﻿312 
  SACRED 
  FORMULAS 
  OF 
  THE 
  CHEROKEES. 
  

  

  was 
  a 
  small 
  day-book 
  of 
  about 
  240 
  pages, 
  procured 
  originally 
  from 
  

   a 
  white 
  man, 
  and 
  was 
  about 
  half 
  tilled 
  with 
  writing 
  in 
  the 
  Cherokee 
  

   characters. 
  A 
  brief 
  examination 
  disclosed 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  it 
  contained 
  

   just 
  those 
  matters 
  that 
  had 
  proved 
  so 
  difficult 
  to 
  procure. 
  Here 
  

   were 
  prayers, 
  songs, 
  and 
  prescriptions 
  for 
  the 
  cure 
  of 
  all 
  kinds 
  of 
  

   diseases 
  — 
  for 
  chills, 
  rheumatism, 
  frostbites, 
  wounds, 
  bad 
  dreams, 
  

   and 
  witchery 
  ; 
  love 
  charms, 
  to 
  gain 
  the 
  affections 
  of 
  a 
  woman 
  or 
  

   to 
  cause 
  her 
  to 
  hate 
  a 
  detested 
  rival; 
  fishing 
  charms, 
  hunting 
  

   charms 
  — 
  including 
  the 
  songs 
  without 
  which 
  none 
  could 
  ever 
  hope 
  to 
  

   kill 
  any 
  game 
  ; 
  prayers 
  to 
  make 
  the 
  corn 
  grow, 
  to 
  frighten 
  away 
  

   storms, 
  and 
  to 
  drive 
  off 
  witches 
  ; 
  prayers 
  for 
  long 
  life, 
  for 
  safety 
  

   among 
  strangers, 
  for 
  acquiring 
  influence 
  in 
  council 
  and 
  success 
  in 
  

   the 
  ball 
  play. 
  There 
  were 
  prayers 
  to 
  the 
  Long 
  Man, 
  the 
  Ancient 
  

   White, 
  the 
  Great 
  Whirlwind, 
  the 
  Yellow 
  Rattlesnake, 
  and 
  to 
  a 
  hun- 
  

   dred 
  other 
  gods 
  of 
  the 
  Cherokee 
  pantheon. 
  It 
  was 
  in 
  fact 
  an 
  Indian 
  

   ritual 
  and 
  pharmacopoeia. 
  

  

  After 
  recovering 
  in 
  a 
  measure 
  from 
  the 
  astonishment 
  produced 
  

   by 
  this 
  discovery 
  I 
  inquired 
  whether 
  other 
  shamans 
  had 
  such 
  books. 
  

   " 
  Yes," 
  said 
  Swimmer, 
  " 
  we 
  all 
  have 
  them." 
  Here 
  then 
  was 
  a 
  clew 
  

   to 
  follow 
  up. 
  A 
  bargain 
  was 
  made 
  by 
  which 
  he 
  was 
  to 
  have 
  another 
  

   blank 
  book 
  into 
  which 
  to 
  copy 
  the 
  formulas, 
  after 
  which 
  the 
  orig- 
  

   inal 
  was 
  bought. 
  It 
  is 
  now 
  deposited 
  in 
  the 
  library 
  of 
  the 
  Bureau 
  

   of 
  Ethnology. 
  The 
  remainder 
  of 
  the 
  time 
  until 
  the 
  return 
  was 
  occu- 
  

   pied 
  in 
  getting 
  an 
  understanding 
  of 
  the 
  contents 
  of 
  the 
  book. 
  

  

  THE 
  GATIGWANASTI 
  MANUSCRIPT. 
  

  

  Further 
  inquiry 
  elicited 
  the 
  names 
  of 
  several 
  others 
  who 
  might 
  

   be 
  supposed 
  to 
  have 
  such 
  papers. 
  Before 
  leaving 
  a 
  visit 
  was 
  paid 
  to 
  

   one 
  of 
  these, 
  a 
  young 
  man 
  named 
  Wilnoti, 
  whose 
  father, 
  Gatigwan- 
  

   asti, 
  had 
  been 
  during 
  his 
  lifetime 
  a 
  prominent 
  shaman, 
  regarded 
  as 
  

   a 
  man 
  of 
  superior 
  intelligence. 
  Wilnoti, 
  who 
  is 
  a 
  professing 
  Chris- 
  

   tian, 
  said 
  that 
  his 
  father 
  had 
  had 
  such 
  papers, 
  and 
  after 
  some 
  ex- 
  

   planation 
  from 
  the 
  chief 
  he 
  consented 
  to 
  show 
  them. 
  He 
  produced 
  

   a 
  box 
  containing 
  a 
  lot 
  of 
  miscellaneous 
  papers, 
  testaments, 
  and 
  hymn- 
  

   hooks, 
  all 
  in 
  the 
  Cherokee 
  alphabet. 
  Among 
  them 
  was 
  his 
  father's 
  

   chief 
  treasure, 
  a 
  manuscript 
  book 
  containing 
  122 
  pages 
  of 
  foolscap 
  

   size, 
  completely 
  filled 
  with 
  formulas 
  of 
  the 
  same 
  kind 
  as 
  those 
  con- 
  

   tained 
  in 
  Swimmer's 
  book. 
  There 
  were 
  also 
  a 
  large 
  number 
  of 
  loose 
  

   sheets, 
  making 
  in 
  all 
  nearly 
  200 
  foolscap 
  pages 
  of 
  sacred 
  formulas. 
  

  

  ( 
  )n 
  offering 
  to 
  buy 
  the 
  papers, 
  he 
  replied 
  that 
  he 
  wanted 
  to 
  keep 
  

   them 
  in 
  order 
  to 
  learn 
  and 
  practice 
  these 
  things 
  himself 
  — 
  thus 
  show- 
  

   ing 
  how 
  thin 
  was 
  the 
  veneer 
  of 
  Christianity, 
  in 
  his 
  case 
  at 
  least. 
  On 
  

   representing 
  to 
  him 
  that 
  in 
  a 
  few 
  years 
  the 
  new 
  conditions 
  would 
  

   render 
  such 
  knowledge 
  valueless 
  with 
  the 
  younger 
  generation, 
  and 
  

   that 
  even 
  if 
  he 
  retained 
  the 
  papers 
  he 
  would 
  need 
  some 
  one 
  else 
  

   to 
  explain 
  them 
  to 
  him, 
  he 
  again 
  refused, 
  saying 
  that 
  they 
  might 
  

  

  