20 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 99 



riQ-^Do'' SQno''yi e'li "The luminary that is (that Hves) in the 

 nighttime," viz, the moon. 



In the rituahstic language, however, the sun is always referred to 

 either as une*'tlano*'i or Ge^'yaGy'oa. 



The first of these expressions means: "He has apportioned, allotted, 

 divided into equal parts," doubtlessly referring to the time-dividing 

 role of the sun. The same stem is used to express the allotting of 

 the tribal territory to the individuals that are entitled to a part, 

 "an allotment," of it. 



Since this une^'tlano^i has always been looked upon as their most 

 powerful spirit by the Cherokee, the missionaries have read into 

 his name the meaning of "Great Spirit," "Creator," and hence the 

 verb-stem -y-ne'tl- is now gradually acquiring the meaning of "to 

 create," a concept absolutely foreign to its primary meaning. 



It is now well-nigh impossible to gain a clear conception of the part 

 which this spirit must have once played in Cherokee religion. Only 

 a very few of the older people can shed any hght on his true nature. 

 Some who have been missionized to some extent identify this spirit 

 with the God of the Christians; others, even if they do not go quite so 

 far, have absolutely forgotten that une*'tlano'!i is identical with the 

 sun, and have even no idea of the sex of this spirit. 



Although this spirit was not considered responsible for the origin 

 of things (see Mooney, Myths, pp. 239, 248), yet he must once have 

 had the reputation of a most eminent spirit, if not of the preeminent 

 deity. When such very important tribal or ritualistic events take 

 place as the ball game, or the search for medicine, he is always invoked 

 in a very humble and propitiating way. He and the Fire (they are 

 still by a few of the oldest informants felt to be one and the same 

 person) are the only spirits to wliich prayers, in the true meaning of 

 the term, are ever offered; of them things are asked, while other 

 spirits are merely commanded to do things. 



If it were not for the fortunate fact that another ritualistic name 

 of this important spirit has been preserved it might not now be 

 possible to definitely identify the sex of this spirit; the name 

 Ge''yaGu''G8, however, makes it clear that a feminine person is 

 meant (ace^'ya "woman ") ; -gd'go can not be identified with certainty; 

 probably it is a dialectical variant of the suffix -GO'Ga "very impor- 

 tant"; "primus inter pares"; "par excellence" (cf. *tDa-'"we*t'GO'Ga' 

 "thou most powerful %vizard"; ayo°'GO'Ga' "but I myself indeed"). 



Another proof is found in the etiological myth explaining the 

 black spots on the "face" of the moon as a result of the love affair of 

 the moon with the sun, his sister. (See Mooney, Myths, pp. 256- 

 257.) 



Only rarely do we find evidence that the sun sends disease, although 

 a couple of cases have come to my attention where she is alleged to 



