266 MYTHS OV THE CHEKOKEE [KTir. Axx.iy 



siiiiillpox epi<l(Miru' of 1S<10, till' entire body of the animal was thus 

 liiiiii;- up. and in some eases, as an additional safeouard, the meat was 

 cooked and eaten and the oil rubbed over the skin of the person. The 

 underlying idea is that the fetid smell repels the disease spirit, and 

 upon the sanu? principle the buzzard, which is so evidently supei'ior to 

 carrion smells, is held to ])e powerful against the same diseas(>s. 



The ))eaver [da'yt)^ by reason of its well-known gnawing al)ility, 

 against which even the hardest wood is not proof, is invoked on behalf 

 of voung children just getting their permanent teeth. According to 

 the little formula which is familiar to nearly every mother in the tribe, 

 when the loosened milk tooth is pulled out or drops out of itself, the 

 child runs with it around the house, repeating four times, "Dd'yt, 

 xkintd' (Beaver, put a new tooth into my jaw)" after which he throws 

 the tooth upon the roof of the house. 



In a characteristic song formula to prevent frostbite the traveler, 

 before starting out on a cold winter morning, rubs his feet in the ashes 

 of the tire and sings a song of four verses, b\' means of which, accord- 

 ing to the Indian idea, he acquires in turn the cold-defying powers of 

 the wolf, deer, fox, and opossum, four animals whose feet, it is held, 

 are never frostbitten. After each verse he imitates the cry and the 

 action of the animal. The words used are archaic in form and ma.v be 

 rendered "I become a real wolf," etc. The song runs: 



T'sr(«'7('o"j/((-.i/a',(''epeated four times) , ii-a-j-ii.' (pmldnncil howl). (Imitates a 

 wolf pawing the ground with his feet.) 



Tsun' -ha' wi-ye' (repeated fi>ur times), mvili! nauli! naidi.' xnnji.' (Imitates i-all and 

 jumping of a deer.) 



Tsikn'-trn'^a-ya' (repeated four times), ijnih! gaih! (juih! <i<iUi! (Imitates harking 

 and scratching of a fox. ) 



TsiW-sVkwa-ya' (repeated four times), k1+. (Imitates the cry of an opossum 

 when cornered, and throws his head back as that animal does when feigning death.) 



i6. THE RABBIT GOES DUCK HUNTING 



The Rab])it was so Ijoastful that he would claim to do whatever he 

 saw anyone else do, and so tricky that lie could usually make the other 

 animals believe it all. Once he pretended that he could swim in the 

 water and eat fish just as the Otter did, and when the others told him 

 to prove it he fixed up a plan so that the Otter himself was deceived. 



Soon afterward they met again and the Otter siiid, " I eat ducks some- 

 times." Said tlie Kabbit, "Well, I eat ducks too." The Otter chal- 

 lenged him to tiy it; so they went up along the river until they saw 

 several ducks in the water and managed to get near without being 

 seen. The Rabt)it told the Otter to go first. The Otter never hesi- 

 tated. l)ut di\'ed from the bank and swam under water until he reached 

 the ducks, when he pulled one down without being noticed by the 

 others, and came back in the same way. 



While the Otter had been under the water the Rabbit had peeled 



