﻿314 
  SACRED 
  FORMULAS 
  OF 
  THE 
  OHEEOKEES. 
  

  

  Ayasta 
  and 
  her 
  three 
  sons, 
  and 
  negotiations 
  had 
  to 
  be 
  carried 
  on 
  

   with 
  each 
  one, 
  although 
  in 
  this 
  instance 
  the 
  cash 
  amount 
  involved 
  

   was 
  only 
  half 
  a 
  dollar, 
  in 
  addition 
  to 
  another 
  book 
  into 
  which 
  to 
  

   copy 
  some 
  family 
  records 
  and 
  personal 
  memoranda. 
  The 
  book 
  con- 
  

   tains 
  only 
  eight 
  formulas, 
  but 
  these 
  are 
  of 
  a 
  character 
  altogether 
  

   unique, 
  the 
  directions 
  especially 
  throwing 
  a 
  curious 
  light 
  on 
  Indian 
  

   beliefs. 
  There 
  had 
  been 
  several 
  other 
  formulas 
  of 
  the 
  class 
  called 
  

   Y'u 
  n 
  w6hT, 
  to 
  cause 
  hatred 
  between 
  man 
  and 
  wife, 
  but 
  these 
  had 
  been 
  

   torn 
  out 
  and 
  destroyed 
  by 
  Ayasta 
  on 
  the 
  advice 
  of 
  an 
  old 
  shaman, 
  in 
  

   order 
  that 
  her 
  sons 
  might 
  never 
  learn 
  them. 
  In 
  referring 
  to 
  the 
  

   matter 
  she 
  spoke 
  in 
  a 
  whisper, 
  and 
  it 
  was 
  evident 
  enough 
  that 
  she 
  

   had 
  full 
  faith 
  in 
  the 
  deadly 
  power 
  of 
  these 
  spells. 
  

  

  In 
  addition 
  to 
  the 
  formulas 
  the 
  book 
  contains 
  about 
  twenty 
  pages 
  

   of 
  Scripture 
  extracts 
  in 
  the 
  same 
  handwriting, 
  for 
  Gahuni, 
  like 
  sev- 
  

   eral 
  others 
  of 
  their 
  shamans, 
  combined 
  the 
  professions 
  of 
  Indian 
  con- 
  

   jurer 
  and 
  Methodist 
  preacher. 
  After 
  his 
  death 
  the 
  book 
  fell 
  into 
  

   the 
  hands 
  of 
  the 
  younger 
  members 
  of 
  the 
  family, 
  who 
  filled 
  it 
  with 
  

   miscellaneous 
  writings 
  and 
  scribblings. 
  Among 
  other 
  things 
  there 
  

   are 
  about 
  seventy 
  pages 
  of 
  what 
  was 
  intended 
  to 
  be 
  a 
  Cherokee- 
  

   English 
  pronouncing 
  dictionary, 
  probably 
  written 
  by 
  the 
  youngest 
  

   son, 
  already 
  mentioned, 
  who 
  has 
  attended 
  school, 
  and 
  who 
  served 
  

   for 
  some 
  time 
  as 
  copyist 
  on 
  the 
  formulas. 
  This 
  curious 
  Indian 
  pro- 
  

   duction, 
  of 
  which 
  only 
  a 
  few 
  columns 
  are 
  filled 
  out, 
  consists 
  of 
  a 
  list 
  

   of 
  simple 
  English 
  words 
  and 
  phrases, 
  written 
  in 
  ordinary 
  English 
  

   script, 
  followed 
  by 
  Cherokee 
  characters 
  intended 
  to 
  give 
  the 
  approxi- 
  

   mate 
  pronunciation, 
  together 
  with 
  the 
  corresponding 
  word 
  in 
  the 
  

   Cherokee 
  language 
  and 
  characters. 
  As 
  the 
  language 
  lacks 
  a 
  number 
  

   of 
  sounds 
  which 
  are 
  of 
  frequent 
  occurrence 
  in 
  English, 
  the 
  attempts 
  

   to 
  indicate 
  the 
  pronunciation 
  sometimes 
  give 
  amusing 
  results. 
  Thus 
  

   we 
  find: 
  Fox 
  (English 
  script) 
  ; 
  Tcwdgisl' 
  (Cherokee 
  characters); 
  tsu'lu' 
  

   (Cherokee 
  characters). 
  As 
  the 
  Cherokee 
  language 
  lacks 
  the 
  labial 
  

   /' 
  and 
  has 
  no 
  compound 
  sound 
  equivalent 
  to 
  our 
  r, 
  kwdgisi' 
  is 
  as 
  near 
  

   as 
  the 
  Cherokee 
  speaker 
  can 
  come 
  to 
  pronouncing 
  our 
  word 
  fox. 
  In 
  

   the 
  same 
  way 
  "bet" 
  becomes 
  weft, 
  and 
  "sheep" 
  is 
  .sikwl, 
  while 
  "if 
  

   he 
  has 
  no 
  dog" 
  appears 
  in 
  the 
  disguise 
  of 
  iJcwi 
  hdsl 
  nd 
  dd'gct. 
  

  

  THE 
  INALI 
  MANUSCRIPT. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  course 
  of 
  further 
  inquiries 
  in 
  regard 
  to 
  the 
  whereabouts 
  of 
  

   other 
  manuscripts 
  of 
  this 
  kind 
  we 
  heard 
  a 
  great 
  deal 
  about 
  Ina'li, 
  or 
  

   "Black 
  Fox," 
  who 
  had 
  died 
  a 
  few 
  years 
  before 
  at 
  an 
  advanced 
  age, 
  

   and 
  who 
  was 
  universally 
  admitted 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  one 
  of 
  their 
  most 
  

   able 
  men 
  and 
  the 
  most 
  prominent 
  literary 
  character 
  among 
  them, 
  

   tor 
  from 
  what 
  lias 
  been 
  said 
  it 
  must 
  be 
  sufficiently 
  evident 
  that 
  the 
  

   Chen 
  »kees 
  have 
  their 
  native 
  literature 
  and 
  literary 
  men. 
  Like 
  those 
  

   already 
  mentioned, 
  he 
  was 
  a 
  full-blood 
  Cherokee, 
  speaking 
  no 
  Eng- 
  

   lish, 
  and 
  in 
  the 
  course 
  of 
  a 
  long 
  lifetime 
  he 
  had 
  rilled 
  almost 
  every 
  

  

  