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are venomous and noxious beasts; and though the
Ohdowas are small, they are sturdy and brave, and for the most part keep the
monstrous beings imprisoned; rarely do the latter break through to devastate
and defile the world above."
Pages 61 and 63 of the same volume carries the
following interesting information concerning the Cherokee and Choctaw Nations:
"...Furthermore,
the Cherokee myth continues with an obvious addition of southwestern ideas.
‘There is another world under this, and it is like ours in everything -
animals, plants, and people - save that the seasons are different. The streams
that come down from the mountains are the trails by which we reach this
underworld, and the springs at their heads are the doorways by which we enter
it, but to do this one must fast and go to water and have one of the
underground people for a guide. We know that the seasons in the underworld are
different from ours, because the water in the springs is always warmer in
winter and cooler in summer than the outer air.’
"...The
Choctaw, like the Creek, regard themselves as earth-born. In very ancient
times, before man lived, Nane Chaha ("high hill") was formed, from
the top of which a passage led down into the caverns of earth from which the
Choctaw emerged, scattering to the four points of the compass."
And finally, page 289 of the same volume tells the
following interesting story:
"...De
Smet (p.1378) mentions a cavern in the Yellowstone region which the Indians
named ‘the place of coming-out and going-in of underground spirits,’ and the
South-Western notion of the Sipapu is an instance in point; other examples
appear in the mythologies of the Creek, Kiowa, and
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