Native American Legends
The Four-Footed Tribes
A Cherokee Legend
In Cherokee mythology, as in that of Indian tribes generally, there
is no essential difference between men and animals. In the primal
genesis period they seem to be completely undifferentiated.
We find all creatures alike living and working together in harmony
and mutual helpfulness until man, by his aggressiveness and disregard
for the rights of the others, provokes their hostility, when insects,
birds, fishes, reptiles, and four-footed beasts join forces against
Henceforth their lives are apart, but the difference is always
one of degree only. The animals, like the people, are organized
into tribes and have like them their chiefs and townhouses, their
councils and ball plays, and the same hereafter in the Darkening
land of Us'ûñhi'yï.
Man is still the paramount power, and hunts and slaughters the
others as his own necessities compel, but is obliged to satisfy
the animal tribes in every instance, very much as a murder is compounded
for, according to the Indian system, by "covering the bones
of the dead" with presents for the bereaved relatives.
This pardon to the hunter is made the easier through a peculiar
doctrine of reincarnation, according to which, as explained by the
shamans, there is assigned to every animal a definite life term
which can not be curtailed by violent means. If it is killed before
the expiration of the allotted time the death is only temporary
and the body is immediately resurrected in its proper shape from
the blood drops, and the animal continues its existence until the
end of the predestined period, when the body is finally dissolved
and the liberated spirit goes to join its kindred shades in the
This idea appears in the story of the bear man and in the belief
concerning the Little Deer. Death is thus but a temporary accident
and the killing a mere minor crime. By some priests it is held that
there are seven successive reanimations before the final end.
Certain supernatural personages, Kana'tï and Tsul`kälû'
(see the myths), have dominion over the animals, and are therefore
regarded as the distinctive gods of the hunter. Kana'tï at
one time kept the game animals, as well as the pestiferous insects,
shut up in a cave under ground, from which they were released by
his undutiful sons.
The primeval animals-the actors in the animal myths and the predecessors
of the existing species-are believed to have been much larger, stronger,
and cleverer than their successors of the present day. In these
myths we find the Indian explanation of certain peculiarities of
form, color, or habit, and the various animals are always consistently
represented as acting in accordance with their well-known characteristics.
First and most prominent in the animal myths is the Rabbit (Tsistu),
who figures always as a trickster and deceiver, generally malicious,
but often beaten at his own game by those whom he had intended to
victimize. The connection of the rabbit with the dawn god and the
relation of the Indian myths to the stories current among the southern
negroes are discussed in another place.
Ball players while in training are forbidden to eat the flesh of
the rabbit, because this animal so easily becomes confused in running.
On the other hand, their spies seek opportunity to strew along the
path which must be taken by their rivals a soup made of rabbit hamstrings,
with the purpose of rendering them timorous in action.
In a ball game between the birds and the four-footed animals the
Bat, which took sides with the birds, is said to have won the victory
for his party by his superior dodging abilities. For this reason
the wings or sometimes the stuffed skin of the bat are tied to the
implements used in the game to insure success for the players. According
to the same myth the Flying Squirrel (Tewa) also aided in securing
the victory, and hence both these animals are still invoked by the
The meat of the common gray squirrel (sälâ'lï)
is forbidden to rheumatic patients, on account of the squirrel's
habit of assuming a cramped position when eating. The stripes upon
the back of the ground squirrel (kiyu`ga) are the mark of scratches
made by the angry animals at a memorable council in which he took
it upon himself to say a good word for the archenemy, man.
The peculiarities of the mink (sûñgï) are accounted
for by another story. The buffalo, the largest game animal of America,
was hunted in the southern Allegheny region until almost the close
of the last century, the particular species being probably that
known in the West as the wood or mountain buffalo. The name in use
among the principal gulf tribes was practically the same, and can
not be analyzed, viz, Cherokee, yûñsû'; Hichitee,
ya'nasi; Creek, yëna'sa; Choctaw, yanash.
Although the flesh of the buffalo was eaten, its skin dressed for
blankets and bed coverings, its long hair woven into belts, and
its horns carved into spoons, it is yet strangely absent from Cherokee
folklore. So far as is known it is mentioned in but a single one
of the sacred formulas, in which a person under treatment for rheumatism
is forbidden to eat the meat, touch the skin, or use a spoon made
from the horn of the buffalo, upon the ground of an occult connection
between the habitual cramped attitude of a rheumatic and the natural
"hump" of that animal.
The elk is known, probably by report, under the name of a`wï
e'gwa, "great deer", but there is no myth or folklore
in connection with it.
The deer, a`wï', which is still common in the mountains, was
the principal dependence of the Cherokee hunter, and is consequently
prominent in myth, folklore, and ceremonial. One of the seven gentes
of the tribe is named from it (Ani'-Kawï', "Deer People").
According to a myth given elsewhere, the deer won his horns in a
successful race with the rabbit. Rheumatism is usually ascribed
to the work of revengeful deer ghosts, which the hunter has neglected
to placate, while on the other hand the aid of the deer is invoked
against frostbite, as its feet are believed to be immune from injury
The wolf, the fox, and the opossum are also invoked for this purpose,
and for the same reason. When the redroot (Ceanothus americanus)
puts forth its leaves the people say the young fawns are then in
the mountains. On killing a deer the hunter always cuts out the
hamstring from the hind quarter and throws it away, for fear that
if he ate it he would thereafter tire easily in traveling.
The powerful chief of the deer tribe is the A`wï' Usdi', or
"Little Deer," who is invisible to all except the greatest
masters of the hunting secrets, and can be wounded only by the hunter
who has supplemented years of occult study with frequent fasts and
lonely vigils. The Little Deer keeps constant protecting watch over
his subjects, and sees well to it that not one is ever killed in
wantonness. When a deer is shot by the hunter the Little Deer knows
it at once and is instantly at the spot.
Bending low his head he asks of the blood stains upon the ground
if they have heard--i.e., if the hunter has asked pardon for the
life that he has taken. If the formulistic prayer has been made,
all is well, because the necessary sacrifice has been atoned for;
but if otherwise, the Little Deer tracks the hunter to his house
by the blood drops along the trail, and, unseen and unsuspected,
puts into his body the spirit of rheumatism that shall rack him
with aches and pains from that time henceforth.
As seen at rare intervals--perhaps once in a long lifetime-the
Little Deer is pure white and about the size of a small dog, has
branching antlers, and is always in company with a large herd of
deer. Even though shot by the master hunter, he comes to life again,
being immortal, but the fortunate huntsman who can thus make prize
of his antlers has in them an unfailing talisman that brings him
success in the chase forever after.
The smallest portion of one of those horns of the Little Deer,
when properly consecrated, attracts the deer to the hunter, and
when exposed from the wrapping dazes them so that they forget to
run and thus become an easy prey. Like the Ulûñsû'tî
stone, it is a dangerous prize when not treated with proper respect,
and is--or was--kept always in a secret place away from the house
to guard against sacrilegious handling.
Somewhat similar talismanic power attached to the down from the
young antler of the deer when properly consecrated. So firm was
the belief that it had influence over "anything about a deer"
that eighty and a hundred years ago even white traders used to bargain
with the Indians for such charms in order to increase their store
of deerskins by drawing the trade to themselves. The faith in the
existence of the miraculous Little Deer is almost as strong and
universal today among the older Cherokee as is the belief in a future
The bears (yânû) are transformed Cherokee of the old
clan of the Ani'- Tsâ'gûhï (see story, "Origin
of the Bear"). Their chief is the White Bear, who lives at
Kuwâ'hï, "Mulberry place," one of the high
peaks of the Great Smoky mountains, near to the enchanted lake of
Atagâ'hï to which the wounded bears go to be cured of
Under Kuwâ'hï and each of three other peaks in the same
mountain region the bears have townhouses, where they congregate
and hold dances every fall before retiring to their dens for the
winter. Being really human, they can talk if they only would, and
once a mother bear was heard singing to her cub in words which the
hunter understood. There is one variety known as kalâs'- gûnâhi'ta,
"long hams," described as a large black bear with long
legs and small feet, which is always lean, and which the hunter
does not care to shoot, possibly on account of its leanness. It
is believed that new-born cubs are hairless, like mice.
The wolf (wa'`ya) is revered as the hunter and watchdog of Kana'tï,
and the largest gens in the tribe bears the name of Ani'-wa'`ya,
The ordinary Cherokee will never kill one if he can possibly avoid
it, but will let the animal go by unharmed, believing that the kindred
of a slain wolf will surely revenge his death, and that the weapon
with which the deed is done will be rendered worthless for further
shooting until cleaned and exercised by a medicine man. Certain
persons, however, having knowledge of the proper atonement rites,
may kill wolves with impunity, and are hired for this purpose by
others who have suffered from raids upon their fish traps or their
Like the eagle killer, the professional wolf killer, after killing
one of these animals, addresses to it a prayer in which he seeks
to turn aside the vengeance of the tribe by laying the burden of
blame upon the people of some other settlement. He then unscrews
the barrel of his gun and inserts into it seven small sour-wood
rods heated over the fire, and allows it to remain thus overnight
in the running stream; in the morning the rods are taken out and
the barrel is thoroughly dried and cleaned.
The dog (gi`lï'), although as much a part of Indian life among
the Cherokee as in other tribes, hardly appears in folklore. One
myth makes him responsible for the milky way; another represents
him as driving the wolf from the comfortable house fire and taking
the place for himself. He figures also in connection with the deluge.
There is no tradition of the introduction of the horse (sâ'gwälï,
from asâ'gwälihû', from "a pack or burden")
or of the cow (wa'`ka, from the Spanish, vaca). The hog is called,
sïkwä, this being originally the name of the opossum,
which somewhat resembles it in expression, and which is now distinguished
as sïkwä utse'tstï, "grinning sïkwä".
In the same way the sheep, another introduced animal, is called
a`wï' unäde'na, "woolly deer"; the goat, a`wï'
ahänu'lähï, "bearded deer," and the mule,
"long-eared horse." The cat, also obtained from the whites,
is called wesä, an attempt at the English "pussy."
When it purrs by the fireside, the children say it is counting
in Cherokee, "ta'ladu', nûñ'gï, ta'ladu',
nûñ'gï," "sixteen, four, sixteen, four."
The elephant, which a few of the Cherokee have seen in shows, is
called by them käma'mä u'tänû, "great
butterfly," from the supposed resemblance of its long trunk
and flapping ears to the proboscis and wings of that insect.
The anatomical peculiarities of the opossum, of both sexes, are
the subject of much curious speculation among the Indians, many
of whom believe that its young are produced without any help from
the male. It occurs in one or two of the minor myths.
The fox (tsu'`lä) is mentioned in one of the formulas, but
does no appear in the tribal folklore. The black fox is known by
a different name (inâ'lï). The odor of the skunk (dïlä')
is believed to keep off contagious diseases, and the scent bag is
therefore taken out and hung over the doorway, a small hole being
pierced in it in order that the contents may ooze out upon the timbers.
At times, as in the smallpox epidemic of 1866, the entire body
of the animal was thus hung up, and in some cases, as an additional
safeguard, the meat was cooked and eaten and the oil rubbed over
the skin of the person. The underlying idea is that the fetid smell
repels the disease spirit, and upon the same principle the buzzard,
which is so evidently superior to carrion smells, is held to be
powerful against the same diseases.
The beaver (dâ'yï), by reason of its well-known gnawing
ability, against which even the hardest wood is not proof, is invoked
on behalf of young children just getting their permanent teeth.
According to the little formula which is familiar to nearly every
mother in the tribe, when the loosened milk tooth is pulled out
or drops out of itself, the child runs with it around the house,
repeating four times, "Dâ'yï, skïntä'
(Beaver, put a new tooth into my jaw)" after which he throws
the tooth upon the roof of the house.
In a characteristic song formula to prevent frostbite the traveler,
before starting out on a cold winter morning, rubs his feet in the
ashes of the fire and sings a song of four verses, by means of which,
according to the Indian idea, he acquires in turn the cold-defying
powers of the wolf, deer, fox, and opossum, four animals whose feet,
it is held, are never frostbitten. After each verse he imitates
the cry and the action of the animal. The words used are archaic
in form and may be rendered "I become a real wolf," etc.
The song runs:
Tsûñ'wa'`ya-ya' (repeated four times), wa a! (prolonged
howl). (Imitates a wolf pawing the ground with his feet).
Tsûñ'-ka'wi-ye' (repeated four times), sauh! sauh!
sauh! sauh! (Imitates call and jumping of a deer).
Tsûñ'-tsu'`la-ya' (repeated four times), gaih! gaih!
gaih! gaih! (Imitates barking and scratching of a fox).
Tsûñ'-sï'kwa-ya' (repeated four times), kï.
(Imitates the cry of an opossum when cornered, and throws his head
back as that animal does when feigning death).
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