374 MYTHS OF THE CHEROKEE [eth.annis 



loo. THE RAID ON TIK\A^ALI'TS1 



The last iiotod leader of the Shawano raiding parties was a chief 

 known to the Cherokee as Tawa'li-ukwanun'ti, "Punk-plugged-in," 

 on account of a red spot on his cheek which looked as though a piece 

 of punk (taiva'lt) had been driven into the flesh. 



The people of Tikwali'tsi town, on Tuckasegee, heard rumors that 

 a war party under this leader had come in from the north and was 

 lurking somewhere in the neighborhood. The Cherokee conjurer, 

 whose name was Etawa'ha-tsistatla'ski, " Dead-wood-lighter," resorted 

 to his magic arts and found that the Shawano were in ambush along the 

 trail on the north side of the river a short distance above the town. 

 By his advice a party was fitted out to go up on the south side and 

 come in upon the enemy's rear. A few foolhardy fellows, however, 

 despised his words and boldly went up the trail on the north side until 

 they came to Deep Creek, where the Shawano in hiding at the ford 

 took them "like fish in a trap" and killed nearly all of them. 



Their friends on the other side of the river heard the tiring, and 

 crossing the river above Deep creek they came in behind the Shawano 

 and attacked them, killing a number and forcing the others to retreat 

 towai'd the Smoky mountains, with the Cherokee in pursuit. The 

 invaders had with them two Cherokee prisoners who were not able to 

 keep up with the rapid flight, so their captors took them, bound as 

 they were, and threw them over a clifl'. An old conjurer of their own 

 party finding himself unable to keep up deliberately sat down against 

 a tree near the same spot to wait for death. The pursuers coming up 

 split his head with a hatchet and threw his liody over the .same cliff, 

 which takes its name from this cii'cumstance. The Shawano continued 

 to retreat, with the Cherokee close behind them, until they crossed 

 the main ridge at the gap just below Clingman's dome. Here the 

 Cherokee gave up the pursuit and returned to their homes. 



loi. THE LAST SHAWANO INVASION 



Perhaps a year after the raid upon Tikwali'tsi, the Shawano again, 

 under the same leader, came down upon the exposed settlement of 

 Kanuga, on Pigeon river, and carried off' a woman and two children 

 whom they found gathering berries near the town. Without waiting 

 to make an attack they hastily retreated with their prisoners. The 

 peoj>le of Kanuga sent for aid to the other settlements farther south, 

 and a strong party was quickly raised to pursue the enemy and recover 

 the captives. By this time, however, the Shawano had had several 

 days' start and it was necessary for the Cherokee to take a shorter 

 course across the mountains to overtake them. A noted conjurer 

 named Kii'lanu, "The Raven,"' of Hiwassee town, was called upon to 

 discover b}' his magic arts what direction the Shawano had taken and 



