Olbeechts] the swimmer MANUSCRIPT 19 



These are but some instances taken at random; but let us in a 

 systematic and methodical way make a survey of the different 

 disease causes and we will be the better prepared to comprehend the 

 Cherokee way of treating them. 



Spirits 



As wiU readily be seen from the "List of spirits" on pages 44-50, 

 the Cherokee believe in quite a remarkable collection of beings whose 

 major occupation seems to be to pester the inhabitants of this planet 

 with all possible and impossible varieties of ailments. 



The motives of these spirits, whether they be of an anthropomorphic 

 or of a zoomorphic type, are mostly very human and justifiable — 

 they take revenge for slights, lack of respect, abuses, etc., of which 

 they have been the subject at the hands of the hmnan beings. This 

 holds especially for the animal spirits, the Little Deer, the White 

 Bear, etc., who are aU the tireless and valiant defenders of their 

 particular animal clan and who mete out justice and take vengeance 

 for the conduct of neglectful and disrespectful hunters. 



There are hardly any spirits that are, per se, benevolent or ne- 

 farious; they may be one or another, according to circxmistances. 

 One spirit may send a disease as a punishment, and yet may on another 

 occasion help the same individual to overcome another spirit. 



As a rule the spirit who has caused a disease is never prevailed 

 upon to take the disease away; the office of another, rival, spirit is 

 called upon to do this. 



Spirits do not merely send disease of their own initiative; they 

 may be prevailed upon to do so by human agency, by witches (see 

 p. 29) or by man killers (see p. 33), for instance. 



According to some informants it would seem that spirits may 

 exercise their nefarious power quite arbitrarily; the sun may cause a 

 headache without any apparent reason, or without any plausible 

 cause. This is, however, so exceedingly rare that it is quite possible 

 that this view is foreign to earlier Cherokee conceptions, and that 

 such an allegation is now made simply because the earlier explana- 

 tion has been lost. 



Let us now pass in review the more important of these anthro- 

 pomorphic spirits. By far the most important is 



The Sun. — In everyday language there is no distinct word for 

 "sun" or "moon." This is a common feature of all the Iroquoian 

 dialects and of many other North American Indian languages; 

 UQ-^Do' conveys the meaning of "luminary"; if the distinction has 

 to be expressed the locutions used are: 



UQ-^Do' r'aa e'vi "The luminary that is (that hves) in the day- 

 time," viz, the Sim. 



