moosey! notks and pakaij,els 431 



In lliiiilii riismogony also we timl st'vcn heavens or stajies, increasing in sanctity 

 as they asceml; the Aztecs had nine, as had also the ancient .Scandinavians.' Some 

 Polynesian tribes have ten, each built of azure stone, with apertures for intereoni- 

 niunication. The lowest originally almost touched the earth and was elevated to its 

 present position by successive i)ushes from the gods Ru and Matti, resting first ])ros- 

 trate U]ion the ground, then ui>on their knees, then lifting with their shoulders, their 

 hands, and their fluger tips, until a last supreme effort sent it to its present place. ^ 



Seri'ti: Thi^ mrred numher/i — In every tribe and cult throughout the world we find 

 sacred numbers. Christianity and the Christian world have three and seven. The 

 Indian has always four as the principal sacred number, with usually another only 

 slightly subordinated. The two sacred numbers of the (jherokee are four and seven, 

 the lattei- being the actual number of the tribal clans, the formuiistic number of 

 up]ier worlds or heavens, and the ceremonial number of paragraphs or rejjetitions in 

 the iirinci])al formulas. Tbus in the prayers for long life the ])riest raises his client 

 by successive stages to the tirst, second, third, fourth, and finally to the seventh 

 heaven before the end is accomplished. The sacred four has direct relation to the 

 four cardinal points, while seven, besides these, includes also "above," "below," 

 and "here in the center." In many tribal rituals color and sometimes sex are 

 assigned to each point of direction. In the sacred Cherokee formulas the spirits of 

 the East, South, West, and North are, respectively, Eed, White, Black, and Blue, 

 and each color has also its own symlsolic meaning of Power (War), Peace, Death, 

 and Defeat. 



2. The fiust FinE (p. 240) : This myth was obtained from Swiuuner and ,Iohn Ax. 

 It is noted also in Foster's "Sequoyah"'' and in the Wahnenauhi manuscript.' The 

 uksu'hl and the gule'gl are, resiiectively, the Coluber obsoleliin and Baxranion coiislrirlor. 

 The water-spider is the large hairy species Argyroneta. 



In the version given in the Wahnenauhi manuscript the Possum and the Buzzard 

 first make the trial, but come back unsuccessful, one losing the hair from his tail, 

 while the other has the feathers scorche<l from his head and neck. In anothei- ver- 

 sion the Dragon-fly assists the Water-spider by pushing the tusti from behind. In 

 the corresponding Creek myth, as given in the Tuggle manuscript, the Kalil)it 

 obtains fire by the stratagem of touching to the blaze a cap trinnned with sticks of 

 rosin, while pretending to bend low in the dance. In the Jicarilla myth the Fox 

 steals fire by wrapping cedar bark around his tail and thrusting it into the blaze 

 •while dancing around the circle.^ 



3. K.WA'Ti AND Selu: Origin op corn and game {p. 242) : This story was obtained in 

 nearly the .same form from Swimmer and .Tohn Ax (east) and from Wafford ( west ) , and 

 aversion is also given in the Wahnenauhi manuscript. Hagar notes it briefly in his 

 manuscript Stellar Legends of the Cherokee. So much of belief and custom 

 depend ujion the myth of Kana'tTthat references to the principal incidents are con- 

 stant in the songs and formulas. It is one of those myths held so sacred that in the 

 old days one who w-ished to hear it from the priest of the tradition must first jnirify 

 himself by "going to water," i. e., bathing in the running stream before daylight 

 when still fasting, while the priest performed his mystic ceremonies upon the bank. 



In his Letters from the Alleghany Mountains, written more than fifty years ago, 

 Lanman gives (pp. 136, 137) a very fair synopsis of this myth, locating the game 



' E. G. Squier. Tlie Serpent Syml)iil iinrt the Worship of the Reciprocal Principles of Nature in Amer- 

 ica (Am. ArchsEolofrical Ue.«eiirehes, 1); New York, Itfil. 



2Rev. Wm. W. Gill, Myths and Song.s from the Soiuh rnoifle, with a preface by F, Max Miiller; 

 London. IsTi;, pp. 18. 21. .ts, 71. 



'G. E. Foster. .Seipioyah, the American Cadmus and Modern Moses; I'liiladelphia, Indian Rights 

 As.soeiation, 18fi.'}. 



< Historical Sketches of the Chcroltees, together with some of their Customs, Traditions, and Super- 

 stitions, by Walmenauhi, a Cherokee Indian: MS in archives of the Bureau of .Vmerican Ethnology. 



5 Frank Russell, Myths of the Jicarilla Apaches, iu Journal of Am. Folklore, October, 1S9S. 



