaw" and "fry"
bread is ancient native American.
HORSES: The ancient Cherokees, before the white
man came and ruined everything, did not have horses. "Horses were
probably not owned in any great number before the marking out of the horse-path
for traders from Augusta about 1740. The Cherokees, however, took kindly
to the animal, and before the beginning of the war of 1760 had a 'prodigious
number'. In spite of their great losses at that time they had so far recovered
in 1775 that almost every man then had from two to a dozen (Adair, 231)
(Mooney, Myths, 213)
MOUNTAIN LION: "The mountain lion (also referred
to as panther, puma, or cougar) was a religious 'symbol of cunning, strength,
and prodigious spring', and (the Cherokees) would later compare it to White
man who they said 'instead of being satisfied with enough for his present
necessities, and no more, was covetously eager, as the cougar, to pile
around him far more property and substance than it was possible for him
to consume upon himself" (Logan, 55). The mountain lion was seldom killed
by the precontact Cherokees (due to folkloric belief) yet by the end of
the eighteenth century -- after the advent of the European -- the animal
virtually disappeared from traditional Cherokee lands." (Goodwin, 70,71)
POSSUM: "The Possum is found no where
but in America. He is the Wonder of all the Land Animals, being
the size of a Badger, and near that Colour. The Male's Pizzle is placed
retrograde; and in time of Coition, they differ from all other Animals,
turning Tail to Tail, as Dog and Bitch when ty'd. The Female, doubtless,
breeds her Young at her Teats; for I have seen them stick fast thereto,
when they have been no bigger than a small Rasberry, and seemingly inanimate.
She has a Paunch, or false Belly, wherein she carries her Young, after
they are from those Teats, till they can shift for themselves. Their Food
is Roots, Poultry, or wild Fruits. They have no Hair on their Tails, but
a sort of a Scale, or hard Crust, as the Bevers have. If a Cat has nine
Lives, this creature surely has nineteen; for if you break every Bone in
their Skin, and mash their Skull, leaving them for Dead, you may come an
hour after, and they will be gone quite away, or perhaps you meet them
creeping away. ....I have, for Necessity in the Wilderness, eaten of them.
Their Flesh is very white, and well tasted; but their ugly Tails put me
out of Conceit with that Fare. They climb Trees, as the Raccoons do, Their
fur is not esteem'd nor used, saved that the Inds. spin it into Girdles
and Garters. (Lawson, 125,126)
"The opossum is the size of
a European cat; it has a head like a fox's, feet like a monkey's, and a
tail like a rat's. This animal is very curious. I once killed a female
that had seven young clinging to her teats in a most surprising manner.
That is where they develop, and they do not let go until they are able
to walk. Then they drop into a membrane pouch. The ones I saw were the
size of newborn mice. Nature has provided the female with a pouch located
under the belly and covered with hair. When the young are attacked, they
enter the pouch, and the mother carries them off to safety. Opossum meat
tastes like that of a suckling pig. Their hair is whitish, and their fur
is like the beaver's. They live in the woods on beechnuts, chestnuts, walnuts,
and acorns. I have eaten opossum several times while on trips. An excellent
ointment for the cure of hemorrhoids is made of its extremely fine, white
fat." (Bossu, Travels in the Interior of N. America, 198)
NOTE: The Cherokee king's (uku's, Oukah's) crown
was made of 'possum fur -- dyed yellow. "Dressing: Few people bother
to skin the few possums they eat. The prevailing tradition is to scald
the possum in boiling water containing a half cup of lime or ashes. Then
it is scraped until hairless, gutted (it should have been bled immediately
after being caught), the musk glands under the forearms removed, and either
the head or at least the eyes removed. The carcass is then soaked, preferably
overnight, before cooking.
RABBIT: Skinning and Dressing: Some
hunters in this area gut the rabbit as soon as they have killed it. Many
carry it home and gut it that evening, however. They do this by making
one short slash in the belly parallel to the backbone, and removing the
entrails through this cut. At home they skin it, often making a cut across
the middle of the back, inserting their fingers, and pulling both ways.
The legs are lifted out of the pelt as with the squirrel.
"The rabbit (Lepus americanus)
known in Cherokee lore as a "trickster" figured quite prominently in the
mythology, and was especially prized for its meat and skin. The rabbit
preferred a habitat consisting of laurel and rhodendron thickets, and semi-open
tracts surrounded by evergreen trees. (Goodwin, 70)
SQUIRREL: Skinning and Dressing: - The most common
way of skinning a squirrel in the mountains was to ring the back legs at
the feet, and cut around the top of the base of the tail. The hunter than
put the squirrel on its back, put his foot in its tail, grabbed its back
legs firmly, and pulled. The hide would come off just like a jacket right
up to the neck. Then the front legs were pulled up out of the skin and
cut off at the feet, and the pelt cut off at the neck. Usually the head
was not skinned out, but if you wanted to, it would be done about the same
as with the coon. Cut off the head, back feet, and tail. Then gut.
WOLVES: "Next to humans, wolves (wa-hya)
were the foremost predators in Southeastern ecosystems and the totem identity
of a Cherokee clan (Ani-Wahya: Wolf Clan). Wolves pruned animal
communities of young, old, weak, and sick members, which helped maintain
healthy herds and relieved pressure on plant populations. Wolves greatly
reduced small game predation of agricultural fields and gardens, for in
their absence, animals like rodents and rabbits reproduced rapidly. After
feeding, wolves abandoned carrion that then fed scavengers, like foxes,
eagles, ravens, and buzzards.... Wolves affected virtually the entire Southeastern
food chain" (Hill, 18,19)
Wolves
were never eaten, but sometimes the pelts were used the same as other
furs.
"Other mammals held a lesser, but important position
in Cherokee society. Elk, for instance, conceived of as a'wi'e'gwa
(great deer) by the Cherokees, abounded in the floodplains during the summer
months and were probably stalked by lone hunters. Next to deer meat, that
of the elk was preferred to other mammals, as were its horn and skin (Logan,
36)
"Several other smaller mammals...
were important, although not necessarily as food sources, including: beaver,
muskrat, otter, raccoon, porcupine, and mink. All of these mammals generally
were most abundant in the floodplain forests and timbered bottomlands.
"Preferring the deciduous forest habitat
were: chipmunk or ground squirrel, gray squirrel, striped skunk, and woodchuck.
These animals were valuable food sources and were prepared for consumption
in a variety of ways. The ground-hog, for instance, was utilized in a rather
unique manner.... would cook the meat first and then pounded it with a
mortar until a sausage (a'gansta'ta) could be processed.
"The larger, predatory carnivores,
e.g., bobcat, mountain lion, gray fox, and gray wolf, tended to favor those
biotic zones that attracted the greatest number of small game. All of these
animals had a wide range and were found, thus, at various seasons in many
parts of Cherokee-claimed lands." (Goodwin, 70,71)
ARKS
Little is known of
the ancient sacred arks of the old Cherokee Nation, for sometime before
the white man arrived the Delawares slipped into the sacred mother city
of Echota and stole the precious ark which contained so much of their ancient
history and lore.
Adair tells of an ark he encountered
in a neighboring nation: it "contains several consecrated vessels, made
by beloved superannuated women, and of such various antiquated forms, as
would have puzzled Adam to have given significant names to each. The leader
and his attendant, are purified longer than the rest of the company that
the first may be fit to act in the religious office of a priest of war,
and the other to carry the sacred ark." and,
"The Ind. ark is deemed
so sacred and dangerous to be touched either by their own sanctified warriors,
or the spoiling enemy, that they durst not touch it upon any account. It
is not to be meddle with by any, except the war captain and his waiter,
under the penalty of incurring great evil. Nor would the most inveterate
enemy touch it in the woods for the very same reason." (Adair, 170,171)
"The Cherokee once had a wooden box,
nearly square and wrapped up in buckskin, in which they kept the most sacred
of their old religion. Upon every important expedition two priests carried
it in turn and watched over it in camp so that nothing could come near
to disturb it. The Delawares captured it more than a hundred years ago
(this was written about 1890), and after that the old religion was neglected
and trouble came to the Nation. (Mooney, Myths, 396,397)
"A gentleman who was at the Ohio in
the year 1756 assured me he saw a stranger there very importunate to view
the inside of the Cheerake ark, which was covered with drest deerskin and
placed on a couple of short blocks. A (Cherokee) centinel watched it, armed
with a hiccory bow and brass-pointed barbed arrows; and he was faithful
to his trust, for finding the stranger obtruding to pollute the supposed
sacred vehicle, he drew an arrow to the head, and would have shot him through
the body had he not suddenly withdrawn. The interpreter, when asked by
the gentleman what it contained, told him there was nothing in it but a
bundle of conjuring traps. This shews what conjurers our common interpreters
are, and how much the learned world have really profited by their informations"
(from Adair, 161,162, quoted in Mooney, Myths, 503)
ARROWS
"Arrow pointing
was done by cutting triangular bits of brass, copper, and bone and inserting
them into the end of split-reed arrows. Deer sinew was wound around the
split end and drawn through a small hole in the head and then the sinew
was moistened." (Gilbert, 317)
In 1956, in an excavation site
in Greene County, Tennessee, a two-thousand-year-old arrowshaft was found.
"Although only eight and a half inches long, the cane arrowshaft section
was the nock end. The cane, known as 'switch cane' is a slender, tough
variety that grows in uplands. It was used for arrowshafts by the historic
Cherokee who called it guni (goonee) -- the same word that they
used for 'arrow'. The nock in the prehistoric example was made just beyond
a joint; this prevented the shaft from splitting when the bow string was
drawn taut."
"...Arrows, tipped with ...small,
wickedly sharp points, were deadly weapons capable of killing men and animals.
Other types of points with various stems and notches were used both on
arrows and spears, but the ones used on spears were usually larger. Among
the spearpoints, some were chipped from quartzite. This hard crystalline
rock, which occurs in a range of colors -- milky-white, yellow, dove-gray,
and pink -- required much skill to shape. The... evidently chose it for
its beauty, since flint was far easier to chip." (Lewis & Kneberg,
47,48)
"The process for making implements
such as arrowheads, spears, and knives is described as follows: At the
quarry site the stone was broken out with stone hammers or large boulders.
The desired material was such that it broke with a conchoidal fracture;
that is, when a chip was broken off, a shell or saucer-shaped shallow depression
was left. The rough stone of the quarry was shaped with the hammers into
blades, usually leaf-shaped, with a range of from one inch to one
foot or more in length. These blanks could be transported, in lots of one
hundred or more, conveniently by carriers. Deposits of these have been
found where they were buried near camp sites, in caches, to be dug up later
for finishing. The blanks were specialized by further chipping. Tools of
bone or antler were used for shaping the blades into sharp-pointed and
notched implements. Tradition says that the old men... were the arrow-makers".
(Rights, 266)
"Their method of
pointing arrows is as follows: Cutting a bit of thin brass, copper, bone,
or scales of a particular fish, into a point with two beards, or some into
an acute triangle, they split a little of their arrow, which is generally
of reeds; into this they put the point, winding some deers sinew around
the arrow, and through a little hole they make in the head; then they moisten
the sinew with their spittle, which, when dry, remains fast glewd, nor
ever untwists." (Timberlake, 85)
Triangular arrow
points, called bird points, are very numerous. A popular form in central
North Carolina was the stemmed, shouldered, and barbed arrowhead, one to
three inches long. Favorite materials were the Randolph igneous stone ..and
white quartz was much prized for making arrowheads of fine workmanship.
"They made their Arrows of
Reeds or small Wands, which needed no other cutting, but in the length,
being otherwise ready for Notching, Feathering and Heading. They fledged
their Arrows with Turkey Feathers, which they fastened with Glue made of
the Velvet Horns of a Deer, but it has not that quality it's said to have,
of holding against all Weathers; they arm'd the Heads with a white transparent
Stone ... of which they have many Rocks; they also headed them with the
Spurs of the Wild Turkey Cock" (Beverley, bk 3, 60)
Another writer wrote:" The
arrows are made of certain reeds, like canes, very heavy, and so tough
that a sharpened one passes through a shield. Some are pointed with a fish
bone, as sharp as an awl, and others with a certain stone like a diamond
point.."
Darts: see under Blowguns
ARTIFACTS AND ANTIQUITIES
Abrasive Stones: Of the surviving specimens, some
native stone, particularly traprock material, has grooves, suggesting use
as abrasive material, and certain specimens show apparent wear.
Animal Teeth: Teeth of bear, beaver, and other
animals served as tools, they were also perforated and otherwise specialized
as ornaments.
Arrowheads: see above.
Arrow Shaft-Straighteners: A few stones with grooves
have been found, similar to specimens noted elsewhere, and classed as arrow-shaft
straighteners.
Arrow tools: Short plugs of antler, with blunt
end, some showing use, are classified among arrow-making tools.
Axes: "Axes were made by pecking and polishing.
Unfinished axes show marks of workmanship in this fashion. Granitic stone,
diorite, and other volcanic material predominate. Illustrations show a
variety of shapes, with grooves variously placed. Sometimes the under side
of the ax has been grooved for tightening on the handle. There are several
with double blades. Rough-chipped axes are also represented. Adzes are
rare."
"They cut a slit in a sapling
with a razor-sharp flint or pebble; into this incision, they fitted a stone
cut into the shape of an ax. As the tree grew, the stone became so firmly
fixed it could not be removed from the young tree. The sapling was then
cut down when they needed it. Their lances and darts were made in the same
way." (Bossu, Travels, 127)
Banner Stones: Stones with a hole bored for handle
are classed as banner stones. A problematical form, this type is regarded
as symbolic, an emblem of authority like our modern gavels. The half-moon
or pick-shaped form is the most common, of local materials, including banded
slate. A few are boat-shaped. Winged banner stones, or butterfly stones,
are so called according to the shape. The most striking of these are made
of quartz or quartzite. Unfinished banner stones show the method of boring
the stone, as the uncompleted boring shows a core. A reed or tube twirled
patiently, possibly with the help of a little sand in the opening, could
be used for boring."
Beamers: The leg bone of the deer was shaped into
a tool adaptable for use in tanning leather.
Bird Stone: This is a straight bar, on one end
of which in effigy is the head of a bird, or deer.
Bone & Antler: Awls and needles. Many tools
were made of bone and antler. Most numerous are the awls and needles. Wild
turkey bones and deer horns provided most material. Ends of the implements
were ground down to a point. Many are nicely shaped, although decoration
and perforation for suspension are rare.
Celts: "The series of celts runs from the rough-chipped
implement with narrow edge to the finely polished artifact with broad,
sharp edge. Material is usually of gray or green stone, with some granite
rock and slate. The rough-chipped specimens are mostly of the arrowhead-type
stone. Chisel and gouge shapes are rare."
Discoidals: "Many biscuit-shaped stones are found,
often classed as hammer stones. A pit on either side of the flat surfaces
is usually found. Some are classed as mullers. While there is probability
of such use, many stones, ranging to six inches or more in diameter, are
finely finished and formed with concave or convex sides."
Drills: "Implements with wide base and slender
body terminating in a point served as drills, or could have been used in
making perforations for sewing."
Scrapers: Short implements shaped like arrowheads,
with a wide, blunt edge instead of a point, could be fitted with a handle
and used as scrapers. Some of these are merely chunks of flint with finished
edge.
Game Balls: Spheres in size from marbles to baseballs,
a few of hematite, may be classed as game stones.
Hoes and Spades: "Rough chipped implements that
could be fitted with handles for agricultural purposes are found, usually
on bottom lands or old fields."
Jaw Bones: The preservation of jaw bones of the
deer and some other animals suggests application for some utilitarian purpose.
They could have served as corn-shellers.
Mortars, Anvils, and Nutcrackers: Stones with
concave depressions show use as mortars. On some stones, scars indicate
use as anvils. Stones with pits the size of walnuts have been classed as
nutcrackers, and although this classification is regarded as doubtful,
experiments show that such use is practicable. Some of the mortars have
pits of this kind on the under side.
Pestles and Grinding Stones: Bell-shaped and straight
pestles were used in preparation of food. Grinding stones without handles
served similarly, and small stones of this kind were used in producing
paint material.
Plugs: Knobbed plugs of stone and clay, resembling
bolts, have been found, suggesting ear plugs.
Sinkers: Soapstone and hardstone specimens, both
irregular and symmetric types, have one or more perforations. Some have
a groove instead of perforation. They could have served as net sinkers
in fishing. There are other perforated stones, the use of which is still
regarded as problematical.
Shell: Shells were widely used, and in many ways.
The marine shells include conch, oyster, clam, scallop, and others. The
inland deposits, mostly freshwater shells, with mussel and periwinkle predominating,
are usually found in refuse pits and sometimes associated with burials.
Some of the freshwater shells were used for making shell objects or served
the purpose whole as spoons. The larger portion of the specialized shell
material, however, was marine in origin. Small shells were pierced for
stringing. Olive shells pierced at the end made attractive necklaces, bracelets,
and anklets, when strung. Elaborate ornaments were sometimes outlined with
the marine shells strung in this way and sewed on garments. ...Mussel shells
with notches along the edge appear to be diminutive saws.
Tortoise shells, both terrapin
and turtle shells, were used as cups and rattles. Spears & Knives: The line of demarcation between
arrowheads and spears or knives is not easy to determine. The larger blades
or points that are four inches or more in length are presumably too large
for convenient use on an arrow shaft. Some of the blades show a well-defined
cutting edge.
Tubes: Large tubes of hourglass shape have been
found in western North Carolina. Their use is uncertain. There are straight
tubes, some identified as broken pipestems. Finished bone objects of similar
shape are included, and decoration has been noted. Their use for tobacco
smoking and for smoke blowing has been suggested. It is known also that
the shamans used instruments for blood-sucking, and the tube form presents
itself for consideration.
BASKETS
"The Cherokee
excelled in weaving baskets and mats from narrow strips of cane dyed in
several brilliant colors with native vegetable dyes. Intricate patterns
were achieved with various combinations of colors and weaves. Some of the
finest examples of ... weaving are the double-woven Cherokee baskets, made
in the early historical period, that have been preserved in museums." (Lewis
& Kneberg, 162)
"They make the handsomest baskets
I ever saw, considering their materials. They divide large swamp canes
into long, thin, narrow splinters, which they dye of several colours, and
manage the workmanship so well, that both the inside and outside are covered
with a beautiful variety of pleasing figures; and, though for the space
of two inches below the upper edge of each basket, it is worked into one,
through the other parts they are worked asunder, as if they were two joined
a-top by some strong cement. A large nest consists of eight or ten baskets,
contained within each other. Their dimensions are different, but they usually
make the outside basket about a foot deep, a foot and a half broad, and
almost a yard long... Formerly, these baskets which the Cheerake made,
were so highly esteemed even in South Carolina, the politest of our colonies,
for domestic usefulness, beauty, and skilful variety, that a large nest
of them cost upwards of a moldore." (Adair, 424)
There were Back baskets (called
Pack baskets); Bamboo baskets; Berry baskets; Ceremonial baskets; Domestic
baskets; Doubleweave baskets; Grapevine baskets; Honeysuckle baskets (late
period); Red Maple Baskets (late period); Rivercane baskets (early); Serving
baskets; Storage baskets; Trade baskets; Vine baskets (late); White Oak
baskets (late); Willow baskets; and Winnowing baskets for the corn preparation.
Through the years four distinct
basket traditions developed by the weavers themselves: rivercane, white
oak, honeysuckle, and maple. "The rivercane period extends from the earliest
contact with Europeans until the removal, encompassing the era when Cherokees
depended most on cane as a basket source.... The white oak period begins
with removal. ...By the end of the nineteenth century white oak baskets
were as much an index of change as rivercane baskets had been signifiers
of continuity... The honeysuckle period develops around the turn of the
twentieth century... in this strange combination of genocide and preservation,
eroding land and a longing for traditional lifeways, weavers began to make
baskets of Japanese honeysuckle vine... Changing basket forms represent
changing concepts.... Weavers did not relinquish rivercane or white oak
basketry. Rather they incorporated a third material and developed a new
tradition.... The red maple period includes the New Deal for Inds. ...."
(Hill, xvii,xviii,xix)
"For more than a thousand years,
women wove an astonishing array of baskets and mats for scores of uses.
They made them for exchange with friends, neighbors, and strangers, for
food gathering, processing, serving, and storage, and to utilize in ceremonies
and rituals. They kept ceremonial objects and medicinal goods in baskets.
They covered ceremonial grounds, seats, floors, and walls with mats. They
concealed and protected household items and community valuables in baskets.
Basketry was central to women's activities and to Cherokee society." (Hill,
37)
"Before the removal, the material
women used most often for basketry was rivercane (i-hya). Cane once grew
along virtually every kind of Southeastern waterway. Great stands lined
rivers, banked streams and creeks, and radiated from swamps, bogs, and
lakes". (Hill, 38)
"Techniques for weaving patterns
differ in cane and white oak basketry. Cane splits are the same width and
thickness. White oak splits can be any width or thickness. Cane patterns
are made with contrasting weave called twill. White oak patterns are made
by contrasting the size and color of splits. Cane weavers can make an almost
infinite number and size of geometric patterns with dyed splits and twill
weave. In contrast, white oak weavers rely on color... and on the use of
wide and narrow splits in a simple plait." (Hill, 127)
In the old days, Cherokees
did not have handles on their baskets. They carried large baskets with
tumplines. For smaller baskets, Cherokees used flexible handles of thong
or cord. After they were into white oak, however, Cherokees began carving
wooden handles for baskets. The best of them interlocked under the basket
for greater strength and durability.
In the early days, Cherokees did not
have lids for their baskets. Instead, another shallow basket was over the
top, which could be removed and used as a tray or another shallow basket.
"Rib baskets (talu-tsa de-ga-nu-li-dsi-yi)
are made from two relatively wide and dense pieces of white oak, tapers
their ends, and binds them together to make two intersecting hoops that
form a frame. She then whittles ribs in graduating lengths to outline the
basket body and prepares very narrow splits for weaving the ribs together.
By changing the shape of the frame and the lengths of the ribs, the weaver
creates different forms. Rib baskets can have square, round, or bilobed
bases and square, ovoid, or flat-sided bodies. The same technique of framing
rods and interlacing splits produces flat lids...." (Hill, 129)
"While some rib baskets became
identified with particular tasks-- egg, pie, and market baskets -- other
were known by their distinctive shapes -- gizzard, melon, and fanny baskets.
Mallets, wedges, scissors, and nails joined axes and knives in the weaver's
tool kit. Whittling became as important as scraping to complete a basket.
Technologies, forms, and materials long noted but never adopted gradually
became part of the lives of nineteenth-century Cherokees." (Hill, 131)
"The traditions Europeans brought
with them did not include doubleweaving, dyed splits, linear patterns,
detached lids, or twill work. Cherokee baskets did not include carved handles,
attached lids, or whittled foundations. But the most important difference
between the two traditions was that
European basketry did not include rivercane and cherokee
basketry did not include white oak.... Cherokees continued to rely on rivercane
for their primary basket material until removal." (Hill, 114)
"Smaller baskets also have lighter,
thinner rims. The density of the rim... depends on the type of basket...
Like if it's a big basket you've got to have a thicker rim. If it's a small
basket you can have a thinner rim on the outside". (Hill, 321)
"Weaving splits into baskets
was the work of women. Yet, for more than a century, both women and men
have cut white oak trees and have woven white oak splits into baskets.
In contrast to cane basketry, white oak basketry was never identified exclusively
with women. The association of white oak basketry with men as well as women
indexes profound change. It indicates the diffusion of gender roles, values,
and identities and points to the increasing interactions of Cherokees with
white culture, where white oak basketry originated and where men dominated
in private as well as public spheres. Once the province of women, basketry
became common to their husbands and fathers, brothers and sons. For the
first time, the work that had long signified the community and culture
of women became part of the male domain" (Hill, 120)
SIEVES: "Women relied on sieves
of 'different sizes, curiously made with the coarser or fine cane splinters'
for various tasks. They used them to sift wood ashes, seed fruit, screen
nuts, strain oils, sort and rinse foods, infuse herbs, and refine grains.
Sieves enabled women to "produce as fine Flour as any Miller" But Moravian
missionary Martin Schneider found the time involved a distinct problem.
"The richer people " he confided in his diary, sifted corn "thro'a fine
sieve of Reed... but they can scarce prepare as much in a forenoon as they
consume the rest of the day". Brother Martin may have been right. Cornmeal
was the base for so many dishes that pounding and sifting must have occupied
many hours of a woman's day.
"Larger sieves (chatter,
ti-di-a) measured approximately eight inches across and five inches
deep, with checkerweave bases for leaching corn and sorting meal. The smallest
sieves (ga-gu-sti,ha-i-yolugiski) ranged from three to five inches
across and one to four inches deep, with extremely narrow splits and tightly
woven sides. Made to scoop cornmeal and strain parched corn (gahawi-sita)
the small baskets were profoundly associated with the role of women as
sources of generation and regeneration. The sieve represented "a sacred
container which holds the meal of life' a basket that never emptied completely."
(Hill, 53,54)
"Winnowing baskets (saga-i:
flat) were the largest. Tightly woven and as much as three feet across
from convex sides a half foot deep, winnowing baskets enabled women to
separate corn particles, sort beans, and mix dough. Weavers sometimes reversed
the splits in the basket base so that the shiny cane exterior lay faceup.
The smooth base created a slick surface that did not absorb moisture or
snag food particles. And the texture of the reversed splits in the base
contrasted with those in the sides, creating a subtle design." (Hill, 50)
There is a wonderful, big book,
fully illustrated with examples, called "Ind. Baskets", by Sarah Peabody
Turnbaugh and William A. Turnbaugh, Schiffer Publishing Ltd., West Chester,
Pennsylvania. . It is published in collaboration with the Peabody Museum
of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, and it is very valuable
because it LISTS PRICES! (Value guide, 1997). Of the baskets today, they
write: "North Carolina - plain plaiting with oak splints; twill
plaiting ..in river cane; some double twill plaiting. Rims characteristically
are a hoop bound with hickory bark. Oklahoma - wicker plaiting.
Forms: usually square base
with bulging upper walls and round rim, "melon" baskets which are hemispherical
with flat woven lids and splint handles; utilitarian forms for gathering,
processing, and storing grain, etc; narrow-necked, bottle-shaped basket;
fish baskets with thin cane-splint on string handles; trays, sieves, nests
of baskets; miniature baskets produced by the North Carolina Cherokee.
Decoration: North
Carolina-structural manipulation of elements to produce twill plaited
geometric patterns, often with dyed splints; diamond patters are most common
in twill plaiting. Oklahoma- wicker elements brilliantly dyed with
aniline dyes.
Materials:In Manufacture--
North Carolina - usually splints of white oak or basket oak.. some
river cane, or sugar maple splints. North Carolina and Oklahoma -
honeysuckle vine in wicker plaiting. Hickory bark withes are used to bind
hoops in rim finishes of North Carolina baskets.
In Decoration - North Carolina
- fiber usually dyed with vegetal dyes such as boiled root of black
walnut or butternut for dark brown; occasionally dyed light red-brown with
puccoon or blood root; Oklahoma - wicker elements are brilliantly
dyed with aniline dyes.
BEDS
"In almost all ... houses,
of every type, a bench extended around the entire interior next to the
wall, except at the doorway, though in a few of the longer summer houses
such benches or "beds" as they were called, seem to have been confined
to sections at either end... The material of which they were made, except
perhaps for the posts themselves, was of cane. Four or six forked posts
carried long canes over which were laid crosspieces also of cane and above
all were cane mats... Among the Cherokee, however,... other materials were
(sometimes) used. White-oak splints are especially mentioned, and Bartram
says the Cherokee also employed ash splints. Rush mats take the place of
cane mats. The bed clothing, such as there was, consisted of skins of bison,
bear, panther, and other animals.." (Swanton, #137, 422)
"Parents and children slept
on comfortable cane 'mattresses'. They went to sleep with their heads to
the east, the direction from which the sun came. It was not good to sleep
headed west, for trouble and bad spirits came from that direction."
BEES
"...bees were kept for their honey from as
early a date..." . (Gilbert, 360)
Early writers
say that bees were introduced by the Europeans. That may be so, although
it is hard to believe, as those little things have wings that could take
them far, and strong winds could blow them even farther. At any rate, they
spread throughout North America at a rapid rate, and came to be greatly
appreciated.
It was not long before beeswax
became an important item of trade. Beeswax candles were highly prized by
the early white settlers on the East coast.
"The DeSoto narrative mentions
the finding of a pot of honey in a ... village in Georgia in 1540". (Mooney,
Myths, 214)
"Bees were kept by many of
the Cherokee, in addition to the wild bees which are hunted in the woods.
Although they are said to have come originally from the whites, the Cherokee
have no tradition of a time when they did not know them...." (Mooney, Myths,
309)
BERRIES
BERRIES: Lawson, in the Carolinas in 1700-1702, speaks
of many berries: Raspberries; Hurts (Huckleberries); Piemento (All-Spice-Tree);
Blackberries, Dewberries; Wild Fig; Red Plum; Damson; Winter Currant; Bermuda
Currant; Figs (two kinds) Gooseberry; Currants (white, red, and black);
Mulberry; Barberry; Strawberry; Grapes (several kinds). (Lawson, 98-118)
"Some of the more common and
widespread of wild fruits native to the Cherokee habitat included: blueberry,
deerberry, red mulberry, huckleberry, blackberry, dewberry, flowering raspberry,
red raspberry, mountain blackberry, black-haw, serviceberry (several species)
and strawberry. As virtually ubiquitous fruits, berries in particular proved
a multi-usable substance. Berries could be eaten raw, boiled, baked, dried,
crushed (for cake), mixed with seed meal for flour, pulverized for drink,
prepared as a spice or seasoning agent, and utilized as an active ingredient
in herbal remedies ... it is likely that the wild black raspberry, wild
red raspberry, blackberry, and dewberry, predominated in use among the
Cherokees. (Goodwin, 57)
For a list of Berries and their habitats,
see Index section.
BIRDS
"The bird species of the
area are especially diversified and numerous. Among the more important
can be mentioned tanagers, larks, finches, buntings, creepers, woodwarblers,
pipita, nuthatches, kinglets and goldcrests, titmice, shrikes, vireos,
thrushes, wrens, gnatcatchers, swallows, hummingbirds, owls, buzzards,
hawks, woodpeckers, cuckoos, kingfishers, eagles, ospreys, vultures, cormorants,
pelicans, geese, ibises, storks, herons, cranes, plovers, quail, woodcocks,
snipes, sandpipers, grebes, doves, rails, coots, and pigeons. It was taboo
to kill some species of birds but many types were snared by various means
or shot with blow gun or arrow. Along with quadrupeds, birds were closely
connected with clan names." (Gilbert, 185)
"The most important game bird was
the wild turkey, hunted wherever it could be found. Second in importance
was the passenger pigeon, whose roosts were gathering places for Inds.
hunters at certain seasons. ...Partridges, ducks and geese... Birds' eggs
were probably eaten everywhere... (Mooney, Myths, 302)
"...and other animals,
beside turkeys, geese, ducks of several kinds, partridges, pheasants, and
an infinity of other birds, pursued only by the children... (see Blowgun)
(Timberlake, 71)
Forgotten, or not mentioned, are:
Blue Jay; Lapwing; and Wren.
In "A New Voyage to Carolina"
John Lawson lists the birds he found there, and elsewhere throughout the
old south area. They are: Eagle, bald; Eagle, gray; Fishing Hawk; Turkey
Buzzard (or Vulture); Herring-tail'd Hawk; Goshawk; Falcon; Merlin; Sparrow-hawk;
Hobby; Jay; Green Plover; Plover, gray or whistling; Pigeon; Turtle Dove;
Parrakeet; Ring-Tail; Raven; Crow; Black Birds (two sorts); Buntings (two
sorts); Pheasant; Woodcock; Snipe; Partridge; Moorhen; Red Bird; East-India
Bat; Martins (two sorts); Diveling, or Swift; Swallow; Humming Bird; Thrush;
Wood-peckers (five sorts); Mockingbirds (two sorts); Cat-Bird; Cuckoo;
Blue-Bird; Bulfinch; Nightingale; Hedge-Sparrow; Wren; Sparrows (two sorts);
Lark; Tom-Tit (or Ox-eye); Owls (two sorts); Scitch Owl; Baltimore bird
(oriole); Throstle (no singer); Whippoo Will; Reed Sparrow; Weetbird; Rice
bird; Cranes and Storks; Snow-birds; Yellow-wings. (Lawson, 140,141)
"Water Fowl are, (he continues): Swans,
called Trompeters; Swans, called Hoopers; Geese (three sorts); Brant, gray;
Brant, white; Sea-pies (or pied Curlues); Will Willets; Great Gray Gulls;
Old Wives; Sea Cock; Curlues (three sorts); Coots; Kings-fisher; Loons
(two sorts); Bitterns (three sorts); Heron, gray; Heron, white; Water Pheasant;
Little gray Gull; Little Fisher, or Dipper; Gannet; Shear-water; Great
black pied Gull; Marsh-hens; Blue Peter's; Sand-birds; Runners; Ducks (as
in England); Ducks, black, (all Summer); Ducks, pied, (build on Trees);
Ducks, whistling; Ducks, scarlet-eye; Blue-wings; Widgeon; Teal (two sorts)
Shovelers; Whisslers; Black Flusterers (or bald Coot); Turkeys, wild; Fishermen;
Divers; Raft Fowl; Bull-necks; Redheads; Tropick-birds; Pellican; Cormorant;
Tutcocks; Swaddle-bills; Mew; Sheldrakes; Bald Faces; Water Witch (or Ware
Coot). (Lawson, 141).
"Eagles, ravens, crows, buzzards,
geese, crane, ducks, grouse, swallows, blue herons, wild turkeys, hawks,
woodpeckers, owls, osprey, partridges, cuckoos, and doves populated Cherokee
settlement areas, shaping ecosystems by nesting and feeding, transporting
foods, and fertilizing soil. Passenger pigeons (wo-yi) by the millions
flew through forests in the late fall, bleaching the ground white with
their dung.... Birds redistributed nuts, acorns, and seeds, culled fish,
amphibians, and reptiles, and became food for omnivores. Those birds that
preyed on insects protected forest and fruit trees by devouring crickets,
weevils, beetles, borers, and larvae. Their continual feeding also limited
insect destruction of garden and field crops. Raptors like screech owls
(wa-huhu), hoot owls (u-guku) and hawks (tawodi) reduced
crop predation by small mammals such as moles, mice, snakes, toads, rabbits,
and squirrels." (Hill, 21)
"Women made bird soup (u-ka-mu)
and cooked their eggs (tsu-way-tsi), although Cherokees never ate
'birds of prey or birds of night' who consumed the blood of animals. As
food preparers, women assumed a particular moral authority by maintaining
dietary prohibitions. When traders brought them 'unlawful' food like hawks,
they 'earnestly refused' to cook them 'for fear of contracting pollution'.
"Whenever women prepared meat they
'put some of whatever they cooked on the fire for sacrifice'. They usually
offered 'a little of the best' meat from deer or bear or buffalo, but birds
necessitated a slightly different sacrifice. Women selected one from the
assorted carcasses, 'plucked off the feathers, took out the entrails, and
then put the whole bird on the fire'". (Adair). (Hill, 22)
"...sometimes birds were
put to use without their knowledge... They placed poles around the gardens
and on the poles they hung gourd houses for purple martins. Purple martins
not only consume large numbers of insects each day, but they are also aggressive
towards crows and blackbirds, both of which are especially destructive
of newly planted corn. Some evidence suggests that they... may also have
encouraged the nesting of swifts and wrens, which also eat insect pests
and chase away crows and blackbirds." Hudson, 298,299)
"...for example....
birds that ate flesh -- such as eagles, crows, buzzards, swallows, and
owls -- were abominations and could not ordinarily be used as human food.
The same was true of animals that ate flesh... except for the bear....
(Hudson, 318)
"Birds constituted another
prized source of food and commodity to the early Cherokees. Many species
were utilized.... at least 200 species of birds have been identified by
Stupka in the Great Smoky Mountain region (Stupka, 1963)
"Several other raptorial birds
included: the turkey vulture or buzzard, black vulture, Cooper's Hawk;
red-tailed hawk; broad-winged hawk; marsh hawk; sharp-skinned hawk; sparrow
hawk; osprey; bad eagle, barred owl, horned own, and screech owl. Most
of these large birds either fed or nested in the forested uplands, although
it was not uncommon in the precontact period for many of the transient,
but seasonal species, to move into the flood plains and valley bottomlands.
... In general, owls and hawks were not consumed due to mythological reasons.
Owls, for instance, represented "disguised witches" to the Cherokees and
their cry was a 'sound of evil omen'" (Goodwin, 73)
"Mountain birds and water fowl
of lesser size but of expressed dietary or religious value to precontact
Cherokees included: raven, crow, tanager, white-fronted goose, great white
heron or egret, fly-catcher; ruffed grouse, cardinal; yellow mockingbird
or shrike; chickadee, tufted titmouse, whippoorwill, nuthatch, sparrows,
and turtledove or southeastern mourning dove." (Goodwin, 73)
"After corn and animals
which provided meat and hides, birds were probably next in importance to
early Cherokees. Wild turkeys nested among the trees, particularly in the
river bottoms, in profuse numbers. They were the largest birds in the southeast,
and the most numerous. Not only was turkey meat highly appreciated, but
their feathers were indispensable for ornamental purposes. Some were woven
into large feather cloaks. Some were used for headdresses. Small feathers
were needed for arrows, and the spurs were used for arrowpoints and fishhooks.
Even the bones provided whistles, scratchers, and other implements.
"At some seasons the passenger
pigeons filled the skies, and their nests were raided for the tender young
squabs. The colorful feathers were desired for ornamental purposes.
"The eagle was the most
revered of all birds, and the sacred Bird Clan had it as its symbol. The
killing of an eagle brought a problem to the entire town, for the proper
priests and conjurors had to go into immediate action, saying the magic
formulas, begging the Eagle spirit not to take revenge. Only after four
days of preparation could the feathered carcas be brought into the village,
and was carried around for all to admire by the greatest and most honored
warriors." (quote, source not noted). (Goodwin, 72)
EAGLE: "Cherokees considered the eagle
(awa-hili) sacred, a great shaman, and a symbol of peace. They exchanged
eagle feathers to signify friendship. Timberlake reported that eagle feathers
were so important "they sometimes are given with wampum in their treaties,
and none of their warlike ceremonies can be performed without them". In
the fall or winter, designated warriors hunted eagles for the Eagle Tail
Dance, which was performed to welcome visitors, celebrate victory, and
recount exploits of war. The raptor's power was so formidable that eagle
hunting was prohibited in spring and summer for fear of precipitating early
frost. Unauthorized eagle hunting caused nightmares and illness, endangering
the entire community." (Timberlake). (Hill, 23)
"Among the many important birds
found in Cherokee lands, none probably was deemed as sacred or as prominent
in rituals as the Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) especially in
ceremonies pertaining to war. The difficulty in acquiring such a bird was
unquestionably one reason for valuing the eagle so highly. Certainly a
more common bird in the precontact period than today, the eagle remained
chiefly in the ... high Blue Ridge and Unaka-Smoky Mountains, usually nesting
on cliffs, rocky ledges, or in inaccessible trees.
PASSENGER PIGEON: The passenger
pigeon, now extinct, was even more numerous than the turkey. Early
observers of the migratory flights of these birds left many accounts of
flocks which darkened the sky and which took several hours to pass overhead.
Passenger pigeons roosted in trees in such numbers that limbs were broken
off under their weight. They roosted only in certain areas, and were hunted
only in winter, the hunters going out at night with torches to blind
them and long poles to knock them from their perches.
"Second to the turkey in importance
as a game bird was probably the passenger pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius).
This large bird was commonly taken from roosts located in the forested
flood plains (Kentucky) on a seasonal basis, or when the pigeon flocked
to the Tennessee valleys by the thousand during the winter months.
"Even though the pigeon was easily
killed at its roosting places, the(y) were careful not to overhunt the
bird for fear of destroying the entire brood. They seldom killed the older
birds and instead concentrated on the young squabs that were highly valued
as food. Pigeon feathers were used for ornamental purposes" ... and the
Big Pigeon and Little Pigeon Rivers, were named for them. (Goodwin, 72)
"In the mean time, we went
to shoot Pigeons, which were so numerous in these Parts, that you might
see many Millions in a Flock; they sometimes split off the Limbs of stout
Oaks, and other Trees, upon which they roost o'Nights. You might find several
Towns... that have more than 100 Gallons of Pigeons Oil, or Fat; they using
it with Pulse, or Bread, as we do Butter ..." They " take a Light,
and go among them in the Night, and bring away some thousands, killing
them with long Poles, as they roost in the Trees. At this time of the Year,
the Flocks, as they pass by, in great measure, obstruct the Light of the
day." (Lawson, 56,57)
"Like the passenger pigeon,
waterfowl were not hunted everywhere... but only in restricted areas and
only in certain times of the year. The Inds killed them in considerable
numbers from the middle of October until the middle of April along the
Mississippi flyway, the route along which millions of waterfowl migrate
each year. The methods used... to hunt waterfowl are not well understood.
It is known that they killed far more species which fed in shallow water
and on land than species which fed by diving beneath the water. ..." (Hudson,
280)
TURKEY: "Wild turkey (gv-na)was
the largest and most common bird in Cherokee settlement areas, providing
food, ornamentation, tools, and clothing. Although turkeys ate fruit of
virtually every deciduous tree, Adair claimed that "they live on the small
red acorns and grow so fat in March, that they cannot fly farther than
three or four hundred yards", thus facilitating their own capture. Their
appetite for dogwood berries both reduced and dispersed communities of
dogwood, whose hard dense wood provided Cherokees with tools and handles.
Medical practitioners made ritual scratchers (kanuga) and medicine
tubes with turkey bone. Women wove soft turkey breast feathers into elaborate
blankets, cloaks, and short gowns that were "pleasant to wear and beautiful'
as well as extremely warm. They strung turkey bone beads around their necks
'in such manner that the breast was frequently nearly covered with beads".
(Longe - & Payne) (Hill, 22,23)
"Several birds were important
in the Southeastern hunting economy: the wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo
silvestris), and the passenger pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius L),
and several species of waterfowl. The wild turkey is a large bird, adult
males weigh an average of 17 pounds and adult females weigh an average
of 11 pounds. It was especially numerous in the aboriginal Southeast. It
has been estimated that the aboriginal turkey population in the state of
Georgia alone was in the neighborhood of six hundred thousand. Early historical
accounts commonly report flocks containing several hundred turkeys.
(Hudson, 280)
"The wild turkey ...
was the largest and by far the most widely distributed bird in the ...
southeast. It was common to find the turkey at virtually all altitudes
in Southern Appalachia, from the Black Mountains to the floodplains of
eastern Tennessee... Turkeys normally congregated in flocks of from six
to twelve, except during breeding season when they remained alone (Chapman,
248)
"...turkeys were not only a
highly valued food source, but the large feathers served as adornment for
mantles, headdresses, and in the feathering of arrows, while the cock-spurs
were used for arrowpoints. ...turkey bones were useful for whistles, scratchers,
ornaments, and implements. (Goodwin, 71,72)
Dressing: Most early cooks in our area scaled
and plucked the turkey leaving the skin on, but one said that he skinned
them many times. Then the fuzz was removed by singeing in the fire, the
feet cut off at the joints, the head cut off, and the entrails removed.
The latter was done either by severing the backbone from the base and pulling
the entrails out through the tail end, or by cutting up the middle from
the legs to the breastbone and removing them. The gizzard, liver, and sometimes
the heart were saved.
Turkey Wing Fans: Cut off
the wings, spread out the feathers and dry them in front of the fire. When
stiff, they can be used to fan the fire. WOODPECKER: ..."the Cherokees believed that
a certain type of woodpecker, the dalala, was terrifying to the enemy.
Thus the woodpecker gorget might have been worn by priests or by warriors".
Hudson, 386
For a list of Birds and their habitats, see
Index section.
BIRD HUNTING
Read the above. Also,
"A favorite method with the bird hunter during the summer season is to
climb a gum tree, which is much frequented by the smaller birds on account
of its berries, where, taking up a convenient position amid the branches
with his noiseless blowgun and arrows, he deliberately shoots down one
bird after another until his shafts are exhausted, then climbs down, draws
out the arrows from the bodies of the dead birds, and climbs up again to
repeat the operation." (Rights, 218)
This was a favorite pastime
of young boys, in any season.
THE EAGLE KILLER: "After some preliminary
preparation the eagle killer sets out alone for the
mountains, taking with him his gun or bow and arrows.
Having reached the mountains, he goes
through a vigil of prayer and fasting, possibly lasting
four days, after which he hunts until he
succeeds in killing a deer. Thus, placing the body in
a convenient exposed situation upon one of
the highest cliffs, he conceals himself near by and begins
to sing in a low undertone the songs to call
down the eagles from the sky. When the eagle alights
upon the carcass, which will be almost
immediately in the singer understands his business, he
shoots it, and then standing over the dead
bird, he addressed to it a prayer in which he begs it
not to seek vengeance upon his tribe, because
it was not a Cherokee but a Spaniard (Askwa'ni) that
has done the deed. The selection of such a
vicarious victim of revenge is evidence at once of the
antiquity of the prayer in the present form
and of the enduring impression which the cruelties of
the early Spanish adventurers made upon the
natives.
"The prayer ended, he leaves the dead
eagle where it fell and makes all haste to the settlement,
where the people are anxiously expecting his return.
On meeting the first warriors he says simply,
"A snowbird has died" and passes on at once to his own
quarters, his work being now finished.
The announcement is made in this form to insure against
the vengeance of any eagles that might
overhear, the little snowbird being considered too insignificant
a creature to be dreaded.
"Having waited four days to allow
time for the insect parasites to leave the body, the hunters
delegated for the purpose go out to bring in the feathers.
On arriving at the place they strip the
body of the large tail and wing feathers, which they
wrap in a fresh deerskin brought with them,
and then return to the settlement, leaving the body of
the dead eagle upon the ground, together
with that of the slain deer, the latter being intended
as a sacrifice to the eagle spirits. On reaching
the settlement, the feathers, still wrapped in the deerskin,
are hunt up in a small, round hut built for
this special purpose near the edge of the dance ground,
and known as the place "where the
feathers are kept" or feather house. Some settlements
had two such feather houses, one at each
end of the dance ground. The Eagle dance was held on
the night of the same day on which the
feathers were brought in, all the necessary arrangements
having been made before hand. In the
meantime, as the feathers were supposed to be hungry
after their journey, a dish of venison and
corn was set upon the ground before them and they were
invited to eat. The body of the flaxbird
or scarlet tanager was also hunt up with the feathers
for the same purpose. The food thus given to
the feathers was disposed of after the dance, as described
in another place.
"The eagle being regarded as a great
ada'wehi, only the greatest warriors and those versed in t
he sacred ordinances would dare to wear the feathers
or to carry them in the dance. Should any
person in the settlement dream of eagles or eagle feathers,
he must arrange for an Eagle dance,
with the usual vigil and fasting, at the first opportunity;
otherwise some one of his family would die.
Should the insect parasites which infest the feathers
of the bird in life get upon a man they will
breed a skin disease which is sure to develop, even though
it may be latent for years. It is for this
reason that the body of the eagle is allowed to remain
four days upon the ground before being
brought into the settlement." Mooney, Myths, 282,283)
BLACK DRINK
"As I was informed
there was to be a physic-dance at night, curiosity led me to the townhouse,
to see the preparation. A vessel of their own make, that might contain
twenty gallons (there being a great many to take the medicine) was set
on the fire, round which stood several goards filled with river-water,
which was poured into the pot; this done, there arose one of the beloved
women, who, opening a deer-skin filled with various roots and herbs, took
out a small handful of something like fine salt; part of which she threw
on the headman's seat, and part into the fire close to the pot; she then
took out the wing of a swan, and after flourishing it over the pot, stood
fixed for near a minute, muttering something to herself; then taking
a shrub-like laurel (which I supposed was the physic) she threw it into
the pot, and returned to her former seat. As no more ceremony seemed to
be going forward, I took a walk till the Inds. assembled to take it. At
my return I found the house quite full: they danced near an hour round
the pot, till one of them, with a small goard that might hold about a gill,
took some of the physic, and drank it, after which all the rest took in
turn. One of their headmen presented me with some, and in a manner compelled
me to drink, though I would have willingly declined. It was however much
more palatable than I expected, having a strong taste of sassafras: the
Ind. who presented it, told me it was taken to wash away their sins; so
that this is a spiritual medicine, and might be ranked among their religious
ceremonies. They are very solicitious about its success; the conjurer,
for several mornings before it is drank, makes a dreadful, howling, ..,
and hallowing, from the top of the town-house, to frighten away apparitions
and evil spirits." (Timberlake, 100,101,102)
Footnote to 101: "The celebrated
'black drink" of the Cherokees..., a decoction of the leaves and tender
tops and shoots of the cassine shrub of the holly family. The drink
caused sweating which was supposed to purify, physically and morally. The
caffeine in the plant produced stimulation and a very strong infusion produced
a narcotic which was used by the conjurers to evoke ecstacies."
"Black drink, a ritual beverage,
was a necessary part of all important council meetings.... (they) were
greatly concerned with purity, recognizing certain rules and prohibitions
which, if broken, threatened the well-being of the individual and his people.
Many of these rules were dietary; certain foods were forbidden. This is
the reason why the black drink ceremony was performed before every important
meeting of the council. Black drink purified men of pollution, served as
a symbolic social cement, and it was an ultimate expression of hospitality....
"In their own language (they) called
the brew "white drink" because white symbolized purity, happiness, social
harmony, and so on, but the Europeans called it "black drink" because of
its color. It was made from the leaves of a variety of holly (Ilex vomitoria
Ait.)... Black drink is essentially like mate', a beverage made
from the leaves of Ilex paraguayensis and drunk in many parts of modern
Latin America. The main active ingredient ...is caffeine. To make black
drink, the Inds. first dried the leaves and twigs and put them in an earthen
container and parched them over a fire to a dark-brown color. This roasting
made the caffeine more soluble; coffee beans are roasted for the same reason.
They placed the roasted leaves and twigs in water and boiled it until it
was a dark-brown liquid. The drink then was poured through a strainer and
into vessels to cool. As soon as it could be poured over one's finger without
scalding, it was ready to be consumed. Drinking it hot heightened its effect;
caffeine is thirty times more soluble in boiling water than in water at
room temperature.
"Black drink is a tea whose bitter
taste and caffeine content increase as it is made stronger. In addition
to being a stimulant, the beverage also acts as a diuretic, causing increased
perspiration. And (they) sometimes used it as an emetic. On these occasions
they would drink it in large quantities, and in a quarter to half an hour
they would vomit. Sometimes they would hold their arms across their chests
and expell the contents of their stomachs six or eight times. The precise
cause of this emetic effect is not known. All Ilex species contain ilicin
and ilicic acid, both of which are turpentine-like compounds which produce
an expectorant effect, causing increased bronchial secretion. The mere
volume might have caused the vomiting -- even large amounts of ingested
water can cause vomiting. Moreover, ...sometimes mixed other ingredients
into the drink, and this may have caused the vomiting. In any case, the
emetic effect was more the exception than the rule. The(y) would
often sit in council and drink black drink for hours at a time with no
marked physical reactions.
"The physiological effects of black
drink are mainly those of massive doses of caffeine. Caffeine stimulates
the central nervous system, exciting it at all levels. In fact, caffeine
is the only true cortical stimulant known to modern medicine. It enables
a person to have a more rapid and clearer flow of thought, makes him capable
of more sustained intellectual effort, and sharpens his reaction time.
It also increases his capacity for muscular work and lessens fatigue. Moreover,
some evidence suggests that large doses of caffeine speed up blood clotting.
The effects are pronounced with doses of 9.5 to 1.0 grams -- the equivalent
of three to six cups of strong coffee. When consumed in large quantities,
black drink could have delivered at least this much caffeine, and perhaps
as much as 3.0 to 4.0 grams. These effects from large quantities of black
drink could have been important and even decisive factors in activities
such as the ball game or warfare. And repeated use of black drink, as far
as we know, entailed no more risk than daily use of strong coffee.
"But (they) drank black drink for
ideological reasons as well as practical reasons. Meetings of the councils
of chiefdoms were preceded both by drinking black drink and by smoking
tobacco. The order in which the men partook of the black drink and tobacco
followed a rigid prestige hierarchy. William Bartram observed a black drink
ceremony at a Creek council meeting in a town house. Before the council
meeting began, black drink was brewed in an open shed directly opposite
the door of the town house and about twenty or thirty yards away. Next,
bundles of dry cane were bright in and arranged in a counterclockwise spiral
around the center pole of the town house. By the time this was done it
was night, and all of the chiefs, warriors, and old men took their proper
seats. Then the canes were ignited, and the fire circled the pillar like
the sun, giving off a cheerful, gentle light. Next two men came in through
the door, each with a very large conch shell full of black drink. They
walked with slow, measured steps and sang in a low voice. They stopped
then they were within six or eight paces of the miko (king) and
members of the white clans sitting to his right, and they placed the conch
shells on little tables. They then picked them up again and, bowing low,
advanced toward the miko. The conch shell was then handed to the
miko; the servant solemnly sang in sustained syllables, Ya-ho-la,
while the miko held the shell to his lips. After the miko
was finished drinking, everybody else in the town house drank. Soon tobacco
stuffed in a pouch made from the skin of the miko's clan animal was brought
out and laid with a pipe at the miko's feet. He filled the pipe
and lit it, blowing smoke first toward the east and then toward the other
three cardinal directions. Then the pipe was passed to the principal member
of the white clans, then to the Great Warrior, and thence through the ranks
of the warriors and back to the miko. In the meantime, all the others
were taking black drink and smoking tobacco." (HUDSON, 227,228,229).
There is evidence
that the black drink for vomiting, was the button snakeroot. It was the
best emetic. It was also sometimes used by the priests; throwing some button
snakeroot into the fire, along with some ancient tobacco.
BLOWGUN
"The blowgun
was used to kill small game, such as birds and rabbits. This was a
hollow reed of cane through which were projected small darts by the breath."
(Gilbert, 317)
"An important Cherokee weapon
was the blowgun. It was about eight feet long and made from hollowed-out
cane. Small, slender wooden darts, tufted with thistledown, wee blown with
enough force to kill small game and birds. While several other southern...
groups used blowguns, those of the Cherokee were unusually well made and
accurate". (Lewis & Kneberg, 162)
"...turkeys, geese, ducks of
several kinds, partridges, pheasants, and an infinity of other birds, pursued
only by the children, who, at eight or ten years old, are very expert at
killing with a sarbacan, or hollow cane, through which they blow a small
dart, whose weakness obliges them to shot at the eye of the larger sort
of prey, which they seldom miss." (Timberlake, 71,72)
Blowguns were made from
carefully selected straight pieces of river cane, which used to be quite
abundant in the old Cherokee country. Some were as high as 15 or 16 feet,
and after being cut were hung from tree limbs, being weighted at the bottom
by heavy stones to keep them straight as they dried out. They were then
bored out with a smaller cane, well sharpened and seasoned in the fire,
or a small cane with a small crystal attached. Some were disjointed, drilled
through, then glued back together. Then the outside was smoothed and polished,
and quite frequently painted with designs, or decorated with feathers.
Blowguns were very important
as an auxiliary weapon to the bow and arrow in food-gathering, and were
very effective against small animals and birds, as they made no noise in
discharging them which would scare the others away.
"The Cherokee blowgun... has
a considerably longer range, 40 feet being regarded as close target range;
while an observer has recorded for it a shooting-match target range of
100 feet. The common killing range for small game is 40-60 feet. The Cherokee
cane blowgun...is 9-10 feet in length and throws a dart of 21 inches length,
having a piston of thistledown. The Cherokee stance is to hold the cane
with both hands near the mouth, not with one hand extended forward as does
(some other shooters). (Speck; The Cane Blowgun in ... Southeastern Ethnology";
American Anthropologist N. 9, vol. 40, 198-204)
Some Cherokees,
even today, are adept at using the blowgun, and in making them. They are
usually made of a long, straight piece of river cane, used with a dart.
The usage today is mostly confined to games of skill: contests, as it were.
Some are still capable of pinning a six-inch square of paper at a distance
of a hundred feet with a dart from the blowgun, and take great delight
in doing so.
"....the sections were cleared
out by putting a slender rod of iron inside and shaking it up and down.
When it was in use, the smaller end was thrown forward, the taper serving
the purpose of a chokebore. Blowgun arrows were made of slivers of cane
or of the 'buckbush', which is said to be very much like Scotch heather,
and it was feathered with down from the bull thistle. The bull thistles,
after they had been collected, at the proper time of year, were stuck together
in large circular masses, or, as were placed in a double row between two
slender strips of wood. When needed they were taken out, the seeds and
dried flower ends removed, and the down tied along the arrow shaft
with the original outer ends still outward. The cane shaft was made square,
and then wet in the mouth and heated over a candle flame, after which it
was twisted. This twist prevented the animal into which it was shot from
shaking it out. Blowguns were ornamented on the outside by wrapping a strip
of cloth spirally about them and putting them over the fire long enough
to char the exposed portion. When the cloth was removed the whole would
be ornamented with black and white spirals.
Blowgun darts were made
from hardwoods such as locust, mulberry, or white oak. They were often
from 12 to 22 inches long, wrapped with a thick and even plush of thistledown
for four to five inches at the rear. The dried thistle blossoms were gathered
at the right season and kept in wooden frames or boxes, as they were special
and fragile. There are reports of other materials being used to "fill"
the space between the wooden dart and the cane blowgun innards, such as
fibers, feathers glued on, or sometimes fur such as rabbit. This was necessary
to catch the blown breath which propelled the dart from the gun. A Cherokee
boy began as early as 4 to 6 years of age to blow into a blowgun made for
him (according to his height), and it took years to develop a "puff" strong
enough to propel larger darts from longer blowguns.
BODY DECORATION
"Body paint was resorted to
particularly in preparing for war and ball games, but was part of a man's
make-up on all official or semi-official occasions. Red is the color mentioned
most often, and red paint was quite uniformly obtained by heating ochrous
earths." (Swanton, #137, 528)
"The(y) draw great quantities of cinnabar,
with which beaten to powder they colour their faces; this mineral is of
a deeper purple than vermilion, and is the same which is in so much esteeme
amongst physicians, being the first element of quicksilver." (Alvord, 158)
"The women have their armes, breasts,
thighes, shoulders, and faces, cunningly ymbroidered with divers workes,
for pouncing or searing their skyns with a kind of instrument heated in
the fier. They figure therein flowers and fruits of sundry lively kinds,
as also snakes, serpents, eftes, &c, and this they doe by dropping
uppon the scared flesh sundry coulers, which, rub'd into the stampe, will
never be taken away agayne, because yt will not only be dryed into the
flesh, but growe therein". (Strachey, 66)
"Great attention
was paid to body decoration and the skin was painted or tattooed with gun-powder
pricked in the shape of various patterns. Ears were split to enormous size
with silver pendants and rings, labrets were worn, and wampum collars of
clamshell beads were strung about the neck, armlets and wristlets about
the arm, and silver breastplates on the bosom. All of the head hair of
the men was plucked out save for a small patch from which grew the scalplock,
which latter was ornamented with wampum of shell and beads, feathers, and
stained deer's hair." (Gilbert, 316-17)
In 1797, LouisPhilippe
of France wrote: "Cherokee clothing is made with European cloth and goods.
The rich among them wear ample dressing gowns in bright prints or similar
cloth. Some wear hats, but the majority keep the native haircut. They shave
everything but the skull and the back of the head, and look as Capuchin
monks would look if they let the hair grow inside their aureoles. The fringes
of their hair are usually decorated with a few hanging tokens or braids
in heir style, and banded by a piece of tin or red-dyed horsehide. Sometimes
the hair itself is dyed red with vermillion, which is frightful and makes
them look all bloody. On the whole, vermilion is very stylish among them,
and is always applied where you would least expect to find it: now a thick
dab under one eye and nowhere else, now one in front of the ear, now one
at the roots of the hair. Some prink by twining wild turkey feathers, or
other birds', in their hair, and attaching fobs to them, or little bits
of glass, or red-dyed goose down. (LouisPhilippe, 95)
See our separate listing of TATTOOING
BOWS
"The wood of the bow was
dipped in bear's oil and then fire seasoned. Bear's gut was used for the
string. The chief animals shot with the bow were bison, deer, turkey, opossum,
squirrel, partridge, and pheasant". (Gilbert, 317)
"Their bows are
of several sorts of wood, dipped in bears oil, and seasoned before the
fire, and a twisted bear's gut for the string" (Timberlake, 86)
"...Mulberry... black mulberry
and white mulberry... The Wood hereof is very durable, and where (they)
cannot get Locust, they make use of this to make their Bows." (Lawson,
109)
"They make perhaps the finest bows,
and the smoothest, barbed arrows, of all mankind..." (Adair, 456-457)
"The arms which the(y) carry
are bows and arrows, and although it is true that they are skillful in
the use of the other weapons which they have ... they do not (ordinarily)
use any other arms except the bow and arrow, because for those who carry
them they are the greatest embellishment and ornament ... For all these
reasons, and because of the effectiveness of these arms which are superior
to all others at both short and long range, in retreating or attacking,
in fighting in battle or in the recreation of the chase, these carry them,
and these arms are much used throughout the New World
The bows are of the same height as
he who carries them ... They make them of oak and of various hard and very
heavy woods which they have. They are so hard to bend that no Spaniard,
however much he might try, was able to pull the cord back so that his hand
touched his face, but the Inds. through their long experience and skill
drew back the cord with the greatest ease to a point behind the ear and
made such terrible and wonderful shots as we shall see presently.
"They make the cords of the bows from
deerskin, taking a strip two finger-breadths in width from the hide, running
from the tip of the tail to the head. After removing the hair they dampen
and twist it tightly; one end they tie to the branch of a tree and from
the other they hang a weight of four or five arrobas, and they leave
it thus until it becomes about the thickness of the larger strings of a
bass-viol. These cords are extremely strong. In order to shoot safely in
such a manner that when the cord springs back it may not injure the left
arm, they wear as a protection on the inner side a half-bracer, which covers
them from the wrist to the part of the arm that is usually bled. It is
made of thick feathers and attacked to the arm with a deerskin cord which
they give seven or eight turns at the place where the cord springs back
most strongly." (Garcilaso, 6-7; Robertson, 18-19)
Other writers say that
the bow was never made of oak, but of other woods. Some say Yew; Black
Locust, Witch Hazel; Red Mulberry; and of course Bois D'Arc (osage orange:
yellow wood). Others have said cedar, ironwood, pine, and dogwood.
"There are few mentions
of the wrist-guard being used, but it was almost always in use, to protect
the shooter. Other wrist guards were made of bark, and a variety of tough
animal skins. Also, there is very little mention of quivers, in which they
carried their arrows, but they were fancifully made, artfully decorated,
and embellished with beads and feathers. The bows were also sometimes painted
and bedecked, with some beads, feathers, and seed pearls, as is obvious
from the above remark that to those who carried them they were the greatest
embellishment & ornament."
BREAD
"They bake their Bread
either in Cakes before the Fire, or in Loaves
on a warm Hearth, covering the Loaf first with Leaves, then with Warm Ashes,
and afterwards with Coals over all." (Beverley, Bk 3, 14)
"They have another sort
of boiled bread, which is mixed with beans, or potatoes; they put on the
soft corn till it begins to boil, and pound it sufficiently fine; -- their
invention does not reach to the use of any kind of milk. When the flour
is stirred, and dried by the heat of the sun or fire, they sift it with
sieves of different sizes, curiously made with the coarser or finer cane-splinters.
The thin cakes mixt with bear's oil, were formerly baked on thin broad
stones placed over the fire, or on broad earthen bottoms fit for such a
use: but now they use kettles. When they intend to bake great loaves, they
made a strong blazing fire, with short dry split wood, on the hearth. When
it is burnt down to coals, they carefully rake them off to one side, and
sweep away the remaining ashes: then they put their well-kneeded broad
loaf, first steeped in hot water, over the hearth, and an earthen bason
above it, with the embers and coals a-top. This method of baking is as
clean and efficacious as could possibly be done in any oven; when they
take it off, they wash the loaf in warm water, and it soon becomes firm,
and very white. It is likewise very wholesome, and well-tasted to any except
the vitiated palate of an Epicure. (Adair, p 407-408)
Speck's account of bread making
among the Yuchi : "A kind of flour... is made by pounding up dried corn
in the mortar. At intervals the contents of the mortar are scooped up and
emptied into the sieve basket. The operator holds a large basket tray in
her lap and over it shakes and sifts the pounded corn until all the grits
and the finer particles have fallen through. According to the desired fineness
or coarseness of the flour she then jounces this tray until she has the
meal as she wants it, all the chaff having blown away. The meal, being
then ready to be mixed into dough, is stirred up with water in one of the
pottery vessels. In the meantime a large clean flat stone has been tilted
slantwise before the embers of a fire. When the dough is right it is poured
out onto this stone and allowed to bake.... Berries are thought to improve
the flavor and are often mixed in with the dough." (Speck, 44)
Parched corn ground into powder
was extensively used because it would keep for a long time and was readily
transported. There are three ways of preparing this: and one "It is 'smoked
dried meal or meal dried in the fire and smoke, which, after being cooked,
has the same taste as our small peas and is as sugary'" (Dumont, 1753,
32-34)
"Our entertainment... was as
good as the country could afford, consisting of roast, boiled, and fried
meats of several kinds, and very good Ind. bread, baked in a very curious
manner. After making a fire on the hearth-stone, about the size of a large
dish, they sweep the embers off, laying a loaf smooth on it; this they
cover with a sort of deep dish, and renew the fire upon the whole, under
which the bread bakes to as great perfection as in any European oven."
(Timberlake, 57)
"They had many kinds of bread
to bake", wrote Butrick, and "they had many ways of baking bread". Women
shaped loaves in a 'large, shallow basket' by spreading dough across its
base and covering it with long, broad leaves of the cucumber magnolia tree.
'Then the basket was turned bottom upwards on the hot clay or stone hearth,
and taken off' leaving the dough to bake on the leaves. By shaking the
dough in baskets 'they would make loaves as large as they pleased". (Payne
4:73) (Hill, 31,32)
"After making a fire on
the hearth-stone, about the size of a large dish, they sweep the embers
off, laying a loaf smooth on it; this they cover with a sort of deep dish,
and renew the fire upon the whole, under which the bread bakes to as great
perfection as in any European oven." (Timberlake, p. 27)
LOBLOLLY: Bread.... made
with Ind. Corn, and dry'd Peaches.
TICKANOOLY -
Bean Bread.
"The most common food was corn bread which was
baked in ash-covered dishes on the hearth. Meats were brought in by the
men, and the women prepared them by frying, roasting, and boiling. Everything
was overdone, complains Timberlake. Various preparations of potatoes, pumpkins,
hominy, boiled corn, beans, and peas were served up in small flat baskets
of split cane." (Gilbert, 316) (or plates and bowls of pottery, of which
making the Cherokee were very proficient).
"When the(y)... made bread,
they usually began by processing dry corn in the same way they did to make
hominy. But instead of only cracking it in the mortar, they pounded it
up into a fine meal, which they further refined by sifting it through a
sifter, a loosely-woven basket made of cane. The fine meal that passed
through the sifter was kept for making bread; the coarse meal which did
not pass through was put into the mortar for more pounding or else kept
out to be added to meat and vegetable dishes or to hominy soup.
"The(y) had three different ways of
making bread: frying, boiling, and baking. In each of these they began
by mixing boiling hot water with fine hominy meal to form a batter. For
fritters a thin batter was fried in hog bear grease in a flat-bottomed
pot. For baked bread they made a thick batter and formed it into small
loaves or into a flat, round pone. They placed the loaves in a flat-bottomed
pot, which was covered with an inverted pot, which in turn was covered
with hot coals, making in effect a small Dutch oven. A variant of this
was pumpkin bread, made by adding cooked and mashed pumpkin pulp to the
batter." (Hudson, 305)
There was also a bread for travel..
a batter was formed into a doughnot shape, baked until they were thoroughly
done, and then put in the sun until they had dried as hard was wood. They
would then string them on a piece of cord and carry them to eat on their
travels. They were so hard they had to be stewed before they were edible.
"The Southern Ind. cooked
several forms of boiled corn bread, each requiring a thick batter. They
made one kind by shaping lumps of batter into rolls and wrapping them with
corn shucks; these were dropped into boiling water and allowed to simmer
for about an hour. They could be eaten freshly cooked, or they could be
dried and kept for long periods of time. This was another of the foods
they carried with them on their travels. Another way of making boiled bread
was to form the batter into balls or flat cakes and drop them into boiling
water to make a kind of dumpling.
"To vary their corn breads
they frequently added to the batter seeds of various kinds, particularly
sunflower seeds, and also such things as nuts, berries, and wild sweet
potatoes. The type of corn bread they considered their greatest delicacy
was chestnut bread, which they made by adding chopped chestnuts or chinquapins
to the batter. Their most nutritious corn bread, and another of their favorites,
they made by adding boiled beans. As we have already seen, corn and beans
together provide a reasonably good vegetable source of protein. One unusual
condiment was made by placing bean hulls in a pot which was put over a
fire until the hulls were reduced to ashes. When this ash was added to
corn batter it turned it a greenish color and gave it a special flavor.
"In addition to cracked hominy and
hominy meal, the South Inds. had a different process for making something
they called 'cold meal" (gawi'sida). They made this by shelling
corn from the cob at the stage when the kernels were firm but not dry.
It could also be made from dry corn by steeping the kernels in warm water
overnight. They put the kernels of corn in a pot of ashes and parched the
corn until it was brown, stirring it frequently to keep it from scorching.
When it was brittle enough to be broken between the fingers, it was placed
in a mortar and pounded into a fine meal. The final step was to put the
meal on a fanner to remove the hulls. Cold meal would keep for a long time,
and to make it keep even longer they would sometimes dry the meal further
over a smoky fire. They ate it by simply adding it to twice its volume
of cold water; in a few minutes the meal would swell up to form a thin
gruel, which they drank. It could also be eaten dry. Cold meal was another
of the foods they carried with them when they traveled. They stored and
carried it in bags made of dressed animal skins. (Hudson, 305,306)
"When (the persimmon) is well
ripened the natives make bread of it, which keeps from one year to another,
and the virtue of this bread, greater than that of fruit, is such that
there is no diarrhea or dysentery which it does not arrest, but one ought
to use it with prudence and only after being purged. In order to make this
bread the natives scrape the fruit in very open sieves to separate the
flesh from the skin and seeds. From this flesh, which is like thick porridge,
and from the pulp they make loaves of bread 1 1/2 feet long, 1 foot broad,
and of the thickness of the finger, which they put to dry in the oven on
a grill or, indeed, in the sun. In this latter fashion the bread preserves
more of its taste. It is one of the merchandises which they sell to the
French." (DuPratz, vol. 2, 18,19)
BURIALS
At the death of a beloved,
there was general wailing and weeping. Some latter-day writers have said
that the males did not weep: this was not so, for if a male Cherokee could
not feel sorrow, and cry, he would have been thought to be "dead" himself.
"...the wailing of the females
was excessive, and their doleful lamentations repeatedly called the relative
name of the deceased. This was sung rather than spoken, and in an exceedingly
mournful tone of voice. The expressions of grief were greater or less according
to the circumstances. Sometimes the mourners were entirely unconsolable
and went weeping to the grave." (Gilbert, 347)
At other places it is written
that if a family did not have enough tears, they would pay professional
"wailers" to wail for them, so as not to be thought unfeeling or uncaring.
If a notable person, or a
noble warrior fell, there would be a public oration by the leading "long
talker" or orator, .... during high ceremonials. The main events of the
life would be gone over, and the main theme would be that they who died
are only gone to sleep with their forefathers. "In each town there was
a man appointed to bury the dead. This man came to the house of the deceased
and buried the corpse. The most ancient custom was to bury the corpse in
the house directly beneath the place where the person died, except in the
case of a distinguished chief, and in this case he was buried under the
seat that he usually occupied in the council house. When the corpse was
not buried in the house, the undertaker took the body and carried it himself
to the place of interment, followed by the relatives. Sometimes the corpse
was laid by the side of a huge rock, covered over, and then stones heaped
on. Sometimes a grave was dug in the earth. Frequently the whole of the
clothing of the deceased was buried with the corpse.
"The burial completed, the funeral
procession returned and the man who buried the corpse entered the house
alone, took out the gourds and what furniture happened to be in the house
when the person died and, carrying them away, either broke up, buried,
or burned them. He then took out all the old fire ashes and wood from the
house and made new fire with cedar boughs and goldenrod weed for future
use. He then took the family (after they had taken an emetic) to a stream
where all plunged seven times, alternately facing east and west. Then,
putting on new clothes, they remained in a state of separation in a camp,
being unclean for 4 days. A medicine was made for the family to drink and
to sprinkle themselves with.
"The family then returned to the house
and directly the priest's right-hand man sent messengers to them with a
piece of tobacco to enlighten their eyes and a strand of beads to comfort
their hearts and requested them to take their seats in the council house
that night. The family repaired there and all the town met them and took
them by the hand as a token of affection. Then the mourners could return
home while the others continued to dance. In case the deceased was a husband,
his widow remained single for a long time and for 10 months let her hair
grow loose without dressing or taking any particular care of it. Moreover,
she did not wash or take any particular care of herself and clothes were
thrown carelessly about her. Some mourned for a fixed period of 7 days.
"A sacrifice was sometimes made and
a divination made of the occurrence of new deaths from the popping of the
meat. The chief priest of the town often comforted mourners and feasted
at the house of mourning. The head man of the town sent out hunters who
brought meat for the bereaved family. The priest who officiated at the
mourning was paid in clothing for his services. (Gilbert, 347-348)
CRYING TIMES: There were times when family members
would meet together in retreats during which they would fast and cover
their heads, mourning deceased family members.
"The Cherokee ... they buried their
dead in the earth, and sometimes under stone piles." (Swanton, #137, 818)
CAIRNS: "Stone cairns were formerly very common along
the trails throughout the Cherokee
country, but are now almost gone, having been demolished
by treasure hunters after the
occupation of the country by the whites. They were
usually sepulchral monuments built of large
stones piled loosely together above the body to a height
of sometimes 6 feet or more, with a
corresponding circumference. This method of interment
was used only when there was a desire to
commemorate the death, and every passerby was accustomed
to add a stone to the heap. The
custom is ancient and world-wide, and is still
kept up in Mexico and in many parts of Europe
and Asia. Early reference to it among the southern tribes
occur in Lederer (1670), Travels, page
10, ed. 1891, and Lawson (1700, History of Carolina,
pages 43 and 78, ed. 1860. The latter
mentions meeting one day 'seven heaps of stones, being
he monuments of seven Inds. that were
slain in that place by the Sinnagers of Troquois (Iroquois).
Our Ind. guide added a stone to each
heap". (Mooney, Myths, 491)
In ancient times "The
course of preparation for the burial mound seemed to have been as follows:
the surface of the ground was first carefully levelled, and packed over
an area perhaps ten or fifteen feet square. This area was then covered
with sheets of bark, on which, in the centre, the body of the dead was
deposited, with a few articles of stone at its side, and a few small ornaments
near the head. It was then covered over with another layer of bark, and
the mound heaped above". (Cherokees in PreColumbian Times, 48, 49)
BURIAL EXCAVATIONS
Many things from the past
have been revealedfor a certainty by scientific
excavations of ancient burial sites in this century.
For instance, in one excavation
in the Tennessee area: ...another similar circular burial-pit was
explored, in which, besides the separate sitting and horizontal skeletons,
there was a kind of communal grave ..."the following articles were found
buried with the skeletons of the last-mentioned pit alone: one stone axe;
forty-three polished celts; nine vessels of clay, including four pots and
two food cups, the handle of one representing an owl's head, and that of
the other an eagle's head; thirty-two arrow-heads; twenty stone pipes,
mostly uninjured; twelve discoidal stones; ten rubbing-stones; one broken
soapstone vessel; six engraved shells... four shell gorgets; one sea shell
(Busycon perversum) entire, and two or three broken ones; five very
large copper beads; a lot of shell fragments, some of them engraved; a
few rude shell pins made from the columellae of sea-univalves; shell
beads, and a few small copper beads.". (5th Annual report, reported in
Thomas, 26)
CANE
"Throughout the Southeast,
cane was the water's companion. Spreading across landscapes where women
and men lived and worked, hunted and warred, gathered and traded, cane
provided raw material for everything from house walls and hair ornaments,
to game sticks and musical instruments. Toys, weapons, tools, and beds
were made of cane. When crops failed and famine came, Cherokees made flour
from cane. Before going to battle, warriors purified themselves with cane
and root tea. Cane played a part in most Cherokee activities, whether ceremonial
or utilitarian.
"Baskets (talu-tsa) and mats
(a-yehstv-ti) represent women's most frequent, complex, and significant
use of rivercane. Cane mats covered house benches and beds, decorated interior
walls, served as ceremonial rugs, and wrapped the bodies of the dead."
(Hill, 39,40)
"By 1790 TO 1800, the
countryside was vastly different... Missing from the landscape was the
plant so closely associated with women in one of their most fundamental
responsibilities - rivercane. Livestock had eradicated 'vast thickets of
cane' that had been scarcely penetrable' in the early part of the country.
Europeans found rivercane an abundance and free source of forage that enabled
them to maintain the animals on which they were so dependent for food and
trade. "The spacious tracts of cane, " wrote Catesby in 1724 "are a great
benefit particularly to Traders". By midcentury, the destruction of cane
was well underway in Cherokee settlements, where traders kept "flocks of
an hundred, and a hundred and fifty excellent horses" because the cane
provided them "hearty food" year round. "Formerly" wrote Adair, "such places
abounded with great brakes of winter-cane".
Horses and cattle ravaged cane stands.
They stripped the leaves and macerated the stalks, then killed them "by
breaking the body of the plant while browsing on the tops of the stalks".
Hogs caused far greater damage as they scoured the earth to gouge out nutritious
roots. "Whenever the Hogs come" complained Byrd in the 1730's, "they destroy
them in a Short time, by ploughing up their Roots, of which, unluckily,
they are very fond"... Settlers began to clear cane from agricultural fields
and set hogs loose in the stands for the express purpose of eliminating
the native grass. ".... by the end of the eighteenth century, the destruction
of the canebrakes became a mark of civilized settlement." (Hill, 90,91)
"The canes or reeds
of which I have spoken so often may be considered of two kinds. The one
grows in moist places ... The others, which grow in dry lands, are neither
as tall nor as large, but they are so hard that these people used split
portions of these canes, ... with which to cut their meat...." (duPrantz,
vol. w 58-59; quoted in Swanton, 1911, 58)
CANOES
"The men also made
dugout canoes by the use of fire and tools from large pine or poplar logs
40 feet long by 2 feet wide. The bottoms of these canoes were flat and
the sides plain and alike, as were the ends." (Gilbert, 317)
"Many objects of everyday
use were carved from wood, including huge dugout canoes. These were
made from poplar trees that were hollowed out by alternate burning and
scraping. Although the canoes were thirty to forty feet long, they were
not excessively heavy or clumsy. The width was about two feet and the depth
about one foot, with the thickness of the wood varying from one to two
inches." (Lewis & Kneberg, 161,162)
"Their canoes are the next
work of any consequence; they are generally made of a large pine or poplar,
from thirty to forty feet long, and about two broad, with flat bottoms
and sides, and both ends alike; the(y) hollow them now with the tools they
get from the Europeans, but formerly did it by fire: they are capable of
carrying about fifteen or twenty men, are very light, and can... so great
is their skill in managing them, be forced up a very strong current, particularly
the bark canoes..." (Timberlake, 84,85)
"The
dugout canoe... was fashioned from a single log of bald cypress, poplar,
or pine... made out of logs from trees felled by storms or, if none
were available, from trees they took down by burning. They also used fire
to hollow out the logs, controlling the burning by placing clay over the
areas they did not want burned and by fanning the flames where they wanted
the burning accelerated. At intervals they extinguished the fire and scraped
out the charred wood with a shell or stone tool. The Southeastern dugout
canoe had a flat bottom, straight sides, and it was frequently as long
as 30 or 40 feet long. It was propelled by paddling or poling, depending
on the nature of the water." (Swanton, ITLMV, 66,67)
Note: One of these large canoes... was preserved,
and was found by a Tennessee farmer. It may be seen at the McClung Museum
at the Univ. of Tennessee.
"...a canoe will outlast
four boats, and seldom wants repair" (Lawson, 163) "The Cherokee canoe is hewn
from a poplar log and is too heavy to be carried about like the bark canoe
of the northern tribes. As a temporary expedient they sometimes used a
bear or buffalo skin, tying the legs together at each end to fashion a
rude boat. Upon this the baggage was loaded, while the owner swam behind,
pushing it forward through the water." (Mooney, Myths, 496)
BIRCH BARK CANOES were another matter. "When in
their Travels, they meet with any Waters, which are not fordable, they
make Canoes of Birch Bark, by slipping it whole off the Tree, in
this manner. First, they gash the Bark quite round the Tree, at the length
they would have the Canoe of, then slit down the length from end to end;
when that is done, they with their Tomahawks easily open the Bark, and
strip it whole off. Then they force it open with Sticks in the middle,
slope the underside of the ends, and sow them up, which helps to keep the
Belly open; or if the Birch Trees happen to be small, they sow the Bark
of two together; the Seams they dawb with Clay or Mud, and then pass over
in these Canoes by two, three, or more at a time, according as they are
in bigness. By reason of the lightness of these Boats, they can easily
carry them overland, if they foresee that they are like to meet with any
more Waters, that may impede their March; of else they leave them at the
Water-side, making no further account of them; except it be to repass the
same Waters in their return. (Beverley, bk 3, 19)
It is obvious from the above that
dugout canoes were used as transportation for serious trips, but birch-bark
canoes were used as ferries, across the rivers and streams.
CAPTIVES
"Although the dead
and severely wounded were invariably scalped, captives, if young warriors,
were frequently adopted. Old seasoned veterans were put to death (although
with great honor and respect). The native American has been widely credited
with having perfected the art of torture to its utmost possibilities. Overwhelming
evidence proves that he burned, flayed, pinched, cut, literally vivisected
his captives; yet, making but a slight allowance for the development of
his culture, he was less expert than the Spanish of 1492 or the English
under Henry VIII. The former burned heretics after days of torture on he
rack, and the latter boiled criminals in oil, letting them down feet foremost
with a windlass. Revolting as it was, the cruelty of the Red Man was instrumental
in bringing about the development of a strongly marked trait. It made him
the world's most successful stoic. (He) did not inflict more punishment
than he was able to bear." (Milling, 28)
"The fate of captives ...varied
immensely. Sometimes they were adopted and treated exactly as blood kinsmen,
sometimes they were put in the precarious and uncertain position of a "slave",
and sometimes they were tortured to death in a horrible manner. When captives
were enslaved, it was not slavery in the economic sense as practiced by
the Europeans. In a subsistence economy a slave cannot turn a profit for
his master. It was rather slavery in a social sense. The captive, or "slave",
belonged to the man who captured him in war. He lived in the warrior's
home and thereby became another mouth to feed. He performed menial tasks,
such as gathering firewood and processing deer skins, but his primary value
to his 'master' seems to have been prestige -- the captive was a sort of
living scalp. He was not usually bound or in any way restricted in his
movement around the village or its environs. But escape was not a viable
option, either because he was too deep inside enemy territory to hope to
make it out without being recaptured, or else because his master had taken
the precaution of maiming him in some way to keep him from being able to
run fast enough to elude his pursuers. His position was forever uncertain.
He could be given as a gift to another master. He could be sold -- or more
accurately, bartered. Or for any of a number of reasons beyond his control
he could be put to death, either by the swift, merciful blow of a war club
or hatchet, or else by slow torture.. Women and children who were taken
as captives were frequently adopted and led free and relatively normal
lives. But male captives, particularly the older ones who had accumulated
some war honors, were frequently tortured to death in the spirit of vengeance."
(Hudson, 253,4,5)
RUNNING THE GAUNTLET: 'This custom, known to colonial
writes as 'running the gauntlet'
was very common among the eastern tribes, and was intended
not so much to punish the captive
as to test his courage and endurance, with a view to
adoption if he proved worthy. It was
practiced only upon warriors, never upon women or children,
and although the blows were severe
they were not intended to be fatal. The prisoner was
usually unbound and made to run along a
cleared space in the center of the village toward a certain
goal, and was safe for the time being if
he succeeded in reaching it." (Mooney, Myths, 490)
CERAMICS
Cherokees were master pottery
makers, there being plenty of clay in the area where they lived. In fact,
the location of fine, white clay became a fairly large industry, for it
was shipped to England which started the first English porcelain manufacture.
"Twelve small clay animal heads
were found (in an excavation site called 'Warren Wilson') ... "there was
one complete animal, possibly a bear effigy... while the others were heads
only (each was broken at the base of the neck). (Dickens, 146)
"Artifacts of fired clay consisted
of discs, smoking pipes, animal head effigies, beads, and miniature pots.
Clay discs were the most numerous item... In most cases, these were made
from a potsherd that had been chipped to a roughly circular form and ground
on the edges to produce a symmetrical disc. Rarely, the piece was fashioned
from wet clay and fired. Sizes ranged from 1 to 5 cm in diameter and were
from 4 to 9 mm thick. Such discs, probably used as gaming or counting pieces,
have been found in a variety of late prehistoric contexts in the Southeast".
(Dickens, 144)
Clay smoking pipes were also found:
see Pipes.
CEREMONIES
On many of the days
between the ceremonies there were formal council sessions. A white standard
was raised, and the whole village population came into the council house.
A handful of old "Beloved " men, including the priest-king,
sat toward the center, and the rest of the men, old and young, seated themselves
on rows of benches, each with his fellow matrilineal clansmen: the women
of each clan sat apart from the men, toward the rear. There were formal
speeches by the older men, and comments by younger men.
In the matter of ceremonies
and beliefs the Cherokees differed but little from the rest of the Southeast.
Typical elements shared by them with the other Southeastern tribes were
the green corn feast, the sacred ark, the new fire rite, religious regard
for the sun, use of divining crystals, scarification, priesthood, animal
spirit theory of disease, and certain medical practices.
SEE: "Feasts & Festivals" .
CHIEFTAINSHIP
The word "chief" is an English word,
not even used by them for hundreds of years to indicate a ruler over a
Native American tribe or Nation. From 1492 until around 1820, the Oukah's
of the Cherokee was translated in the English language as "king", as was
the "Micco" & "Mingo" of the Creeks and Chickasaws, etc. The heredity,
also, was not in the European fashion as from father to son, until about
that same time of the 1820's and 1830's at the time these Nations made
their first Constitutional governments.
"The chieftainship could be
transmitted, like the clan, only in the female line. The son of a "chief"
could never inherit his power and was not regarded as of royal blood nor
even as next of kin to his father. Instead, the power went to the son of
the chief's oldest sister (Haywood, 1923). This would point to the clan
head as being the original chief political officials". Quoted: (Bulletin
133, page 340).
In the Handbook of
American Inds. (Part I, pp. 263-264), it states that the title "...may
be generally defined as a political officer whose distinctive functions
are to execute the ascertained will of a definite group of persons united
by the possession of a common territory or range.. The title to the dignity
belongs to the community, usually to its women, not to the chief, who usually
owes his nomination to the suffrages of his female constituents.
"In the clan lineal descent,
inheritance of personal and common property, and the hereditary right to
public office and trust are traced through the female line.. The married
women of child bearing age... had the right to hold a council for the purpose
of choosing candidates for chief and subchief of the clan, the chief matron...
being the trustee of the titles, and the initial step in the deposition
of a chief or subchief was taken by the woman's council...
"The chiefs of the clan or gens
has the right to hold a council but on occasions of great emergencies a
grand council is held, composed of the chiefs, subchiefs, the matrons and
headwarriors and leading men."
"Women rarely rose the position
of ruling chiefs in the central and western parts of the southeastern part
of the United States, but many cases are recorded in and near the eastern
Siouan Tribes, including the tidewater portion of Virginia." "You know they are divided
into tribes or nations, each of which is governed by a ruler or a minor
king, who is given his power by the Great Spirit or Supreme Being. Although
these ... are despotic rulers, their authority is not resented because
they know how to gain love and respect. They have the great satisfaction
of knowing that their subjects consider them demigods, born to make them
happy in this world. The chiefs consider themselves the fathers of their
people and are prouder of this than is the ostentatious Great Mogul of
his pompous titles. As a matter of fact, such great emperors of Asia are
often subject to revolution in their vast states. They are not even sure
of their lives; we have seen their subject kings rise up and kill them
and their families.
"The crime of high treason is unknown
among the Inds. The chiefs go everwhere without fear. If anyone were rash
enough to try to kill a chief, the parricide would be punished as a horrible
monster, and his entire family would be exterminated without pity." (Bossu,
Travels, 113,4)
"It is perhaps even wrong to
think of Cherokee headmen as first among equals, for they were first only
while supported by public opinion or public inertia. When they spoke for
a town, or a region, or in rare cases for the nation, they did so in the
hope, not the certainty, that their words would be listened to and their
pledges honored.
"Cherokee headmen did not exert authority,
they exercised influence based on the intangible ingredients such as their
personalities, the success of prior prophecies, tales told by conjurers,
and the auguries of those whom they sought to sway. For headmen to employ
coercion, even coercion applied through established legal institutions
or social structures manipulated in predictable ways, would have been a
violation of Cherokee constitutional premises. By way of contrast, the
argument could be made that much of a headman's influence was derived from
his native ability to invent and use generis solutions and to move around,
not through, opposition. Political power came through personal credit,
not government office.... a contemporary European expressed the principle
by saying that they could 'only persuade'. Somewhat later, a Cherokee informant
put it another way. It was, he pointed out, by 'native politeness
alone ... that the chiefs bind the hearts of their subjects'." (Reid,
Hatchet, 5)
CHILDBIRTH
"The mother
had little difficulty in childbirth. She was generally assisted by the
grandmother and mother, no men being allowed present except the priest.
If the child fell on its breast it was a bad omen, if it fell on its head
it was a good omen. If the omen was bad, the child was thrown into the
creek and then fished out when the cloth over its head had become disengaged.
The child was waved over the fire after birth or held before it, and a
prayer was made to that element. Children were bathed at birth and every
morning for 2 years. On the fourth or seventh day after birth, the child
was bathed in the river by the priest, who prayed that it might have long
life. The parents were excessively indulgent with their children, and the
latter had great affection for their elders. They were named at the sixth
or seventh day." (Gilbert, 340)
Timberlake, about 1761, "As
soon as a child is born, which is generally without help, it is dipped
into cold water and washed, which is repeated every morning for two years
afterward, by which the children acquire such strength, that no ricketty
or deformed are found amongst them. When the woman recovers, which is at
latest three days, she carries it herself to the river to wash it; but
though three days is the longest time of their illness, a great number
of them are not so many hours; nay, I have known a woman delivered at the
side of a river, wash her child, and come home with it in one hand, and
a gourd full of water in the other." (Timberlake, 90)
"Ind. women, by their field as well
as by domestick imployment, acquire a healthy constitution, which contributes
no doubt to their easy travail in childbearing, which is often alone in
the woods; after two or three days have confirmed their recovery, they
follow their usual affairs, as well without as within doors; the first
thing they do after the birth of a child, is to dip, and wash it in the
nearest spring of cold water, and then daub it all over with bear's oil;
the father then prepares a singular kind of cradle, which consists of a
flat board about two foot long, and one broad, to which they brace the
child close, cutting a hole against the child's breech for its excrements
to pass through; a leather strap is tied from one corner of the board to
the other, whereby the mother flings her child on her back, with the child's
back towards hers; at other times they hang them against the walls of their
houses..." (Catesby, Vol. 2, p. xv)
"When the newborn child is
four days old, the mother brings it to the priest, who carries it in his
arms to the river, and there, standing close to the water's edge and facing
the rising sun, bends seven times toward the water, as though to plunge
the child into it. He is careful, however, not to let the infant's body
touch the cold water, as the sudden shock might be too much for it, but
holds his breath the while he mentally recites a prayer for the health,
long life, and future prosperity of the child. The prayer finisht, he hands
the infant back to the mother, who then lightly rubs its face and breast
with water dipt up from the stream. If for any reason the ceremony cannot
be performed on the fourth day, it is postponed to the seventh, four and
seven being the sacred numbers of the Cherokee". (Mooney, River Cult,
2)
"Olbrechts reports ... that
as soon as a woman discovered she was pregnant she informed her husband
and the news was quickly communicated to the whole settlement. She was
subjected to many taboos, the most important of which was that she was
taken to water to pray and bathe every new moon, for at least 3 months
before delivery. A priest and her husband, mother, or some other near relative
accompanied her, and the priest dipped some water out and placed it upon
the crown of her head, her breast, and sometimes her face, and prognosticated
the future fate of the child by conjuring with certain white and red beads.
Anciently, a separate house was built for the woman during that period.
The placenta was buried on the farther side of two ridges of mountains
by the father or nearest relative. There is now no cradle, but when the
child is 3 or 4 weeks old it is carried about astride of its mother's back.
At the age of 4 or 5, boys come under the supervision of their fathers
or elder brothers and learn to handle bows and arrows, while girls help
their mothers and older sisters. They learn their own culture rapidly and
play g ames in which the activities of the elders are imitated. A child
may be raised to become a wizard, and such a career is particularly marked
out for twins. (quoted in Swanton, 713)
CHILDREN
Children contributed to the
work which had to be done by their families. They were an essential part
of early Cherokee life, adored by everyone.
"In its early years the principal
care of the child fell naturally upon its mother, who never struck it,
particularly if it was a male, but scratched it with a pin, a needle, or
gar teeth to deter it from wrong doing and also to harden it. If scratching
was resorted to as a punishment, the skin was scratched dry, otherwise
only after it had been soaked in water. The girls remained under the tutelage
of their mother and her clan sisters, but the boys were taken in hand by
the oldest uncle of the clan or clan group, who maintained a general oversight
of the education of all the young men. He admonished them, lectured them
at the time of the busk or other gatherings, and at times resorted to flagellation,
in which Bossu says that a carrying-strap was used, but canes were also
employed. (Swanton, 137, 715)
Babies were bathed every
day with warm water from a pottery or gourd basin, then annointed with
oil from bear fat or the fat passenger pigeon.
It seems that the oldest aunt
on the mother's side instructed the girls. The older women in the clan
were often consulted, and their wisdom highly valued.
Boys often slept on panther
skins to acquire that animal's strength and courage. Sleeping on doe skins
made the girls more graceful...Parents and and children slept on comfortable
cane 'mattresses'.
Boys of about eight were expected
with the clever use of the blowgun to bring in quail and rabbit to add
to the family larder. His life was competetive. There were contests of
archery, running, wrestling, weight-lifting, chunkey, and ball play, with
his 'uncle' insisting on both strength and courage.
Children's efforts to get around
the morning bath 'going to the water' were punished by the uncle with scratching
of arms, backs, or legs with a snake's tooth, or the teeth of a gar fish.
For other infractions, they
were chastized with words. For instance, a boy who disgraced himself by
cowardice would be praised by his uncle for his exemplary courage. Adair
wrote: "I have known them to strike their delinquents with those sweetened
darts (words), so good naturedly and skillfully, that they would sooner
die by torture, than renew their shame by repeating the actions".
Children grew up understanding
about character by example and word. Childhood training was to help boys
and girls to behave themselves, to respect their elders and learn from
them, to know clan and tribal histories, and especially to attend to spiritual
matters -- the most important agencies of all.
Young boys learned the art of
applying red, white, and black body paint for ceremonial purposes. Girls
learned the arts of decorating themselves and others with feathers, and
sometimes pretty pebbles (probably crystals). (quote source unknown)
"From Haywood's account,
it would appear that the father of a family could not punish his children
since they were of a different clan from his" (Gilbert, 324). This is true.
It was for the mother's eldest brother to be the first to correct or admonish
a child; but actually that responsibility was shared with each and every
other older male or female of the clan. In other words, a clans business
was everybody's business, but there was a pecking order to be observed,
if at all possible. Things should be done in the right way.
"And tho' they never want Plenty
of Milk, yet I never saw an Ind. Woman with very large Breasts; neither
does the youngest Wife ever fail of proving so good a Nurse, as to bring
her Child up free from the Rickets and Disasters that proceed from the
Teeth, with many other Distempers which attack our Infants in England...
They let their Children suck till they are well grown, unless they prove
big with Child sooner. They always nurse their own Children themselves,
unless Sickness or Death prevents. I once saw a Nurse hired to give Suck
to an Ind. Woman's Child, which you have in my Journal.... As soon as the
Child is born, they wash it in cold Water at the next Stream, and then
bedawb it... After which, the Husband takes care to provide a Cradle, which
is soon made, consisting of a Piece of flat Wood, which they hew with their
Hatchets to the Likeness of a Board; it is about two Foot long, and a Foot
broad; to this they brace and tie the Child down very close, having, near
the middle, a Stick fasten'd about two Inches from the Board, which is
for the Child's Breech to rest on, under which they put a Wad of Moss that
receives the Child's Excrements, by which means they can shift the Moss,
and keep all clean and sweet. ...These Cradles are apt to make the Body
flat; yet they are the most portable things that can be invented; for there
is a String which goes from one Corner of the Board to the other, whereby
the Mother slings her Child on her Back; so the Infant's Back is towards
hers, and its Face looks up towards the Sky. If it rains, she throws her
leather or Woolen Match-Coat, over her Head, which covers the Child all
over, and secures her and it from the Injuries of rainy Weather." (Lawson,
196,197)
A Cherokee's age was determined
by how many "winters" he/she had survived. "Men assumed other kinds of
responsibilities for clan children. Elder brothers trained and educated
their sisters' sons. "You know such and such boys in the town that are
my near rellation," a priest explained patiently, "I am now alearning them
all sorts of doctoring for when I die they'll be in my place". Clan specialization
and customs moved through time and across generations, tying Cherokees
of the present to those of the past and future. "When they are old and
perhaps dead" the priest continued" "their relations are in their place".
Their 'place' might be in the priesthood or war council, the domains of
medicine or prophecy or leadership, or the intricacies of dance or song
or even weaving or potting. A 'certain family' wrote Longe' always hold
the priesthood, and no one else could minister in that affair". Every clan
possessed its own distinct body of magic, formulas, dances, and symbols."
(Hill, 30)
"The birth of twins was regarded
in a special light. They were thought to be especially likely to have unusual
powers and were said often to become priests or witches. This was most
likely to be true of the younger twin, they believed..
"From the moment of birth the two
sexes were treated differently. Male infants were wrapped in cougar skins
while females were wrapped in deer or bison skins... An infant spent most
of the first year of life bound to a cradle board. These cradle boards,
made of light rectangular frames of wood or basketry, made it easier for
the mother to carry her infant, and it helped protect the infant from the
weather and from injury. A wad of soft moss absorbed the infant's excrement.
"...the Inds. were indulgent parents.
A child was allowed to nurse as long as he pleased, or until his mother
became pregnant again. Although mothers were primarily responsible for
their children during their first four or five years of life, they were
not supposed to punish them physically, particularly their sons. Boys fell
under the discipline of one of their mother's older brothers. Ordinarily,
the disciplinarian was the oldest, most influential male in the mother's
lineage. Girls, on the other hand, remained under the supervision of the
women of their clan. If physical punishment had to be administered to a
boy, it was usually done by lightly scratching his dry skin with a sharp,
pointed instrument. This was called "dry-scratching". Dry-scratching was
especially humiliating because it left scratches or light scars on the
skin for several days or weeks so that all could see them and tease the
child about them. The scratching was punishment, but it was also thought
to "lighten" or lessen the child's blood, and it was believed that this
made him healthier and less troublesome. ...The usual way of punishing
less serious instances of misbehavior was by ridicule, a device which can
be an especially powerful sanction in a small community.
"Little girls learned
how to play a woman's role by helping the older women with housework, tending
the gardens, keeping the fire going, making pottery and basketry, and so
on. Little boys learned how to hunt by doing it. They spent most of their
day roaming through the woods and shooting at targets and small animals
with their bows and arrows (or blowguns and darts)... later the boys learned
to play chunkey and the ball game. Perhaps the boys' favorite sport was
running foot races. If a man was to be a good warrior and a good hunter,
he had to be able to run rapidly and for long distances." (Hudson, 323,324,
from Swanton, ITLMV, 87,88)
"Young boys from eight
to twelve years old played the game (the ball game) among themselves, hoping
for the day when they would be able to play in regular games. (Hudson,
411)
Timberlake says "that
as soon as a woman discovered she was pregnant she informed her husband
and the news was quickly communicated to the whole settlement. She was
subjected to many taboos, the most important of which was that she was
taken to water to pray and bathe every new moon, for at least 3 months
before the delivery. A priest and her husband, mother, or some other near
relative accompanied her, and the priest dipped some water out and placed
it upon the crown of her head, her breast, and sometimes her face, and
prognosticated the future fate of the child by conjuring with certain white
and red beads. Anciently, a separate house was built for the woman during
that period. The placenta was buried on the far side of two ridges of mountains
by the father or nearest relative. There is now no cradle, but when the
child is 3 or 4 weeks old it is carried about astride of its mother's back.
At the age of 4 or 5, boys come under the supervision of their fathers
or mother's brother and learn to handle bows and arrows, while girls help
their mothers and older sisters. They learn their own culture rapidly and
play games in which the activities of their elders are imitated. A child
may be raised to become a wizard and such a career is particularly marked
for twins. Such a child is kept secluded during the first 24 days of its
life... Meanwhile it is not allowed to taste its mother's milk but given
instead the liquid portion of corn hominy. While such children are growing
up they are often supposed to go away and talk with the "Little People",
a race of dwarfs believed in by nearly all southern natives" (Timberlake,
90; Mooney, 116-130)
There is a charming story
recorded about the Spanish monk, San Miguel and his companions having spent
the night under a tree near the settlement of the Timucua. "the following
day, as soon as it was day many ... boys came to the sloop, and all, though
they were very small, had bows and arrows proportioned to their size and
stature, and all these began shooting into the top of the tree where we
had slept, chattering merrily to one another, without our understanding
them or understanding why they were shooting there, when we saw falling
from the tree a little snake, its small head pierced by an arrow, and one
of those boys came proudly and lifting on his arrow the pierced snake,
showing it to us joyfully as the conqueror and more skilful than the rest"
(Swanton, 373; Garcia, 193). We report it here, because the activities
of boys in the Old South was much the same, and this could well have been
Cherokee boys at their serious play.
"As a special privilege a boy
was sometimes admitted to the asi (hothouse) on such occasions (when
the elder myth-keepers and priests met together at night to recite the
traditions and discuss their secret knowledge) to tend the fire, and thus
had the opportunity to listen to the stories and learn something of the
secret rites....the fire intended to heat the room -- for nights are cold
in the Cherokee mountains -- was built upon the ground in the center of
the small house, which was not high enough to permit a standing position,
while the occupants sat in a circle around it. In front of the fire was
placed a large flat rock, and near it a pile of pine knots or splints.
When the fire had burned down to a bed of coals, the boy lighted one or
two of the pine knots and laid them upon the rock, where they blazed with
a bright light until nearly consumed, when others were laid upon them,
and so on until daybreak" (Mooney, Myths, 230)
"For a girl child, even
playing "house" with a friend was a learning experience. She learned mostly
by helping the other females in the house: her mother, her aunt's, her
grandmothers. From the time she could walk she was learning by helping,
or playing by emulating the work she saw the others do.
There was always corn to shuck;
corn to crush into powder; corn to leach with lye for hominy, corn to boil
for mush. There were animals and fish to cook in several ways. There were
plants and herbs to learn about, both for cooking and for medicine. There
was learning to work hides and leathers into clothing and moccasins, to
learn how to prepare and preserve fruits and meats by drying, either over
a fire or in the sun. One had to learn how to make thread and cords from
plant fibers, or from animal sinews or hair. One had to learn how to make
bread. Corn pone. Bean bread. Persimmon bread. Pumpkin bread. Peach Bread
called "lobloly".
While learning all this, day
by day, listening to the stories that the women told: stories of how Cherokees
came into being; all the myths and fables of the birds and animals, and
even the insects; the medicinal lore, and how to take care of a baby, by
taking care of the babies; how to keep a house clean, how to make the right
fire for the right purpose; how to keep from offending the evil spirits
always lurking about; what to expect from a clan member, either male or
female, and what was expected of one, in return. As each day went on, it
was a constant learning experience, passed down fromone generation to another.
Then, when a little older, one had
to learn to weave baskets and mats; to gather the right plants and tree-bark
used to dye the cane; to find the right clay to make a pot; to work the
clay to make a pot or vessel; to fire the pottery. One had to learn good
grooming habits, to adorn the hair, to use the right paint, sparingly.
One had to learn the dances, all the many, many dances, and the women's
part in them. Life was an ever-changing experience of all the same things,
over and over. And the best way to learn was to do.
For a boy child, every
day was a learning experience. One of his first gifts would be a blowgun,
about as long as he was tall, along with some little tufted darts. This
would be from one of his uncles (his mother's brothers) or perhaps from
his father, who, although not of his clan, still had his responsibilities.
While learning to use the blowgun, and to become proficient at it, it would
be necessary to learn how to make a new one, and certainly to make new
darts for himself, as they seemed to disintegrate or disappear rather rapidly.
Then there was learning all about
the birds and their habits; and the animals: their names, their habits,
their characteristics. And then to learn of their spiritual counterparts.
And it was necessary to learn the games that could be played for hours
on end with the other boys. And to sit with the elders and learn the old
stories that must be retold word for word, without deviation, lest one
get severely scratched and humiliated. One had to learn what was 'taboo',
and what was allowable.
Then there were the trees to learn
about, and the fruits, and the berries, and in the spring helping to prepare
the fields with the menfolk, and to plant the fields with the womenfolk,
and to tend the fields with the elder folks. There were nuts to gather,
and nuts to crack in the stone nutcrackers. There was corn to be brought
from the corn cribs, and dried fruit to be brought down from the rafters
where they had been dried, which might bring a smile of thanks, or a pat
on the head, from grandma.
And in the teens, to learn to cook
enough so that one could survive in the wilds, to work the animal hides
and leather, and to make ones own clothing and shoes; to learn the rituals
of "going to the water" and how not to offend the ever-present ghost-spirits;
to make a canoe and a make-shift raft so that one could cross a river;
to become specialist in a trade, or in war, or in oratory. To learn how
to build a house by helping to build one for a female cousin who was getting
married. To learn the use of paints and of tatooing the body; to learn
to hunt, being taught by elder hunters, to skin and clean the carcass.
To cook the carcass over makeshift fires in the woods.
To learn how to fish, in several different
ways, and to make the fishhooks and lines. To shoot the bow and arrows;
to make the bows and arrows; to decorate the bows and arrows. One had to
learn at least the rudiments of sign-language, and some words of the 'Mobilian
trade language'. There was always something to do; something to learn;
somebody new coming into the village with another story, or a new way to
do things. And to learn how to play the ballgame. A young man must always
become proficient at the ballgame, its meaning, its rituals. And to learn
the dances .. oh, the many, many dances ... pantomime dramas played out
with regular rigidity. There was always something to learn. There was always
something to do.
Oukah. After the missionaries came things
changed, at least for the few children who attended the missionary schools.
In a letter written by Jeremiah Evarts in 1822: "Missionaries were especially
shocked at the sexual behavior of Cherokee children. The intercourse between
the young of both sexes was shamefully loose, when Brainerd opened in 1817.
Boys or girls in their teens would strip and go in to bathe or play ball
together naked. They would also use the most disgusting indecent language
without the least sense of shame. But when better instructed, they became
reserved and modest" (Missionaries, 139)
CRADLES: "...the husband takes care to provide
a cradle, which is soon made, consisting of a piece of flat wood, which
they hew with their hatchets to the thickness of a board; it is about two
feet long, and a foot broad; to this they brace and tie the child down
very close, having near the middle, a stick fastened about two inches from
the board, which is for the child's breech to rest upon, under which they
put a wad of moss that receives the child's excrements, by which means
they can shift the moss and keep all clean and sweet...These cradles are
apt to make the body flat; yet they are the most portable things that can
be invented, for there is a string which goes from one corner of the board
to the other, whereby the mother flings her child on her back; so the infant's
back is towards hers, and its face looks up towards the sky. If it rains
she throws her leather or woolen matchcoat over her head, which covers
the child all over, and secures her and it from the injuries of rainy weather."
(Lawson, 1860, 310; quoted in Swanton, 562)
CLANS
In 1820 the Cherokee national
council abolished clans., as the nation was reorganized.
"The clan is believed to have
been derived along with their songs, dances, and magical formulas from
the great mythical giant Old Stonecoat, who was slain long ago. The legend
relates that this giant was burned at the stake and as his spirit ascended
on high it sang forth the whole culture of the Cherokees. Included in the
words uttered were the rules and regulations which govern the clan...."
(source Unknown).
"Gregg mentions that the entire clan was responsible
for the crime of one of its members and there were no exceptions. Satisfactory
communication could almost always be obtained because the relatives themselves
would bring the fugitive to justice in order to avoid the punishment falling
on one of them. (Gregg in Thwaites, 1904-07, vol. 20, p. 311, quoted in
Gilbert, 324).
"Washburn (1869, p 206) states
specifically that it was the function of the older brother to inflict clan
revenge. The older brother together with the mother's brother exercised
more authority over the family than did the father since the latter was
of a different clan and was afraid of hurting his children for reason of
the likelihood of blood revenge on the part of their clan." (Gilbert, 324-25)
"The Cherokee have seven
clans, viz: Ani'-wa'ya (Wolf); Ani'-Kawi' (Deer); Ani'-Tsi-skwa (Bird);
Ani'-Wa'di (Paint); Ani'-Saha'ni; Ani'-Ga'tage'wi; Ani'-Gila'hi. The names
of the last three cannot be translated with certainty. (James Mooney, 19th
Annual Report, BAE, p. 212)
"There are, and have always
been... seven clans among the Cherokee. Their names are: Aniwahiya
(Wolf); Anikawi (Deer); Anidjiskwa (Bird); Aniwodi
(Red Paint); Anisahoni (Blue?); Anigotigewi (Wild Potatoes?);
and Anigilohi (Twisters?) (Gilbert, 203)
The clans at Big Cove, Eastern Cherokees,
visited by Wm. Gilbert in the early 1900's, are listed as: Deer, Wolf,
Blue, Bird, Twister, Paint & Potato. (p. 243)
NOTE: "The wolf clan
used to be called Anidzogohi when the bears were said to have belonged
to this clan..." and: about "twisters", "according to another version,
the name is derived from ugilohi "long hair", referring to the love
of adornment and display of their elaborate coiffures..." (Gilbert, 204).
These two notes refer to a lately-contrived controversy ongoing about
the bear clan and long hair clan, and both are ridiculous. . "Every individual had closer
relationships with four of the seven clans than with the other three, the
four being: the mother's clan, of which the person was also a member; the
father's clan; the paternal grandfather's (father's father's) clan; and
the maternal grandfather's (mother's father's) clan. These last two were
important because a person was expected to marry into one or the other.
In any single town, all of the seven clans were represented; this prevailed
throughout the nation and linked all of the Cherokee by kinship bonds."
(Lewis & Kneberg, 164)
"The Cherokee Nation" wrote
Moravian missionaries, "is divided into tribes, but they are not called
Tribes here, but Clans or Families. Clans embraced the entire population,
weaving patterns of relationships and responsibilities into the fabric
of kinship. Every individual belonged to a family that extended beyond
households, through settlements, and across the nation.... Clan identity
came from the mother 'without any respect to the father'...
"...The Cherokee language actually
identified clan position so precisely that anyone 'could tell you without
hesitating what degree of relationship exists between himself and any other
individual of the same clan'. Specific terms distinguished mothers, their
parents and siblings, older and younger brothers, and sisters and their
children. A special term identified maternal uncles (ak-du-tsi).
Blood brothers were signified by the word (dani-taga) (standing
so close as to form one). Each relationship prescribed certain kinds of
behavior and varied responsibilities." (Hill, 27)
"Reciprocal hospitality was
a paramount clan responsibility. Cherokees have an 'advantage over us,'
wrote Englishman William Fyffe to his brother "in their mutual love not
only in the same family but throughout the Nation'. Although clan affiliations
did not guarantee love, Fyffe was on the right track. Clan relations were
extensive, expressive, and mutual. When Cherokees traveled to another settlement,
'they enquire for a house of their own tribe (clan)' wrote Adair, where
'they are kindly received, though they never saw the persons before'. Visitors
to the homes of clan relatives 'eat, drink, and regale themselves with
as much freedom as at their own tables'." (Hill, 28)
The clan was not
an economic unit, it did not own property.
"The clan was the most important
social entity to which a person belonged. Membership in a clan was more
important than membership in anything else. An alien had no rights, no
legal security, unless he was adopted into a clan. For example, if a war
party happened to capture an enemy and the captive was not adopted by a
clan, then any sort of torture could be inflicted upon him. But if he were
adopted into one of this captor's clans, then no one could touch him for
fear of suffering vengeance from the adopting clan. The rights of clansmanship
were so fundamental they were seldom if ever challenged." (Reid, Law of
Blood)
Once in a while a Cherokee
(usually a male) would become so wrong-headed and incorrigible as to be
labeled a "rogue". After many tries to make the person reform, if there
was not a return to acceptable behavior, he (or she) could be put 'out'
of the clan. After that shame, which left them vulnerable to any insult
or adverse behavior without recourse, because they would have no claim
affiliation and thus no relatives, the 'rogue' usually left all villages
and lived alone in the woods. Having been made a 'non-person' was the ultimate
fear of an adult Cherokee, and was the ultimate consequence, just short
of being condemned to immediate death. "Shunning" was the ultimate living
insult, and sometimes the shunned person would commit suicide rather than
live with such shame.
"When a man is traveling in
a distant village and needs shelter for the night he seeks one of his 'brothers'
of his own clan. The ascertaining of mutual clan affiliations is the ordinary
form of greeting between two persons when meeting for the first time. Thee
are several ways of ascertaining a given man's clan without asking him.
He may be found always associating with his own clansmen, and the affiliation
may be known. Then again it is only necessary to observe his behavior toward
these persons whose clan affiliations are already known to determine his
clan. Hence, in general, it is quite easy after some slight acquaintance
within a given village to know how to behave toward a number of persons
who stand in given relationships to ego." (Bull. 133).
"Annual clan councils occured
at the time of the annual new corn ceremonies. At this meeting, which
one was required to attend, the most distinguished member would review
the history of the clan for the past year and then would give the names
of the members who deserved to be commended for some deed bringing honor
to the clan. And, those who had dishonored the clan, were mentioned by
name, also...resulting in suspense and tension.... thus, the clan expectations
and practices were powerful agencies in socializing the maturing young..."
CLEANLINESS
"Lawson, who knew the
Ind. before he was completely impoverished and corrupted by the white man,
refuted the all too prevalent idea that the Ind. lived in filth and squalor.
Admitting that they were often troubled with fleas, especially near the
places where they dressed their deerskins, he remarks, "I have never felt
any ill, unsavory Smell in their Cabins, whereas, should we live in our
houses as they do, we would be poisoned with our own Nastiness; which confirms
these Inds to be, as they really are, some of the sweetest People in the
world". (Lawson, 178,179)
"From Lawson to Catlin, all
the firsthand observers of the 18th and early 19th centuries make reference
to the sweat-lodge, quite similar in effect to the Turkish bath. Naturally,
their cabins were close and dark and screens were unknown. But there is
evidence that the native in his personal
sanitation compared favorably to his contemporary white
brother, who, until about 1830, regarded the bathtub as the plaything of
Beelzebub. With the Cherokee, cleanliness was not next to godliness,
it was godliness." (Milling, 33,34)
"The(y) also pulverize
the Roots of a kind of Anchuse or yellow Alkanet, which they
call Puccoon, and of a sort of wild Angelica, and mixing together
with Bears Oyl, make a yellow Ointment, with which, after they have bath'd,
they anoint themselves Capapee (Note: head to toe); this supplies the Skin,
renders them nimble and active, and withal so closes up the Pores, that
they lose but few of their Sprits by Perspiration....
"They have also a further advantage
of this Oyntment, for it keeps all Lice, Fleas, and other troublesome Vermine
from coming near them..." (Beverley, Bk 3, 52)
CLOTHING
Clothing was manufactured by the
women and consisted of skin loincloth, buckskin shirt, buffalo robes, textile
robes with feather decorations, moccasins, and boots.
"Garments made of feathers
were both beautiful and practical -- practical because they were warm without
being heavy and bulky like those made from skins. The feathers came from
the breasts of wild turkeys and were about two or three inches long. They
were sewed between narrow strips of bark, and the strips were then sewed
together so that the feathers overlapped as on the body of the turkey.
Skirts for women and mantles for both sexes were made in this manner. Feathers
from brilliantly colored birds were worked into these garments as trimmings.
Feathers of other kinds, particularly those from eagles and white cranes,
were used in headdresses.
"The patterns of clothing were simple,
the women wearing short skirts and shoulder mantles, and the men, breech
clouts and sleeveless shirts. Both sexes wore moccasins that were made
like short boots and reached halfway up the leg. While they were on hunting
trips in the forest and in cold weather, men wore leather leggings like
loose trouser legs." (Lewis & Kneberg, 162,63)
"They have now learned to sew,
(1761), and the men as well as women, excepting shirts, make all their
own cloaths; the women, likewise make very pretty belts, and collars of
beads and wampum, also belts and garters of worsted." (Timberlake, 86)
"Their Feather Match-Coats are
very pretty, especially some of them, which are made extraordinary charming,
containing several pretty Figures wrought in Feathers, making them seem
like a fine Flower Silk-Shag; and when new and fresh, they become a Bed
very well, instead of a Quilt. Some of another sort are made of Hare, Raccoon,
Bever, or Squirrel-Skins, which are very warm. Others again are made of
the green Part of the Skin of a Mallard's Head, which they sew perfectly
well together, their Thread being either the Sinews of a Deer divided very
small, or Silk-Grass. When these are finish'd, they look very finely, though
they must needs be very troublesome to make." (Lawson, 200)
Woodard reports that
a Cherokee ruler such as the Oukah wore a gold-dyed buckskin shirt and
leggins with matching feather headdress when he performed his "Oukah dance"
every seventh year. She also says that a prominent Cherokee woman would
wear a knee-length skirt woven from feathers and edged at the bottom with
down plucked from the breast of a white swan, on ceremonial occasions.
"Most of the garments ... were made of
the skins of animals, though some were woven from threads of vegetable
and animal origin, some were of feathers... Deer hide was a major basis
for clothing of all kinds and deer sinew was utilized as thread throughout
the entire Southeast.... Bison robes are noted particularly among the Caddo,
the Cherokee, and the Natchez..". (Swanton, #137, 439)
In 1797, LouisPhilippe wrote
of his visit to the Cherokees: "Cherokee clothing is made with European
cloth and goods. The rich among them wear ample dressing gowns in bright
prints or similar cloth. Some wear hats, but the majority keep the native
haircut.... Their clothing is so varied that an exact description is impossible
(Note: it had changed considerably in the previous 50 years); Most
wear a woolen blanket over the left shoulder and beneath the right, so
as to leave the right arm entirely free. They all wear a shirt or tunic
which is, I am told, washed fairly often. They bathe fairly often. Trousers,
breeches, or underpants are unknown to them. They have only the little
square of cloth, and the shirt or tunic is belted in and hides it altogether".
"Some are turned out with notable
elegance, and I saw one among many.... whose outfit consisted of silk fichus
and a light green cape or length of cloth, which hung with classic elegance
and charm." (LouisPhilippe, 95) Note: This was after most Cherokees had
changed to the whiteman's convenience.
MEN'S WEAR
The ancient Cherokee dress
for men is what is known now in theatrical circles as the "Davy Crockett"
costume. From the coonskin cap, through the deerskin shirt and leggins,
to the moccasins, it is the dress he borrowed from his neighboring Cherokees.
For the Cherokees, their winter coonskin cap (with or without the tail
hanging down the back) was their usual winter headwear (in the warmer weather
they wore nothing on their heads). When they acquired cloth from the traders,
however, the coonskin cap quickly gave way to a "turban", a colorful strip
of cloth wound around their head.
"The breechclout was
the one article of dress worn constantly by all males other than infants
and young children. It was the first to be put on and the last to be laid
aside... Adair (1775, p. 8) gives the dimensions as ... about 5
1/2 feet long by 1 foot wide.
One of the best descriptions of
mens wear was Speck's description of Yuchi costume (which you will
see, can be applied to the Cherokee): It is of slightly later time, after
the white man came, and in the elder days the shirt would be of the finest
deerskin: "A bright colored calico shirt was worn by the men next to the
skin. Over this was a sleeved jacket reaching on young men, a little below
the waist, on older men... below the knees. The shirt hung free before
and behind, but was bound around the waist by a belt or woolen sash. The
older men who wore the long coat-like garment had another sash with tassels
danging at the sides outside of this. These two garments, it should be
remembered, were nearly always of calico or cotton goods, while it sometimes
happened that the long coat was of deerskin. Loin coverings were of two
kinds; either a simple apron was suspended from a girdle next the skin
before and behind, or a long narrow strip of stroud passed between the
legs and was tucked underneath the girdle in front and in back, where the
ends were allowed to fall as flaps. Leggings of stroud or deerskin reaching
from ankle to hip were supported by thongs in the belt and bound to the
leg by tasseled and beaded garter bands below the knee. Deerskin moccasins
covered the feet. Turbans of cloth, often held in place by a metal headband
in which feathers were set for ornaments, covered the head. The man's outfit
was then complete when he had donned his bead-decorated side pouch, in
which he kept pipe, tobacco and other personal necessities, with its broad
highly embroidered bandolier. The other ornaments were metal breast pendants,
earrings, finger rings, bracelets and armlets, beadwork neckbands and beadwork
strips which were fastened in the hair..." (quoted in Swanton, #137, 465).
Catesby says briefly: "Their
ordinary Winter dress is a loose open waistcoat without sleeves, which
is usually made of a Deer skin, wearing the hairy side inwards or outwards
in proportion to the cold or warmth of the season; in the coldest weather
they cloath themselves with the skins of Bears, Beavers, Rackoons, etc.
besides warm and very pretty garments made of feathers. (Catesby, 1731-43;
vol. 2. viii)
Leggins: 'In lieu of the drawers and trousers
of European peoples, most of the(m).. wore at times garments sometimes
called leggings or boots by the English... They were made in two pieces,
one wrapped around each leg and brought up high enough to as to fastened
to the belt by means of leather cords, while at the lower ends they were
inserted under the upper edges of the moccasins. Like the latter, they
were used less about home than during excursions to some distance and they
were mainly intended to protect the wearer from bushes and underbrush of
various kinds." (Swanton, #137, 462)
"They wear leather buskins on their
legs, which they tie below the knee" (Catesby, vol. 2 viii) "The men wear, for ornament,
and the conveniences of hunting, thin deerskin boots, well smoaked, that
reach so high up their thighs, as with their jackets to secure them from
the brambles and braky thickets. They sew them about five inches from the
edges, which are formed into tossels, to which they fasten fawns trotters,
and small pieces of tinkling metal, or wild turkey-cock-spurs." (Adair,
7)
Note:These leg coverings were borrowed
later by the white western "cowboys", who wore them over their usual trousers,
and called them "chaps" (pronounced shaps). Shoes: "They wear shoes of buck's and sometimes
bear's skin, which they tan in an hour or two, with the bark of trees boiled,
wherein they put the leather whilst hot, and let it remain a little while,
whereby it becomes so qualified as to endure water and dirt, without growing
hard. These have no heels, and are made as fit for the feet as a glove
is for the hand, and are very easy to travel in when one is a little used
to them." (Lawson, 311)
"Their shoes, when they wear
any, are made of an entire piece of Buck-Skin; except when they sew a piece
to the bottom, to thicken the soal. They are fasten'd on with running Strings,
the Skin being drawn together like a Purse on the top of the Foot, and
tyed round the Ankle. The Ind. name of this kind of Shoe is Moccasin" (Beverley,
bk 3, 5)
WOMEN'S CLOTHING
"The women wore a short skirt extended
from the waist almost to the knees." (Swanton, #137, 469) "the women wearing "a deer
skinne verye excellelye dressed, hanging downe from their navell unto the
mydds of their thighes, which also covereth their hynder parts". (Hariot,
66)
"The women's dress consists only in
a broad softened skin, or several small skins sewed together, which they
wrap & tye round their waist, reaching a little below their knees"
(Adair, 6,7)
"In cold weather, the Chickasaw
women wrap themselves in the softened skins of buffalo calves, with the
wintry shagged wool inward" (Adair, 8) We feel sure the Cherokee women
were intelligent enough to do the same.
The upper body was covered
at most times by a skin cape into which two holes were cut for the arms
to come through. Lately Cherokees have been told
some tales which we have believed to be false, as we can find no verification
for them. It seems that a few decades ago the phony pow-wow circuits needed
something "authentic" to sell to the gullible tourists, so they thought
up something for the women called a "tear dress", along with the story
that after the trail of tears some Cherokee women did not have scissors,
so they had to tear material into strips in order to sew them together
and make a dress. About the same time they put Cherokee men into "ribbon"
shirts. Both are about as authentic as these "dream catchers" thought up
about the same time for the tourist trade.
COLOR
The chief color symbolism is
as follows: East: red --success, triumph; North: blue -- defeat, trouble;
West: black -- death; South: white -- peace, happiness.
Early Cherokees used mostly
red and white, and sometimes blue, on civil occasions, and black was the
color of war and death. Vermillion paint was a very popular item of trade
in the very early days. The King's (Oukah's) red was towards the purple
hue.
"White was emblematic of peace and
happiness, red of power and success, blue of trouble and defeat, black
of death." (Mooney, River,13) "The South wind was white and brought
peace; the North wind was blue and meant defeat; the West wind was black
and brought death. The wind from the East was red. It brought power, and
war". (Wilma Dykerman, The French Broad, 41)
COMMUNICATION
Fire and smoke
signalling were not as much used as previously
believed. In the forest on hunting trips, or at war, various whoops and
birdcalls were used to communicate, like prearranged signals. There was
very little written about this subject, but Adair did mention sign language:
"The present American aborigines
seem to be as skillful pantomini as ever were those of ancient Greece or
Rome or the modern Turkish mutes, who describe the meanest things spoken
by gestures, action, and the passions of the face. Two far-distant Ind.
nations, who understand not a word of each other's language, will intelligibly
converse together and contract engagements without an interpreter in such
a surprising manner as is scarcely credible." (Adair, 79)
"In their war-expeditions they have
certain hieroglyphicks, whereby each party informs the other of the successes
or losses they have met with; all which is so exactly performed by their
Sylvan marks and characters, that they are never at a loss to understand
one another" (Catesby, vol 2, xiii).
Each group or Nation had their
own insignia, of which their neighbors were well acquainted. That of the
Natchez was the sun; that of the Houma was the red crawfish; the Bayogoula
was the alligator; these marks were often left on wooden tablets, or on
the sides of trees, particularly by a war party having finished their raid
and leaving the territory. What the one was for the Cherokee Nation
we have yet to learn.
There was also the "Mobilian"
trade language, with which most hunters and traders were familiar, throughout
the entire Southeast area. Little is known of it, today. .
In the drawing of maps a great
expertise was expressed. "They will draw maps very exactly of all the rivers,
towns, mountains and roads, of what you shall enquire of them, which you
may draw by their directions, and come to a small matter of latitude, reckoned
by their day's journeys. These maps they will draw in the ashes of the
fire, and sometimes upon a mat or piece of bark. I have put a pen and ink
into a savage's hand, and he has drawn me the rivers, bays, and other parts
of country, which afterwards I have found to agree with a great deal of
nicety. But you must be very much in their favor, otherwise they will never
make these discoveries to you..." (Lawson, 333)
CONJURERS
"the Conjurers are
the Persons consulted in every Affair of Instance, and seem to have the
Direction of every Thing, the Chief of them are that of Telliquo, that
of Tapelchee, that of Hiwassie, and that of Noyohee." Journal of Sir Alexander
Cuming.
Cures & Treatments:
"The doctors among the Cherokee suppose that cures are to be made in 7
nights of the different disorders which the human body is subject to. During
these cures the doctors are remarkably strict to keep out of the house
where the patient lies such persons as having handled a dead body, women,
etc., for it is held among the Cherokees that these persons are impure
until bathing in the water of the seventh night in the morning. Some changes
have of late taken place -- instead of seven, four nights are now deemed
sufficient". Charles Hicks, 1818.
Rain Makers: "They have
a similar plan of choosing one or two men to represent the clans in what
is called making rain. In making rain, seven men or women are chosen to
represent the clan, who keep a fast during the time the conjurer is about
to obtain rain, and when the rain comes he sacrifices the tongue of a deer
that is procured for that purpose. The conjurer himself observes a strict
fast with frequent bathings during the time he is making rain. On such
occasions the conjurer speaks a language different from the present language
of the nation, and which few understand. They who design to follow the
practices are taught by those who understand it.".. (Charles Hicks, 1818).
COOKING
"They boil and roast their
meat extraordinary much, and eat abundance of broth..." (Lawson, 362)
"The manner of their roasting,
is by thrusting sticks through pieces of meat, sticking them around the
fire, and often turning them." (Catesby, Vol. 2, p.x)
"Cooking was done outside the dwellings
over open fires and in roasting pits." UNDERGROUND OVENS:
"This was a kettle-shaped pit in the ground, smaller at the top than at
the bottom, and large enough to roast a bushel or two of food at a time.
Heat was supplied by a layer of glowing charcoal and pre-heated stones
in the bottom of the pit. The lid was a large slab of bark which was sealed
over with earth, such... ovens were used principally for roasting foods
in order to preserve them, rather than for ordinary cooking." (Slumber,
41) "A favorite method of cleaning fish the instant
they are caught, is to draw out the intestines with a hook through the
anus, without cutting the fish open. A cottonwood stick shaved of its outer
bark is then inserted in the fish from tail to head. The whole is thickly
covered with mud and put in the embers of a fire. When the mud cracks off
the roast is done and ready to eat. The cottonwood stick gives a much-liked
flavor to the fish" (Speck, 24) This was undoubtedly done on the larger
fish, only.
"It is very common with them to
boil Fish as well as Flesh with their Homony". (Beverley, bk 3, 13) "The small red peas is very common
with them, and they eat a great deal of that and other sorts boiled with
their meat or eaten with bear's fat". (Lawson, 336)
"It is common with some nations at
great entertainments, to boil bear, deer, panther, or other animals, together
in the same pot; they take out the bones, and serve up the meat by itself,
then they stew the bones over again in the same liquor, adding thereto
purslain and squashes, and thicken it with the tender grain of Maiz, this
is a delicious soup." (Catesby, vol. 2, p.x)
"The pigeons ... afford them some
years great plenty of oil, which they preserve for winter use; this and
sometimes bears fat they eat with bread, with it, they also supply the
want of fat in wild turkeys, which in some winters become very lean by
being deprived of their food, by the numerous flights of the migratory
pigeons devouring the acorns, and other mast." (Catesby, p.x)
The most important "sauce" or rather
gravy, was made from bear fat. "The traders commonly make bacon of
the bears in winter; but the(y) mostly flay off a thick tier of fat which
lies over the flesh, and the latter they cut up into small pieces, and
thrust on reeds, or suckers of sweet-tested hiccory or sassafras, which
they barbecue over a low fire. The fat they fry into clear well-tested
oil, mixing plenty of sassafras and wild cinnamon with it over the fire,
which keeps sweet from one winter to another, in large earthen jars, covered
in the ground. It is of a light digestion, and nutritive to hair. All who
are acquainted with its qualities, prefer it to any oil, for any use whatsoever."
Adair, 415)
PRESERVATION OF FOODS: Corn
was preserved in granaries, in the shucks, but some was dried, ground,
and preserved. This was the "cold meal" taken on war expeditions or traveling
for more peaceful purposes.
Fruits were also dried and kept for
winter use, including plums, persimmons, peaches, grapes, and many sorts
of berries and nuts.
On the winter hunts, "the wild fruits
which are dried in the summer, over fires, on hurdles and in the sun, are
now brought into the field; as are likewise the cakes and quiddonies of
peaches, and that fruit and bilberries dried, of which they stew and make
fruit bread and cakes." (Lawson, 337-8)
"They plant a great many sorts
of pulse (beans) part of which they eat green in the summer, keeping great
quantities for their winter's store, which they carry along with them into
the hunting quarters and eat them" (Lawson, 337)
"When large hauls of fish were made,
by using vegetable poison in streams... or more game was taken than was
needed for immediate use, it is said that the surplus flesh was artificially
dried over a slow smoky fire or in the sun, so that it could be laid away
against the future. Crawfish, were very much liked and quantities
of them were also treated for preservation in the above manner.
"Wild fruits and nuts in their proper
seasons added variety to the comparatively well supplied larder... Berries
were gathered and dried to be mixed with flour or eaten alone. Wild grapes,
were abundant. The(y) are said to have preserved them for use out of season
by drying them on frames over a bed of embers until they were like raisins,
in condition to be stored away in baskets. (Speck, 45)
In the summertime, when food
might spoil easily, it was kept from becoming rancid and dangerous to eat
by keeping it at a boil. This is one reason that outsiders sometimes thought
that all Cherokee food was overcooked .. but the food they ate was never
spoiled or unfit to consume. (Oukah, 2001)
CORN
"There were three principal
varieties of corn; the little corn of the nature of popcorn, which was
first to mature; the flint or hominy corn, the kernels of which were hard
and smooth and were of various colors -- white, yellow, red, and blue;
and the flour or dent corn with corrugated kernels. Bread was made oftenest
of the flour corn; it was the most valued and it seems to have been the
time of its maturity which determined the occurrence of the green corn
dance. " (Mooney, Bull 133, 296)
"They delight much to feed
on Roasting-ears; that is, the Ind. Corn, gathered green and milky, before
it is grown to its full bigness, and roasted before the fire, in the Ear."
(Beverley, 15)
"The Ind. corn, or Maiz,
proves the most useful Grain in the World; and had it not been for the
Fruitfulness of this Species, it would have proved very difficult to have
settled some of the Plantations in America. It is very nourishing,
whether in Bread, sodden, or otherwise; And those poor Christian Servants
in Virginia, Maryland, and the other northerly Plantations, that
have been forced to live wholly upon it, do manifestly prove, that it is
the most nourishing Grain, for a Man to subsist on, without any other Victuals.
And this Assertion is made good by the Negro-Slaves, who, in many Places,
eat nothing but this Ind. Corn and Salt. Pigs and Poultry fed with this
Grain, eat the sweetest of all others. It refuses no Grounds, unless the
barren Sands, and when planted in good Ground, will repay the Planter seven
or eight hundred fold; besides the Stalks bruis'd and boil'd, make very
pleasant Beer, being sweet like the Sugar-Cane." (Lawson, 1700, 81)
"Corn, second only to wheat....
corn has no known wild ancestor. Its origin is shrouded in mystery, notwithstanding
that the Inds. grew hundreds of varieties.... Special kinds were used for
meal, for flour, for popping and for corn-on-the-cob. The kernels came
in assorted colors: black, yellow, red, white and blue. Moreover, there
were varieties adapted to deserts, jungles and lofty mountains". (quote
from unknown source). "Every day, women prepared
corn meal by combining sifted ashes and corn kernels in a pot of boiling
water. After the skin loosened from the kernels, they scooped out the corn
with a woven sieve and carried it to a nearby stream to rinse off the skin
and ashes. Women poured the damp, skinned corn into a mortar (ka-no-na)
which had been carefully shaped from a tree stump left standing near the
house. They pulverized the corn with a large pounder (tes-taki nun-yu,
a-ta-lu) carved from hickory. The pestle and mortar signaled the presence
of women, and corn pounding drummed the rhythms of their daily work throughout
the settlement. After pounding the damp kernels, women scooped them into
winnowing baskets. They gently shook the winnowers until coarser food fragments
fell to the bottom. Skimming off the chaff, they removed the lightest particles
and then poured the remaining pieces back into the mortar to repound them
into fine flour. With daily use, the sides of the winnower spread farther
apart, accomodating the work-worn hands of its maker. The durability of
the cane and the strength of the weave enabled women to continue using
winnowing baskets until the corners gave way and the rims unraveled." (Hill,
50,51)
Ears of corn were also dried
and preserved for winter use: "They also reserve that corne late planted
that will not ripe, by roasting it in hot ashes, the heat thereof drying
it. In winter they esteeme it being boyled with beans for a rare dish..."
(Smith, 95)
There was also fine cornmeal boiled
in water, spoken of: "Mush .. made of the meal, in the manner of hasty-pudding". There was also a beverage made
of corn water. "Though ... the water is good ... yet the traders very seldom
drink any of it at home; for the women beat in mortars their flinty corn,
till all husks are taken off, which having well sifted and fanned, they
boil in large earthen pots; then straining off the thinnest part into a
pot, they mix it with cold water, till it is sufficiently liquid for drinking;
and when cold, it is both pleasant and very nourishing; and is much liked
even by the genteel strangers." (Adair, 416)
A favorite method " of cooking corn
meal was to wrap it in husks, which were afterwards boiled, a number at
a time. Smith and Strachey mention this, and Adair tells us that chestnuts
were added to the corn: (Swanton, #137, 354): "In July, when the chestnuts
and corn are green and full grown, they half boil the former, and take
off the rind; and having sliced the milky, swelled, long rows of the latter,
the women pound it in a large wooden mortar, which is wide at the mouth,
and gradually narrows to the bottom; then they knead both together, wrap
them up in green corn-blades of various sizes, about an inch-thick, and
boil them well, as they do every kind of seethed food." (Adair, 406)
All the natives in the Old
South area cooked somewhat alike, having on hand the same meats, vegetables,
and spices. There were slight variations, of course, but Beverley, being
an early visitor, records: "They bake their Bread either in Cakes before
the Fire, or in Loaves on a warm Hearth, covering the Loaf first with Leaves,
then with Warm Ashes, and afterwards with Coals over all." (Beverley, 14).
He neglects to mention the bowl that was placed over the loaf, before the
leaves and hot coals were piled on.
After speaking of the three
kinds of corn ... "They can be prepared in 42 styles, each of which has
its special name. It is useless for me to enter here in detail all the
different ways in which maize may be treated. It is sufficient to inform
the reader that there is made of it bread, porridge, cold meal, ground
corn, smoked-dried meal or meal dried in the fire and smoke, which when
cooked has the same taste as our small peas and is as sugary. That is also
made which is called gruel, that is to say that having beaten and pounded
it for some time in a wooden mortar, along with a little water, the skin
of envelope with which it is covered is removed. The grain thus beaten
and left behind is used in making hominy, which is a kind of porridge cooked
with oil or meat. It is a very good and nourishing aliment". (Dumont, Vol
1, 32,34)
It has also been noted that Cherokees
were very fond of sucking on the ends of cut corn stalks, which contain
a sweet liquid sap. This was a special treat to the children.
In September, 2000, a message
about corn, and its importance, was put on a Cherokee chat board. The webmaster,
John Cornsilk, replied: "..back in the early 40's, (this was 1940's),
things wuz purty ruff money wize, so we ate a lot of wild stuff, and used
corn more ways than mentioned, made beds with the husks, smoked the silk,
made a salve from the silk, fished with the worms that got into the ears,
just under the silk!! cut and sold the stalks for fodder for cattle, and
yes I remember my old man making what was called home brew, with the stalks
chopped up for the sugar for fermentation, and mash made from the whole
kernels for distillation of moonshine!! corn liker it wuz called!! Hogs
got the cobbs the ones that weren't used in place of the old sears &
roebuck catalogs in the outhouse-- kinda ruff but worked, had to grin an
bare it!!"
Corn Cribs:"They
make themselves Cribs after a very curious Manner, wherein they secure
their Corn from Vermin; which are more frequent in these warm Climates,
than Countries more distant from the Sun. These pretty Fabricks are commonly
supported with eight Feet or Posts, about seven Foot high from the Ground,
well daub'd within and without upon Laths, with Loom or Clay, which makes
them tight, and fit to keep out the smallest Insect, there being a small
Door at the gable End, which is made of the same Composition, and to be
remov'd at Pleasure, being no bigger, than that a slender Man may creep
in at, cementing the Door up with the same Earth, when they take Corn out
of the Crib..." (Lawson, 23) "Small storehouses made of
logs and chinked with mud rose from the ground behind each house. A ladder
of saplings led to a low door, the only opening in the storehouse. Like
the homes shared by daughters and mothers, these corn cribs (unwada-li)
belonged to the women. They climbed up to the storehouses daily to deposit
or retrieve corn and beans. 'Their corn-houses' recorded DeBrahm, 'are
raised up upon four posts, four and some five feet high from the Ground'
with floors of 'round Poles, on which the Corn-worms cannot lodge, but
fall through'. Predatory animals could not reach the stored foods, and
the round poles, often stalks of rivercane, resisted fire, water, and insects".
(Hill, 70)
CORN CRIBS: "They makes themselves
cribs after a very curious manner, wherein they secure
their corn from vermin, which are more frequent in these
warm climates than in countries more
distant from the sun. These pretty fabrics are commonly
supported with eight feet of posts about
seven feet high from the ground, well daubed within and
without upon laths, with loam or clay,
which makes them tight and fit to keep out the smallest
insect, there being a small door at the
gable end, which is made of the same composition and
to be removed at pleasure, being no bigger
than that a slender man may creep in at, cementing the
door up with the same earth when they
take the corn out of the crib and are going from home,
always finding their granaries in the same
posture they left them -- theft to each other being altogether
unpracticed". (Quoted in Mooney,
Myths, 433)
COUNCILS (Old)
"The governance of
the Cherokees, it must be borne in mind, was in the towns. There was no
semblance of national government save in times of great emergencies when
a single leader or the headmen of one town or region might assume the task
of speaking for the nation. .. and for the Cherokees it meant little except
a response to individual crises which dealt with the problems at hand and
functioned only until the immediate danger had passed away.
When utilizing their government of
crisis, Cherokee headmen did not think in the manner of ...European leaders.
They did not try to settle problems or resolve controversies, they tried
to avoid them. In the legal, ethical, and governmental world of an eighteenth-century
Cherokee the art of legislation was neither practiced nor understood. They
had no need to enact laws, and what the Cherokees did not need, they did
not pursue.
"What the Cherokees did need was unity
in their towns, and this they accomplished through town councils. The closest
approach to a permanent government body, at any level of their society,
the town council served the purpose of the Cherokees partly because the
Cherokees did not require more. Again it was not a matter of legislation,
it was a matter of consensus. Cherokee town government operated so closely
to what we might described as anarchy, that decisions called for unanimous
consent, leaving the council without the need to restrain dissident minorities.
Every Cherokee had a voice in the council, and every Cherokee had a right
to be heard. The necessity to fit everyone into the town's council house
was one reason why Cherokee villages were never large, usually dividing
once the adult population reached 500 persons. Another was the terrain,
for in the southern mountains it was rare to find a level tract along a
stream sufficient to plant crops for a larger population. One of the few
such areas was the locale of the Overhill towns of Great Tellico and Chatuga,
where the houses were intermingled but where each maintained separate council
houses, not infrequently pursuing contrary foreign policies. By way of
contract, the nearby Overhill towns of Chota and Tommissee kept their boundaries
clearly marked, yet met together in one council." (Reid, 4)
One of the functions of the King,
his Right-hand Man, and the council of Beloved Men, was to divide the common
fields by need of each clan, and to assign the time of tilling and planting,
and later the hours of working in the fields. Each morning, in the growing
season, each town ruler or one of his men would blow a horn to summon
the workers and give them their assignments for the day.
"Village tasks (council) included
relations with alien tribes, and trade and alliances with European colonies,
a decision to move the village when land became exhausted, or to build
or repair public buildings."
"Council meetings were run democratically;
villagers debated an issue until they reached concensus. This model was
repeated throughout the Cherokee homeland, in which individual settlements
governed themselves --"
"The priest-chief (s/b 'king')
and his priestly and secular officials sat on special benches toward the
center as did the seven-man inner council. Around the sides of the council
house sat the rest of the population; each clan section sat together, probably
with the beloved men and the young men of a clan on the forward benches,
and their clanswomen and children toward the rear. All male villagers could
speak to points under consideration.
Rather than decide for war with
a particular tribe or colony, the village general council might decide
to send a party to negotiate. Such parties, usually numbering 15
or 20, were drawn from the age status of young man. Most negotiating parties
went out soon after the New Year village council. These parties carried
with them instructions from the council, and were usually able to maintain
close communication with the body of elders during negotiations." (Priests
& Warriors)
COUNCIL
(National)
From Bulletin 133,The Eastern Cherokees,Wm. Gilbert: "In the capital town of the nation
there was a national council consisting of the uku, his town attendants,
together with the white chiefs of the lesser towns and their attendants.
This national council was convened by the newly elected uku before a Green
Corn Feast, and on emergency occasions, through the raising of the uku's
standard, which consisted of a long white pole with a bird carved or painted
near the top and bearing a pennant at the latter point made of white cloth
or deerskin, 4 to 5 feet in length, painted with red spots like stars.
In cases of emergency, such as a sudden attack from without, the national
council would select the officials to conduct the (a) war after
divination of the extent of the emergency had been made from the movements
of tobacco smoke."
"Next to the white chief
in importance were the seven prime counselors. These were the chief men
of each of the seven clans in the metropolis and were white officials.
Their consent and advice was necessary for most of the official acts of
the uku. "In addition to the uku and
his seven counselors there was a council of elders or old men, sometimes
called "beloved men", who resided near the council house and who wielded
considerable power among the younger people. These were men who had served
long and bravely in the wars.. and who had retired to a well-earned position
of rest and security.
"The functions of the white
chief and other white officials were rather varied. When an emergency of
decision confronted a town the white chief blew his trumpet to assemble
the counselors and people at his house. The trumpet used for the occasion
was of special make and could be used by no person except the chief. When
the assembly was completed, the white chief, his right-hand man, and the
seven white clan counselors constituted the civil and religious tribunal
of the town. This court decided on all inferior matters and attended to
such religious matters as it was possible for the individual towns to decide.
In very small villages where no such court existed the people called in
the nearest town chief and his counselers to their assistance." (Gilbert,
133)
NOTE: Gilbert did his research at the end of the 19th
century and the beginning of the 20th century, and he here uses the word
"chief" as it had become corrupted by usage. Actually, in the time he is
describing, the word "chief" was not in ordinary usage, the translation
of the ruler "oukah", "uku", being always "king". "The national council is composed
of chiefs from each clan, some sending more, some less, regard being
had to the population of each -- though the number is not very definitely
fixed. Each clan has its separate portion of land, which it holds in common
right -- the poorest men having the same right as the greatest" (Charles
Hicks, in Raleigh Register, 1818).
NOTE: It should be noted that this was after the old
Cherokee way of life had virtually disappeared .. there being few town
councils throughout the nation, as most Cherokees had, by then, moved away
from the towns and were living in separate houses already fashioned like
the white people around them. This quote is incomplete, as it makes no
mention of Pathkiller, whose signature in later documents (up to 1827)
bore the notation "king" beside some of them... others being not identified.
Note also that Hicks has used the word "chiefs", which was only then coming
into common use because of the white man's terminology. In 1818 there were
nobody officially known as "chiefs" in the Cherokee government. There would
not be until the 1827 Constitution, which used the term "Principal Chief"
for the first time.
(Town)
"What the Cherokees did need was unity
in their towns, and this they accomplished through town councils. The closest
approach to a permanent government body, at any level of their society,
the town council served the purpose of the Cherokees partly because the
Cherokees did not require more. Again it was not a matter of legislation,
it was a matter of consensus. Cherokee town government operated so closely
to what we might describe as anarchy, that decisions called for unanimous
consent, leaving the council without the need to restrain dissident minorities.
Every Cherokee had a voice in the council, and every Cherokee had a right
to be heard. The necessity to fit everyone into the town's council house
was one reason why Cherokee villages were never large, usually dividing
once the adult population reached 500 persons. Another was the terrain,
for in the southern mountains it was rare to find a level tract along a
stream sufficient to plant crops for a large population." (Reid, Hatchet,
4)
COUNCIL HOUSE: see Town House
COURTS & PUNISHMENT
Courts were nothing
more or less than the town council in session. "In the courts of the
towns public criminals were brought before the bar and, after their cases
had been stated by the town chief's right-hand man, the accused defended
themselves as best they could. The judgment of the court was then given
and immediately executed. Public criminals were stoned, killed with some
weapon, or taken to a high precipice with elbows and feet tied behind and
then cast headlong to be dashed to pieces on the rocks below. For private
offenses the law of retaliation was strictly observed." (Gilbert, 323)
"... clan retaliation, which
as we have seen was the custom by which one clan sought revenge for the
murder of one of its members by killing the manslayer or one of his clansmen.
Warfare differed from clan retaliation in that it occurred between independent
people, and when a killing occurred between independent peoples, one death
could lead to many. Another difference was that one of the main objects
of warfare was to terrorize the enemy. In clan retaliation, on the other
hand, one death revenged another, and the matter was settled, at least
in principle Thus some 'wars' between Southeastern Inds. were prompted
by events which we would have considered to have been accidents. Also,
it sometimes happened that the wrong group was blamed for a killing.
The British never really understood the principle of retaliation, and this
was a source of deep misunderstanding. If a British colonist killed a Cherokee,
the Cherokees were likely to go to war against the British people, but
if a Cherokee killed a British colonist, the British did not usually go
to war against the Cherokees, but demanded instead that the Cherokees hand
over the man who did the killing, a demand that was as frustrating as it
was incomprehensible to the Cherokees." (Hudson, 238,39)
Treatment of prisoners
captured in war was determined by whether or not the prisoner was "adopted"
into a Cherokee clan. There are recorded cases of women and children, particularly,
whose lives were spared by being adopted into a clan by a member of that
clan, and of many grown men also, if they had behaved bravely, in an honorable
fashion. Such persons were accorded full rights and protection of clan
affiliation... those not so lucky were sometimes put to torture and death
in vicious manners.
"... Serious crimes,
such as killing a person and adultery, were punished by the clans rather
than by agents of the council. The crime of killing a person was punished
in accordance with the law of retaliation... Under this law, the
most important legal principal, .. if a person was killed, it was the duty
of his male blood relatives (his brothers, sisters' sons, and mother's
brothers) to kill either the killer or some other member of the killer's
lineage. As in the Old Testament, it was an eye for an eye and a tooth
for a tooth." This was applied with amazing consistency. "Even if one little
boy happened 'accidentally' to wound another, the wounded boy would carefully
await an opportunity to inflict a similar wound in retaliation. If he succeeded,
then 'all was straight' and the matter was settled.
"....it was this principle of retaliation
which prevented a killing from causing a 'civil war' between two clans.
Thus the function of the principle of retaliation was not to exact justice
as we understand it, but to keep the peace. In order for the principle
to work, the clan of the manslayer had to pull away from him and allow
him or some other man in their clan to be killed by members of the clan
of the dead person, and this death would go unavenged. One factor that
led them to do this was their knowledge that any of them, particularly
the close kin of the manslayer, could be killed in his place; hence they
were not anxious to help the manslayer escape. At the same time, there
are several documented instances of brothers and maternal uncles offering
themselves to be killed in place of a kinsman. A man who escaped death
in this way might be regarded as a coward for the rest of his life, but
the liability for the original killing was erased with the death of his
brother or maternal uncle. Moreover, the manslayer's realization that his
brother or uncle might be killed in his place frequently led him to surrender
himself and accept his fate. A man who went to death in this way was something
of a martyr, dying with the knowledge that it was for the good of his kinsmen".
(Hudson, 231)
"... in some cases where
the killing was clearly accidental, the chief or members of the council
might intercede and seek forgiveness by the aggrieved clan for the manslayer.
In some cases a manslayer was forgiven after he presented a captive or
the scalp of an enemy to the aggrieved clan. But the aggrieved clan might
or might not accept these as compensation. In some cases, if the close
kin of the dead man agreed to it, the aggrieved clan would accept a payment
of wealth in lieu of blood revenge." (Hudson, 232)
All members of the town were
required without exception to attend the Green Corn Ceremony. Those who
did not do so were punished by a fine. People who did not participate in
public works were similarly punished. Another rule was that all were
supposed to plunge into the water the first thing in the morning to purify
themselves. Any who failed to do so were threatened with being "dry scratched"
with a piece of wood to which several slivers of bone or garfish teeth
were attached. Though these scratches were not deep, they were somewhat
painful. However, the punishment was not so much the pain as it was the
humiliation of having the scratches for all to see." (Hudson, 232,3)
COWS
"The cow was said to
have been introduced some time after the horse, by Nancy Ward." (Gilbert,
360)
"The cow is called wa'ka
by the Cherokee and wa'ga by the Creeks, indicating that their
first knowledge of it came from the Spaniards. (Vaca). Nuttall states that
it was first introduced amongst the Cherokee by the celebrated Nancy Ward
(Travels, 130). It was not in such favor as the horse, being valuable chiefly
for food, of which at that time there was an abundant supply from the wild
game. A potent reason for its avoidance was the Cherokee belief that the
eating of the flesh of a slow-moving animal breeds a corresponding sluggishness
in the eater. The same argument applied even more strongly to the hog...
Nevertheless, Bartram tells of a trader in the Cherokee country as early
as 1775 who had a stock of cattle, and whose Cherokee wife had learned
to make butter and cheese (Travels, 347) In 1796 Hawkins mentions meeting
two Cherokee women driving ten very fat cattle to market in the white settlements
(manuscript journal, 1796).
Cows were not in possession of the
"precontact" Cherokees, nor were their milk and butter.
CRAFTS
MATS: "The Mats the Ind. Women make, are of Rushes,
and about five Foot high, and two Fathom long, and sew'd double, that is,
two together; whereby they become very commodious to lay under our Beds,
or to sleep on in the Summer Season in the Day-time..
...Both Baskets and Mats are
made of the split Reeds, which are only the outward shining Part of the
Cane. Of these I have seen Mats, Baskets, and Dressing-Boxes, very artificially
done. (Lawson, 195,196) Note: Today we would say "artfully" done,
or "done with great artistry".
"They used these mats for
bedding, for carpeting, to cover the seats in the square ground, to cover
the walls and roof of their houses, to wrap the bodies of their dead for
burial, and undoubtedly for many other purposes. (quoted in Hudson,
385) "Skins of animals, more particularly
of the bear, bison, and deer, often performed the function of mats, but
more elaborate mats were made of various vegetable materials, principally
rushes and cane...." (Swanton, SE, 602,3) PORCUPINE-QUILL WORK: "For this purpose they take
off the quills of the porcupine which are white and black. They split them
fine enough to use in embroidery. They dye a part of the white red, another
part yellow, while a third part remains white. Ordinarily they embroider
on black skin, and then they dye the black a reddish brown. But if they
embroider on the tree bark the black always remains the same.
"Their designs are rather similar
to some of those which one finds in Gothic architecture. They are composed
of straight lines which form right angles where they meet, which a common
person would call the corner of a square. They also make designs of the
same style on the mantles and coverings which they fashion out of mulberry
bark". (duPratz, vol. 2. 100,184-5)
"Household furnishings
and utensils also came from forest resources. 'Their stools they cut out
of poplar wood' Adair explained, and 'chests are made of clapboards'. They
carved rhododendron branches into spoons and ladles used to serve and eat
from pottery bowls. Women's domestic wares, Timberlake wrote, were 'proofs
of their ingenuity,' particularly the 'excellent vessels' they made of
red or white clay, their tanned deerskins, and their basketwork." (Hill,
70)
CRIMES & MISDEMEANORS
"We are told
that the Cherokee chiefs could inflict no punishment, but that a man who
committed a crime in violation of a treaty might be delivered over to the
enemy". (Swanton, 731)
NOTE: Individual crimes and misdemeanors were matters
for the clans, and did not affect the Cherokee national government; however,
when it was in violation of a treaty, it became national business, because
it put all in jeopardy.
It is recorded by many historians
(who in their "white" thinking were understanding things in their way)
that Cherokee rulers (Oukah-king) had no "coercive" power -- that is, they
had no police or army to back up their commands or to carry out their orders.
The fact that there were no police, or a standing army, is true, but there
is plenty of evidence that the Cherokee rulers had plenty of power, should
they choose to use it. So, let us examine the matter.
It was not the business of the
town ruler, or the national ruler, to force the compliance of behavior.
Even when a serious crime was committed, it was the business of the persons'
clan to inflict the punishment. This was serious business: the internal
workings of each and every clan was the foundation of Cherokee life. Such
matters were not the concern of the Cherokee civilian, religious rulers
-- unless, UNLESS, the actions threatened to bring retaliation upon the
whole town or nation.
There were no police in ancient
Cherokee society, because none were needed. There were no jails or prisons
in early Cherokee life, because none were needed. If a person did wrong,
bringing reproach on the clan, then the clan itself took action. It should
be remembered that Cherokees had a sense of "right". When things were "wrong"
or out of place, they hastened to make them right. A Cherokee from his
own conscience could not tolerate being out of balance, and Cherokees collectively
had the same conscience. One could not sleep easily if things were not
in harmony.
Murder: "Charles Hicks.. stated in 1818:
"Murder committed by a person of one clan on one of another is always punished
with death; but if both belong to the same clan, it frequently happens
that the clan intercedes with the chief head of the nation, and obtains
a pardon, which pardon is published in the nation council when convened."
(Hicks, in Raleigh Register, 1818)
NOTE:It should be noted
here that in 1818 a Cherokee is using the word chief, which was
now coming into more general use for the first time. But, note the wording:
it was still not "the head CHIEF", but rather the chief HEAD (or to put
it another way, the most prominent ruler) of the nation. The word was still
an adjective, not a noun. It would be 20 more years before the English
word "chief" would be used for an official of the Cherokee Nation (and
about the same for the other native nations in the Old South area). The
word "chief" is not native American. CROPS: See Index: Precontact Cherokee Habitat: Cultivated Crops:
CROWN
The crown "resembles a wig and is
made of Possum's hair dyed Red or Yellow. Sir Alexander was very desirous
to see one of them, and there being none at thay Town One was sent for
to some other Town". Ludovic Grant's "A Relation of Facts, quoted in South
Carolina Magazine of History, X, 54).
It was also spoken of
as a "skull cap". Remember, at that ancient time Cherokee men wore a "coonskin"
cap in the winter time which fashion was "picked up" by the whites around
them, and became part of the Cherokee dress that is called, in theatrical
circles, as the "Davy Crockett" costume.
"What was called a 'crown' was
the head-covering of a Cherokee Oukah (priest-king) in the old days. It
was just a piece of oval possum fur, dyed yellow, with an inner lining
of the softest deerskin. Someone called it a "fright cap". It was worn
only on the coronation day of installing a new Oukah, and on very
few other very special days. So revered was it, however, that only a few
people were ever allowed to touch it, and it was traditional for the Oukah
himself to make his own. When topped with a few yellow feathers, sometimes
edged with the Oukah's red (a purplish red which could never be mistaken
for the blood red of the war organization) it could be very impressive.
CROWNING A KING
(Installing) an Oukah:
In Gilbert, Bulletin 133, p. 321: "The essential national officers in the
white or peace organization consisted of the following:
1. The chief of the nation or "high priest", which is
variously called 'uku', 'oukah', and other
ceremonial titles. (Note: This should have read "king" of the Nation. The
word English
word "chief" was not officially used by Cherokees until their first Constitution
of 1827).
2. The chief's right-hand man.
3. Seven prime counselors representing the seven clans.
4. The council of elders.
5. Chief speaker.
6. Messengers.
7. Under officers for particular ceremonies such as 7
cooks, 7 overseers for each festival, 7 firemakers for new fire, Jowah
hymn singer, 7 cleansers, and the attendants at the Oukah dance.
The above officials were those
occurring in the principal town and served as officials for the whole tribe
also. In each of the larger towns of the Nation the same series of officials
were repeated with the exception of those listed under 7 since most of
the ceremonies were held nationally. The officials in all of the towns
outside of the capital were subject to the will of the high chief and his
seven counselors and were often incorporated with them in a governing group
when grave decisions confronted the nation.
The office of white chief or
uku was the highest in the nation. Although each town had a white chief
of its own, the white chief of the capital town was regarded as the chief
of the nation. His office was more generally hereditary than elective,
being transmitted from a man to his oldest sister's son.
"When an old uku died he was
laid out in state for a period in order to remind his pupils and assistants
of his instructions. His right-hand man then consulted with the council
of seven clan head of the metropolis and together with them appointed a
time for the selection of a successor. Messengers were at once dispatched
to notify the town white chiefs throughout the nation to meet and inaugurate
a new uku. This messenger carried strings of hemp braided into as many
knots as there were nights previous to the meeting. Each town white chief
on being notified sent his own messenger to the candidate of his choice
requesting him to accept the appointment. Generally the candidate was a
relative of the late uku and had been agreed upon in advance of the death
of the latter. At the appointed time the white chiefs of the various towns
assembled at the metropolis in front of the dwelling of the candidate.
The latter was then inaugurated with elaborate ritual. The candidate must
first undergo a 7-day fast.
"Certain persons were selected
to prepare a platform constructed from a strong and tall weed, together
with an official white robe and a white staff or scepter. Sometimes deerskin
painted yellow and a yellow cap ornamented with yellow painted feathers,
was prepared. These having been made ready and put in the council house,
a vast multitude went to the house of the candidate on the 7th day of the
latter's fast. The platform was then raised high by means of four prop
and the candidate, preceeded by one-half the company and followed by one-half,
all singing as they went, was carried to the council house. They halted
three times on the way. The people entered the council house and took their
seats quietly. On reaching the council house the group bearing the candidate
walked four times around it and then stopped at the door to let down the
platform to within 3 feet of the ground. An appointed person then took
the candidate on his back and carried him to the appointed white seat in
the back of the council house, between two other white seats. This white
seat was covered with white dressed deerskin, and the ground before the
seat was spread with a matting of cane and then covered with a large buckskin
dressed white.
"The speaker then came before
the assemblage and made a lengthy address at the end of which he directed
the people to salute the new chief. The people then arose and all filed
past the candidate repeating a formula to which he replies. Then all returned
to their seats and sat in silence for the rest of the night. At daybreak
the new uku made an address to the people in which he promised to exercise
his authority according to the divine will and to bind the hearts of his
subjects by kindness. All of the people pledged obedience to him. The right-hand-man
handed the new uku an eagle-tail fan and some old tobacco as signal for
him to commence smoking with the other white chiefs in token of solidarity
and friendship. The calumet pipe was then passed from mouth to mouth to
celebrate the cementing of relationships at the occasion. At noon the younger
people withdrew. The new uku then arose and put his scepter over his right
shoulder. Two men put their hands under his arms and supported him as he
walked to the door and from there to his house where his official dress
was taken off and the new ceremony ended.
DANCES
DANCES: Liiving with the Eastern Cherokees about 1887,
1888, Wm.Gilbert tells of the era, and what it had become at that time.
"The next... social feature is the dance... some... have fallen into disuse.
The following are dances known: Ant, Ball, Bear, Beaver, Buffalo, Bugah,
Chicken, Coat, Corn, Eagle, Friendship, Green Corn, Ground Hog, Horse,
Knee Deep, Medicine, Partridge, Pheasant, Pigeon, Raccoon, Round, Snake,
War, and "Woman Gathering Wood"... "In most of the dances
both men and women participate, but only men are allowed to lead and to
do the singing for the dancers. A few dances are confined to one or the
other sex.
"Most dances are led by a singer who
has a drum or gourd rattle in his hand and who may or may not participate
in the motions of the dance. The rank and file of the dancers, who follow
the leader in a single file, may accompany the singing of their leader,
or they may finish out his initial phrases, or they may reply in antiphony.
A woman with tortoise-shell rattles fastened to her legs generally follows
immediately after the leader and keeps time for his singing by shaking
the rattles on her legs in rhythmic sequence.
"The musical instruments used in the
dance consist of (1) a groundhog skin drum, (2) one or more gourd rattles
on short sticks, and (3) several tortoise-shell rattles bound about the
legs of the woman leader.
"Various ornamental and characteristic
features are introduced in the dances, such as pine boughs, sticks, eagle-feather
wands, pipes, masks, and robes of various kinds" (in the olden days).
"The dances are usually held at night.
Certain dances are given early in the early part of the evening and others
are relegated to the hours after midnight... The Friendship Dances may
continue all night as may also the Ball dances. The general order of the
evening dances is for a Bugah Dance to precede an Eagle Dance after which
may come a Friendship Dance.
"...Somewhat after midnight,
at about 2 o'clock in the morning, there commences another series of dances
known as tendale Nuda or 'different dances'. These are also called
uskwiniye'da or 'every kind' from the word for a general store.
These dances generally run in about the following order: Coat, Ground Hog,
Corn, Knee Deep, Buffalo, Ant, Quail, Chicken, Snake, Raccoon, Bear, Horse,
and finally, the Round Dance after full daylight has come.
"Dances may be given in the daytime.
The Green Corn Dance is given at any time during the day but is never ended
until after dark. After a morning Round Dance... the new day may be started
with another Eagle Dance or perhaps by a game of women's football.
"Some dances should be given only
at certain seasons. In the recent past if the Eagle, Bugah, or Snake Dance
were given in the summer, snake bite or cold weather would be sure to follow.
The proper time for these dances is the frosty season from November to
March. It is thought that the disappearance of the old-time conjurers may
have something to do with the fact that these dances can now be given with
impunity in the summer..."
"Although dances can, in the main,
be held either out of doors or in the house, the majority are now held
indoors...."
"The number of song accompaniments
to a given dance may range from 1 to 14 but the average is about 4. A song
consists of an individual melody sung with a series of more or less meaningless
words or syllables, consisting of terms for obsolete towns and places,
unintelligible onomatopoetic phrases, and the like. In the Friendship Dances
considerable scope may be given to the improvising of syllables and melodies
and in the course of several hours as many as 40 or 50 songs may be sung.
In the main the syllables and the accompanying melodies seem to be somewhat
stereotyped except that vowel quality of the syllables seems to vary in
the numerous repetitions. The average duration of a single dance with its
4 songs and their repetitions may be from a quarter to a half an hour.
"A roughly alternate order of slow
and fast melodies seems to be maintained, with the faster tempos seeming
to predominate toward the end of the dance. The steps used in dancing do
not vary perceptibly from dance to dance and consist of simple rhythmic
walking steps in time with the drum or rattle. In fast time a sort of quick
hopping motion develops. In the Bugah Dance any kind of a step may be allowed.
Much dancing is done with the upper parts of the body, especially the arms,
shoulder, and head.
"All kinds of conventionalized and
naturalistic motions accompany the dances. Except in the cases of the Green
Corn Dance and the Ball Dance, most of the dances have lost all significance
in connection with outside activities or occurrences. True, hunting methods
and habits of various animals are simulated as well as the movements of
sowing seed and tillage of the soil. But these motions are incidental and
apparently lost in a maze of other less explicable movements. The basic
motif of the dances as they are at present performed seems to be the social
one of a good time and making acquaintances.
"Clapping of the hands is a common
feature of the Friendship Dances. This action expresses the joy and happiness
being experienced by the participants. Bears are thought to clap their
hands when pleased. The enjoyment of the dance was so great in the past
that whenever some family had lost a member by death the rest of the neighbors
would give a dance to make them forget their sorrow."
(Gilbert, 257,8,9)
Timberlake, about 1762-5, writes:
"The Inds. have a particular method of relieving the poor, which I shall
rank among the most laudable of their religious ceremonies, most of the
rest consisting purely in the vain ceremonies, and superstitious romances
of their conjurors. When any of their people are hungry, as they term it,
or in distress, orders are issued out by the headmen for a war-dance, at
which all the fighting men and warriors assemble; but here, contrary to
all their other dances, one only dances at a time, who, after hopping and
capering for near a minute, with a tommahawke in his hand, gives a small
whoop, at which signal the music stops till he relates the manner of taking
his first scalp, and concludes his narration, by throwing on a large skin
spread for that purpose, a string of wampum, piece of plate, wire, paint,
lead, or any thing he can most conveniently spare; after which the music
strikes up, and he proceeds in the same manner through all his warlike
actions: then another takes his place, and the ceremony lasts till all
the warriors and fighting men have related their exploits. The stock thus
raised... is divided among the poor. The same ceremony is made use of to
recompence any extraordinary merit. This is touching vanity in a tender
part, and is an admirable method of making even imperfections conduce to
the good of society." (Timberlake, 92,93)
SPECIFIC DANCES: "In the Friendship Dances the young
people get acquainted. There is a great amount of teasing and joking of
relatives occurring at these dances in particular. The young men will scratch
the young girls' hands with their fingernails, slap them or feint blows
at them, poke at them, or otherwise tease these familiar relatives. For
the older people the word "Friendship" attaching to these dances, signifies
the renewal of the pleasures of their youthful experiences in love and
social intercourse.
"In the Eagle Dance and in the Friendship
Dance the leader or principal performer can tell a story as he dances.
He may perhaps recount his conquests over women or his acquiring of great
wealth. He will never fail to get in some jibes at his joking relatives
while he sings.
"The gotogwaski, or 'caller'
is the organizer of a dance occasion and it is he who calls off the names
of those who are to lead each song step. At the end of a song he shouts
out words of encouragement and applause. He always endeavors to pick the
best and strongest singers as leaders. The leader starts to walk around
in a circle singing his song and followed at first only by one or two old
men. Other men join the circle and then the woman with rattles on her legs
and finally a vast number of girls, boys, men, and women are circling around
at a faster and faster rate. After the song ends the whole group makes
a wild dash for the door and fresh air.
"Since the dances of the Cherokees
are of extreme importance in the social integration .. it will be in point
to briefly mention the outstanding characteristics of the remembered dances,
especially those whose social function seems more strikingly important
than others.'
"The Ant Dance (daksu dali)
consisted of a snakelike procession in single file, the participants moving
about like a colony of ants. Both men and women participate but the men
do all of the singing and the singing leader dances with a gourd rattle
in his hand. The leader sings about the ants and says that their grandmothers
are flying.
"The Ball Dance (dundje-la Nuni)
is performed in two parts, one by the men and the other by the women. The
men go to water both before and after a ball game. The men's dance consists
of a procession of the players about the fire, racquet in hand, singing
some four songs. The singing leader has a gourd rattle in his hand and
dances at the head of the line. Simultaneously with the men's ball dance,
or perhaps in its intermissions, the women give their dance. The details
of this dance are very important and are worth considering at some length.
"The male singer seats himself facing
the town which the team is to play against and takes his drum in his hands
while the seven women dancers line up in a row behind him. Then, as the
drummer begins to sing, the women dance forward and backward. Only the
first and last songs are danced, the others consist in merely singing to
the accompaniment of the leader. After each song the drummer will give
some derogatory remarks about his familiar clansmen in the opponent town,
saying that their town is bound to lose in the coming game. Then the women
may likewise make up jokes about their clans-persons in the opponent town.
After one drummer is tired, another will take his place and joke his fellow
clansmen of his own clan in the opponent town. The magical rite concludes
with the whole group "going to water" for certain lavations and purifications.
This joking of the opponent town has the apparent effect of magically weakening
the opponent town and causing them to lose the coming game. This is one
of the most striking correlations of magical potency with relatives of
familiarity imbedded in the kinship system to be found. Fuller reference
to the possible significance of this rite in connection with other magical
establishments of familiarity will be made in the discussion on integration
and extension of social principles to magic and myth.
'The Bear Dance (yo na)is
an important dance given after midnight. Men and women both take part in
this dance, which requires the use of gourd and tortoise-shell rattles.
The general course is a spiral motion by a group in single file about the
fire or pot or whatever can be made to serve as the center of revolution.
Various obscene familiarities are indulged in between relatives in this
dance, especially between the men and the women. The words of the songs
refer to the bear's habits.
"The Beaver Dance (doya)
is mimetic of the beaver hunt. Each dancer carries a small stick about
2 feet long, and this stick is flourished in various manners. The principal
feature of this dance is an animal skin, meant to represent the beaver,
which is pulled back and forth on a series of strings and which the dancers
attempt to hit. Missing the skin affords immense amusement to the participants
and spectators alike and this is consequently a favorite dance.
"The Buffalo Dance is hardly
remembered. Masks and skins were said to have been used in this dance,
which was mimetic of the hunt of buffalo.
"The Bugah Dance (Booger Dance)(tsunaguduli) is a masked dance of particular social significance.
The name is of obscure origin but the actors in the dance are called Bogeys
or sometimes Buggers. Considerable paraphernalia and preparation are necessary
for this dance. From 6 to 12 masks made of gourd, wood, or pasteboard are
collected beforehand in the neighborhood as well as 6 or 10 gourd rattles
and a ground-hog skin drum. From all of the women present one man, the
organizer, collects shawls, wraps, or sweaters to clothe the bogeys in.
"Six men seat themselves at one side
of the room, a drummer of leader with five assistant music makers holding
gourd rattles. These persons are known as dininogiski 'callers',
whose function it is to sing and call the bogeys. When the callers have
completed their sixth song, the bogeys enter one by one, concealed by masks
and various wrap-around materials, and hobbling in various comical positions
and with odd motions. They wear the strangest make-ups and endeavor to
do everything in a topsy-turvy manner.
'There are seven of the bogeys and
as the seventh song is played they dance in a circle about the room and
endeavor to scare those children who are ungilisi or digiDuDu
relatives to them. They also tease the grown-ups who are their familiar
relatives. The relatives and spectators in the room enjoy this game of
guessing which of their familiar relatives the teaser is.
"At the end of the seventh song the
bogeys seat themselves in a comical fashion and with clumsy gestures on
a log at one side of the room. The interpreter or organizer, meanwhile,
is asked by the head caller to put some questions to the bogeys. The first
question is generally, 'What is your name', or 'Where do you come from?'
The interpreter then goes up to the first bogey and repeats this question
to him. To this the bogey gives a whispered reply and the name he gives
himself is always either ludicrous or obscene. He gives as his place of
origin some remote or fanciful locality. He may joke a familiar relative
in a neighboring town by giving his name. After the initial questions are
over, the first bogey gets up ludicrously and clowns in a dance all his
own. Duyring the dance the music maker or chief caller calls the name of
the bogey over and over again and the bogey goes through motions and gestures
appropriate to the name which he has given himself. The steps of this solo
dance are utterly unlike any other Cherokee dance and consist of a series
of heavy hops in rhythmic time. When the first bogey is through, the whole
thing is gone over again with the next one and so on down the line.
"Following this the interpreter asks
the bogeys to do a bear dance together. This is done and then the audience
joins in with the bogeys. As the dance proceeds the bogeys tease their
familiar relatives, especially the women, in obscene and ridiculous ways.
After this dance the bogeys leave and go to some remote field where they
remove their disguise and slip home without being recognized. After the
bogeys are gone, the audience generally begins a friendship dance.
"The Bugah Dance is one of the most
extremely used occasions for the display of the joking and privileged familiarity
relationships between relatives. The bogeys may even tease and joke each
other if they are in the correct relationship. The crazy movements of the
Bugah solo dance may imitate everything except the motions of white peoples'
dances. The bogeys themselves may imitate white people, negroes, or joking
relatives.
"The next dance, the Chicken Dance,
(sata'ga) has not been given for some time in Big Cove. The
principal feature of this dance consisted of the woman resting one of her
feet on the foot of her male partner in the dance, and hopping with the
other foot. This dance was said to have been the cause of much jealousy
and fights. The Chicken Dance is possibly mimetic of a bird habit.
"The Coat Dance (gasule'na)
is apparently of little significance, now. In the older days the men were
said to have bought their brides with buckskin coats as payment and in
this dance some motions are made of covering or 'claiming' a woman with
the coat.
"The Corn Dance (se'lu)
is apparently mimetic of the actions of planting corn. The women were said
to have done the planting and the men to have followed with the hoe to
cover the seeds with earth. The term adan wisi 'they are going to
plant corn' is possibly allied with the dance called 'Yontonwisas'
by Mooney (1900, pp 365-367) and may be the Corn Dance.
"In the Corn Dance the men cup their
hands as if they were pouring corn grains into the aprons of the women
and then the women reciprocate in giving the corn to the men. Various other
arm movements take place between the sexes in this dance.
"The Eagle Dance (tsugi'dali)
is probably the most important and most revered of the Cherokee Dances.
The eagles were said to have gathered together and teased each other just
as men do in the Eagle Dance. The Eagle Dance used to be held in the fall
or winter when the eagles were killed but now it is held at any time. In
addition to the function as a celebration of the killing of an eagle, the
Eagle Dance has several subordinate elements such as the Scalp Dance which
celebrates victory in war (Mooney, p 496) and the Peace Pipe Dance which
celebrates the conclusion of peace. The chief function of the Eagle Dance
at the present time is the celebration of victory in the Ball Game.
"In its present-day performance, all
of the elements of the Eagle Dance are somewhat mixed together. The Scalp
Dance is a solo dance in which the young man can dance and tell his story,
vaunting his bravery before the women or other men. He derogates the deeds
of his clan brothers and joking relatives, saying that they are cowards
and of no value to the nation. When the derogated relative's chance comes,
he in turn derogates the former singer.
"The rather elaborate ceremonial involved
in killing and propitiating the eagle which preceded the Eagle Dance has
been described by Mooney. At present, dances can be given without killing
an Eagle. There, are, in all probability, totemic values attaching to the
Eagle.
"The Friendship Dances (di'sti)
are a mixed assemblage of a large number of dances whose primary significance
is shared in common, namely the social intercourse which is necessary for
the young people in order that they may find husbands and wives among potential
relatives.
"The familiarities of the Friendship
Dances consist of such actions as the men placing their hats on the heads
of their female partners, putting their coats around them, putting their
arms around their shoulders and necks, and performing various overhand
movements with them and others. These are the dances for getting acquainted
and all of the motions of the dance are designed, or appear to be
designed, to break down shyness and reserve on the part of the young people.
This reserve is broken through, however, strictly along the line of the
familiarity relationship with specific relatives. It is impossible, or
in general improbable, that a young man will tease or joke with a women
of his father's clan, or even of his own clan. On the other hand if he
finds a 'grandmother' (gilisi) or a 'grandfather' (giDuDu, ginisi)
he can tease them to the extreme. It is most likely that he will tease
the women rather than the men as privileged familiarities between men are
reserved for other occasions. At the dance a man must find a wife and there
is only one way to find a wife and that is to select her out of the group
of women with whom he can carry on relations of familiarity.
"The typical Friendship Dance begins
with a few of the older men moving around in a circle about the room. The
woman with the tortoise-shell rattles on her legs joins in the circle and
then come the older women followed by the younger men and women. Round
and round the circle goes, gradually picking up speed and volume as more
join and none leave the magic ring of dancing humanity. Finally the crowd
becomes too great for the one small room, the heat and sweat becomes too
much, the dust too choking, and so with a final whoop all rush forth into
the open air.
"Aside from certain features, such
as a stygian smell of old tobacco permeating the air and the constant spitting,
the Friendship Dance is one of the most fascinating features of Cherokee
life. This dance holds a gripping power as great as any opera in our own
society, for its drama and music are the prime expression of the socially
significant facts of Cherokee existence. In the renewal of their old-time
mating memories the older people find their chief consolation as age advances.
In the sex glamor of the occasion the young people find their chief recreation.
In the general cheerfulness of the atmosphere generated those who mourn
for deceased relatives may find forgetfulness.
"The Green Corn Dance (agohundi)is an all-day dance which takes place in September
after 'Roasting Ear's Time'. The name given to this dance refers to a town
where, according to tradition, this dance was given especially well. This
occasion has no direct connection with the Corn Dance, except that the
latter celebrates the planting of the corn, while the Green Corn Dance
celebrates the harvest.
"The Green Corn Dance is really a
composite of several other dances. First, there is an all-day dance by
the men in which guns are fired at intervals of half an hour to make the
noise considered essential to this dance. Secondly, there are three evening
dances -- a Grandmother Dance by the men, a Meal Dance by the women, and
a Trail-Making Dance by both sexes.
"The all-day dance is the essential
celebration of the completely successful harvest. The Grandmother and the
Meal Dances are mimetic of the preparation of the corn meal by the women
and grandmothers, and the Trail-Making Dance, as its name implies, mimics
the activities of fixing up the trail for next year. After the dancing
is over, a big feast is held in the evening, and everyone eats in great
plenty of the fruits of the harvest.
"Now follow three dances of no great
social importance. The Groundhog Dance (ogonu) is not of
any great importance now. The motions of the dance are highly conventionalized
and not significant. The Horse Dance (sogwili) is imitative
of the marching and prancing movements of the horse. The dancers move slowly
back and forth in a row, occasionally giving a kick as a horse will do.
The Knee Deep Dance (dustu) is a short dance named after a
little frog which appears in March is the time of the Spring known
as 'Knee-deep time'.
"The Medicine Dance (egwa nuwati)
appears to have virtually disappeared. It is of considerable significance,
however, in connection with the familiarity relationship. This dance appears
to have been held after the leaves had fallen into the streams in October.
This mixture of the virtues of the leaves with the water caused the people
to believe that the river was a gigantic medicine pot whose boiling was
evinced in the eddying and foaming of the water. So this became "Great
Medicine" time, the period in which life renewal and protection from all
disease could be secured by bathing in the stream.
"A mixing of actual medicine in pots
occurred at this time also. While the pot boiled all night, the women and
men used to dance to keep awake, and then in the morning they went to bathe
in the stream for purification. The long hours of the night used to be
passed in joking each other's 'grandfathers' (digiDuDu) and 'grandmothers'
(digilsi). This joking became the main feature of the dance. The
women were said to have taken the initiative in joking the men at this
dance. If the men were shy, the women would catch them and force them to
dance.
"The Patridge or Quail Dance (k.gwe)
is a dance somewhat resembling the Horse Dance and supposed to be initiative
of the movements of the quail.
"Similarly of little importance, the
Pheasant Dance (tadisti) has completely vanished but it is remembered
that the drumming of the pheasant was imitated during the course of the
dance (Mooney, 290)
"The Pigeon Dance (wayi)
was an important dance in the past and numerous efforts are made to revive
it from time to time. The actions seem to be mimetic of the stalking and
capture of a flock of pigeons by a sparrowhawk. One strong man represents
the hawk and he is painted red on the face, wears feathers, and is naked
to the waist. He carries a buckskin in one hand and stands in a dark corner
awaiting the line of dancers representing pigeons. As they pass him he
swoops down and captures one with the buckskin. He then retires to his
corner only to swoop down on another one and so on.
"The Raccoon Dance (kuli)
is also lapsing. It was mimetic of the capture of the raccoon in the tree
where he has taken refuge. Some of the motions of the dance indicate joking
of the women by the men as in the Bear Dance. The men pretend to rub the
grease of the raccoon on the women, the grease being an adorning feature.
"The Round Dance (ade'yohi)
is a farewell dance which finishes an all-night series of different dances.
It is said that this dance refers to the people having to go around the
mountains in going home. The first half is a woman's dance but the men
join in the second half.
SCALP DANCE: "This dance,
common to every tribe east of the Rocky mountains, was held to
celebrate the taking of fresh scalps from the enemy.
The scalps, painted red on the fleshy side,
decorated and stretched in small hoops attached to the
ends of poles, were carried in the dance
by the wives and sweethearts of the warriors, while in
the pauses of the song each warrior in turn
recited his exploits in minute detail. Among the Cherokee
it was customary for the warrior as he
stepped into the center of the circle to suggest to the
drummer an improvised song which summed
up in one or two words his own part in the encounter.
A new 'war name' was frequently assumed
after the dance... " (Mooney, Myths, 496)
"The Snakelike Dance (inadiyusti)
consists of spiralings by the line of dancers about the fire.
"The War Dance (daNowehi)has
not been given for a long time. It was said to have consisted of various
military deployments backward and forward and about the fire, all imitative
of the scouting and engagement of actual warfare. There was a magical significance
attaching to this dance since it determined which warrior would come back
safely of those who went to war.
"The Woman Gathering Wood Dance
(adohuna) was once regarded as preliminary to all the other
dances. It is apparently mimetic of, or at least connected with, the women's
gathering wood to feed the fire. The movements are mostly back and forth
movements by a row of women, the men taking no part.
"This list concludes the series of
dances known in the village of Big Cove. In this area the old-time methods
of dancing have been remembered and carried on the longest, by universal
testimony. Nevertheless, a considerable interest in dancing and periodic
indulgence in the characteristic Cherokee dances was found at Birdtown.
Several additional dances are known in Birdtown which seem to be
lacking in Big Cove. These are: The Witch Dance (skili), in which the performers
imitate goggles on their eyes with the use of their fingers; The Gagoyhi
Dance (curled up, or twisted), whose evolutions resemble the Ant Dance;
and the Parched Corn Dance (gawicida iteu), which was an additional
part of the Green Corn Dance.
William K. Powers, author of "Here
Is Your Hobby Indian Dancing and Costumes": writes of the current "Powwow"
scene: "Many dances are held in conjunction with rodeos and state fairs.
...But these dances are strictly for show. They give Inds. an opportunity
to travel and meet dancers from other tribes, but they little resemble
a true Ind. celebration.
"Between performances, Inds. spend
their leisure time visiting each other's campsites, trading, and swapping
songs. Song swapping is a favorite pastime.
"At night, when the shows are over
and the spectators have left the grandstand, the Inds. gather in the empty
stadium or fairgrounds and dance for their own amusement. Here the fancy
"show" dancing gives way to the round dances, rabbit dances, forty-nines,
the partner dances... Costumes are replaced with western-style clothing.
Except for the strange patterns of dancing and the exotic sounds of the
drum and singers, the dancers might be taking part in an old-fashioned
square dance. These informal dances begin in the darkness of the night,
and they hardly ever end before the sun comes up." (Powers, 13).
"In the Southwest, a Navajo sings
to the rhythm of his horse's hoofs as he rides along. At home, his wife
sings a soft lullaby to her son. In the Pueblo villages nearby, a silversmith
fashions age-old designs in silver as his hammer taps out the rhythm of
the song he sings. ...In the north woods, a Chippewa sings as sacred song
as he prays to Gitche Manito. In the olden days, a Sioux sang a death chant
as he rode into battle"
"The Ind. courts his woman with a
love song, cures his sick with a medicine song, and names his children
with an honor song. He never ceases to sing whether happy or sad, young
or old, well or ailing. From birth to death, the Ind. sings.
"Indians can sing without dancing,
but they cannot dance until they hear an appropriate song. ...To the Ind.
singing is as much a part of the dance as are the dancer's moccasins and
bells. For every dance, there is an appropriate song. No dancer can move
while the singers are idle. It is the voices of the men and women that
makes the dancers want to dance. The dancers hear a good song, and their
feet are forced to move. The singers actually control the dancers." (Powers,
17)
"Their several dances
were accompanied by music appropriate for the occasion. At the war dance
a warlike tune was sung telling "how they will kill, roast, scalp, beat
and make Captive, such and such numbers of them, and how many they have
destroy'd before. At the peace dances the song related that the Bad Spirit
made them go to war and that it should never do so again, but that their
sons and daughters should intermarry with the former enemies and the two
nations should love one another and become as one people. When the harvest
had ended and before spring planting, there were the corn dances (the one
to return thanks to the Good Spirit for the Fruits of the Earth, and other
to beg the same blessings for the succeeding year". (Rights, 257)
POWERS, WILLIAM K. "Here Is Your Hobby: Indian Dancing
and Costumes". G. P. Putnam's Sons, NY 1966. This book
tells you, with illustrations, about the basicdances, and dance steps.
It is basic, but thorough. Goes into Posture; Head Movements; Shoulder
and Torso Movements; Hands, and Style. The costumes are straight
out of Hollywood, but that's what they are wearing today on the "circuit".
Yuk!
DEATH
When a death occurred
a priest, appointed by the town, was called. All household furnishings
were buried or destroyed, and the priest cleansed the house. After four
days the "right hand man then sent a messenger to this family, with a piece
of tobacco to enlighten their eyes, and a strand of beads to comfort their
hearts and a request for them to take their seats in the council house
that night... where all the town met them, and took them by the hand".
(Payne MS III: 35 and IVB:272-273)
"When a member of a family
dies, it is believed that the spirit is loath to leave the scenes of life
and go alone upon the long journey to the Darkening Land in the west. It
therefore hovers about for a time, seeking to draw to it the souls of those
it has most loved on earth, that it may have company in the spirit land.
Thus it is that the friends of the lost one pine and are sorrowful and
refuse to eat, because the shadow-soul is pulling at their heartstrings,
and unless the aid of the priest is invoked their strength will steadily
diminish, their souls will be drawn from them, and they too will die. To
break the hold of the spirit and to wash away the memory of the bereavement,
so that they may have quick recovery, is one of the greatest functions
of the medicine-man." (Mooney, River Cult, 3)
WAITING FOR DEATH: "The Ind. usually meets inevitable
fate with equanimity, and more than
once in our Ind wars an aged warrior of helpless woman,
unable to escape, has sat down upon
the ground and, with blanket drawn over the head, calmly
awaited the fatal bullet or hatchet
stroke". (Mooney, Myths, 495)
DEATH SONG: 'It seems to have been a chivalrous
custom among the eastern tribes to give to
the condemned prisoner who requested it a chance to recite
his war like deeds and to sing his
death song before proceeding to the final torture. He
was allowed the widest latitude of boasting,
even at the expense of his captors and their tribe. The
death song was a chant belonging to the
warrior himself or to the war society of which he was
a member, the burden being farewell to life
and defiance to death." (Mooney, Myths, 491)
DIRECTIONS
For Cherokees,
the sacred number was seven, and so it was for seven heavens and for seven
directions. "Even their conception of the Universe was sevenfold, with
seven heavens and seven directions -- north, south, east, west, above,
below, and "here in the center" (Lewis & Kneberg, 175) Note: "here
in the center" : right here, where we are!
"Other supernatural beings
were prominent in the religion and mythology of the Cherokee. There were
spirits to symbolize the four directions to which special qualities were
attributed. East was a red spirit
whose significance was power in war, North was a blue
spirit signifying defeat. West was the black specter of death, and South,
the white spirit of peace." (Lewis & Kneberg, 176)
"The Cherokees attached much
significance to the four cardinal directions, associating each of them
with a series of social values. Actually, these seem to have been two sets
of opposites. In one opposition, the east was the direction of the Sun,
the color red, sacred fire, blood, and life and success. Its opposite,
the west, was associated with the Moon, the souls of the dead, the color
black, and death. In the other opposed pair, the north was associated with
cold, the color blue (and purple) and trouble and defeat; while its opposite,
the south, was associated with warmth, the color white, peace, and happiness.
The Cherokees also gave a propitious value to brown, assigning it to the
upward direction, and yellow, like blue, was associated with trouble, thought
the direction to which it was assigned is not clear.
A full complement of spiritual beings
dwelt in the Upper World in each of the four quarters. Thus there was a
Red Man, Red Bear, Red Sparrow Hawk, and so on in the east; a Black Man,
Black Bear, Black Sparrow Hawk, and so on in the west." (Hudson, 132, from
Swimmer Ms)
DISPOSITIONS
'They are of a very gentle
and amicable disposition to those they think their friends, but as implacable
in their enmity, their revenge being only compleated in the entire destruction
of their enemies. They were pretty hospitable to all white strangers, till
the Europeans encouraged them to scalp; but the great reward offered has
led them often since to commit as great barbarities on us, as they formerly
only treated their most inveterate enemies with. They are very hardy, bearing
heat, cold, hunger and thirst, in a surprising manner; and yet no people
are given to more excess in eating and drinking, when it is conveniently
in their power; the follies, nay mischief, they commit when inebriated,
are entirely laid to the liquor; and no one will revenge an injury (murder
excepted) received from one who is no more himself: they are not less addicted
to gaming than drinking, and will even lose the shirt off their back, rather
than give over play, when luck runs against them.
"They are extremely proud, despising
the lower class of Europeans; and in some athletick diversions I once was
present at, they refused to match or hold conference with any but officers.
"Here, however, the vulgar notion
of the Inds uncommon activity was contradicted by three officers of the
Virginia regiment, the slowest of which could outrun the swiftest of about
700 Inds. that were in the place; but had the race exceeded two or three
hundred yards, the Inds. would then have acquired the advantage, by being
able to keep the same pace a long time together; and running being likewise
more general among them, a body of them would always greatly exceed an
equal number of our troops.
"They are particularly careful of
the superannuated, but are not so till of a great age...
"They have many of them a good uncultivated
genius, are fond of speaking well, as that paves the way to power in their
councils;... Their language is not unpleasant, but vastly aspirated, and
the accents so many and various, you would often imagine them singing in
their common discourse...
"They seldom turn their eyes on the
person they speak of, or address themselves to, and are always suspicious
when people's eyes are fixed upon them. They speak so low, except in council,
that they are often obliged to repeat what they are saying; yet should
a person talk to any of them above their common pitch, they would immediately
ask him, if he thought they were deaf." (Timberlake, 78-81)
"...they are a very wary People,
and are never hasty or impatient. They will endure a great many Misfortunes,
Losses, and Disappointments without shewing themselves, in the least, vex'd
or uneasy. When they go by Water, if there proves a Head-Wind, they never
vex and fret as the Europeans do, and let what Misfortune come to them,
as will or can happen, they never relent. Besides, there is one Vice very
common every where, which I never found amongst them, which is Envying
other Mens Happiness, because their Station is not equal to, or above,
their Neighbours. Of this Sin I cannot say I ever saw an Example, though
they are a People that set as great a Value upon themselves, as any sort
of Men in the World; upon which Account they find something Valuable in
themselves above Riches. Thus, he that is a good Warriour, is the proudest
Creature living; and he that is an expert Hunter, is esteem'd by the People
and himself; yet all these are natural Vertues and Gifts, and not Riches,
which are as often in the Possession of a Fool as a Wise-man. Several of
the Inds. are possess'd of a great many Skins, Wampum, Ammunition, and
what other things are esteem'd Riches amongst them; yet such an Ind. is
no more esteem'd amongst them, than any other ordinary Fellow, provided
he has no personal Endowments, which are the Ornaments that must gain him
an Esteem among them; for a great Dealer, amongst the Inds. is no otherwise
respected and esteemed, than as a Man that strains his Wits, and fatigues
himself, to furnish others with Necessaries of Life, that live much easier
and enjoy more of the World, than he himself does with all his Pelf. If
they are taken Captives, and expect a miserable Exit, they sing: if Death
approach them in Sickness, they are not afraid of it; nor are ever heard
to say, Grant me some time. They know by Instinct, and daily Example, that
they must die; wherefore, they have that great and noble Gift to submit
to every thing that happens, and value nothing that attacks them." (Lawson,
206,207)
"The Inds. are very revengeful,
and never forget an Injury done, till they have receiv'd Satisfaction.
Yet they are the freest People from Heats and Passions (which possess the
Europeans) of any I ever heard of. They never call any Man to account for
what he did, when he was drunk; but say, it was the Drink that caused his
Misbehavior, therefore he ought to be forgiven; They never frequent a Christian's
House that is given to Passion, nor will they ever buy or sell with him,
if they can get the same Commodities of any other Person; for they say,
such Men are mad Wolves, and no more Men.
"They know not what Jealousy is, because
they never think their Wives are unconstant, unless they are Eye-witnesses
thereof. They are generally very bashful, especially the young Maids, who
when they come into a strange Cabin, where they are not acquainted, never
ask for anything, though never so hungry or thirsty, but sit down, without
speaking a Word (be it never so long) till some of the House asks them
a Question, or falls into Discourse, with the Stranger. I never saw a Scold
amongst them, and to their Children they are extraordinary tender and indulgent;
neither did I ever see a Parent correct a Child, escepting one Woman, that
was the King's Wife, and she (indeed) did possess a Temper that is not
commonly found amongst them. They are free from all manner of Compliments,
escept Shaking of Hands, and Scratching on the Shoulder, which two are
the greatest Marks of Sincerity and Friendship, that can be shew'd one
to another. They cannot express fare youwell; but when they
leave the House, will say, I go straightway, which is to intimate
their Departure; and if the Man of the House has any Message to send by
the going Man, he may acquaint him therewith." (Lawson, 210)
"...harmony with
nature could only be achieved by realizing the absolute necessity of
functioning within the confines of their peculiar habitat. The Cherokees
considered themselves to be only ONE of the many vital components that
made up the highly complex world of living things. Additionally, the Cherokee
mythological view of their environment dictated land use patterns and biotic
associations. For instance, although the Cherokee ecosystem was immensely
rich in flora and fauna, the Ind. did not adhere to cultural and economic
values that permitted the haphazard exploitation of available resources.
"Furthermore, precontact cultural
beliefs and practices engendered a relatively positive relationship between
all components of the environment. This is clearly illustrated in the use
of ginseng (Panax quinquefolium), one of the most diverse and widely used
of Cherokee wild plants. Cherokee tradition indicates that when gathering
this valuable herb (most often used for medicinal purposes) the plant could
not be pulled recklessly, or at random, from the ground. According to Mooney,
the first three plants found were passed by and, after a preliminary prayer,
it "is only the fourth plant that can be taken". (Mooney, 1891, 339)
"The absence of a profit motive,
and the de-emphasis on the accumulation of surplus material goods, suggests
that degree of social well-being was measured less by the acquisition and
possession of tangible items and more by the delicate balance achieved
between culture and nature. Cherokee attitudes toward the environment were
strongly influenced by religious beliefs and, thus, their utilization of
nature's bounty reflected a reverence for the entire external world." (Goodwin,
147,148)
"Precontact Cherokee personality
traits, e.g., independence, generosity, courage, self-restraint, tended
to temper many of the tribe's aggressive impulses (Holzinger, 1976: 229-35).
Ceremonies added as an outlet for aggression, as did joking, and the belief
in spirits helped bolster their self-esteem. During the postcontact period,
however, the Cherokees began exhibiting a pronounced degree of suspicion,
jealousy, hostility, and general emotional instability." (Holzinger, quoted
in Goodwin, 149, footnote)
"The Cherokees in their dispositions
and manners are grave and steady; dignified and circumspect in their deportment;
rather slow and reserved in conversation; yet frank, cheerful, and humane;
tenacious of the liberties and natural rights of man; secret, deliberate
and determined in their councils; honest, just and liberal, and ready always
to sacrifice every pleasure and gratification, even their blood, and life
itself, to defend their territory and maintain their rights...." (Bartram,
487)
"A colonial militia captain, Raymond Demere,
summed up the elusive nature of the headman's office when he explained
to his superiors in 1757 why it was difficult to deal with the Cherokees,
even while living in their midst. 'The Savages are an odd Kind of People;
as there is no Law nor Subjection amongst them, they can't be compelled
to do any Thing nor oblige them to embrace any Party except they please.
The very lowest of them thinks himself as great and as high as any of the
Rest, every one of them must be courted for their Friendship, with some
Kind of a Feeling, and made much of. So what is called great and
leading Men amongst them, are commonly old and middle-aged People, who
know how to give a Talk in Favour of whom they have a Fancy for, and that
same may influence the Minds of the young Fellows for a Time, but every
one is his own Master". (quoted, Reid, Law, 53)
DIVINATION
& DIVINING STONES
"There were five different sizes
of divining stones used in ancient times. The
largest was used in war divination; the next largest for feasts, purification,
and divination concerning sickness; the next for hunting; the next for
finding things lost or stolen; and the smallest for determining the time
allotted for anyone to live. These curious stones were crystalline quartz
and six-sided, coming to a point at one end like a diamond. They were called
"lights" and were important to ritual." (Gilbert, 345)
Plummets: "Plummets were
commonly used to divine the location of a lost object or person. A plummet
was a small lump of red ocher or some other earth held between the thumb
and index finger of the right hand. The left hand was held, with fingers
extended, in front of the right. A formula would be uttered, and in time
the plummet would begin to swing, and the direction in which it swung most
strongly would be the direction in which to search. They would then proceed
in this direction for some distance, and if the thing or person was not
found, another reading was taken with the plummet and they set out in another
direction." (Hudson, 354,5)
"The river was often used
for diving into the future and for discovering the causes of illness. One
method was to cut a stick of wood about two or three feet long. The diviner
stood in the water, moistened one end of the stick in his mouth, then put
the opposite end of the stick into the water for about half of its length
and made a counterclockwise circle, about two feet in diameter, uttering
a formula as he made each circle. Then he brought the stick to the center
of the circle and let it rest there. Now he studied the water within the
circle. If a crayfish or minnow darted into the circle it was an indication
that a conjurer was at work. A bird flying overhead might mean that witchcraft
was involved. If a leaf floated through the circle it meant that the person
whose condition was being divined would die. The river was also used for
divination when Cherokees went to water upon the occasion of a new moon.
While all the members of a household stood gazing into the river, the priest
recited a formula asking for long life. But if anything appeared in the
water -- a leaf, a twig, a fish -- it might mean that illness or death
lay in the future. Finally, in order to determine the outcome of an illness,
the priest might cause his patient to vomit into the river. If the vomit
sank, the patient would be doomed; if it floated on top of the water he
would recover. (Olbrechts, CD, 549)
"Like water, fire could
also be used as a means of divintion. If a person were seriously ill, and
hence likely to be attacked by witches, a person protecting him would try
to determine if witches were in the vicinity by using tobacco and fire.
He would go to the fireplace and rake all the smouldering coals together
into a cone-shaped heap. Then he would sprinkle a little ancient tobacco
on the heap of coals. Wherever a spark flared up it meant that there was
a witch in that direction and at a distance indicated by the distance of
the spark from the top of the cone. If the tobacco particles happened to
cling together and fall on top of the heap of ashes, they would often flare
up with a loud burst. This meant that the witch was actually inside the
house. If so, the burst of tobacco of itself was believed to be enough
to kill the witch. (Olbrechts, CD, 550-51)
One of the more esoteric
means of divination was to use two beades: a black bead held in the left
hand signifying death, illness, or disaster, and a red or white bead held
in the right hand signifying health, long life, and success. A priest held
these beads between the thumbs and index fingers of his hands. The beads
moved along the first two phalanges of the index fingers, and the relative
strength of this motion gave a favorable or unfavorable reading. If the
red or white head had the stronger motion, it was favorable, but if the
black bead had the stronger motion, it was unfavorable. Exactly what caused
the movement in the beads is unclear. (Hudson, 355,356, from Swimmer MS,304-5)
The means of divination which
the Cherokees regarded as most authoritative entailed the use of certain
crystals, presumably quartz.
DRUMS
Modern "drums
come in various sizes and shapes depending on the tribes that use them.
There are large dance drums that range from two to five feet in diameter.
Smaller hand drums range from six to eighteen inches in diameter. These
drums may have one head or two. Most dance drums are made from cow-goat-,
or deerskin, stretched over wood frames. Drum frames, or shells, may be
made from a cedar wash tub, hollowed log, metal oil drum, brass kettle,
or commercial bass-drum frame...
"Drumsticks also vary in length and
shape. They should be made from a hard wood such as oak. Many singers nowadays
carve their sticks from chair and table legs. The 'heads' are made from
cotton wrapped with adhesive tape, or buckskin stuffed with cotton and
sewn."
RHYTHM: "Although the sound
of the drum can easily make a dancer want to dance, the drum can never
be used as a substitute for singing. The drum merely accents the rhythm
of the song. Although it is not necessary to have music while learning...
dancing, it is important to have singing or recorded music as part of your
pow-wows or shows." (Powers, 19,20)
"One-quarter time: This
is the most popular drum rhythm, sometimes called the war-dance beat. It
can be recognized by its steady, unaccented beat. Although it is most frequently
heard in
the war-dance, it is also played for the hoop dance,
and parts of the sneak-up dance.
"The one-quarter beat may be played
in three different tempos -- slow, medium, and fast. These tempos will
be indicated at the beginning of each dance. When you learn the preliminary
steps and body movements, practice them slowly first, gradually working
up to the proper speed.
"The slow one-quarter time... indicates
that you play 120 beats of the drum per minute. Medium one-quarter times...
indicates 180 beats per minute. And fast one quarter is 320 beats per minute.
"Three-quarter time: The rhythm
heard next most frequently is three-quarter time. Musicians will recognize
this as waltz time. In the Ind. version of three-quarter time, however,
the second beat is omitted. All that you hear is one-three, one-three.
The one-beat is played louder than the three-beat, so three-quarter time
beat can readily be identified by its characteristic loud-soft, loud-soft
rhythm...
"The three-quarter beat is also played
in three distinct tempos. In the rabbit dance, the tempos is 136 beats
per minute.... In the round dance, is is slightly faster... 160. And in
the forty-nine, it is even faster: 200.
"To learn how to play the three-quarter
beat, simply count to yourself one-two-three, one-two-three.
After you have mastered this, eliminate the two-beat on the drum, and count
it to yourself: one-(two)-three, one-(two)-three.
"Thunder-drumming: This is
not really a rhythm, but a technique of drumming often used as an introduction
to dances. It is heard in the sneak-up dance and buffalo dance. In thunder-drumming,
the drum is played very rapidly and sounds much like thunder.
"Of the rhythms discussed here, one
variation occurs in the buffalo dance. This variation may be called half-time.
It is really slow one-quarter time played at 60 beats per minute.
"Accented beats. If you listen...
you can hear accented beats occur irregularly in war-dance, round-dance,
and rabbit-dance songs. These accented beats are played to keep the dancers
in step. Also, if a singer is not beating the drum properly, another singer
will hit the drum loudly to make the other aware that he is out of time....
The southern-plains tribes accent their drum beats three times during each
song.... When dancers hear the accented beats, they dip very low, or they
turn rapidly. This is called honoring the drum. The dancers in this movement
express their happiness at hearing the good songs the singers are singing."
(Powers, 19,20,21).
DYES
"Some weavers make
black dye from the bark of walnut roots.... The roots 'will dye a darker
shade than any part of the walnut tree" a deep shade preferred for centuries
by Cherokee weavers. Ultimately, however, taking the bark from the root
kills the tree.... Since 'walnut trees causes the vegetables in the garden
not to grow" farmers and gardeners on limited land may need to eliminate
them. The benefit to weavers is temporary, however, since the number of
walnut trees steadily declines.
"Other weavers favor the lighter brown
or even gray shades that come from different parts of the trees. "In the
summertime" Goings says, "we use the leaves from the tree, and then in
fall we can use the green nuts, crush them up". After hulls turn
brown, they can be stored for winter dyes.
"The dyes used varied from season
to season, settlement to settlement, weaver to weaver. Sumac, poke, angelica,
and oak galls have all made their way into dye pots, along with flowers,
berries, roots, and leaves of hundreds of unrecorded plants. Yellowroot
(daloni-ge na-ste-tsi) was popular in the early part of the 20th
century, but has generally lost favor.
"Weavers may use soda, alum, or copper
as a mordant. Some remember that their mothers added old iron froes, ax
heads, or nails to walnut dye pots. All recognize that different kinds
of containers affect the dye in various ways. "Bloodroot dyes different
shades of orange depending on what kind of metal your pot is". While one
believes 'aluminum pots don't dye too good' another relies on a pot of
white enamel to get good color from bloodroot and 'an old pot that's got
this old Teflon lining' for walnut.
"Whatever containers or materials
they select, weavers dye all the splits at one time because "you can dye
splits one day and the next day dye again, and you never get the same color"
....Contemporary weavers will re-dye all the splits rather than combine
splits dyed at different times. (Hill, 125, 126)
"When colors were to be used,
they dyed the requisite number of strips in advance. The bark of the black
walnut was used when they wanted a black dye. A color between red and brown
was furnished by boiling the roots of a plant called tale'wa, perhaps
the celandine poppy (it has small yellow flowers and grows on sandy ridges).
To get the most beautiful red dye, they boiled these roots in 'hair oil',
a plant growing about yards and along fences ... made a still deeper red. "Sometimes when cane was
scarce... they had recourse to the hackberry. Pieces of this of considerable
size were pounded up, whereupon layers would strip off of it. After being
immersed for a time in warm water, these could become pliant and work very
well. "Black was made from the
leaves of the dark sumac, which were boiled in water all day, after which
the dye was allowed to cool and the cane placed in it and allowed to remain
all night. Black was also made from the black walnut. There were two kinds
of red, one obtained from the bark of the wild peach, and the other from
the red oak. The outside bark of these trees having been removed, the inside
bark was scraped off and put into some water along with the canes to be
dyed, after which all was boiled for 2 to 3 hours, when the canes would
be colored red...Yellow was made from the leaves and limbs of bushes called
a'ci'la'na (yellow leaves) in a similar manner. The strips of cane
were added just as boiling began and they were found to be colored when
the time was over." (Swanton, 137, 606,7) "Vegetation for dyes include
ripe berries of pokeweed (tsayatika) for pale red, oak galls (atagu)
for rich red, angelica leaves (wane-kita) for green, bark and roots
of sumac (kwalaga) for brown; and yellow root (daloni-ge- unaste-tsi)
for yellow.... Any berry or nut or root that stained the fingers gathering
them must have been potential dye.
"From earliest memory, however, Cherokee
weavers have chosen red, dark brown, and black hues for basketry. Black
comes from hulls, roots, or bark of butternut or white walnut (ko-hi),
brown from hulls, roots, leaves, or bark of black walnut (se-di),
and red from roots of the bloodroot plant (gigage unaste-tsi). Material
from black and white walnut trees can be gathered any time of year, then
dried and stored for later use. Though all parts of the tree can be used,
the roots supply the most intense colors. Bloodroot is an early spring
bulb that thrives in the soil of deciduous forests. The fragile blossom
that appears in early March is followed by deeply scalloped, blue-green
leaves that grow through the summer. The orange-red dye comes from small
rhizomes attached to multiple underground stems. The roots must be dug
before the plant dies back in early autumn, for it leaves no sign of where
it has grown. Weavers can dry and bury roots to store over fall and winter,
but mold will cause rapid decay.
"Each color requires a separate pot
of simmering water, which may account for the limited number of colors
on baskets. To speed the dyeing and set the color, weavers might add a
mordant. Before commercial additives became widely available, mordants
came from ashes, urine, or alum. Without mordants, splits take at least
one full day to absorb brown or black walnut dyes. Red dye from bloodroot
sets in a few hours. Weavers submerge the coils of splits into the simmering
dye, weighing them down with rocks or heavy roots. Some cover the pots,
and all check them periodically to replenish the water and stoke the fire.
Dyeing requires a watchful eye and plenty of time."
"When splits are a satisfactory color,
the weaver removes the bundles, rinses them, and puts them aside to dry.
Once the demanding process of preparation is complete, she can wait indefinitely
to weave the splits. The capability to use splits weeks or months after
preparation gives the basket- weaver greater control of her time. She can
stop midway through a basket, attend to other responsibilities, and return
to it later. When other tasks permit time for basketry, she dampens the
splits to restore their pliability and soften their razor-sharp edges."
(Hill, 42,43).
"People often mixed mordants with
the dye to act or fix colors and keep them from fading. Vinegar and salt
were used quite frequently as mordants when dying with plants. Copperas,
a green sulfate of iron, and alum, a white mineral salt, were also successful
mordants for dying cloth. Acetic acid was used as a mordant to color red
and potassium bichromate to color yellow. Most of our contacts didn't use
a mordant when dyeing with walnut hulls, however, as the brown produced
by the hulls rarely faded.
It is best to boil the roots, leaves,
and stems to produce the dye, then strain it before adding the wool or
cotton or whatever you are dyeing. When the cloth is boiled, it should
be dyed a shade darker than the color you want, since the shade will lighten
as the wool dries. The amount (strength) of dye used depends on how dark
a shade you want.
"Brown-Black". "Walnut hulls,
roots, and bark were commonly used as a natural dye to produce shades of
brown and black. The hulls were used for dye when the walnuts fell off
the trees in the fall of the year. Darker shades of brown or even black
were obtained by leaving the hulls, roots, or bark in the boiling water
a longer period of time.
"Another way to acquire a dark brown
is to use both walnut hulls and roots together. Fill a ten-gallon pot half
full of chopped walnut roots and add one gallon of walnut hulls. Add either
one teacup of salt or vinegar as a mordant. Boil. Lift out roots and hulls
and put in the thread. Boil wool in dye for at least an hour. Add more
roots and hulls for a darker brown.
"Use witch-hazel (tree) bark for black.
Boil it and add material.
"For light tan ot yellow color,
boil broom sage (broomsedge) and add to material.
"Poison oak: the acrid
juice of this small shrub imparts a durable black without any addition.
Water hoarhound, or gypsywort: the juice of this plant also
gives a fixed black dye; Baneberries: the juice of the berries boiled
with alum affords a fine black dye, or ink; Red Oak: the capsules
and bark of the oak afford a good fixture for brown or black dyes. (Bull.
281)
BLUE: Common indigo; False indigo (Amorpha fruiticosa);
Common Ash Tree; the inner bark is said to give a good blue color.
(Bull. 281)
Orange-Yellow: "The outside of black hickory bark
was made for yellows. Just go out and beat it off the trees. Boil it up
and it makes beautiful yellows" For mordants, alum for one shade of yellow
and potassium bichromate for another. "We put the bark in flour bags.
By putting the bark in a bag, the solution doesn't have to be strained
before adding the material. "You just have to boil the
bark until you get the desired color.
Yellow root can be boiled down to
make a yellow and then it fades out to a soft green.
"Get hickory bark when the sap is
up so it will peel out better. Boil it down to make beautiful shades of
yellow.
Oak bark also makes a yellow. Boil
it until you acquire a thick "ooze" and then add material.
Blue: "Use indigo root. Use maple bark.
The color is obtained mainly from the inside bark, but both inside and
outside bark are used. Boil it in a kettle. Remove bark from the dye; add
copperas to set the dye and let it boil about a day. This colors a blue.
"...black oak was most famous for
the fast and bright yellows."
"Red oak produced yellows. Black Berry;
Bearing Alder; the bark tinges a dull yellow; Barberry bush: the root gives
a beautiful yellow. (Bull 281)
Red: Use madder. Grind the root up into powder
and boil it with material. Colors from shades of rose pink to red are obtained
from madder.
Use pokeberries, one gallon of berries
to a ten-gallon pot. Boil them and add your material. This colors from
a red to a maroon. Blackberries, grapes, or any other berries will yield
various other shades of red.
Use red clay (one gallon of clay to
a ten-gallon pot). Put clay in a cloth bag and let it boil. Remove clay
and add material. Possibly use a cup of salt as a mordant. Clay colors
a deep orangeish-red.
"Crossworth madder (gallium
soreale): imparts a red color; Cactus opuntia, Prickly pear,
imparts a beautiful red color". (Bull 281)
Purple: Use pokeberry roots. Chop up the roots
and boil them. Add material to get a deep purple color.
Green: Use green oak leaves. Boil leaves with
material for one to one and one-half hours. Add salt as a mordant.
PLANTS THAT PRODUCE DYES: Alkanet (Alkanna tinctoria). The very large root yields
a red dye.
Bloodroot: Contains red resin.
Butterfly weed: When powdered, the dried root yields
a yellowish-brown color.
Cornflower (bachelor's button): Its petals contain blue
coloring matter
Goldenrod: The root contains yellow juice.
Hollyhock: You can get deep purple-black coloring matter
from the flower petals.
Larkspur: The juice of the petals mixed with alum mordant
gives a nice blue dye.
Lupine: The flowers' heads yield a handsome green color
when used with alum or chrome mordants.
Marsh Marigold: The juice of the petals contains yellow
coloring matter.
Mullein: The blooms contain yellow coloring matter.
Safflower : Safflower flowers contain yellow and red
coloring matter.
Saffron: Yellow coloring matter is in the stigma.
Sunflower: The oil obtained from pressing the seeds is
a citron-yellow color.
EARTH ELEMENTS
"The chemical constituents
of the earth's crust entered into the Cherokee culture in various ways.
Quartz crystals were used in divining the future, flint and chert were
used in the manufacture of cutting tools and weapons, various river clays
were used in pottery manufacture, red hematite powder from certain hillsides
was made into pigment for face paint (connected here with one of the clans),
white clays were also made and used for pigments, steatite was used for
pipe carving and the heavier ferromagnesian minerals were chipped and ground
into axes, celts, and hammers, slates into ceremonial pendants and gorgets,
and so on for many others of the natural minerals...." (Gilbert, 183)
"Copper was worked in the same
manner as it had been thousands of years earlier... The nuggets of pure
metal were beaten into thin sheets and, in the case of thick objects like
axe blades, several layers of the sheets were hammered together until they
formed a solid mass. The final shaping and finishing was done by grinding
with an abrading stone. More elaborate than the axes were the ornaments
cut from the thin sheets and decorated with embossed designs. The embossing
process consisted of carving the design on a wooden die and then pressing
the metal over the die until the design appeared in relief. Headdresses,
breastplates and large plaques were decorated in this manner. Ear ornaments
were carved wooden disks plated with copper. All of the elaborate copper
objects appear to have been worn only by people or prominence." (Lewis
& Kneberg, 107,108)
"Objects of copper.....
are preserved... a breastplate... spools, elongated, tubular beads,
triangular pendants, wooden, copper-coated ear plugs, bangles in a shape
that could in some cases pass for conoidal arrow points, ...and.. a copper
ax with a fragment of wooden handle..." (Rights, 273)
"Steatite, often called soapstone,
was available in the mountains. This soft stone was easily shaped into
bowls with flint blades, and was also carved into various ornaments and
'medicine tubes'. The latter, biconical in shape, were instruments used
by medicine men.... Other curious objects, usually carved from steatite,
were small containers known as 'boatstones' because of their shape. These
apparently were worn suspended from the neck, since they always have holes
at both ends, as well as grooved keels at the bottom.... From thick green
slate obtained in the mountains, tools and weapons as well as ornaments
were made... celts... and axe blades... in a great range of sizes, from
a few inches up to a foot in length. All of these blades were made by the
pecking and grinding method, but only the bit was well ground." (Lewis
& Kneberg, 45,46)
"Soapstone was the preferred
material.... The smallest vessels are the paint cups, and the smallest
of these is less than an inch in height. One cup, a little larger than
a tablespoon, has a short handle. The pint size or larger was popular.
In the larger containers, generally two-knobbed vessels, the sizes increase
until a capacity of several gallons is reached." (Rights, 275)
"The mountains contain very
rich mines of gold, silver, lead, and copper, as may be evinced by several
accidentally found ..., and the lumps of valuable ore washed down by several
of the streams, a bag of which sold in Virginia at a considerable price;
and by the many salt springs, it is probable there are many mines of that
likewise, as well as of other minerals...
"They have many beautiful stones of
different colours, many of which, I am apt to believe, are of great value;
but their superstition has always prevented their disposing of them to
the traders, who have made many attempts to that purpose; but as they use
them in their conjuring ceremonies, they believe their parting with them,
or bringing them from home, would prejudice their health or affairs." (Timberlake,
74)
"Gold is found near the towns
of the OverHill Cherokees. The Ducktown copper mines in the region are
well known.
"...Particularly amethyst, hiddenite,
ruby and aquamarine, some of which have been mined in the nearby mountains
in recent years..." (footnote: Timberlake, 73)
CLAY: "Good Bricks and Tiles
are made, and several sorts of useful Earths, as Bole, Fullers-earth, Oaker,
and Tobacco-pipe-Clay, in great plenty; Earths for the Potters Trade, and
fine Sand for the Glass-makers. In building with Bricks, we make our Lime
of Oyster-Shells, tho' we have great Store of Lime-stone, towards the Heads
of our Rivers, where are Stones of all sorts that are useful, besides vast
Quantities of excellent Marble.. Iron-Stone we have plenty of, both in
the Low-Lands and on the Hills; Lead and Copper has been found..." (Lawson,
88,89)
"The Pitch-Pine, growing to
a great Bigness, most commonly has but a short Leaf. Its Wood (being replete
with abundance of Bituman) is so durable that it seems to suffer no Decay,
tho' exposed to all Weathers, for many Ages: and is used in several Domestick
and Plantation Uses. This Tree affords the four great Necessities: Pitch,
Tar, Rozin, and Turpentine; which two last are extracted by tapping, and
the Heat of the Sun, the other two by the Heat of the Fire." (Lawson, 104)
"...rocks provided material
for tools that enabled women and men to survive and transform the world.
Women made certain kinds of rocks into knives, scrapers, awls, and drills
to fashion clothing from skins, feathers, and bark. Women and men shaped
stone into axes and hoes to cut trees for housing and clear fields for
planting. Women used stone knives and scrapers to prepare rivercane and
bark for weaving into baskets and mats. They selected certain rocks for
household hearths and others for boiling stones. They gathered grinding
and pounding stones to process foods or to crush hulls, bark, and roots
for dye and medicine." (Hill, 6,7)
MICA: pieces of mica
have been found, which makes it evident that it was sometimes used.
RED OCHRE: was an item
of trade, and greatly desired. Found inland, it was widely traded for salt,
dried fish, sea shells, and Ilex leaves with which to make the "black drink".
In excavations, red ochre
was one of the objects buried with the dead in about one third of the graves.
It was used to paint on faces, and in certain acts of divination by the
priests.
Soils: "Geologically, the Southern Appalachian
region consists principally of four underlying rock formations. The Valley
region is underlain by limestones, shales, and sandstones; the Blue Ridge
and northwest border of the mountain districts (northeast of the French
Broad) consists chiefly of quartzites, sandstones, conglomerates and shale;
the north mountain region southwest of the French Broad in the Smoky-Unaka
chain contains conglomerates, sandstones, schists, and slates; and, the
last groups comprise the largest in bulk and area; the gneiss group, e.g.,
granite, diorite, mica, hornblende, and some schists. The most common of
the four groups, gneiss is found throughout Southern Appalachia, ranging
from the high Smoky Mountains to the relatively low Blue Ridge spurs.
"Since the parent material is the
basis for soil type, Southern Appalachian edaphic conditions can be correlated
to type and location of residual accumulations. Two broad soil categories
represent the majority of soils found in this region: (1) Gray-Brown Podzols
and (2) Red-Yellow Soils. Each soil group possesses a loamy character,
although the podzolic group is more stony since it is derived from granite.
Also, the podzols are generally leached soils, acidic in nature, and developed
in cool, moist, temperate climates, such as the hilly terrain of the deciduous
forest region.
"The Red-Yellow group, with brownish-red
to red silt and clay loams predominating in the Piedmont and Valley regions,
derive their characteristics from limestone and are generally found in
warmer climates under forest cover. The red soil is of medium fertility
and thrives in deciduous forests, while the yellow is of low fertility
and is found in coniferous forests. (Goodwin, 28)
"In the Unaka-Smoky chain, sandstone
and shale underlay both poor and rich soils, depending on relief. In the
upper valleys of the Lower Tennessee River, soils (sandstone, quartzite,
and conglomerate) are generally thin, sandy, and unfavorable to agriculture.
In the valleys and hollows along the north slope of the same range, however,
soils are light and sandy, but fertile, especially in the alluvial bottomlands
where silts are of the finest texture and quality (US Dept. of Agriculture,
1902: quoted in Goodwin, 29)
Minerals: "Minerals are also an outgrowth
of the parent rock formations. Certain mineral elements were of considerable
importance to Cherokee Inds. during their early occupation of the Southern
Appalachian region, e.g., quartz crystals (including amethyst) occurred
in the highlands where it was found in fragments after weathering agents
broke the material from outcropping veins... Flint and chert (chalcedony)
are crystalline varieties of siliceous limestone...
"Other mineral used by the Cherokees
included: hematite, found in the Chilhowee section of Tennessee and along
the French Broad in North Carolina; steatite, a metamorphic rock more commonly
called soapstone, which occurred in the Appalachian uplands; mica crystals,
quarried in the Georgian highlands as well as several other sections;
river clay (red and white), which is an aggregate of minerals, and the
most widespread of the mineral resources used... Residual clays predominate
in the Piedmont and mountain zones while river bottom clay occurs along
stream and river bottoms throughout the Southern Appalachian region. Also,
salt was obtained from saline springs and licks, and the crystaline substance
figures important in aboriginal barter as well as in postcontact commercial
trade with Europeans.
"Other mineral resources, such as
gold, silver, lead, and copper abounded in the Cherokee lands, but it was
not until after white contacts that these materials acquired considerable
economic value. (Goodwin, 29)
"Quartz crystals were
used in divining the future, flint and chert were used in the manufacture
of cutting tools and weapons, various river clays were used in pottery
manufacture, red hematite powder from certain hillsides was made into pigment
for face paint (connected here with one of the clans); white clays were
also made and used for pigments, steatite was used for pipe carving and
the heavier ferromagnesium minerals were chipped and ground into axes,
celts, and hammers, slates into ceremonial pendants and gorgets, and so
on for many others of the natural minerals of the hill country." (Gilbert,
Bull 133)
ELDERS
There was a respect, even
reverence, for the elderly, particularly for elder men... for with wars,
and sickness, it was the rare ones who lived to a ripe old age. Having
attained any kind of distinction at all, they became known as "Beloved
Men", and sat on the council floor near the king whom they advised.
"The old men, who can no longer
go to war, are, nevertheless, still useful.... They harangue the people,
who consider them oracles and heed them. Their advice is taken for everything,
and the young people say that since their elders have lived longer, they
should have more experience and knowledge. When I admired the happiness
enjoyed by the old men, they explained that since they could no longer
fight for the tribe, the least they could do was teach others to defend
it. Upon returning from their military expeditions, the warriors never
fail to throw part of the booty into the cabins of these elderly orators,
who by their exhortations excite the younger men to deeds of courage. The
prisoners of war are given as slaves to the oldest members... The old warriors,
who can no longer go to war, harangue the fighters. An orator begins by
hitting a post with his club and then mentions all the great deeds he has
done in battle and tells of the number of scalps he has taken from the
various tribes. The audience replies with shouts of "How! How!" which means,
"True! True! The(y) hate lies; they say that anyone who lies is a braggart
and is not a real man." (Bossu, Travels, 114)
"Elders were expected to reconcile
contrasting clan sentiments by pursuing cautiously the interests of their
respective clans, avoiding direct conflict through judicious compromise
and maneuverings, whenever possible, and allowing elders to drop out if
that became unavoidable. Effectiveness among the elders would indeed appear
to require 'good nature and clear reasoning, or colouring things' and would
be facilitated by 'native politeness'." (Priests, 42)
FEASTS & FESTIVALS
Much of the information about the
feasts and festivals celebrated by Cherokees in ancient
times is taken from the hand-written manuscripts in the
Payne (John Howard Payne) papers at the Newberry Library museum in
Chicago.
According to Gilbert, in
The Eastern Cherokees, Bulletin 133: "The white officials of the nation
had, in addition to the numerous secular and private functions, the priestly
function of acting as the regulators and chief performers in the periodic
tribal ceremonies now to be described.
"There were six greater festivals
(other than the Green Corn Feasts). They were held at the council house
in the capital town where the seven clans assembled at the behest of the
uku and his seven prime counselors. In addition to these, the Oukah dance
was given every 7 years in which the uku (here entitled Oukah) performed
a sacred dance.
1st Festival: The
first new moon of spring. This was celebrated when the grass began
to grow an had no special title. The present day Corn Dance, called 'adanwisi',
or "they are going to plant" (Yontonwisas Dance of Mooney) may be descended
from this rite of March.
"Cherokees venerated seven
kinds of trees, which they related to seven matrilineal clans in an annual
cycle of ritual. The seven-day celebration for the First New Moon of Spring
included fasting, going to water, distributing medicinal roots, consulting
the Ulunsu-ti, hunting, dancing, sacrificing meat, and kindling
a fresh town house fire.
To make sacred fire (so see) in the
spring, clan representatives gathered wood from the eastern sides of seven
trees, peeled off the outer bark, and placed the wood in a circle on the
central altar of the town house. The woods included white oak, black oak,
water oak, black jack, bass wood, chestnut, and white pine." (Hill, 12)
Note: ...when the harvest had
ended and before spring planting, there were the corn dances, "the one
to return thanks to the Good Spirit for the Fruits of the Earth, the other
to beg the same blessings for the succeeding year." Lawson observed a rather
interesting feature of the ceremony: "And, to encourage the Young Men to
labor stoutly, in Planting their Maiz and Pulse, they set a sort of an
idol in the field, which is dressed up exactly like a (Cherokee), having
all the (Cherokee) habits, besides abundance of Wampum, and their Money,
made of shells, that hang about his Neck. The Image none of the young Men
dare approach; for the Old Ones will not suffer them to come near him,
but tell him that he is some famous Warrior, that died a great while ago,
and now is come amongst them to see if they work well, which, if they do,
he will go to the good Spirit and speak to Him and send them Plenty of
Corn and make all the young Men expert hunters and mighty Warriors. All
this While, the King and Old Men sit around the Image, and seemingly pay
a profound Respect to the same. One great Help to these Inds. is carrying
on these Cheats, and inducing the Youths to do what they please is the
uninterrupted silence which is ever kept and observed, with all the Respect
and Veneration imaginable." ( Quoted, 257)
2nd Festival:The Preliminary Green Corn Feast: This is entitled 'sah-lookstikneekeehatehateeh'
in the Payne Manuscripts and is rendered 'selu tsunistigistli',
or 'roasting ear's time' by present-day informants. It was held in August
when the young corn first became fit to taste.
"On the 7th day of the New Green
Corn Feast, seven ears of corn were delivered to the Oukah. New fire was
made by a firemaker on the altar from bark of seven selected trees. Leaves
of old tobacco were sprinkled on the fire and omens were taken from this.
The Oukah placed the seven ears in the fire also with the piece of deer's
tongue and then prayed that the sacrifice might be acceptable. After this
rite the Oukah and his seven counselors fasted for seven days and the populace
then assembled for another general 1-day feast which completed the second
festival.
3rd Festival:
The Green Corn Feast: This is called 'tunguahkawhooghni' in
the Payne Manuscripts and is rendered donagohuni by present-day informants.
The ripe or mature Green Corn Feast succeeded the Preliminary Green Corn
Feast of August in about 40 or 50 days in the middle or latter September
when the corn had become hard or perfect and is still held today.
"The third great feast
was the Mature, or Ripe, Corn Feast, and was held in September 40 or 50
days after the preceding festival. The Oukah, who presided at this rite
was given the special ceremonial title of Netagunghstah and was elevated
on a platform held up by carriers and was dressed in a white robe with
leggings, moccasins, otter skins on the legs, and a red cap on the head.
Altogether this festival lasted 4 days and women were excluded from the
sacred square during the dances...
4th Festival: "The fourth
great festival, or great new moon of Autumn, followed the new moon's appearance
when the leaves began to yellow in the fall. The Cherokees fancied that
the world was created at this time and they regulated their series of new
moon feasts by it. There is some evidence, however, that the Cherokees
originally began their year with the first new moon of spring. The counselors
carefully counted the number of nights from the last new moon and, if it
was cloudy weather, they resorted to the divining crystal to ascertain
the time of appearance of the new moon for autumn. Seven nights previous
to the event they sent out hunters to hunt, seven men to prepare seats,
tables, and in general order the feast, and seven honorable women to get
the provisions ready and to cook them. The end of the tongue of the first
deer killed was carefully wrapped in old leaves and given to the presiding
priest together with seven deerskins. The entire population met and each
family brought seven or more ears of hard corn, dried pumpkins, and samples
of every crop which were all given to the priest. The women gave the sacred
religious dance and no one slept that night. The next day the populace
assembled at the river and bathed seven times in the same manner as at
the first feast of spring. The deer's tongue wrapped in leaves was consumed
in the fire and omens were invoked with the sacred crystal. Then followed
feasting. The event lasted only 1 day." (Gilbert, 330)
..at
this time the Oukah (called in this rite by the title of 'oolestooleeh"
together with his assistants, proceeded to the treasure-store house and
got seven articles for purification. Then he passed around the fire and
sprinkled tobacco on it as he waved the wing of a white heron over it and
waft the smoke in all directions as he prayed. He repeated this prayer
four times and then placed the basket for purification in the caldron
where it was watched day and night. The Oolestooleeh prepared the sacrifice
on the altar. First a deer's tongue and a piece of old tobacco were put
on the fire. If the tongue popped, it means death for someone during the
year. A bluish or slowly ascending smoke meant sickness. The Oukah then
set the divining crystal on the deerskin and prayed... on the morning of
the fifty day sacrifice was offered again, and then the Oukah took the
purified articles from the caldron and put them away in a buckskin, exclaiming,
"Now I return home". He then departed, followed by the other officials".
4. The Great New Moon Feast:
This is called 'nungtahtayquah' in the Payne Manuscripts and is rendered
'nuwati egwa', or 'big medicine' by present-day informants. This festival
was held at the first new moon of autumn in October when the leaves had
begun to fall into the waters of the rivers and impart their curative powers
to the latter. This was identical with the medicine dance of later times.
5th: Propitiation Festival. "Some 10 days
after the ceremony just described came the Propitiation or Cementation
Festival, which was the greatest of all the annual celebrations being listed.
A day or two after the Great New Moon Festival the seven prime counselors
withdrew to the nation heptagon to decide on the time for the Cementation
Feast. Seven days before the event, after a solemn address by one of the
counselors, a messenger was dispatched to call the people. Seven women
(probably the wives of the seven counselors) were selected to lead the
dance and seven musicians to aid them. One person was appointed from each
clan to assist these and to fast for 7 days. Seven cleaners were appointed
to clean out the national heptagon, seven men were sent out to hunt game,
and seven to seek seven different articles for purification. A special
fire maker was appointed to make holy new fire and six assistants were
given him. A special attendant was appointed to dress and undress the Jowah
hymn chanter while he performed his sacred ablutions and duties. If the
old Jowah hymn singer had died, a new one was appointed for life.
"All of these officials commenced
a fast 7 days before the festival and the hunters went forth in quest of
game as in the other feasts. The seekers after seven articles of purification
returned with branches of cedar, white pine, hemlock, mistletoe, evergreen
briar, heartleaf, and ginseng root. In later days other articles were purified
such as mountain birchbark, mountain birch sprig, willow roots, swamp dogwood
roots, and spruce pine. These were all fastened in a cane basket expressly
fashioned for the purpose on the evening of the sixth day after notice
of the festival had been sent out. These articles were then stored away
in the treasure house west of the national heptagon along with the produce
of the hunt.
"On the evening of the sixth day after
the notice, the people gathered at the national heptagon and the women
performed a dance while four musicians sang in turn. All retired early
that night to sleep, for the festival proper began the following day.
"The first event was the making of
new fires by the seven fire makers from seven different kinds of wood,
namely blackjack, locust, post oak, sycamore, red bird, plum, and red oak.
The seven cleansers began at the same time to exorcise the houses of the
town. These cleansers had a prescribed costume of which the most noticeable
feature was a scarf on the head decorated with a set of fur tassels from
the white fur on the underside of a deer's tail.
"The heptagon had been previously
swept clean, old ashes removed, and the earth in the altar renewed so that
the latter stood 1 foot high again. A bench of planks had been also constructed
at the side of the altar to hold the white dipping gourds, and sacred white
purifying caldron. The whitened bench was covered with dressed buckskin
whitened with clay. Overhead a buckskin canopy protected from the weather.
As soon as the new fire had been kindled by friction of two sticks, it
was taken from the makers by the aspergers and kindled on the altar. Then
the sacred caldron was placed there and an asperger walked around four
times crying out as he took the gourds, filled them, and poured the water
into the caldron. At this time the uku (called in this rite by the title
of "oolestooleeh"), together with his assistants, proceeded to the treasure
store house and got the seven articles for purification. Then he passed
around the fire and sprinkled tobacco on it as he waved the wing of a white
heron over it to waft the smoke in all directions as he prayed. He repeated
this prayer four times and then placed the basket for purification in the
caldron where it was watched day and night. The seven cleansers kept constantly
renewing the fire on the altar because at the dawn of the first day every
fire throughout the nation had been extinguished by the women and every
fireplace cleansed of all ashes. The women then came to the national heptagon
as soon as the new fire was made and supplied themselves with a portion
of it for their hearts. No food was tasted that day until the new fire
had been made and a portion of the fire meat cooked offered as sacrifice.
"Seven attendants now appeared, each
with a white wand of sycamore, which were handed to the seven exorcisers
for their duties. The leader of the seven cleansers now went out and struck
the caves of the roof of the storehouse with his rod and then sang a song.
He then struck similarly all of the houses of the metropolis as did his
followers. Then the meat from the hunters' stores was distributed for cooking.
"An attendant called the Jowah hymn
singer from his seat by name and invested him with his white robes, placing
also in his hand a white gourd filled with pebbles (or a shell similarly
prepared) and fastened on a stick. The singer rattled the gourd and sounded
a few preliminary notes. He now began his song of seven verses, each repeated
four times in seven different tunes. He then again rattled the gourd and
retired for disrobing. The seven cleansers took the white gourds and dipped
out water from the caldron and passed some to each head of a clan and on
down until all had drunk and rubbed a little on their breasts. The Jowah
hymn was then sung by the singer a second time. Following this came the
previously noted bathing rite in the river by all the people, each person
bathing seven times and alternately facing east and west. Some persons
entered the water with old clothes on and let them float away while others
changed clothes afterward.
"The oolestooleeh prepared the sacrifice
on the altar. First a deer's tongue and a piece of old tobacco were put
on the fire. If the tongue popped, it meant death for someone during the
year. A bluish or slowly ascending smoke meant sickness. The oolestooleeh
then set the divining crystal on the deerskin and prayed. If health was
to reign the crystal would be clear but if sickness was due a smokiness
would appear along with the faces of those designated for it. Toward sunset
the changer again gave the Jowah hymn. The great speaker called for cooked
meat, bread from new corn, mush, hominy, potatoes, beans, and the like
for a big feast. The officials, however, could not eat until dark. The
Jowah singer ate once after dark ever 24 hours during the four days of
the feast. He had to bathe seven times before eating and at daybreak. The
evening of the first day there was a religious dance until midnight and
some of the women kept an all-night vigil or danced until dawn.
"The remaining 3 days of the festival
were passed in much the same manner as the first. On the second day the
Jowah hymn was not sung, and the officials alone fasted. The third and
fourth days were about the same, except all of the events of the first
day were repeated on the fourth. Fasting was a noticeable feature of this
ceremony, the officials fasting 10 days in all and the people fasting on
the first and fourth days of the festival, even infants fasting until noon.
All-night vigils were maintained on the first and fourth nights, and at
the end of the rites all put off old garments and put on clean ones. Every
one on 2 different occasions plunged 7 times into the river, or 14 times
in all. On the morning of the fifth day sacrifice was offered again, and
then the oolestooleeh took the purified articles from the caldron and put
them away in a buckskin, exclaiming "Now, I return home". He then departed,
followed by the other officials.
"The Propitiation Festival was the
subject of local variations in later times, especially in the manner of
lighting the new fire. The term "physic dance" was later given to the rite
of purifying the house, "physic" meaning a conciliation of expiation. Diseases
requiring a physic had been sent from above to punish some offense among
the people. A circle was sometimes laid about the altar of seven different
kinds of wood curiously laid and by seven strings of white beads, each
of the latter representing one of the seven clans and each placed there
by one of the clan members and pointed toward the wood. Originally, say
the Cherokees, the seven clans were commanded to feed the fire with their
flesh, but wood was later substituted for this. The fire maker then produced
two pieces of dry bass wood and put goldenrod between them. Two others
then took hold of the wood and spun it around to produce fire by friction.
"The Propitiation Festival was instituted
to cleanse all and to bind all together in a vow of eternal brotherhood.
Passionate friendship was sworn between young men, and these vows were
plighted in public by the solemn exchange of garment after garment until
each was clad in the other's dress.
"The ancient Propitiation Festival
involved the swearing of friendships between men and between men and women
of different clans. No sexual relation could be allowed between persons
swearing such friendships. Between these friends, however, there was a
sharing of everything. They would, perhaps, exchange garments and goods,
giving each other one garment after another at the friendship dance. Young
men and young women might be prevented by the marriage restrictions from
marrying, but they could swear friendship at this rite. There could be
no secrets that were not shared together by these friends." Gilbert, (332,333,334)
"Butrick reported that during the
Festival of Propitiation, the priest "took the wing of a perfectly white
heron and waved it four times over the cauldron, so as to waft the steam
in every direction and prayed again to himself". This part of the ceremony
was to implore that the people be cleansed from all impurities of the preceding
year (Payne MSS 1:6y2 and 4:203, NL) (Hill, Notes, 332)
5. The Cementation or Reconciliation Festival: This
is called 'ahtawhhungnah' by Payne and is rendered 'adahuna', or 'woman
gathering wood', by present informants after the dance of that name. This
festival succeeded the preceding one after a lapse of 10 days at the end
of October and was connected with the making of new fire.
"Fires built for fall celebrations
required different kinds of wood. The Festival of Propitiation and Purification
(Ah-tawh-hung-nah) commemorated and renewed the relationship between earth
dwellers and the creator. Perhaps the most solemn of the seven festivals,
it included rituals to purify, heal, and cleanse the bodies and spirits
of all. Before dawn on the seventh ritual day, firemakers ceremonially
prepared a fresh town-house fire of black jack, locust, post oak, sycamore,
red bud, plum, and red oak. The fire burned under an immense pot of water
in which the priest submerged seven medicine plants "fastened into a cane
basket, expressly fashioned for this purpose". The medicine spiritually
purified Cherokees and defended them from illness and contagion. Medicinal
plants included the legendary cedar and white pine, along with hemlock,
mistletoe, evergreen brier, heartleaf, and ginseng." (Hill, 12,13)
6th Festival: "The last ceremony of the six annual
ones was the Festival of the Exalting, or Bounding Bush, which occurred
in the winter after the propitiation Ceremony...
"The Cementation or Reconciliation
Festival involved primarily the idea of the removal of all uncleanness
and thereby also removed all possibility of disease.
The Exalting or Bounding Bush Feast:
This is called 'elahwahtah llaykee' in the Payne Manuscripts and is rendered
'aliwatadeyl' or 'pigeon dance' by present-day informants. This festival
occurred in December and was of spruce or pine boughs.
In "Tribes that Slumber", Lewis & Kneberg write: "The
sacredness of the number seven was constantly emphasized in Cherokee ceremonies.
Six of these took place each year, but the seventh was celebrated only
every seven years. They were held at the capital town of the nation where
the paramount chief resided, and the local inhabitants welcomed into their
homes the visitors who congregated from far and wide. In preparation, messengers
were dispatched throughout the nation to announce the date in advance,
and hunters from the capital town sent to the forests to seek meat for
the feasts. The six annual ceremonies, which took place between March and
November, will be described in the order of their occurrence.
***************************
1. FIRST NEW MOON OF SPRING: "When the grass began
to grow and the trees send out their pale new leaves, the chief and his
advisors met to plan for the festival in honor of the first new moon of
spring. At this meeting, held early in March during the dark of the moon,
seven elder women, honored leaders in their respective clans, performed
the Friendship Dance. Then the chief, after conferring with his advisors,
announced the date of the ceremony and ordered the messengers to notify
the towns in the nation. During the following days, while some of the men
went hunting, others repaired the altar in the temple and procured firewood
from seven different species of trees.
"On the day set by the chief, the
visitors from all of the other towns assembled at the capital. When evening
came and the moon's slender crescent appeared above the western horizon,
the women opened the ceremony with the Friendship Dance. By the time the
dance was finished, the moon had set, and the first day's activities were
over.
"Shortly after dawn the next morning,
the entire population crowded into the temple. The chief, now acting as
high priest, brought out the sacred crystal which was believed to have
the power to foretell the future. Pure quartz crystals, used by Cherokee
chiefs and priests on most important occasions, were considered peculiarly
sacred, and at the same time dangerous --only persons trained from childhood
could handle them without harmful effects. Because this festival initiated
the planting season, the crystal's predictions were concerned with the
success or failure of the crops. The people awaited these predictions,
tense with emotion compounded of hope and anxiety.
"After this part of the ritual, everyone
left the temple and assembled on the river bank. There, they plunged into
the water and, facing toward the east, completely submerged themselves
seven times. Following this chilly purification, they changed into dry
clothes to await the feast which would take place after sunset. Because
no food had been eaten since the day before, it may be imagined that these
hours seemed very long.
"Just before sunset, everyone returned
to the temple and the priest performed a ritual sacrifice by burning dried
tobacco flowers and a deer's tongue into the sacred fire. The smoke from
this sacrifice was believed to carry the prayers of the Cherokee to the
sun. The feast followed this rite, and after the feast the night was spent
in dancing.
"Seven days later, the interim being
a period for visiting and recreation, the people again met in the temple,
this time for the ritual of relighting the sacred fire. The fire-maker,
a person initiated into the mysteries of the tribal religion, extinguished
the altar flames and, with the aid of his six assistants, prepared to rekindle
it. For this, he used two pieces of dry basswood, one a rod and the other
a flat slab having a cup-shaped depression. Placing some tinder composed
of dried goldenrod blossoms in the depression, he rotated the rod rapidly
back and forth between the palms of his hands until the friction produced
fire. Once the tinder was ignited, the feeble flame was fed with the seven
different kinds of wood. Previously, the fires in the homes had been extinguished
and all of the old ashes removed from the hearths. After the sacred fire
in the temple was once more burning strongly, the women were given glowing
coals to relight their hearth fires. Even the visitors carried home burning
embers to be used for the same purpose. (Lewis & Kneberg, 176,7,8,9,0)
2. GREEN CORN CEREMONY: "In August when the new
corn crop was ripe enough to eat, the Green Corn Ceremony took place, eating
of new corn being tabooed until after this event. Preliminary preparations
were the same as for the first new moon of spring festival, except that
along the route the messengers gathered seven ears of corn, each of these
ears coming from a field of a different clan. When the messengers returned
with the corn, the chief and his seven counselors fasted for the following
six days. Meanwhile, the people assembled, and after an all night vigil,
the ceremony began on the seventh day.
"The sacred fire was extinguished
and rekindled as before, and the chief prepared the sacrifice. In addition
to the deer's tongue, he used kernels from each of seven ears of corn.
First he dedicated the corn to Yowa and offered a prayer of thanksgiving.
Then, placing the corn and the deer's tongue into the sacred fire, he sprinkled
over them a powder made from tobacco.
"In the meantime, food prepared from
the new corn was brought to the temple where everyone was served -- that
is, everyone except the chief and his seven counselors who for another
seven days could only eat corn from the previous year's harvest." (Lewis
& Kneberg, 180)
3. RIPE CORN CEREMONY: "Only one of all the ancient
ceremonies of the Cherokee survived until the twentieth century. It was
primarily a harvest festival to celebrate the final maturing of the corn
crop. Since it lacked many of the religious features of the other ceremonies,
conflict was less between it and doctrines of the Christian religion which
the Cherokee began to adopt during the eighteenth century.
"In late September the usual preparations
for notifying the nation and providing food for the feasts having begun,
the square ground was made ready. The ceremony was an outdoor affair lasting
four days, during which feasting and dancing were the main activities.
Arbors shaded by boughs were constructed around the square, and a leafy
tree was set in the center. A special portable platform, upon which the
right-hand man of the chief was to perform a dance, was also built. Each
man then provided himself with a green bough to be carried during the men's
dance.
"The dance was performed during the
daytime and, while it was taking place, women were excluded from the square.
The dance started some distance beyond the square, each man carrying his
green bough in his right hand. As they followed a leader in single file,
the men entered the square and circled the tree in the center seven times,
singing and leaping in the traditional steps of the dance. Meanwhile, on
the platform held aloft on the shoulders of a group of men, the chief's
right-hand man performed his dance. During each of the four days of the
ceremony, the men carried out this ritual which was one of intense exertion
and excitement. After sunset came the feast which was followed by social
dances in the square, women also participating in these." (Lewis &
Kneberg, 180,1)
4. GREAT NEW MOON CEREMONY: "When autumn leaves
began to fall and the October new moon appeared in the sky, the new year
ceremony took place. This was the season of the year in which the world
was created, according to Cherokee tradition. The proper name for the ceremony
was Nuwatiegwa, meaning 'big medicine', but it was also called the
Great New Moon Ceremony.
"In addition to the usual preparations,
each family that attended brought produce from its own fields -- corn,
beans, pumpkins, etc. Part of this was for the general feast and the rest
for the chief to distribute among unfortunate families whose harvest had
been insufficient.
"On the night of the moon's appearance,
the women performed a religious dance. Only infants were permitted to sleep,
the rest of the people keeping vigil until just before dawn. Then everyone,
infants included, assembled on the river bank and were arranged in one
long line by the priest. At sunrise the priest signaled for all to wade
in and submerge themselves and their children seven times. While this was
taking place, the priest placed the sacred crystal on a stand near the
river's edge. Then, emerging from the water, one at a time, the people
gazed into the crystal. If their image reflected by the crystal appeared
to be lying down, they believed that they would die before spring. If,
on the other hand, they appeared to be standing erect, they would survive
the coming winter.
"Those who felt themselves doomed
remained apart and fasted, while the others changed into dry clothes and
returned to the temple. There the priest made the usual sacrifice of a
deer's tongue, and a feast followed. Most of the night was devoted to a
religious dance by the women, and none but infants slept.
"Before nightfall, those who had been
themselves lying down in the crystal were taken once more by the priest
to the river bank where the crystal-gazing was repeated. If on the second
try, some saw themselves standing erect, they repeated the seven submergings
in the river and then considered themselves safe. The unfortunates, whose
images on the second try were still reclining, had one more chance to escape
their fate. But this was deferred until the next new moon, four weeks later.
"This was a short ceremony lasting
only two days and nights. It was followed after ten days by the fifth ceremony,
the intervening time being devoted to preparations." (Lewis & Kneberg,
181,2,3)
5. RECONCILIATION OR 'FRIENDS MADE' CEREMONY: "Atohuna,
meaning 'friends made' was the name of the fifth ceremony. The name referred
to a relationship between two persons of either the same or opposite sex.
This relationship was a bond of eternal friendship in which each person
vowed to regard the other as himself as long as they both lived. The guiding
theme of the ceremony was a universal vow of brotherly love, and entailed
reconciliation between those who had quarreled during the previous year.
Beyond its earthly significance, the ceremony symbolized the uniting of
the people with Yowa, and a purification of their minds and bodies. Hence,
of all the Cherokee ceremonies it was the most profoundly religious.
"During the ten days that intervened
between this and the Great New Moon Ceremony, seven hunters were sent after
game, seven other men to procure seven kinds of evergreen plants, and seven
more to clean and prepare the temple. In addition, seven women were designated
to fast for seven days in company with the chief officials.
"Just before dawn on the day of the
ceremony, the sacred vessels and the seats for the officials were whitened
with clay. White buckskins were spread over the seats and on the ground
in front of them, white being symbolic of peace and purity.
"At sunrise, the people assembled
in the temple to witness the ritual rekindling of the sacred fire. Seven
different kinds of wood -- blackjack oak, post oak, red oak, sycamore,
locust, plum and redbud -- were used to feed the fire. Next, the high priest
sprinkled powdered tobacco on the fire, and as the smoke rose, he wafted
it in the four cardinal directions, using the wing of white heron as a
fan. Then a whitened pottery vessel filled with water was placed on the
fire, and a small cane basket containing the seven evergreen plants was
dropped into it. This brew, composed of cedar, white pine, hemlock, mistletoe,
greenbrier, heartleaf and ginseng, became the ritual medicine of purification
that was used on several occasions during the five days of the festival.
"The second event of the ceremony
was performed by seven men furnished with white sycamore rods. Their function
was to drive away evil spirits by chanting a sacred formula while they
struck the eaves of all buildings with their rods. While they were carrying
out this task, the priest who was to sing the great hymn to Yowa
was dressed in white robes by his assistants. When the men with the sycamore
rods returned, he went outside and began to sing, ascending onto the roof
of the temple as he sang. The hymn had seven verses, each sung in a different
melody and repeated four times. At the conclusion of the hymn, the priest
descended and re-entered the temple.
"Next, the seven men who had driven
the evil spirits from the town dipped seven white gourds into the medicine
which had been brewing on the sacred fire. Then, each handed a gourd full
of medicine to the head man of his own clan who drank from it and handed
it on. As it passed from person to person, each drank and rubbed some on
his chest. After all had partaken, the hymn to Yowa was repeated.
"The usual ritual bathing and sacrifice
followed. By this time it was sunset, and the Yowa hymn was sung
again. A feast was then served, and during the evening the women joined
in the Friendship Dance.
"The rituals of the second and third
days were the same; except that the Yowa hymn was not sung. The
fourth day was a repetition of the first day, including the Yowa
hymn. On the fifth and last day the medicine basket was withdrawn from
the vessel and stored in a secret place. The ceremony was concluded when
the officials and priests left, saying as they made their exit, 'Now I
depart'. The people followed, holding in their hearts a deep sense of security
and peace.
6. BOUNDING BUSH CEREMONY: "Few details are known
concerning the sixth annual ceremony. It appears to have been a non-religious
affair that featured dancing and feasting. In the main dance, men and women
alternated in pairs. The two leaders, who were men, carried hoops having
four spokes, to the ends of which white feathers were fastened. Other pairs
in the center and at the end of the dancing column also carried hoops.
All of the remaining couples carried white pine boughs in their right hands.
The dance movement was circular, and in the center was a man with a small
box. He danced around within the circle, singing as he did so, and as he
passed by the dancers, each dropped a piece of tobacco into the box. This
dance, which ended at midnight, was repeated on three successive nights.
"On the fourth night, a feast preceded
the dancing which did not begin until after midnight. This time, when the
man with the box appeared, the people dropped pine needles in the box.
At the conclusion of the dance near daylight, all of the dancers formed
a circle around the altar fire. One by one, they advanced three times toward
the fire, the third time tossing both tobacco and pine needles into the
flames.
"Symbolic sacrifice appears to have
been the theme of this ceremony, but too few of its details have been preserved
for its true meaning to be understood. It concluded the six great annual
ceremonies, although at each new moon during the year there were minor
local observances."
(Lewis & Kneberg, 184-185)
7. THE UKU DANCE: "Every seventh year, the chief
of the Cherokee nation led his people in a thanksgiving ceremony of great
rejoicing. It was called the Uku dance because the chief, whose title was
Uku, was at this time reconsecrated in his office of high priest. Uku was
one of several titles conferred upon him. During the 'friends made' ceremony,
for example, his title meant 'one who renews heart and body'"
"When the Uku dance occurred, it replaced
the Great New Moon Ceremony. The customary seven days of preparation preceded
it, and on the evening of the last day, the chief's seven counselors took
charge and appointed individuals to perform special tasks. Among these
were men to direct the feast and women to cook the food. The 'Honored Woman'
was responsible for warming water with which two of the counselors were
to bathe the chief. Another counselor was selected to disrobe him, and
still another to dress him in a ceremonial costume. Three additional appointments
included a musician to lead the singing, an attendant to fan the chief,
and a third to build two elevated seats, one in the square ground and the
other between the temple and the chief's home. These seats were tall, throne
like platforms, whitened with clay and protected by canopies.
"The ceremony proper began the next
morning with the seven counselors going to the home of the chief where
they met the 'Honored Woman' waiting with the warm water. After undressing
and bathing the chief, they arrayed him in the new costume. His usual garments
on ceremonial occasions wee white, including his moccasins and feather
headdress. But for this event, his entire costume was dyed bright yellow.
"Then the chief, carried on the back
of one of the counselors, was brought to the throne that stood between
his home and the temple. In this procession, several of the counselors
preceded the chief, the musician walked at one side, the fanner at the
other, and the rest followed. All except the one who carried the chief
sang as they advanced. After a short rest, during which the chief was seated
on the throne, they resumed their march to the square ground. Arriving
there, he was placed upon the second throne where he would remain until
the next day. During this long vigil, he and his officials kept perfect
silence, while the rest of the people spent the night dancing in the temple.
"Early the next morning, after the
men of the tribe had assembled, the attendants lifted the chief from the
throne and carried him to a previously marked circle in the center of the
square. Not until then had his feet been allowed to touch the ground. Within
the sacred circle he began the Uku dance. Moving slowly with great dignity
he inclined his head to each spectator, who bowed to him in return. Outside
the circle the officials followed in single file, imitating his steps.
When the dance was finished he was again placed upon the white throne where,
surrounded by his attendants, he remained until sunset. Meanwhile, the
rest of the people enjoyed a feast. Late in the afternoon, food was brought
to the chief and his counselors, after which he was carried back to his
home and disrobed. With the exception of the ritual bathing, the same performance
was repeated on the next three days.
"After the Uku's dance on the fourth
day, he was reinvested with his religious and civil powers by his right-hand
man, and the ceremony was concluded.
"Although the religious behavior of
peoples of different cultures, such as the prehistoric Cherokee, often
includes rituals and beliefs incomprehensible to the outsider, religion
among all peoples is the outgrowth of human desire for an orderly and understandable
universe. Of all cultural achievements, religion is the most highly symbolic
and is as necessary to mankind as food, water and air." (Lewis & Kneberg,
185,6,7,8)
FEATHERS
"From Virginia to Louisiana
garments and blankets were made by fastening feathers upon a kind of netting.
Feather mantles were perhaps worn for ornament as much as for warmth."
Swanton, #137, 454,5)
"Their Feather Match-Coats are
very pretty, especially some of them, which are made extraordinary charming,
containing several pretty Figures wrought in Feathers, making them seem
like a fine Flower Silk-Shag, and when new and fresh, they become a Bed
very well, instead of a Quilt." (Lawson, 200)
"The feather mantles are worked
on a frame similar to that on which wig makers work hair. They lay out
the feathers in the same manner and fasten them to old fish nets or old
mulberry-bark mantles. They place them in the manner already outlined one
over another and on both sides. For this purpose they make use of little
turkey feathers. The women who can obtain feathers of the swan or ... duck
make mantles of them for the women of the Honored class" (DuPratz,
Vol. 2, 191-2)
"With the thread which they obtain
from the bark of the bass tree they make for themselves a kind of mantle
which they cover with the finest swan feathers fastened on this cloth one
by one, a long piece of work in truth, but they account their pains and
time as nothing when they want to satisfy themselves." (Dumont, vol. 1,
155)
Adair wrote that a Chickasaw
woman (and a Cherokee woman could do the same, and undoubtedly did): "make
turkey feather blankets with the long feathers of the neck and breast of
that large fowl -- they twist the inner end(s) of the feathers very fast
into a strong double thread of hemp, or the inner bark of the mulberry
tree, of the size and strength of coarse twine, as the fibres are sufficiently
fine, and they work it in the manner of fine netting. As the feathers are
long and glittering, this sort of blanket is not only very warm, but pleasing
to the eye." (Adair, 423)
Feather Fans: "The men furthermore affect the
fan ... of wild turkey tail feathers. The proper possession of this, however,
is with the older men and chiefs who spend much of their time in leisure.
They handle the fan very gracefully in emphasizing their gestures and in
keeping insects away. During ceremonies to carry the fan is a sign of leadership.
It is passed to a dancer as an invitation to lead the next dance. He, when
he has completed his duty, returns it to the master of ceremonies who then
bestows it upon someone else. The construction of the fan is very simple,
the quills being merely strung together upon a string in several places
near the base. (Speck, 52)
"Ascribing spiritual power
to feathers (tsu-lunu-hi), Cherokees plucked and preserved them
for ceremonies and rituals. In certain ceremonies, special assistants fanned
the priest with turkey feather wands. The priest presiding over the Green
Corn Festival "rises up with a white wing in his hand and commands silence.
(Longe). When a 'Beloved Woman' prepared medicine for the Chilhowee 'psysic
dance' in the Overhills, she "took out the wing of a swan, and after flourishing
it over the pot, stood fixed for near a minute" as she offered prayers.
Feathers served as emblems of office and at the same time as intercessors
poised midway between humans and their creator. Those individuals who carried
feathers -- both women and men -- exerted authority and assumed responsibility.
Each clan wore "feathers of different colors attached to their ears". Warriors
and ballplayers tied their hair with dyed feathers from the eagle, raven,
mountain hawk, sparrow hawk, long tail hawk, chicken hawk, or goose, hoping
to become imbued with swiftness, keen vision and cunning. Particularly
skilled scouts wore raven or owl skins, and outstanding warriors were honored
with the name Raven (Ka-lu-na) the "second war title". (Hill, 22)
"Women wove soft turkey breast
feathers into elaborate blankets, cloaks, and short gowns that were 'pleasant
to wear and beautiful' as well as extremely warm." (Hill, 23) "...and beds were spread with
a 'big old tick' filled with feathers plucked from ducks or chickens who
roosted in trees and nested under cabin floors." (Hill, 267,8)
KINDS OF FEATHERS: Flight
- Strong, stiff, flexible feathers found on the wings and tail.
Contour
- Large, fern-shaped feathers that hug the bird's outer body, giving it
a rounded look.
Down -
Small, soft feathers hidden beneath the countour feathers as protection
against
hot and cold weather.
Filoplume
- Tiny, hair-like feathers found in clusters around the base of some contour
feathers.
Most songbirds have between 1,100
and 4,600 feathers. A bald eagle has only about 7,180 feathers, but a mallard
duck has about 12,000. Some swans have more than 25,000 feathers, and penquins
have 180 feathers per square inch.
PARTS OF A FEATHER: "Although
researchers do not know for certain how feathers evolved, they have studied
the parts of a feather and how it grows. A single feather is made up of
keratin. This dead skin tissue on a typical feather consists of
a flat vane with a stiff, yet flexible, central shaft. The lower
part of the shaft is called a quill. "Springing from the shaft are fine
filaments, or threads, called barbs. Each barb, in turn,
has its own central shaft, which holds even smaller barbs, called barbules.
At close range, each one appears to be a feather within a feather.
"A single barb in a crane feather
has nearly 600 barbules on each side. This amounts to more than one million
barbules in just one feather. The barbules of some feathers are divided
even further into microscopic objects called barbicels, which end
in tiny hooks. The hooks lock with the barbicels on either side to form
a smooth, flat web that protects the bird from water and air.
"A feather begins as a tiny knob,
called a papilla. It forms beneath the bird's skin. Tightly rolled
inside the papilla are the microscopic parts of the feather. The entire
structure is set into a follicle, or small pocket in the skin. The
papilla supplies the color and the necessary nourishment, or food, as the
young, undeveloped feather grows.
"After the feather is fully grown,
the blood supply shuts off. From that point on, like human hair and nails,
it has no feeling. If a feather is plucked or falls off, the papilla immediately
begins to form a new feather in the same follicle." (O'Connor, 9,10,11)
The same qualities of feathers
that help birds fly come in handy when the feathers are trimmed and used
on arrows to help them fly straight and true.
FIRE
Fire is given a variety
of names in the sacred formulas, "ancient red", "ancient white", "grandmother",
etc. The fire and the sun were sometimes considered the same, and were
the most powerful forces in the universe.
"Although the sun and the moon
were considered supreme over the lower creation, the most active and efficient
agent appointed by them to take care of mankind was supposed to be fire.
When, therefore, any special favor was needed it was made known to fire,
accompanied by an offering. Fire was the intermediate being nearest the
sun. The same homage was extended to smoke, which was deemed fire's messenger,
always in readiness to convey his petition on high. (Gilbert, 133)
New fire was made by putting
goldenrod into a small hole in a block of wood, and then a stick was whirled
rapidly about in this until the goldenrod caught fire. "DuPratz says the fire-maker
selected a small limb, dead but still adhering to the tree, and about as
big as one of the fingers, removed it, and twirled it violently in a cavity
in a second stick until a little smoke was seen coming out. Then, collecting
in the hole the dust which this rubbing has produced, he blows upon it
gently until it takes fire, after which he adds to it some very dry moss
and other inflammable materials." (quoted, Swanton, 57)
"...not knowing the use of
Steel and Flints, they got their Fire with Sticks, which by vehement Collision,
or Rubbing together, take Fire. This Method they will sometimes practise
now, when it has happen'd thro' rainy Weather, or some other Accident,
that they have wet their Spunk, which is a sort of soft corky Substnce,
generally of a Cinnamon Colour, and grows in the concave part of an Oak,
Hiccory, and several other Woods, being dug out with an Ax, and always
kept... instead of Tinder or Touchwood, both which it exceeds. You are
to understand, that the two Sticks they use to strike Fire withal, are
never of one sort of Wood, but always differ from each other." (Lawson,
212,213)
"To make sacred fire (tsila-galun-kwe-ti-yu)
in the spring, clan representatives gathered wood from the eastern sides
of seven trees, peeled off the outer bark, and placed the wood in a circle
on the central altar of the town house. The woods included white
oak, black oak, water oak, black jack, bass wood, chestnut, and white pine.
Once the fire ignited, women carried burning coals to start fresh fires
in their homes. The town house fire "never goes out" wrote British trader
Alexander Longe in 1725, it burned continuously in each town until it was
ceremonially extinguished and rebuilt. Neither embers nor ash could be
removed from the fire, nor pipes lit there. Cherokees offered supplications
to the fire, whose smoke was "always in readiness to convey the petition
on high". The source of heat, light, and smoke rising to the Upper World,
wood for the town house fire carried singular significance.
"Fire built for fall celebrations
required different kinds of wood. The Festival of Propitiation and Purification
(Ah-tawh-hung-nah) commemorated and renewed the relationship between
earth dwellers and the creator. Perhaps the most solemn of the seven festivals,
it included rituals to purify, heal, and cleanse the bodies and spirits
of all. Before dawn on the seventh ritual day, firemakers ceremonially
prepared a fresh town house fire of black jack, locust, post oak, sycamore,
red-bud, plum, and red oak" The fire burned under an immense pot of water
in which the priest submerged seven medicine plants "fastened into a cane
basket, expressly fashioned for that purpose" (Hill, 12,13) (see Feasts
& Festivals)
The hunter prays to the fire,
from which he obtains his omens..... Read: "The First Fire" in the
Myths section.
"...clearing of vegetation,
for whatever reason, was probably most effectively done by the controlled
use of fire. ... the fruits of many vines and trees grew better on 'margins
of burned tracts than in deep forests'. "Maintaining a comparatively sparse
underbrush allowed for blueberry heaths and other edible fruits, while
simultaneously providing favorable conditions for hunting turkey, deer,
etc. Animals were more prized than trees and, since they preferred shrubs
and young seedlings, it was essential to eliminate thick forage in order
to allow for browsing, and to afford young nutritious sprouts the proper
room for growth." (Goodwin, 63,64: from various sources)
Also, they almost "certainly
burned woods surrounding their villages in order to prevent uncontrolled
chance fires. Woods had to be cleared for cultivation, and weeds were removed
for similar purposes. These fires were, in most instances, controlled by
utilizing the fire-ring technique, where circular fires were allowed to
burn inward.
""...the benefits derived from fire
management ... should include the following: (1) litter burned to ash;
(2) wild fires reduced; (3) travel conditions improved; (4) visibility
improved; (5) better forage conditions for game; (6) expelled insects,
reptiles and undesirable wildlife; (7) increased berry supply; (8) exposed
ground so that enemy footprints could be detected; and (9) a device for
rounding up game, notably deer and rabbits. (Goodwin, 64, from various
sources).
Charles Hicks reported in
1818: "There is a custom, which still prevails, of making a new fire every
year, generally in the month of March. The fire is made by drilling in
a dried grape vine, which begins in the morning after an all night dance.
Seven persons are appointed to perform this with the conjurer. After the
fire is made, each family in the town comes and procures the new fire,
putting out all the old fires in their houses".
"Fire is made only by two stickes,
rubbing them one against another; and this they may do in any place they
come...Their fire they kindle presently by chafing a dry pointed sticke
in a hole of a little peece of wood, that firing itself, will so fire mosse,
leaves, or anie such like drie thing that will quickly burn...You are to
understand that the two sticks they use are never of one sort of wood,
but always different from one another...Whenever they make any Sacrifice
to their God, they look upon it as a Profanation to make use of fire already
kindled, but produce fresh Virgin Fire for that purpose, by rubbing 2 of
these Sticks together that never has been used before on any occasion ....the
firemaker takes a piece of hard wood and having cut an indentation, he
then sharpens another piece, and placing that with the hold between his
knees, he drills it briskly for several minutes until it begins to smoke...
after the punk had caught fire, it was taken off, mixed with hay, and fanned
until the whole burst into flames. Fire was transported from place to place
by means of burning oak bark. (Swanton, 423,4)
FISH
"Fish were caught
in a variety of cleverly devised water traps and were also speared and
caught with bait and hook. A most simple method of catching fish lay in
scaring the fish into shallow ponds, from which they were dipped out in
baskets." (Gilbert, 317)
"The rivers and streams in
the early days... abounded in fish such as perch, croakers, bass, pike,
catfish, garfish, salmon, trout, and sturgeon. Many species of shellfish
were also to be found." (Gilbert, 185)
"...Hariot mentions the trout,
ray, alewife, mullet, and plaice; Lawson speaks of all but the last two
of these and adds the garfish, bluefish, rockfish or bass, and trout; ...the
carp, sucker, catfish, ells, along with clams, oysters and mussels. Plus
crabs, cockles, crawfish and lobsters.... Land and oceanic turtles and
their eggs were used as food in nearly all sections where they occurred;
... (Mooney, Myths, 298)
Lawson lists Salt-Water fish of the
Carolinas, which we will not list here, as Cherokees lived inland, away
from the ocean. Fresh-Water Fish are: Sturgeon, Pike, Trouts, Gudgeon,
Pearch, English; Pearch, white; Pearch, brown (or Welch-men); Pearch, flat
and mottled; Pearch, small and flat, with Red Spots; Carp; Roach; Dace;
Loaches; Sucking-Fish; Cat-Fish; Grindals; Old-Wives; Fountain-Fish; White-Fish.
His list of Fresh-Water Shell-Fish are: Craw-Fish; and Muscles. (Lawson
155,156)
Cooking Fish: fried in bear's oil. "Southeastern waterways teemed
with fish, including bass, trout, mullet, perch, carp, gar, pike, eel,
sturgeon, redhorse, drum, walleye, sculpin, lampreys, suckers, and catfish.
They furnished food for Cherokees as well as animals like mink, otter,
muskrat, bear, and raccoon, and numerous birds and reptiles. In the Holston
River, Timberlake found "fish sporting in prodigious quantities, which
we might have taken with ease." (Hill, 23)
FROGS, TURTLES, ETC. "At water's
edge, on forest floors, or in grassy fields, nesting and feeding areas
abounded for reptiles and amphibians. Lizards, frogs, turtles, more than
two dozen kinds of salamanders, and an equal number of snake species populated
Cherokee settlement areas. Important in ecosystems as food and feeders..
they appeared in myths, songs, medicine formulas, dances, and often as
giants in folktales. For sacred dances, beloved women wore leg rattles
made from the shells of box turtle.... as the women danced, pebbles clattered
rhythmically inside the shells..." (Hill, 24)
"Principal fish of value to
the Cherokees included: drumfish or croakers, gar, suckers, channel catfish,
yellow bullhead catfish, black bass, sunfish, wall-eyed pike or perch,
and brook trout. These fish were all important food sources, and the teeth
and bones of some species served many purposes, such as, scales and teeth
were utilized to point arrows, fin bones could be employed as abrasives
or needles, etc.
"In addition to freshwater fish, molluscan
fauna figured prominently in the precontact Cherokee fish economy. Various
species of shellfish were utilized for food, as well as for ornamental
and clothing purposes. For instance, common shellfish included: mussels
(of several kinds); large snails, small snails, and periwinkles. Crushed
shells were commonly used as a tempering material for pottery, and shells
of bivalves could be worked as knives or scrapers. (Goodwin, 74)
FISHING AND FISH
HOOKS
"Fishing offered another
means of securing food. Perhaps a great many fish were caught with spears,
traps or nets, but the hook and line method were also used. fishhooks were
made of bone in an ingenious and practical way. Deer toe bones were sawed
in half lengthwide, then the central portion of each half was removed and
the remainder easily shaped into a strong hook." (Lewis & Kneberg,
27)
"In the 1700s, women and men
fished cooperatively, usually in summer months and always with baskets.
Men swam into icy waterways with woven handnets (dasu-du-di) to
net fish. Women watching at the shore scooped the water with baskets to
trap those that swarmed from the nets. Other times, men thrashed fish downstream
into creels, from which "it is no difficult matter to take them with baskets".
Cherokees living on narrow waterways dammed up streams, then scattered
the surfaces with crushed buckeyes or walnut roots to stun the fish. As
fish floated to the surface, women and children waded into the water with
winnowing baskets to collect them. They "barbecue the largest", which traders
like Adair appreciated "for they prove very wholesome food to us, who frequently
use them". (Hill, 23,24)
Weirs (dams): "The Inds. have
the art of catching fish in long crails, made with canes and hickory splinters,
tapering to a point. They lay these at a fall of water, where stones are
placed in two sloping lines from each bank, till they meet together in
the middle of the rapid stream, where the intangled fish are soon drowned.
Above such a place, I have known them to fasten a wreath of long grape
vines together, to reach across the river, with stones fastened at proper
distance to rake the bottom; they will swim a mile with it whooping and
plunging all the day, driving the fish before them into their large cane
pots. With this draught, which is a very heavy one, they made a town feast,
or feast of love, of which everyone partakes in the most social manner,
and afterward they dance together. (Adair, 1775, 403). That is to say,
they had a party!
Timberlake saw such a weir in the Cherokee
country: "Building two walls obliquely down the river from either shore,
just as they are near joining, a passage is left to a deep well or reservoir;
the Inds. then scaring the fish down the river, close to the mouth of the
reservoir with a large bush, or bundle made on purpose, and it is no difficult
matter to take them with baskets, when inclosed within so small a compass."
(Timberlake, 69)
Traps: Speck has the following
Yuchi trap such as was used in connection with them: "These were quite
large, being ordinarily about three feet or more in diameter and from six
to ten feet in length. They were cylindrical in shape, with one end open
and an indented funnel-shaped passageway leading to the interior. The warp
splints of this indenture ended in sharp points left free. As these pointed
inward they allowed the fish to pass readily in entering, but offered an
obstruction to their exit. The other end of the trap was closed up, but
the covering could be removed to remove the contents. Willow sticks composed
the warp standards, while the wicker filling was of shaved hickory splints.
The trap was weighted down in the water and chunks of meat were put in
for bait. (Speck, 25)
Nets: Smith also
speaks of fish nets, and Strachey thus describes their manufacture: "They
have netts for fishing, ..and these are made of barkes of certaine trees,
deare, synewes, for a kynd of grasse, which they call pemmenaw, of which
their women, between their hands and things, spin a thredd very even and
redily, and this thredd serveth for many uses, as about their howsing,
their mantells of feathers and their trowses, and they also with yt make
lynes for angles. (Strachey, 75)
Adair says: "There is a favourite
method among them of fishing with hand-nets. The nets are about three feet
deep, and of the same diameter and the opening, made of hemp, and knotted
after the usual of our nets. On each side of the mouth, they tie very securely
a strong elastic green cane, to which the ends are fastened. Prepared with
these, the warriors a-breast, jump in at the end of a long pond, swimming
under water, with their net stretched out with both hands, and the canes
in a horizontal position. In this manner, they will continue, either till
their breath is expended by the want of respiration, or till the net is
so ponderous as to force them to exonerate it ashore, or in a basket, fixt
in a proper place for tht purpose -- by removing one hand, the canes instantly
spring together. I have been engaged half a day at a time, with the old
friendly Chikkasah, and half drowned in the diversion -- when any of us
was so unfortunate as to catch water-snakes in our sweep, and emptied them
ashore, we had the ranting voice of our friendly posse comitatus, whooping
against us, till another party was so unlucky as to meet with the like
misfortune. During this exercise, the women are fishing ashore with coarse
baskets, to catch the fish that escape our nets. (Adair, 432-484)
Poison: "In the summer, when
the water in small rivers and streams was low, they caught fish by poisoning
them. The two favorite poisons were the buckeye (Aesculus L.) and the root
of the plant "devil's shoestring (Tephrosia virginiana [L.] Pers.) The
buckeyes were pounded up and placed in pools of water, when the poison
took effect, fish would float to the top of the water with their bellies
up. The Inds. pounded up devil's shoestring on posts resting on the bottom
of the water, allowing the pieces to fall in. The active ingredient in
devil's shoestring is the same as that in rotenone, an organic poison.
The poison attacked the nervous system of the fish and did not spoil the
meat in any way." (Hudson, 284)
Spearing: "They have likewise
a notable way to catche fishe in their Rivers, for whear as they lacke
both yron, and steele, they fasten unto their Reeds or longe Rodds, the
hollowe tayle of a certaine fishe like to a sea crabb in stede of a poynte,
wherwith by nighte or day they sticke fishes, and take them opp into their
boates. They also know how to use the prickles, and pricks of other fishes.
(Hariot, 1893, 31)
Lawson on Crawfish: "Their
taking of Craw-fish is so pleasant, that I cannot pass it by without mention;
When they have a mind to get these Shell-fish, they take a Piece of Venison,
and half-barbakue or roast it; then they cut it into thin Slices, which
Slices they stick through with Reeds about six Inches asunder, betwixt
Piece and Piece; then the Reeds are made sharp at one end; and so they
stick a great many of them down in the bottom of the Water (thus baited)
in the small Brooks and Runs, which the Craw-fish frequent. Thus the Inds.
sit by, and tend those baited Sticks, every now and then taking them up,
to see how many are at the Bait; where they generally find abundance; so
take them off, and put them in a Basket for the purpose, and stick the
Reeds down again. By this method, they will, in a little time, catch several
Bushels, which are as good as any I ever eat. (Lawson, 218)
Bow & Arrow Fishing: "The
Youth and Ind. Boys go in the Night, and one holding a Lightwood Torch,
the other has a Bow and Arrows, and the Fire directing him to see the Fish,
he shoots them with the Arrows; and thus they kill a great many of the
smaller Fry, and sometimes pretty large ones. (Lawson, 218)
"Fish were taken in large quantities
by netting, grabbling, trapping, shooting, spearing, harpooning, book and
line angling, and poisoning. (Adair, 402,403) The latter method, which
made use of pounded horse chestnuts, is suggestive of South American influence.
(Milling, 18)
Incantation for CATCHING LARGE
FISH, as spoken by "The Swimmer":
Listen! Now you settlements have drawn near to hearken.
Where you have gathered in the foam you are moving about as one.
You Blue Cat and the others. I have come to offer you freely the white food. Let
the paths from every direction recognize each other. Our spittle shall be in agreement.
Let them (your and my spittle) be together as we go about. They (the fish) have become a prey
and there shall be no loneliness. Your spittle has become agreeable. I am called Swimmer.
Yu! Spitting on the bait to attract big
fish is evidently a very ancient custom. According to Swimmer's instructions,
the fisherman must first chew a small piece of plant which catches insects
and pit it upon the bait and also upon the hook. He will be able to pull
out the fish at once, or if the fish are not about at the moment, they
will come in a very short time. (Quoted, Rights, 219)
FLAGS & BANNERS
There are plenty of reports
of flags or banners being used by the natives of the Southeast. Some were
taken along beside the transport of a very important person on his (her)
litter, and others were raised on poles usually beside or in front of the
town house.
"On approaching the Cherokee town of Settico,
Timberlake 'observed two stands of colors flying, one at the top, and the
other at the door of the town-house; they were as large as a sheet, and
white". He continues: 'Lest therefore I should take them for French, they
took great care to inform me, that their custom was to hoist red colors
as an emblem of war; but white, as a token of peace" (Timberlake, 62-63)
Flags and standards were often
used in the festivals.
FLORA
"The flora of
the southern Appalachians belongs phytogeographically to three plant worlds.
These are (1) the Appalachian Mountain district of deciduous forests. (w)
the Piedmont vegetation, and (e) the Alleghanian-Ozark district. The general
characteristics of the first area are: A predominance of hardwoods such
as poplar, pine, spruce, balsam or fir, hemlock, buckeye, tulip-tree, chestnut,
and birdseye maple along with many species of herbaceous plants and cryptograms.
The second area is one largely of undergrowth and herbaceous species. The
third area is marked by a great variety of broadleaves trees of some 700
species and a scarcity of evergreens.
"Plants appear in the Cherokee culture
in connection with food, shelter, clothing, and medicine. Compared with
the animals in general, plants are friendly agents to man and fight in
this way against their enemies, the animal world. They especially help
man through their curative properties for the human diseases believed to
result from the machinations of animals. According to Mooney some 800 species
of plants were known and used by the Cherokees"
"Most important of the cultivated
food plants were maize and beans, to which were added at a later date potatoes,
pumpkins, peas, squash, strawberries, tobacco, and gourds. Weeds from streams
were burnt for lye, which was then used as a salt substitute and for soap
making.
"The typical medicinal plants are
sassafras, cinnamon, wild horehound, seneca, snakeroot, St. Andrew's Cross,
and wild plantain" (Gilbert, 184)
SEE: the Chart on this subject.
FOOD
"...the eatables were
produced, consisting chiefly of wild meat; such as venison, bear, and buffalo,
tho' I cannot much commend their cookery, every thing being greatly overdone:
there were likewise potatoes, pumpkins, homminy, boiled corn, beans, and
pease, served up in small flat baskets, made of split canes, which were
distributed amongst the croud; and water, which, except the spirituous
liquor brought by the Europeans, is their only drink, was handed about
in small goards." (Timberlake, 61)
"They boil and roast their Meat
extraordinary much, and eat abundance of Broth." (Lawson, 231) "In 1761 Timberlake found that
the Cherokee country was: 'yielding vast quantities of pease, beans, potatoes,
cabbages, corn, pumpions, melons, and tobacco, not to mention a number
of other vegetables imported from Europe, not so generally known amongst
them... Before the arrival of the Europeans, the natives were not so well
provided, maize, melons and tobacco, being the only things they bestow
culture upon, and perhaps seldom on the latter. The meadows or savannahs
produce excellent grass; being watered by abundance of fine rivers, and
brooks well stored with fish, otters and beavers: ... Of the fruits there
are some of an excellent flavor, particularly several sorts of grapes,
which, with proper culture, would probably afford an excellent wine. There
are likewise plums, cherries, and berries of several kinds, something different
from those of Europe; but their peaches and pears grow only by culture;
add to these several kinds of roots, and medicinal plants... There are
likewise an incredible number of buffaloes, bears, deer, panthers, wolves,
foxes, racoons, and opossums.. There are a vast number of lesser sort of
game, such as rabbits, squirrels.. several sorts, and many other animals,
besides turkey, geese, ducks of several kinds, partridges, pheasants, and
an infinity of other birds.. The flesh of the rattle-snake is extremely
good; being once obliged to eat one through want of provisions, I have
eat several since thru' choice." (Timberlake, Williams ed 1927, 68-72)
In "The Ultimate Cherokee
Cookbook", Oukah tells that there was no refrigeration, and in the
heat of summer the pots were kept boiling to keep the food from spoiling.
In the winter, the cold weather could be used as a refrigerator to keep
food from spoiling. And, Cherokees in the old days did not sit down at
the same time everyday for a meal... they ate when the food was ready to
eat, or when they were hungry. There was usually something prepared in
the pot from morning until night.
"Besides the cultivated plant
foods and game, the Cherokee made great use of nuts, wild fruits, roots,
mushrooms, fish, crayfish, frogs, birds' eggs, and even yellow jacket grubs
and cicadas." (Lewis & Kneberg, 160)
Romans (1775) says: "Their
way of life is in general very abundant; they have much more of venison,
bear, turkies; and small game in their country than their neighbors have,
and they raise abundance of small cattle, hogs, turkeys, ducks and dunghill
fowls (all of which are very good in their kind) and of these they spare
not; the labor of the field is all done by the women; no savages are more
proud of being counted hungers, fishermen, and warriors; were they to cultivate
their plentiful country, they might raise amazing quantities of grain and
pulse, as it is they have enough for their home consumption; they buy a
good deal of rice, and they are the only savages that ever I saw that could
bear to have some rum in store; yet they drink to excess as well as others;
there are few towns in this nation where there is not some savage residing,
who either trades of his own flock, or is employed as a factor. They have
more variety in their diet than other savages; They make pancakes; they
dry the tongues of their venison; they make a caustick salt out of a kind
of moss that does not deliquiate on exposing to the air; this they dissolve
in water and pound their dried venison till it looks like oakum and then
eat it dipped in the above sauce; they eat much roasted and boiled venison,
a great deal of milk and eggs; they dry peaches and persimmons, chestnuts
and the fruit of the 'blue palmetto' or 'needle palm'... they also prepare
a cake of the pulp of the species of the passi flora, vulgarly called
may apple; some kinds of acorns they also prepare into good bread; the
common esculent Convolvuius (sweet potato), .and the sort found
in the low woods, both called potatoes, are eat in abundance among them;
they have plenty of the various species of Zea or maize, or the Phaseolus
(beans) and Dolichos (hyacinth beans), and of different
kinds of Panicum; bears oyl, honey and hickory milk are the boast
of the country; they have also many kinds of salt and fresh water turtle,
and their eggs, and plenty of fish; we likewise find among them salted
meats, corned venison in particular, which is very fine; they cultivate
abundance of melons; in a word, they have naturally the greatest plenty
imaginable; were they to cultivate the earth they would have too much.
" (Romans, 1775, 93-94)
"The wild vegetable products...
Ground-nuts, wild sweet potatoes, several varieties of Smilax (kantak),
Angelico roots, persimmons, plums, grapes, strawberries, mulberries, blackberries,
some varieties of huckleberries, wild rice, the seed of a species of cane,
chestnuts, walnuts, hickory nuts, acorns, particularly those of the live
oak, and cinquapins... The Virginia wakerobin, floating arum... The prickleypear,
crab apple, wild pea, tree huckleberry, goosberry, cherry, and serviceberry
are mentioned...
"Staple animal foods... were provided
by the deer and the bear, the former being valued mainly for its flesh,
the latter for its fat... Most important of the small animals were the
rabbit and the squirrel..
"... food also had to be preserved
for use in the future and cooked to make it edible or more palatable. The
favorite way of preserving food, whether meat or vegetable, was by drying
it. They dried some of their fruits and vegetables in the heat of the sun.
After squeezing persimmons into a pulp, they spread the pulp out in flat
loaves about half an inch thick, when dried in the sun it made a sort of
candy which would keep for weeks or even months, depending on how dry they
made it. They also sundried wild plums, berries, and grapes. A quicker
way to dry food was to put it on hurdles placed over a fire. A hurdle was
simply a horizontal framework of woven saplings and canes resting on four
posts. Some foods, such as wild fruits, pumpkins, fish, and meat were dried
directly on the hurdles, but others, such as wild roots, corn, oysters,
and probably beans were first boiled for a short time before being dried.
"The Inds. cut buffalo and deer meat
into moderately thin slabs, speared them on spits made of cane or saplings,
and placed them over a fire, cooking them until they were quite dry. When
removed from the spits, each piece of dried meat was left with a hole through
which a cord could be strung, and the meat could thereby be easily stored
or carried. Meat which was prepared this way would keep for at least four
to six months without spoiling, and it sometimes kept for as long as one
year.
"They frequently build a smoky fire,
often using green hickory wood, to give a smoked flavor and aroma to the
meat dried over it. Oysters and fish were smoked in this fashion.... All
of this dried food, both domesticated and wild, was kept in their food
storehouses.
"Bear meat, with its thick layers
of fat, was treated differently. First, they separated the fat from the
lean meat, cooking or drying the lean portion like any other met. The fat
was cooked in earthen pots and an oil was extracted from it. They stored
this oil in large earthen containers and in gourds. They used it as a condiment,
a cooking oil, and even as a cosmetic. For use as a cosmetic, they mixed
a red pigment into it and scented it with fragrant sassafras and wild cinnamon.
They rubbed it into their hair and onto their bodies. Some stored bear
oil in bags made from whole deerskins.
"Nutmeats were extremely important...
nuts could be cracked and eaten raw, they could be stored for a time in
their shells, and they could also be dried and preserved for a longer period
of time. In addition, black walnuts, hickory nuts, and acorns provided
another source of oil. The Inds. were particularly fond of oil from hickory
nuts, which they made by first pounding a quantity of the nuts into small
pieces on nut stones -- stones with several small depressions for cracking
a handful of nuts at a time. They then stirred the pieces, shell and all,
into a pot of water. In time the shells sank to the bottom and the oil
floated to the top as a milky emulsion to be skimmed off and preserved.
One hundreds pounds of hickory nuts would produce about one gallon of oil.
The Europeans called it "hickory milk'. The Inds. used it for cooking and
seasoning. Hickory milk was said to impart a particularly delicious flavor
to venison and to corn bread.
"They thoroughly cooked all
the meat they ate; they never ate it raw. They used two methods of cooking
it: broiling and boiling. Small animals received a minimum of dressing
before cooking. Sometimes they did not gut such animals as raccoon, opossum,
rabbit, and squirrel; they simply skinned them and cooked them whole. They
barbecued fish, small animals, and pieces of meat of larger animals by
impaling them on one end of a sharpened stick; the other end of the stick
was stuck in the ground with the stick inclined toward the fire. They turned
the stick from time to time to cook the meat evenly. They impaled larger
pieces of meat on spits, suspending them on two forked sticks and turning
the spits as the meat cooked. The Cherokees often used spits made of sourwood
(Oxydendrum arboreum (L.) D.C): it imparted a pleasing flavor to
the meat and was thought to repel witches.
"They were fonder than we of soups
and stews. After barbecuing fish, squirrel, or ground hog, they would make
it into a stew, adding a little cracked hominy or hominy meal. They boiled
meat and fish with vegetables to make a soup. Bear and deer meat, for example,
was boiled along with squash and kernels cut from ears of green corn. They
were especially fond of kidney beans boiled with meat and seasoned with
bear oil. The milky pulp of green corn was sometimes added to boiled venison
to make a kind of hash. The Inds. shredded or pounded dried meat before
boiling it in soups, and they also ate dried meat after adding bear oil
to it, much as we add mayonnaise to dry luncheon meat.
There were noticeable taboos
about food preparation... "For example, meat and vegetables could be cooked
in the same pot, as could different kinds of four-footed animal meat, but
they would not cook the flesh or birds and four-footed animals in the same
pot." (Hudson, 300,1,2,3, with quotes from Ulmer and Beck, Cherokee
Cookery)
Potatoes were introduced
early and were so much esteemed that, according to one old informant, the
Inds. in Georgia, before the Removal, 'lived on them'. Coffee came
later, and the same informant remembered that the full-bloods still considered
it poison, in spite of the efforts of the chief, Charles Hicks, to introduce
it among them" (Mooney, Myths, 214)
They cooked pumpkin and squash
by boiling or broiling. They preserved pumpkin by cutting it into round
slices which they peeled and dried. Pumpkin and squash seeds could of course
be roasted and eaten. "The wild roots were collected
and made into a meal or a powder. Swamp potatoes (Sagittaria L.), for example,
were baked in a Dutch oven or in the ashes of a fire and then put in a
mortar and pounded into a meal. They used this meal as they would hominy
meal, relying on it especially during winter famines. They made "red coontie
out of the large roots of Smilax. They first chopped the roots into pieces
and pulverized them in a mortar. They put this in a pot filled with cold
water, stirring vigorously. After it settled for a time, they dipped out
the liquid, leaving in the bottom of the pot a residue which they dried
into a reddish powder. When this starchy powder was added to boiling water
it turned into a kind of jelly and was a favorite food for infants and
old people. It was also mixed with hominy meal to make fried bread. (Hudson,
307, from Cherokee Cookery)
ACORNS: "Next morning,
we got our Breakfasts: roasted Acorns being one of the Dishes. The Inds.
beat them into Meal, and thicken their Venison-Broth with them; and oftentimes
make a palatable Soop. They are used instead of Bread, boiling them till
the Oil swims on the top of the Water, which they preserve for use, eating
the Acorns with Flesh-meat." (Lawson, 51)
"Live-Oak.. the Acorns thereof
are as sweet as Chesnuts, and the Inds. draw an Oil from them, as sweet
as that from the Olive, tho' of an Amber-Colour. With these Nuts, or Acorns,
some have counterfeited the Cocoa, whereof they have made Chocolate, not
to be distinguish'd by a good Palate." (Lawson, 99,100)
"Acorns were another interesting
featureof the diet. In addition to extracting oil from acorns., the Ind.'s
occasionally made the nut meats into a meal. Live oak acorns were best
for this, but the several species of white oak were almost as good, and
even the black and red oaks could be used if necessary. The primary problem
in processing acorns was to extract the bitter-tasting acid from the nutmeats.
Some acorns were edible after merely being parched, but others had to be
boiled in water to remove the tannic acid. These were then pounded into
a pulp which was dried into a meal and used in much the same way hominy
meal was used." (Hudson, 308)
"...they did not eat raw vegetables.
Slight exceptions to this may have been wild onions (Allium cernuum Roth),
wild garlic (Allium canadense L.) and in the Appalachians wild leeks or
"ramps" (Allium tricoccum Ait.). These were among the very few green vegetables
available from late fall to early spring. (Hudson, 308)
"Beverages:.. we may
assume that many of the beverages made today are the same as those from
earlier days by their ancestors... "The roots of sassafras, for example,
have probably long been used to make a fragrant hot tea. The roots are
best when dug early in spring, and the bark from the roots has the strongest
flavor. The young leaves and young pith of sassafras are highly mucilaginous.
The Choctaws dried them and ground them into a powder which they used to
thicken soups, this being the forerunner of Southern gumbo. The Cherokees
made a hot tea out of the dried leaves, twigs, and young buds of
spicebush (Lindera benzoin [L.] Blume). Another Cherokee drink is
made of maypops (Passiflora incarnata L.) by boiling them in water
until they become soft. The pulp is then squeezed out and put through a
strainer. The Cherokees drink it while it is hot. Another beverage that
is still made by Cherokees today was made from the ripe pods of honey locust
(Gleditsia triacanthos L.) which contain a kind of paste with a delicate
sweet-sour flavor. The Inds. split the pods in half, soaked them in water
which was not but not boiling, and strained it through a cloth. They drank
it as both a hot and cold beverage. White and black Southerners used to
make this honey locust drink and ferment it, making a kind of beer." (Hudson,
308,309)
"They did not eat regular meals.
They ate whenever they were hungry.... they ate food from pottery or gourd
containers or from shallow wooden bowls carved out of gum, poplar, box
elder, sycamore, or elm. They ate with large spoons made from gourds, wood,
or bison horn, and they also ate with their fingers. (Hudson, 309)
BEANS: "The South. Inds. had several ways
of cooking beans. Their standard way was to boil them in water and season
them, often with meat or bear oil. They made succotash by boiling together
hominy and beans, sometimes adding some pumpkin to the pot. After they
boiled their beans, they sometimes put them in a mortar and mashed them
to a pulp which they formed into small loaves.
BEES & HONEY: "Bees, if not native,...
were introduced at so early a period that the Inds. have forgotten their
foreign origin. The DeSoto narrative mentions finding of a pot of honey
in an Ind. village in Georgia in 1540. The peach was cultivated
in orchards a century before the Revolution, and one variety, known as
early as 1700 as the Ind peach, the Inds. claimed as their own, asserting
that they had had it before the whites came to America (Lawson, Carolina,
182, ed. 1860).
BREAD: See that category.
GINSENG: "The roots of ginseng were boiled in
water and made into a potion. This was primarily used for shortness of
breath, to stop the flow of blood from a wound, and to keep ghosts away.
"(Hudson, 340,341)
"The Cherokee herbalist... when
hunting ginseng... the herbalist addressed the mountain on which he stood
as the "Great Man" assuring him that he was only going to take a small
piece of his flesh. He then pulled up the plant, root and all, and dropped
a red or white bead, whichever was appropriate, into the hole. Then he
covered it up. (Hudson, 342)
HOMINY: "The staple food of the ...their staff
of life, was hominy. Its manufacture requires several special implements,
including a mortar and pestle. In historic times... a mortar was made from
a section of a hickory, oak, or beech log some twelve to twenty inches
in diameter and about two feet long. They rested this on one end, and in
the other end they burned out a conical hole about eight inches deep. For
a pestle they cut a section from a tree, preferably hickory, about six
inches in diameter and five of six feet long. They trimmed this down to
about two inches in diameter for about four-fifths of its length, leaving
the remainder as a weight at the upper end of the pestle. The small end
was used to pound the corn in the mortar, while the large, weighted end
added force to the pounding. Wood-ash lye was also needed in making hominy.
The Inds. made it by placing hardwood ashes in a container with a small
hole in the bottom. They filled the container with the ashes and poured
in a quantity of cold water. The yellow liquid which dripped out of the
hole was lye.
"This technique of processing corn
with wood-ash lye has been found to reduce some of its essential amino
acids, but it dramatically increases the amount of the amino acid lysine
and also the amount of niacin. Thus this treatment of corn enhances its
nutritional value selectively. For people whose diet depended heavily on
corn, this technique probably reduced the incidence of pellegra.
"Cracked hominy was one of the most
important items in the... diet. The process of its manufacture began with
the placing of a quantity of thoroughly dry kernels of corn into a vessel
filled with cool water to which was added a cup of wood-ash lye. After
soaking it overnight, the corn was drained and placed in a mortar and lightly
pounded with a pestle to crack the grains and loosen the hulls. The cracked
grain was then separated from the hulls in a fanner, a large flat basket
with a shallow pocket on one side. The corn was placed, a little at a time,
on the flat part of the fanner. When the fanner was agitated, the heavier
pieces of hominy rolled into the pocket while the lighter husks remained
on the flat part to be flipped away. The cracked hominy was then emptied
from the pocket and the process repeated until all the hulls had been separated
out.
"From cracked hominy the Inds. made
a kind of soup by putting it in a pot of water and cooking it about four
hours, stirring frequently and adding enough water to keep the mixture
thin. For flavor, they sometimes added a little wood-ash lye until the
hominy began to turn yellow. When the hominy was done they poured it in
a large earthen jar, taking out portions to eat when they wanted it. The
Creeks called this dish sa*fki ("sofkee"), the Cherokees called
in ganohe*ni, and the Choctaws called it tanfula. They often
set jars of it in a moderately warm place and allowed it to sour or ferment
slightly. They usually drank it cold... Cracked hominy was hospitality
food. The Cherokees served it to visitors. Inside their houses the Choctaws
kept a bowl of it with a spoon alongside and a visitor who failed to eat
a little of it was considered impolite. (Hudson, 304,305)
HONEY LOCUST: Probably the main source of "sweet"
was from the honey locust tree. "The sweet pulp from the pod of the honey
locust tree (Gleditsia triacanthos L.) is edible, and the Inds.
sometimes dried it, ground it up, and used it as a sweetener". (Hudson,
287)
PUMPKIN: Dry pumpkins as soon after the harvest
as possible. The old-time drying method was to slice whole pumpkins into
thin rings, peel the rings, remove the seeds and stringy pulp from the
centers, and hang the rings from a broom handle or other stick propped
between rafters in the ceiling or attic.
"Native Americans showed the Pilgrims
how to dry pumpkin and grind it into meal for year-round use. Corn bread
made with pumpkin is still popular in some areas of New England. Any recipe
will gain food value, flavor, and color if you substitute pumpkin meal
for a small part of the flour - say 1/4 to 1/2 cup.
To grind, use dried raw slices. In
a Vitamix or other mixer they can become flour in less than a minute. Thin
slices (sliced in a food processor) readily grind into flour; while thick
slices tend to grind into a coarser meal. Either way, take care not to
inhale the powder that billows up when you transfer the flour into an airtight
container for storage.
For pumpkin seed oil: Grind the seeds
in a blender and set the meal aside until the oil rises to the top. If
you want to use the oil in salad dressing, just pour it off. If you plan
to use it in a skillet, strain it through a coffee filter to minimize burning.
Use the remaining meal to thicken soups, stews, and sauces.
CASSINE YAPON: Bartram noted the Cassine yapon
(Cassine vomitoria) near the Jore village in the Cherokee country under
semicultivation: "Here I observed a little grove of the Cassine yapon,
which was the only place where I had seen it grow in the Cherokee country;
the Inds call it the beloved tree, and are very careful to keep it pruned
and cultivated; they drink a very strong infusion of the leaves, buds and
tender branches of this plant, which is so celebrated, indeed venerated
by the Creeks and all the Southern maritime nations..." (Bartram, 1792,
291)
CHINA ROOT: (Brier Smilax): "From these roots
while they be new or fresh beeing chopt into small pieces & stampt,
is strained with water a juce that maketh bread, & also being boiled,
a very good spoonemeate in maner of a gelly, and is much better in tast
if it bee tempered with oyle." (Hariot, 25,26)
"They dig up these roots, and
while yet fresh and full of juice, chop them in pieces, and then mascerate
them well in wooden mortars; this substance they put in vessels nearly
filled with clean water, when, being well mixed with paddles, whilst the
finer parts are yet floating in the liquid, they decant it off into other
vessels, leaving the farninaceous substance at the bottom, which, being
taken out and dried, is an impalpable powder or farina, of a reddish color.
This, when mixed in boiling water, becomes a beautiful jelly, which, sweetened
with honey or sugar, affords a most nourishing food for children or aged
people; or when mixed with fine corn flour, and fried in fresh bears grease,
makes excellent fritters." (Bartram, 49)
MAPLE SUGAR: "They are said to have tapped trees
on a stream near Old Tellico and on Limestone Creek, while Hawkins witnessed
the process at a point near the present Atlanta (Hawkins, 1916, 24)
Mooney informed Mr. Henshaw, it is true, that before they met Europeans,
the Cherokee "extracted their only saccharine from the pod of the honey
locust, using the powdered pods to sweeten parched corn and to make a sweet
drink", but if so they must have adopted the custom of extraction from
the sugar maple at an early period and there seems to be no reason why
they could not have done this before white contact as well as after it
" (Mooney, Myths, 285)
PUMPKINS (POMPIONS): "For this purpose
they are cut into the shapes of pears or other fruits and preserved thus
with very little sugar, because they are naturally sweet. Those who are
unacquainted with them are surprised to see entire fruits preserved without
finding any seeds inside. The(y) are not only eaten preserved; they are
also put into soups. Fritters (bignets) are made of them, they are fricasseed,
they are cooked in the oven and under the embers, and in all ways they
are good and pleasing." (duPratz, vol. 2, 11)
"When the pompions are ripe, they
cut them into long circling slices, which they barbecue, or dry with a
slow heat" (Adair, 407)
SPICES: Lawson reports from Carolina, 1700-1702:
Anise, Basil, Camomile, Caraway, Chives, Comfrey, Coriander, Cumin, Garlic,
Horseradish; Houseleek, Licorice; Marjoram; Malt, Mint; Mustard, Pepper,
Pot Herbs, Pot Marjoram, Rosemary, Sarsaparilla, and Shallots. (various
pages).
"Maize (Zea mays) was the most
widely dispersed and commonly used crop... The Cherokee relied most heavily
on three primary maize types: (1) "six weeks corn" - consisting of small
kernels, that ripened in about two months and were often roasted: (2) "hominy
corn" - a smooth, hard kernel, generally red, white, blue, yellow, or a
combination: and, (3) "flour corn" - the most important type, with large,
white kernels.... Corn provided the Cherokee with a rich source of
carbohydrates, protein, and fat.
"Ripe corn was usually harvested in
the late summer, early fall and stored in long cribs. Parched corn was
used as a standard provision for long journeys -- especially since it was
a nutritious foodstuff. Otherwise, the principal uses of corn included
the processing of the kernels into various flours and cakes, e.g., succotash,
samp, hominy, hoe-cake, and ash-cake. Soups (some semi-fermented) and stews
(mixed with meats) were also prepared with corn. (Goodwin, 51,52)
"Second in importance to maize ...
was the bean (Phaseolus). At least eighty native species of this
plant existed in North America during the prehistoric period, with evidence
of multiple domestication and limited diffusion ... The Cherokee had access
to several types of beans, although it is probable that varieties of (kidney
bean) and (lima bean) predominated...
"Beans were generally planted in the
vacant rows alongside corn... a symbiotic relationship existed between
the two crops as the beanstalk was sometimes used as a beanpole ... When
examining the nutritional benefits of each crops... the protein in corn
was zein, while the bean had alpha and beta globulins. The bean had a high
lysine (amino acid) content compared to corn, and together the two crops
had high nutritional value. (Goodwin, 52)
"Several species from the genus Cucurbitacae
(gourds) followed corn and the bean. All twenty-six varieties of squash
were native to the New World... wild species, e.g., lagenaria gourds,
grew in some southeastern locales, and certain squashes and gourds may
have been the earliest domesticated plants in the New World.
"Three major species of Cucurbitacae
can be identified, including squash, gourd, and melons.
Of the many different squashes, the summer crookneck
was one of the most common, and it could be stored for winter use if necessary.
The winter variety took somewhat longer to grow, but it was considered
more nutritious than the summer species. A third type of squash that the
Cherokees considered highly important was the pumpkin. This large, round
fruit provided them with valuable seeds that yielded a rich supply of fats
and proteins. The pumpkin took even longer to mature than either the winter
or summer squash, averaging close to 150 days before ripening. Each type
of squash could be cut into thin sections and hung on racks to dry for
storage and winter use. It might also be boiled, baked in ashes, used in
breadmaking, or dried." (Goodwin, 53)
"The gourd (lagenaria) probably
found greater use than any other member of the Cucurbitacae family -- possibly
constituting the most utilitarian of all plant foods. As an early domesticate,
the bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria) one of the shelled varieties
of the species, had over twenty-six know uses, including water vessels,
bows, lamps, baskets, masks (used in ceremonial dances) containers, bird
nests, medicine cups, spatulas, and scrapers).
"Last of the four major crops that
received widespread use among the Cherokee was the sunflower -- a versatile,
native North American food plant. (They) extracted an edible table oil
from this plant by boiling the pulverized seeds and removing the oil from
the surface of the water. The seed could be parched and mashed into flour
and processed into bread or soups or it could be eaten raw, dried, or roasted.
Lastly. the larger seeds might be saved for next year's planting. (Goodwin,
54)
"A species of sunflower, Jerusalem
Artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus) offered a hardy and prolific tuber,
that was usually baked or boiled as a vegetable. (They) usually planted
this tuber in the early spring and harvested it in autumn, winter, or when
needed.
"Soon after initial contacts with
the Spanish in the sixteenth century, (they) adopted additional plant foods
that could be cultivated with relative ease. An important member of the
gourd family of Cucurbitacae was the watermelon (Citrullus vulgaris)
that proved not only a tasty fruit, but also an oily, yet nutritious edible
seed. The sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) seems to have become an
essential food to the Cherokee .. Peas (Pisum sativum) were
mentioned as a prominent crop... although they were known to have been
introduced by the Spanish during earliest contacts. (Goodwin, 54,55)
SQUASH: "these being boiled whole when the Apple
is young, and the Shell tender, and dished with Cream or Butter, relish
very well with all sorts of Butcher's Meat, either fresh or salt. And wherewas
the Pompion is never eaten till it be ripe, these are never eaten after
they are ripe." (Beverley, 27)
Wild Plants: "The Cherokees often found it both
practical and necessary to augment their diets with wild plant life. Uncultivated
vegetal species abounded in Cherokee lands and provided the native with
an array of foods, that, in most cases, thrived independent of man's activities.
Specifically, when boiled, spinach-like plants such as the Amaranth (pigweed),
Trillium grandiflorium, and Chenopodium album (goosefoot)
furnished a highly nutritious vegetable foodstuff. Also, species of "Tuckahoe"
(Pachyma cocos), consisting of a large fungus found in the roots
of trees, after cooking, resembled potatoes in taste and could be eaten
as a starchy vegetable or processed into a palatable breadstuff.
There "were many varieties of the
plant Smilax, including, Smilax bona-nox (stretchberry, Smilaxglauca,
Smilax pseudo-China (ChinaBrier), Smilax rotundifolia, and Smilax
herbacea (carrior flower) Most commonly used by the Cherokees were
probably the Catbriers (e.g., Smilax glauca and Smilax rotundifolia).
These nutrient-rich tuberous rootstocks, when crushed and mixed with sweetening
agents, yielded very delicious and useful flour. Smilax pseudo-China,
when chopped and soaked in water, offered a farinaceous residue that dried
into a reddish powder - sweet, nourishing, and popular among the natives.
All of the Smilax evergreens grew best in sandy (or clay), well-drained
soils, and usually in wooded coves or thickets.
"Other tuberous roots of value included:
Arrowhead (Sagittaria engelmanniana and Sagittaria latifolia)
-- shallow water plants; Nut Grass, found in wet, sandy soils, and False
Spikenard -- associated with deciduous woodlands, and consisting of rootstocks
that furnished a salubrious and sought-after food. Ground-nuts (Apios
apios), a creeping vine with purple flowers, produced a starchy edible
tuber at the stem base, as well as pea-like seeds; it thrived in moist,
rich thickets and along streams. As a ready food, ground-nuts abounded
throughout the southeast, and often served as a dietary mainstay.
"Judicious utilization of plant life
by the Cherokees is perhaps best exemplified by the Cat-tail. A highly
diverse plant in structure and potential human use, the Cat-tail provided
pollen as a flour, the bloom (spikes) as an "asparagus-like-vegetable,
the root could be cooked as a vegetable, and the stalk was peeled and eaten
like a cucumber. It was generally gathered throughout Cherokee country
in the shallow waters of rivers, lakes, and ponds." (Goodwin, 56,57)
FORTIFICATIONS
In the really old days,
(before the white man came and ruined everything" - Oukah) many Cherokee
towns were fortified by ditches and/or palisades. The towns were always
built by running water, anyway, so ditches filled with water (like European
moats) were a deterrent to an enemy. The palisades were made of large posts
set vertically into the earth. Other poles were attached to these horizontally,
and a fence for defence was built. Sometimes these would be plastered over,
at least on the inside, with straw and mud plaster. "Built into the
walls at regular intervals were defensive towers manned by sentinels, or
in time of battle, by seven or eight archers. (Hudson, 79)
There are old accounts
of towns fortified by walls 12 to 18 feet high, some of them covering not
only their houses, but the closest vegetable gardens as well. There are
a few accounts that some towns had inside palisades, so that a single area
at a time could be defended.
There are also reports of smaller
palisades (fences) being built around public and ceremonial buildings.
It is thought that the purpose was to keep out children and dogs from defiling
the sacred places.
FRUITS
"The Southeastern
Inds. enjoyed a variety of wild fruits and berries.
The most important fruit was the persimmon (Diospyros virginiana
L.) a small tree-borne fruit that is highly astringent until late fall
and early winter, when it develops a delicious datelike flavor. Eating
an underripe persimmon is an unforgettable experience; they should be gathered
after they have fallen to the ground and are soft and pulpy. The Inds.
gathered several varieties of wild grapes -- muscadines and scuppernongs
-- which mainly grow in swamps and along the banks of rivers. They also
ate wild cherries, pawpaws (Asimina triloba L.), tart crab apples
(Malus coronaria [L.], Mill) and small, reddish-orange wild plums
(Prunus L.). Where available they ate prickly pears (Opuntia Mill.)
and maypops (Passiflora incarnata L.).
"They picked and ate large quantities
of berries during the summer months, including blackberries, gooseberries,
raspberries, and small but sweet wild strawberries. From trees they picked
huckleberries, tart black gum berries, mulberries, serviceberries, and
palmetto berries. (Hudson, 285-286)
"Of the fruits
there are some of an excellent flavour, particularly several sorts of grapes,
which, with proper culture, would probably afford an excellent wine. There
are likewise plumbs, cherries, and berries of several kinds... but their
peaches and pears grow only by culture... add to these several kinds of
roots, and medicinal plants, particularly the plant so esteemed by the
Chinese, and by them called gingsang..." (Timberlake, 70)
BERRIES: See topic: Berries GRAPES: "...many native species of the North
American grape prevailed in the southeast. Most common of the wild grapes
included varieties of the Muscadine (Bitis rotundifolia), sand grape (Vitis
rupestris) and wild grape (Vitis reporia). "Cherokees" did not cultivate
grapes, however, nor did they ferment the berry, until contacts with Europeans
in the 18th century. An abundance of the wild species, plus a comparably
small population, eliminated the necessity for nurturing large quantities
of this cultivar. Grapes, as well as other succulent fruits, normally ripened
during the later summer and early fall months, and usually grew below 2,500
feet along stream courses and in moist, siliceous soils". (Goodwin, 57,58)
Some fruits were considered so important
that they were given ceremonial status. Longe, in 1715, mentioned "The
Feasts of the First Fruits" and the importance of "muskemilons", "pompkin",
etc. Buttrick discussed the Anoyi, or strawberry moon, that began the Cherokee
year and coincided with the vernal equinox. (Buttrick, 1884: 16). It was
at this time that corn, beans, and potatoes were planted. Furthermore,
the natural year was divided into seasons on the basis of crop maturity,
e.g., March -- honey month; April -- strawberry month; May -- mulberry
month, etc.
PEACHES: "Peaches (khwa-na) were prepared like
persimmons, either 'pounded' and mixed with flour for 'great loaves' of
bread, barbecued and dried for winter storage, or 'seethed' to flavor soups
and drinks." (Hill, 81,82)
An interesting observation
was made of a southeastern house: among other foods "barbecued peaches,
and peach bread, which peaches being made into a quiddony (a quiddony or
quiddany was a thick fruit-syrup or jelly; originally and properly made
from quinces) and so made up into loaves like barley cakes, these cut into
thin slices, and dissolved in water, makes a very grateful acid, and extraordinary
beneficial in fevers, as has often been tried, and aproved on, by our English
practioners". (Lawson, 36,37)
PERSIMMONS: "In old fields, (ka-lage-si)
up to 3,500 feet, persimmon (tsa-lu-li: pucker mouth) pioneered
and provided sweet autumn fruit for Cherokees, songbirds, and foraging
game like deer, bear, raccoon, rabbit, turkey, and possum. Women collected
persimmons to dry and store or to seed, pound, and knead into cakes. From
"pissimmons" according to James Adair: they made "very pleasant bread,
barbicuing it in the woods". (Hill, 8)
GAMBLING
"The Inds. were enthusiastic
sportsmen. They were also inveterate gamblers, sometimes staking all their
possessions on the outcome of a game. And they were good losers,
for as Lawson observed, "The Loser is never dejected or melancholy at the
loss, but laughs and seems no less contented than if he had won". (quoted
in Rights, 256)
At the ballgame, after the
ball had passed inspection, the "players and spectators moved about holding
up articles they wanted to wager on the outcome of the game. Sometimes
the betting became so competitive that people would take off some of the
clothing they were wearing in order to bet it." (Hudson, 418)
"The Ind. was a passionate gambler
and there was absolutely no limit to the risks which he was willing to
take, even to the loss of liberty, if not of life. Says Lawson (History
of Carolina, 287) 'They game very much and often strip one another of all
they have in the world;and what is more, I have known several of them play
themselves away, so that they have remained the winners' servants till
their relations or themselves woulc pay the money to redeem them" (Quoted,
Mooney, Myths, 465) Let us hope this was more true of the natives between
the Cherokees and the east coast that Lawson was more familiar with, than
the Cherokee custom.
GAMES
BALLPLAY: "The little brother of war .. the companion
of battle. During these months, April thru September, tensions were unrelieved.
During these months there were the ballplays. The young men occasionally
regrouped themselves, in a structure analogous to the war organization,
to have inter-village ball plays. Teams had war priests to conjure for
them and after games had to pass though purifying rites analogous to the
rites on return from war." (Payne MS IVb:61-64)
Ballplay was a violent activity;
players were as likely to maim fellow teammates as members of the other
team. Certain roles were... to drive the players on to greater efforts.
It is probably no accident, that ancient priests (meaning the village priests
who led ceremonies and councils) had nothing to do in ballplays; and that
the players were ritually impure after the game." (PAYNE MS: IVB:61-64)
"Closely allied to the calendric ceremonies
just described was the rite of the ball play. This game was called the
friend or companion of battle because all the energies of the combatants
were called into play and was ranked next to war as a manly occupation.
In each town of note a respectable man was selected to attend to the ball
play. Anciently the priests had but little to do with the ball play as
it was not directly connected with religion.
"The young men of a village consulted
their head man for the ball play and sent a challenge to a certain town
or district by one or two messengers. The players were selected by the
manager and by seven counselors. A man must be of good character to play.
When a match had been arranged between two teams, an elderly man was selected
to lead the ball dance and another man was selected to sing for the players,
another to whoop, a musician to play for the seven woman dancers, and also
a conjurer. Seven men were appointed to wait on the conjurer and
seven women to provide for the all-night dance on the seventh day of preparation.
"An open place in the woods was found
and a fire was lit there. The party assembled about dark and seated themselves
some distance from the fire. The director of the dance called the players
forward and whooped. This was a war whoop and was the signal for the dance
to begin. Then the dancers paraded around the fire making the motions of
playing the ball game, with their ball sticks. The musician led the dance
with his gourd rattle. After circling the fire four times the dancers rested
on the same note with which they had begun to dance and sat down for half
an hour. After awhile a new dance began and then another intermission.
After four dances they went to the water for ritual bathing.
"The next morning they all again went
to water at daybreak and during the day they watched each other to see
that none of the taboos for ball players were violated. The taboos and
rules of the ball game were as follows:
1. No player could go near his wife or any woman during
the 7 days of the dances and training. Some scratched themselves in order
the better to fit themselves for the play. They could not associate with
women for 24 days after being scratched.
2. The players must eat no meat nor anything salty or
hot. They must eat only corn bread and drink parched corn broth.
3. Their food much be received from boys who took it
from women who had set it down some distance off. The seven men with the
conjurer could eat only food prepared by the seven women.
4. The seven women officiating as cooks must not be pregnant
nor afflicted with any uncleanness.
5. The seven men assistants to the conjurer might be
married but their wives could not be pregnant nor of any account unclean.
6. If any player had a pregnant wife, he must keep behind
the other players in the dancing and marching.
7. No woman must come to the place of dance of the ball
players nor walk a path that the players had to walk during the 7 days
of training.
On the
second day of training the players killed a squirrel, without shooting
it, for the ball skin. A man selected from the Bird Clan took the skin,
dressed it, stuffed it with deer's hair, and then placed it in the deerskin
of the conjurer to stay until the play was over. On the seventh night the
players danced seven times instead of four and the seven women danced the
whole night a short distance away. Their musician accompanied his voice
with the drum.
"On the morning of the eighth day
just at sunrise the whooper raised his whoop and the players, standing
in a cluster with their faces toward the ball ground, responded four times
with a cry. Then all plunged in the creek seven times and started toward
the ball ground. The conjurer laid down the deerskin and the conjuring
apparatus and the players laid down the articles which they had bet. The
conjurer gave a certain root to the players to chew and rub on their bodies.
He also gave red feathers to the players to wear in their hair. The leading
player took the ball and kept it until the play commenced.
"An influential player than spoke
to the players urging action. They marched forward to meet their antagonists
in the middle of the field. Four men were selected as marshalls to keep
order and to see that no detail was overlooked. Two others were chosen
as tallymen. Each talleyman had 12 sticks, one of which he stuck in the
ground as the ball was carried through by his side. A score of 12 runs
to a tree or other goal won the game. A circle was made in the ground to
show the players how far to approach. As the opening speech was being made
by one of the overseers he suddenly tossed the ball into the air and the
game began. When one side had gained the victory the spectators extolled
the players in every way possible. On the way home the players kept together
in good order.
"The ancient ball game can be seen
to have been from this description quite similar if not identical with
the game as it is played today. The same ritualistic elements which allied
it to war existed at that time. The players were separated just as warriors
were, from the ordinary life of the community, and had to be purified from
all uncleanliness or contamination. The same rivalry between villages and
the same conjuring magic characterized the game in the ancient period as
characterizes it today. (Gilbert, 337-338)
(Eastern Cherokee, about 1900). "The
first and most important of all Cherokees sports is the ball game... The
dantelidahi, or 'captain', organizes his team from the available
young men of the town and may have as many as 20 players enrolled. In the
actual playing only 12 are allowed to participate. There are appointed
two "drivers" to separate the players in the scrimmages and keep the game
going. As a rule each town has its team play three games a year. Summer
is the ball game season.
"The way of arranging a match is for
the captain of one team to send out two messengers to a rival town challenging
them to a game. The rival town appoints two men to receive the challenge
and to accept it. Then the rival captains get busy and search for the best
conjurer available in order that as strong a magical power as possible
can be brought in to aid in winning. Extraordinary measures are sometimes
resorted in to aid in winning. Extraordinary measures are sometimes resorted
to in order to secure a good conjurer. The whole community may turn out
to hoe the fields or perform work on the conjurer's fields in order to
show their good will and regard for the conjurer's powers.
"The conjurer prays and divines what
the future has in store by a special technique. If he finds that the opponents
are stronger than the home team, he takes measures to strengthen the latter.
These measures consist of 'scratchings', prayers, going to the river and
bathing at stated intervals, and the dance for the 4th night before the
day of the game. The players must fast and abstain from their wives during
the latter part of their period of training. The captain of the team 'calls'
the leaders of the nightly ball dances. In the magical rites of strengthening,
the conjurer especially looks after the ayeli anakstone i, or 'center
knockers' for these are the men who jump in the center when the ball is
first tossed up at the beginning of the game and this even is important
in deciding which side first gets the ball.
"Before the game bets are placed by
players and spectators alike on the probable outcome. These bets, generally
wearing apparel or more often (today) money, are thrown in a pile and two
men, one from each side, are appointed to watch them. Sharp sticks are
stuck into the ground to register the bets.
"The game is played between two goals,
generally trees. The touching of the opponents' goal with the ball in hand
by a player of the other side constitutes a score of one. Twelve scores
win the game. The ball, a small golf-ball-sized object, is tossed into
the air by one of the drivers and is then batted back and forth with racquets
until someone catches it in his hand and runs to the oppos
