122 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 99 



A man whose wife is pregnant must not be a gravedigger, nor must 

 he help in any way with a burial, else liis child would be stillborn. 



Nor should he put a fold or dents in his hat, since as a result of this 

 the child would be born with dents in its head. This belief may con- 

 tain an allusion to the fontanels. 



As well as his wife, the husband should abstain from wearing a 

 neckerchief, and he also should always enter and leave the house or 

 pass through any doorway in a hurry. 



If his wife has to go out of the house during the night he has to 

 accompany her. The explanation tendered for this custom is again 

 that it is merely done to have an opportunity for going Outside (see 

 p. 121), but it is quite possible that we are dealing herewith a survival of 

 an older belief, found among nearly all uncivilized peoples, and accord- 

 ing to which a woman with child is a favorite victim for all kinds of 

 marauding night sprites. Of such a belief there is now, however, no 

 trace left. 



As already stated, the husband should also accompany his wife 

 every morning to a near-by stream or spring. (See p. 121.) 



Partus 



A few days before delivery the husband has to make arrangements 

 for four women to attend to the parturient woman. 



A woman acting in this capacity calls this tsiya'^liDaDtng-'Da'neJa', I 

 assist at childbirth (lit.: "I make the (child) jump down from her for 



her"). 



The woman's mother, her sister, and relatives are asked when pos- 

 sible, but if these are Hving at distant settlements, or if they are not 

 available for other reasons, female neighbors will do just as well. 

 It is a rule that at least one of the four is a midwife with some reputa- 

 tion, so that she can be relied upon to recite the necessaiy formulas 

 and to indicate the simples that may be necessary if complications 

 set in. 



There is no doubt but the injunction that four women must be 

 present is again to be explained by the respect which the Cherokee 

 have for this number. It is interesting to note that they themselves 

 have rationalized it; they allege that it is an official regulation of the 

 North Carolina State authorities, that the number of female attendants 

 should be four. 



I know of cases, though, where this rule was not observed, and when 

 a child was born at the house we stayed at, only two women were 

 present, one of them being O. Rarely a masculine practitioner is 

 present, but this may be the case when a difficult partus is expected, 

 as when the woman has been ill the last few days prior to parturition, 

 and he is invariably called in if compHcations set in after delivery. 



