oIbrechts] the swimmer MANUSCRIPT 25 



Dawi'skulo"', or Flint, does not play so important a part in Chero- 

 kee medicine as he does in the mythology. To his reputation of 

 being an ogrelike being he owes the appeal made to him to come and 

 frighten the little girls at birth, thus enticing them "to jump down" 

 from their mothers. (See texts, p. 277.) 



Various Little People. — Finally there are to be mentioned the vari- 

 ous kinds of "Little People," y9"'''^wi tsu'nsti'' fairylike beings of 

 either sex, very small (about 40 cm. high, informants say) with long 

 hair falling down to their heels. 



They very seldom are mentioned as individuals, and usually act as 

 a group. There are colonies of Little People in the mountains, in 

 the rocks, in the water, and in the forests. They live in settlements 

 just as usual human beings, have clans, town houses, hold dances 

 and councils, etc., and frequently their music and dancing can be 

 heard at night by lonely travelers. As a rule they are invisible, but 

 there are a few cases on record where some rarely gifted individuals 

 (e. g., twins that are being brought up to be witches, cf. p. 129) can 

 see them and talk with them. They can speak Cherokee. 



They are as a rule kindly inclined toward mankind and maj^ help 

 a hunter to find his arrows, or they may care for and feed a lost and 

 spent traveler. But they are also feared as disease causers and are 

 believed to especially choose children as their victims. 



Animal Spirits 



The animal spirits so frequently mentioned in the Cherokee for- 

 mulas are by no means to be thought of as identical with the speci- 

 mens of our earthly fauna. They are the prototypes of our common 

 animals and are far more considerable in size, power, swiftness, and 

 all other qualities than their earthly successors. They can not be 

 seen or heard, nor can their presence be felt by any of our senses; 

 yet we know what they are Uke, and how they behave; we know 

 even of what color they are. White, Red, Blue, etc., "because the 

 old people have always addressed them by those epithets." 



It is needless to say that these colors are mainly imaginary; there 

 is not only a Brown Otter, but also a Red one, a Blue one, etc. The 

 same applies to all other animal spirits, as Deer, Bear, Dog, Weasel, 

 Raven, Eagle, Frog, Leech, etc. The same remarks we made with 

 regard to the colors of the Purple, Blue, etc.. Men (p. 24) no doubt 

 also hold here; we have only the color symbolism (p. 51) to blame — 

 or to thank — for the existence of this multicolored spirit fauna. 



The motives of these animal spirits in sending disease are mainlj'- 

 dictated by considerations of self-defense, or in a spirit of vengeance 

 for the wrong done and the relentless warfare waged against them and 

 their species by the human race. This is lucidly shown by the myth 



