MOONEY] THK FOl'KFOOTED TRIBES 261 



14. THE DELUGE 



A loiio- tiino ayo ;i iii;ni lunl a doy'. \\ hicli begun to go down to the 

 river every dav and look at the water and howl. At last the man 

 was angry and scolded the dog, which then spoke to him and said: 

 "Very soon there is going to he a great fresliet and tiie water will 

 come so liigh tiiat e\'eryl)ody will be drowned; but it' yon will make a 

 raft to get uj)on when tiie rain eom(>s you can be saved. l)iit you must 

 first throw me int() the water." The man did not believe it, and tlie 

 dog said, "If you want a sign that I speak the truth, look at the back 

 of my neck." He looked and saw that the dog's neck had tlie skin 

 worn off so that the bones stuck out. 



Then he believed the dog. and began to build a raft. Soon tiie rain 

 came and he took his family, with plenty of provisions, and tiiey all 

 got upon it. It rained for a long time, and the water rose until the 

 mountains were covered and all the people in the world were drowned. 

 Tlien the rain stopped and tii(> waters went down again, until at last 

 it was safe to come off the raft. Now there was no one alive Init the 

 man and his family, l)ut oiu> day they heard a sound of dancing and 

 shouting on the other side of the ridge. The man climix'd to tiie top 

 and looked over; everything was still, but till along the valli'v ho saw 

 great piles of bones of the people who had lieen drowned, and then 

 he knew that the ghosts had been dancing. 



QuADKUi'EP Myths 



15. THE FOURFOOTED TRIBES 



In Cherokee mythology, as in that of Indian tribes generally, there 

 is no essential ditierence i)etween men and animals. In the primal 

 genesis period they seem to be completely undift'erentiatod, and 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, biicls. 

 fishes, reptiles, and fourfooted beasts join forces against him (see 

 story. "Origin of Disease and Medicine"). Henceforth tlieir lives are 

 apart, but the difference is always one of degree only. The animals, 

 like the people, are organized into tribes and iiave like tiiem their 

 chiefs and townhoiises. their councils and i)allplays, and the same 

 hereafter in the Darkening land of I'sunhi'yi. Man is still the para- 

 mount power, and hunts and slaugiitei's the others as his own necessi- 

 ties compel, l)ut is oldiged to satisfy the animal tribes in every 

 in.stance, very much as a murdei' is compounded for, acioi'ding to the 

 Indiiin system, l)y "covering the bones of the dead" witli presents for 

 the l)ereaved relatives. 



This pardon to tiie liunter is made tlie easier through a ])eculiar 



