﻿SACRED 
  FORMULAS 
  OF 
  THE 
  CHEROKEES. 
  

  

  By 
  James 
  Mooney. 
  

  

  INTRODUCTION. 
  

  

  The 
  sacred 
  formulas 
  here 
  given 
  are 
  selected 
  from 
  a 
  collection 
  of 
  

   about 
  sis 
  hundred, 
  obtained 
  on 
  the 
  Cherokee 
  reservation 
  in 
  North 
  

   Carolina 
  in 
  1887 
  and 
  1888, 
  and 
  covering 
  every 
  subject 
  pertaining 
  to 
  

   the 
  daily 
  life 
  and 
  thought 
  of 
  the 
  Indian, 
  including 
  medicine, 
  love, 
  

   hunting, 
  fishing, 
  war, 
  self 
  -protection, 
  destruction 
  of 
  enemies, 
  witch- 
  

   craft, 
  the 
  crops, 
  the 
  council, 
  the 
  ball 
  play, 
  etc., 
  and, 
  in 
  fact, 
  embody- 
  

   ing 
  almost 
  the 
  whole 
  of 
  the 
  ancient 
  religion 
  of 
  the 
  Cherokees. 
  The 
  

   original 
  manuscripts, 
  now 
  in 
  the 
  possession 
  of 
  the 
  Bureau 
  of 
  Eth- 
  

   nology, 
  were 
  written 
  by 
  the 
  shamans 
  of 
  the 
  tribe, 
  for 
  their 
  own 
  use, 
  

   in 
  the 
  Cherokee 
  characters 
  invented 
  by 
  Sikwa'ya 
  (Sequoyah) 
  in 
  1821, 
  

   and 
  were 
  obtained, 
  with 
  the 
  explanations, 
  either 
  from 
  the 
  writers 
  

   themselves 
  or 
  from 
  their 
  surviving 
  relatives. 
  

  

  Some 
  of 
  these 
  manuscripts 
  are 
  known 
  to 
  be 
  at 
  least 
  thirty 
  years 
  

   <>ld, 
  and 
  many 
  are 
  probably 
  older. 
  The 
  medical 
  formulas 
  of 
  all 
  

   kinds 
  constitute 
  perhaps 
  one-half 
  of 
  the 
  whole 
  number, 
  while 
  the 
  

   love 
  charms 
  come 
  next 
  in 
  number, 
  closely 
  followed 
  by 
  the 
  songs 
  and 
  

   prayers 
  used 
  in 
  hunting 
  and 
  fishing. 
  The 
  great 
  number 
  of 
  love 
  

   charms 
  will 
  doubtless 
  be 
  a 
  surprise 
  to 
  those 
  who 
  have 
  been 
  educated 
  

   in 
  the 
  old 
  theory 
  that 
  the 
  Indian 
  is 
  insensible 
  to 
  the 
  attractions 
  of 
  

   woman. 
  The 
  comparatively 
  small 
  number 
  of 
  war 
  formulas 
  is 
  ex- 
  

   plained 
  by 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  the 
  last 
  war 
  in 
  which 
  the 
  Cherokees, 
  as 
  a 
  

   tribe, 
  were 
  engaged 
  on 
  their 
  own 
  account, 
  closed 
  with 
  the 
  Revolu- 
  

   tionary 
  period, 
  so 
  that 
  these 
  things 
  were 
  well 
  nigh 
  forgotten 
  before 
  

   the 
  invention 
  of 
  the 
  alphabet, 
  a 
  generation 
  later. 
  The 
  Cherokees 
  

   who 
  engaged 
  in 
  the 
  Creek 
  war 
  and 
  the 
  late 
  American 
  civil 
  war 
  

   fought 
  in 
  the 
  interests 
  of 
  the 
  whites, 
  and 
  their 
  leaders 
  were 
  subordi- 
  

   nated 
  to 
  white 
  officers, 
  hence 
  there 
  was 
  not 
  the 
  same 
  opportunity 
  for 
  

   the 
  exercise 
  of 
  shamanistic 
  rites 
  that 
  there 
  would 
  have 
  been 
  had 
  

   Indians 
  alone 
  been 
  concerned. 
  The 
  prayers 
  for 
  hunting, 
  fishing, 
  and 
  

   the 
  ball 
  play 
  being 
  in 
  more 
  constant 
  demand, 
  have 
  been 
  better 
  pre- 
  

   served, 
  

  

  307 
  

  

  