Olbmchts] the swimmer MANUSCRIPT 7 



origin and diffusion, influence from missionary activities, from the 

 white mountaineers, or even from the negro slaves of the region. 



The Writer of the Manuscript 



cc''yo'^"fni',i. e., "he is swimming (habitually)", "he is a swimmer," 

 (pi. 4), is the writer, or as might be more fit to state it, the compilator 

 of the present manuscript. (On the Cherokee method of compilating 

 manuscripts of this description, see pp. 157-159.) 



He died in 1899, at 65 years of age. He was Mooney's main in- 

 formant on the liistory, mythology, and later especially on the medi- 

 cine and botany of the Cherokee. On his personality, see what 

 Mooney says a})0ut him in his Myths, pp. 236-237. The lucky chance 

 by which Mooney got scent of the existence of the manuscript, and 

 how he ultimately obtained it, are related by him in his SFC, pages 

 310-312. 



The son, t*a'mi (i. e., Tom), and a grandson, altocsofski (Dancer), 

 of Ay. are still living on the reservation, but neither of them has 

 succeeded him in his medical practice. 



The memory of Ay. is still treasured by the Cherokee of the pres- 

 ent generation. He is looked upon as one of the last old, wise men, 

 such as there are now none left. 



General Background — Informants Used 



The territory of the Cherokee that once covered the better part of 

 three States (see map in Mooney Myths, pp. 22-23) has been reduced 

 to a small reserve that can bo crossed from end to end in a day's 

 walk. 



For ample details regarding the historic past of the Cherokee, and 

 especially of the present reservation of the Eastern Band, the reader 

 is referred to the excellent historical sketch by James Mooney in his 

 Myths, pages 14-228. 



Of the seven villages of the reserve, k^o'^laUQ-yi' (i. e. "the Raven's 

 place," generally called Big Cove or Swayney by the whites) was 

 selected for our stay. There were many reasons that all but enforced 

 this choice: Lying in a secluded cove, of difficult and at some times 

 of the year of impossible access, with a population of far more con- 

 servative people than that of the villages lying nearer the boarding 

 school and the Government offices, tribal fife has conserved much of 

 its aboriginal flavor in Big Cove. Especially the beliefs and prac- 

 tices relating to medicine are still rampant in this community to such 

 an extent that of the 15 families that constituted the population of 

 the cove 10 people were avowed medical practitioners, whereas three 

 or four more occasionally took up the practice of medicine as a side 

 fine. 



