430 MYTHS OF THE CHEROKEE [kth. ann.19 



left, every revolution increases its diameter, and at length extends to tlic distance of 

 ten or twelve feet from the centre, more or less, according to the length of time the 

 assembly or meeting is to continue. By the time these i)rci)arations are accom- 

 plished, it is night, and the assembly have taken their seats in order. The exterior 

 or outer end of the spiral circle takes fire and immediately rises into a bright flame 

 (but how this is effected I did not plainly ajjprehend; I saw no person set fire to it; 

 there might have been fire left on the earth; however I neither saw nor smelt fire or 

 smoke until the blaze instantly ascended ujnvards) , which gradually and slowly 

 cree)is round the centre pillar, with the course of the sun, feeding on the dry canes, 

 and affords a cheerful, gentle and sufficient light until the circle is consumed, when 

 the council breaks up." ^ 



1. How THE WORLD WAS M.\DE (p. 239) : From decay of the old tradition and admix- 

 ture of Bible ideas the Cherokee genesis myth is too far broken down to be recovered 

 excepting in disjointed fragments. The completeness of the destruction may be 

 judged by studying the .■similar myth nf the Iroquois or the Ojibwa. What is here 

 preserved was oljtained chiefly from Swimmer and John Ax, the two most compe- 

 tent authorities of the eastern baml. The evergreen story is from Ta'gwilrlihl'. The 

 incident of the brother striking his sister with a fish to make her pregnant was given 

 by Ayasta, and may have a jihallic meaning. John Ax says the pregnancy was 

 brought about by the "Little People," Yunwl Tsunsdi', who commanded the woman 

 to rub spittle (of the brother?) upon her back, and to lie upon her breast, with her 

 body completely covered, for seven days and nights, at the end of which period the 

 child was born, and another thereafter every seven days until the period was made 

 longer. According to Wafford the first man was created blind and remained so for 

 some time. The incident of the buzzard shaping the mountains occurs also in the 

 genesis myth of the Creeks'- and Yuchi,'* southern neighbors of the Cherokee, but 

 by .them the first earth is said to have lieen brought up from under the water l:)y the 

 crawfish. .-Vmong the nortliern tribes it is commonly the turtle which continues to 

 support the earth upon its back. The water beetle referred to is the Oiiriiius, locally 

 known as mellow bug or apple beetle. One variant makes the dihta'ydtl, water- 

 spider ("scissors," Dolomedes), help in the work. Nothing is said as to whence the 

 sun is obtained. By some tribes it is believed to be a gaming wheel stolen from a 

 race of superior beings. See also number 7, "The Journey to the Sunrise." 



The missionaries Buttrick and 'Washbni'n give versions of the Cherokee genesis, 

 both of which are so badly warped 1)\- Bil)le interpretation as to be worthless. 

 No native cosmogonic myth yet recorded goes back to the first act of creation, but 

 all start out with a world and living creatures already in existence, though not in 

 their final form and condition. 



Hand-hrnidih — The Cherokee word is utami'hih'i, from nirth/i. hand. This is not 

 to be taken literally, but is a figurative expression much used in the .sacred formulas 

 to denote a serial interval of space. The idea of successive removals of the sun, in 

 order to modify the excessive heat, is found with other tribes. Buttrick, already 

 quoted, says in his statement of the Cherokee cosmogony: "When God created the 

 world he made a heaven or firmament about as high as the tops of the mountains, 

 but this was too warm. He then created a second, which was also too warm. He 

 thus proceeded till he had created seven heavens and in the seventh fixed His abode. 

 During some of their prayers they raise their hands to the first, second, third, fourth, 

 fifth, sixth and seventh heaven," etc.* 



'Travels, pp. 449-4.50. 



-W. O. Tuggle, Myths nf the Creeks, MS. l.ssT. t'opy it) arehives of the Btireali of Anieriean Eth- 

 nology. 



3 A. S. Gatschet, Some Mythie Stories of the Viiolii Indians, in American Anthropologist, vi, p. 

 281, July. 1893. 



* Antiquities. 



