﻿354 
  SACRED 
  FORMULAS 
  OF 
  THE 
  CHEROKEES. 
  

  

  Explanation. 
  

  

  The 
  Cherokee 
  name 
  for 
  this 
  disease 
  is 
  Gu 
  n 
  wani'gistal', 
  which 
  sig- 
  

   nifies 
  that 
  "something 
  is 
  causing 
  something 
  to 
  eat," 
  or 
  gnaw 
  the 
  

   vitals 
  of 
  the 
  patient. 
  The 
  disease 
  attacks 
  only 
  infants 
  of 
  tender 
  

   age 
  and 
  the 
  symptoms 
  are 
  nervousness 
  and 
  troubled 
  sleep, 
  from 
  

   which 
  the 
  child 
  wakes 
  suddenly 
  crying 
  as 
  if 
  frightened. 
  The 
  civi- 
  

   lized 
  doctor 
  would 
  regard 
  these 
  as 
  symptoms 
  of 
  the 
  presence 
  of 
  

   worms, 
  but 
  although 
  the 
  Cherokee 
  name 
  might 
  seem 
  to 
  indicate 
  the 
  

   same 
  belief, 
  the 
  real 
  theory 
  is 
  very 
  different. 
  

  

  Cherokee 
  mothers 
  sometimes 
  hush 
  crying 
  children 
  by 
  telling 
  them 
  

   that 
  the 
  screech 
  owl 
  is 
  listening 
  out 
  in 
  the 
  woods 
  or 
  that 
  the 
  De'tsata 
  

   — 
  a 
  malicious 
  little 
  dwarf 
  who 
  lives 
  in 
  caves 
  in 
  the 
  river 
  bluffs 
  — 
  

   will 
  come 
  and 
  get 
  them. 
  This 
  quiets 
  the 
  child 
  for 
  the 
  time 
  and 
  is 
  

   so 
  far 
  successful, 
  but 
  the 
  animals, 
  or 
  the 
  De'tsata, 
  take 
  offense 
  at 
  

   being 
  spoken 
  of 
  in 
  this 
  way, 
  and 
  visit 
  their 
  displeasure 
  upon 
  the 
  

   children 
  horn 
  to 
  the 
  mother 
  aft/ 
  nvard. 
  This 
  they 
  do 
  by 
  sending 
  an 
  

   animal 
  into 
  the 
  body 
  of 
  the 
  child 
  to 
  gnaw 
  its 
  vitals. 
  The 
  disease 
  

   is 
  very 
  common 
  and 
  there 
  are 
  several 
  specialists 
  who 
  devote 
  their 
  

   attention 
  to 
  it, 
  using 
  various 
  formulas 
  and 
  prescriptions. 
  It 
  is 
  also 
  

   called 
  atawi'nShl, 
  signifying 
  that 
  it 
  is 
  caused 
  by 
  the 
  '" 
  dwellers 
  in 
  

   the 
  forest," 
  i. 
  e. 
  , 
  the 
  wild 
  game 
  and 
  birds, 
  and 
  some 
  doctors 
  declare 
  

   that 
  it 
  is 
  caused 
  by 
  the 
  revengeful 
  comrades 
  of 
  the 
  animals, 
  espe- 
  

   cially 
  birds, 
  killed 
  by 
  the 
  father 
  of 
  the 
  child, 
  the 
  animals 
  tracking 
  

   the 
  slayer 
  to 
  his 
  home 
  by 
  the 
  blood 
  drops 
  on 
  the 
  leaves. 
  The 
  next 
  

   formula 
  will 
  throw 
  more 
  light 
  upon 
  this 
  theory. 
  

  

  In 
  this 
  formula 
  the 
  doctor, 
  who 
  is 
  certainly 
  not 
  overburdened 
  

   with 
  modesty, 
  starts 
  out 
  by 
  asserting 
  that 
  he 
  is 
  a 
  great 
  ada'wehi, 
  

   who 
  never 
  fails 
  and 
  who 
  surpasses 
  all 
  others. 
  He 
  then 
  declares 
  that 
  

   the 
  disease 
  is 
  caused 
  by 
  a 
  mere 
  screech 
  owl, 
  which 
  he 
  at 
  once 
  ban- 
  

   ishes 
  to 
  the 
  laurel 
  thicket. 
  In 
  the 
  succeeding 
  paragraphs 
  he 
  reiter- 
  

   ates 
  his 
  former 
  boasting, 
  but 
  asserts 
  in 
  turn 
  that 
  the 
  trouble 
  is 
  

   caused 
  by 
  a 
  mere 
  hooting 
  owl, 
  a 
  rabbit, 
  or 
  even 
  by 
  the 
  De'tsata, 
  

   whose 
  greatest 
  exploit 
  is 
  hiding 
  the 
  arrows 
  of 
  the 
  boys, 
  for 
  which 
  

   the 
  youthful 
  hunters 
  do 
  not 
  hesitate 
  to 
  rate 
  him 
  soundly. 
  These 
  

   various 
  mischief-makers 
  the 
  doctor 
  banishes 
  to 
  their 
  proper 
  haunts, 
  

   the 
  hooting 
  owl 
  to 
  the 
  spruce 
  thicket, 
  the 
  rabbit 
  to 
  the 
  broom 
  sage 
  

   on 
  the 
  mountain 
  side, 
  and 
  the 
  De'tsata 
  to 
  the 
  bluffs 
  along 
  the 
  river 
  

   bank. 
  

  

  Some 
  doctors 
  use 
  herb 
  decoctions, 
  which 
  are 
  blown 
  upon 
  the 
  body 
  

   of 
  the 
  child, 
  but 
  in 
  this 
  formula 
  the 
  only 
  remedy 
  prescribed 
  is 
  

   water, 
  which 
  must 
  be 
  blown 
  upon 
  the 
  body 
  of 
  the 
  little 
  sufferer 
  

   just 
  before 
  dark 
  for 
  four 
  nights. 
  The 
  regular 
  method 
  is 
  to 
  blow 
  

   once 
  each 
  at 
  the 
  end 
  of 
  the 
  first, 
  second, 
  and 
  third 
  paragraphs 
  and 
  

   four 
  times 
  at 
  the 
  end 
  of 
  the 
  fourth 
  or 
  last. 
  In 
  diseases 
  of 
  this 
  kind, 
  

   which 
  are 
  not 
  supposed 
  to 
  be 
  of 
  a 
  local 
  character, 
  the 
  doctor 
  blows 
  

  

  