436 MYTHS OF THE CHp;ROKEE [f.th.anx.19 



iiiti'iiilfd t(i apply to more than a few rlasnew nf dit^easf, and another myth in the 

 same eollpction recites that "once upon a time tlie beasts, V)irds, and rei)tiles lield a 

 council to devise means to destroy the enemy, man." Foran extended liiscnssion of 

 the Indian medical theory, see the author's paper mentioned above. 



AiiiiiHil i-hiefa and Iriln'K — For an exposition of the Cherokee theory of tlio tril)al 

 organization of the animals, with townhouses and couni'ils, under such chiefs as the 

 White Bear, the Little Deer, etc., see number 1.5, "The Fourfooted Tribes." 



Kmrd'hi mouniain — "The Mulberry place," one of the high peaks in the Great 

 Smoky mountains, on the dividing line between Swain county, Xortli Carcilina, and 

 Sevier county, Tennessee. The bears have a townhouse under it. 



A«k the bear's pardon — See number 1.5, "Tlie Fourfooted Tribes," and notes. 



Tlie i/roimd :s<juirrel's stripes — According to a Creek myth in the Tuggle collection 

 the stripes on the back of the grouml squirrel were made by the bear, who scratched 

 the little fellow in anger at a council held by the animals to decide upon the proper 

 division of day and night. Precisely the same explanation is given by the Iroquois 

 of New York state' and by the Thompson River Indians fif British Columbia.^ 



5. The D.vrGHTER of the Sux:. Origin ok de.^th (p. 252): This is one of the 

 prin(-i[:ial myths of the Cherokee, and like most of its class, has several variants. 

 The sequel has an obvious resemblance to the myth of Pandora. It was obtained in 

 whole or in part from Swimmer, John Ax, James Blythe, and others of the eastern 

 band. The version mainly followed is that of Swimmer, which differs in imjiortant 

 details from that of John Ax. 



As told by John Ax, it is the Sun herself, instead of her daughter, who is killed, 

 the daughter having been assigned the duty of lighting the earth after the death of 

 her mother, the original Sun. The only snakes mentioned are the Spreading Adder 

 and the Rattlesnake, the first lieing a transformed man, while the other is a stick, 

 upon which the Little Men cut seven rings before throwing it in the pathway of the 

 Sun, where it Ijecomes a rattlesnake. The seven rods or staves of the Swimmer ver- 

 sion are with John Ax se\ en corncobs, which are thrown at the girl as she passes 

 in the dance (cf. Hagar variant of number 8 in notes) . The Little ilen (see number o, 

 " Kana'tl and Selu," and other stories) belong to the John Ax version. The others 

 have only a conjurer or chief to direct jiroceedings. 



This myth is noted in the Payne manuscript, of date about 1835, quoted in Squier, 

 Serpent Symbol, page 67: "The Cherokees state that a number of beings were 

 engaged in the creation. Tlie Sun Avas made first. The intention of the creatur.s 

 was that men should live always. But the Sun, when he passed over, told them 

 that there was not land enough and that people had better die. At length the 

 daughter of the Sun, who was with them, was bitten Ijy a snake and died. The 

 Sun, on his return, inquired for her and was told that she was dead. He then con- 

 sented that human beings might live always, and told them to take a box and go 

 where the spirit of his daughter was ami bring it back to her l)ody, charging them 

 that when they got her spirit they should not open the box until they had arrived 

 where her body was. However, impelled by curiosity, they opened it, contrary to 

 the injunction of the Sun, and the spirit escai)ed; and then the fate of all men was 

 decided, that they must die." This is copied without <Tedit by Foster, Secjuoyah, 

 page 241. 



Another version is thus given by the missionary Buttrick, wiio died in 1847, in 

 his Antiquities of the Cherokee Indians, page 3: "Soon after the creation one of the 

 family was bitten by a serpent and died. All possible means were resorted tij to 

 bring back life, but in vain. Being overcome in this first instance, the whole race 

 was doomed to follow, not only to death, but to misery afterwards, as it was supposed 



^ Krmiiniie Smitli. Myitis tif the Irotjuois, in Sueotul Annual Report of Iht- Buretiu uf Kthnology, 

 p. 60. 

 ^Teit, TiHuapMin Kivur 'Iriiililioris. p. 61. 



