45(i MYTHS OF THE CHKKOKKE [eth.asn.19 



44. TiiK Owi. CETS MARRIED (p. 291): Told l)y Swimmer. Tlie three owls of the 

 Cherokee country are known, respectively, as tskltV (i. e., " witch," Biiho rirr/iiiiaimii 

 miKi-alKx, ffreat, dusky-horned owl), vu'lmhii' {Mer/nscops asio, screech owl), and 

 mjiikii' (Siiridnm nehulomm, hooting or barred owl). There i,s no generic term. The 

 Cherokee say that there is almost no flesh upon the body of the hooting owl except 

 upon the head. 



45. Thk Huhu gets m.\rried (p. 292): This story was heard at different times from 

 Swimmer, John Ax, and Ta'gwadihi'. The first named always gave in the proper 

 place a very good imitation ot the huhu call, drawing out the snu-h slowly, giving 

 the hu, liil, hu, liu, )iu, hn in quick, smothered tones, and ending with three chirps 

 and a long whistle. From this and one w two other stories of similar import it 

 would seem that the woman is the ruling partner in the Cherokee domestic estab- 

 lishment. IVIatches were generally arranged by the mother, and were conditional 

 upon the consent of the girl (see notes to number 84, "The Man who ilarried the 

 Thunder's Sister"). 



The huhu of the Cherokee, so called from its cry, is the yellow-breasted chat 

 {Icteria inrens), also known as the yellow mocking bird on account of its wonderful 

 mimic powers. 



46. Why the Buzzard's head is bare (p. 293): This story was told by Swimmer 

 and other informants, ami is well known. It has an exact parallel in the Omaha 

 story of "Ictinike and the Buzzard" (Dorsey, in Contributions to North American 

 Ethnology, vi). 



■47. The Eagle's revenge (p. 29.3): This story, told by John Ax, illustrates the 

 tribal belief and custom in connection with the eagle and the eagle dance, as already 

 described in number 35, "The Bird Tribes," and the accompanying notes. 



Dn/iiif/pole—A pole laid horizontally in the forks of two upright stakes, planted 

 firmly in the ground, for the purpose of temporarily hanging up game and fresh 

 meat in the hunting camp, to protect it from wolves and other prey animals or to 

 allow it to dry out before the fire. 



48. The Hunter and the Buzzard (p. 294): Told by Swimmer. The custom of 

 lending or exchanging wives in token of hospitality and friendship, on certain cere- 

 monial occasions, or as the price of obtaining certain secret knowledge, was very gen- 

 eral among the tribes, and has been noted by explorers and other observers, east and 

 west, from the earliest period. 



49. The snake tribe (p. 294): Ratllemahe — The custom of asking pardon of slain 

 or offended animals has already been noted under number 15, "The Fourfooted 

 Tribes," and number 35, "The Bird Tribes" (eagle). Reverence for the rattlesnake 

 was universal among the Indians, and has been repeatedly remarked by travelers in 

 every part of the country. To go into a dissertation upon the great subject of ser- 

 pent worship is not a part of our purpose. 



The missionary Washljurn tells how, among the Cherokee of Arkansas, he was once 

 riding along, accompanied by an Indian on foot, when they discovered a poisonous 

 snake coiled beside the path. ' ' I observed Blanket turned aside to avoid the serpent, 

 l)ut made no signs of attack, and I requested the interpreter to get down and kill it. 

 He did so, and I then inquired of Blanket why he did not kill the serpent. He 

 answered, 'I never kill snakes and so the snakes never kill me; but I will tell you 

 about it when you next come to see me.' " He kept his word soon after by relating 

 as a jiersonal experience (probably, in fact, an Indian dream) a long story of having 

 once been conducted by a rattlesnake to an un<lerground council of the rattlesnake 

 tribe, where he found all the snakes lamenting over one of their number who had 

 been recently killed by an Indian, and <lebating the method of punishment, which 

 was executed a day or two later by inflicting a fatal bite upon the offender while 

 engaged in the ballplay (Reminiscences, pp. 208-212). As told by the missionary, 



