Myths of the Cherokee

The earth is an island suspended by four cords from a rock sky vault; when it ages the cords break and it sinks. Dâyuni′sĭ the Water-beetle dives and brings mud that becomes the earth. Birds test its dryness; the Great Buzzard's wings shape Cherokee valleys and mountains. The sun scorches Tsiska′gĭlĭ, the Red Crawfish; conjurers raise it seven handbreadths. Animals and plants are told to stay awake seven nights; the owl, panther, cedar, pine, and others endure and gain powers. A brother strikes his sister with a fish, and people multiply. In The First Fire, the Thunders put fire in a sycamore. The Raven, Screech-owl, Hooting Owl, Horned Owl, Uksu′hĭ, and Gûle′gĭ each fail and are marked. Finally Kănăne′skĭ Amai′yĕhĭ, the Water Spider, weaves a tusti bowl and brings back a coal.

Kana′tĭ (The Lucky Hunter) and his wife Selu (Corn) live at Pilot knob with their only son. Kana′tĭ always brings back game, which Selu washes in the river. A second boy springs from the washed-off blood, calling himself the son's elder brother thrown into the river by his mother. Following Kana′tĭ's instruction, the son wrestles and holds the Wild Boy while the parents capture him; they name him I′năge-utăsûñ′hĭ. The Wild Boy, having magic powers, spies on Kana′tĭ, learning he releases game from a rock. The boys later open the rock, release all animals and birds, and strike deer tails upward. Kana′tĭ releases vermin to punish them, then explains they must now hunt. Selu tells them there is no meat; the boys watch her rub corn and beans from her body, decide she is a witch, and resolve to kill her. Selu instructs them how to drag her body; they kill her, place her head facing west, clear only seven spots, and drag her twice. Corn grows overnight. Kana′tĭ, angry, goes to the Wolf people and asks them to "play ball." The boys, warned by the eavesdropping Wild Boy, trap and kill the Wolves. Strangers receive seven corn grains; falling asleep on the last night ends the corn's overnight growth. The boys roll a gaming wheel to find Kana′tĭ eastward, then travel with him past a panther, cannibals (Anăda′dûñtăskĭ) whom they destroy with lightning, and reach the sun door, finding Kana′tĭ and Selu. They become Anisga′ya Tsunsdi′ (The Little Men). Later they sing seven songs to bring back deer. The Wahnenauhi version and another story retell parents providing food, children discovering the cave and corn-cabin secrets.

In "Origin of Disease and Medicine," animals, crowded and slaughtered by Man, hold councils. The Bears, led by the White Bear, abandon a plan to use bows. The Deer, under the Little Deer, send rheumatism to hunters who kill without asking pardon. Fishes and Reptiles cause dreams of snakes and fish. Birds, Insects, and smaller animals, with the Grubworm as chief, invent diseases; the Ground-squirrel defends Man and is clawed. The Plants then furnish cures, making medicine. In "The Daughter of the Sun," the Sun, hating people, sends fever. The Little Men change men into snakes; the Spreading-adder and Copperhead fail, then the Rattlesnake kills the Sun's daughter, and the Uktena is sent to Gălûñ′lătĭ. Seven men journey to the Ghost country to retrieve her, but open the box; she becomes a redbird. The Sun weeps a flood until young dancers make her smile. In "How They Brought Back the Tobacco," the Dagûlʻkû geese steal tobacco; the Hummingbird retrieves it and revives an old woman. In the Second Version, a conjurer's son becomes a hummingbird, gathers tobacco, fails to climb a tree with a woman, and revives his father. In "The Journey to the Sunrise," young men travel east; one is crushed by the swinging sky rock; six return old. In "The Moon and the Thunders," the Sun rubs ashes on her secret suitor, revealing the Moon's spots. Other accounts describe the moon as a ball, eclipses as a frog, star and Thunder names. In "What the Stars Are Like," hunters capture two fur-covered creatures that rise as stars. In "Origin of the Pleiades and the Pine," seven boys become the Pleiades; one falls and becomes the pine.

In "The Milky Way," people in the south find their corn meal stolen, track a dog, and whip it; it flees north, dropping meal that forms the Milky Way, which the Cherokee call Giʻlĭ′-utsûñ′stănûñ′yĭ, "Where the dog ran." In "Origin of Strawberries," the first man and his mate quarrel and the woman departs toward the Sun land; Une′ʻlănûñ′hĭ, taking pity on the grieving man, asks whether he still wants her, then sets huckleberries, blackberries, other fruits, and service berries in her path, all ignored, until strawberries stop her; turning west, she remembers her husband, gathers berries, returns, and they go home together. In "The Great Yellow-Jacket," the people of Kanu′gaʻlâ′yĭ track the insect U′laʻgû′ by baiting it with a squirrel, turkey, deer ham, and finally a yearling deer on a long white string, follow it to a cave, smother it and many yellow-jackets with smoke while others escape; they say fish and frogs came from a monster fish and frog the people killed and cut up. In "The Deluge," a dog warns a man of a coming flood, shows its worn neck as a sign, and instructs him to build a raft and throw the dog in; the man survives with his family, and afterward sees piles of bones where ghosts danced. An expository section, "The Fourfooted Tribes," describes Cherokee beliefs about animals, reincarnation, Kana′tĭ and Tsulʻkălû′, the Rabbit as trickster, the bat and flying squirrel in the ball game, the deer and the Little Deer, bears, wolf, dog, introduced animals, and frostbite and tooth formulas. In "The Rabbit Goes Duck Hunting," the boastful Rabbit competes with the Otter, catches a duck with a noose, is carried off and dropped into a hollow stump, eats his own fur, then tricks children into cutting him out and escapes.

The animals hold a council to judge whose coat is finest and expect the Otter to win. The Rabbit intercepts the Otter, guides him, and tricks him into leaving his coat on a limb and jumping into the river during a false "raining fire"; the Rabbit takes the coat but is exposed at the council when the Bear pulls his paw away, and the Bear pulls off his tail. The Possum, proud of his tail, is tricked when the Rabbit sends the Cricket to clip its hair while pretending to dress it; the Possum dances, sees his bare tail, and rolls over grinning. The Wildcat catches the Rabbit, who saves himself by leading Turkeys in a dance around the "dead" Wildcat, singing to pick out the Gobbler; the Wildcat catches the Gobbler. The Terrapin races the Rabbit across four ridges and wins by posting look-alike friends at each ridge; the Rabbit collapses crying. The Rabbit refuses to help dig a well during drought, steals water, and is caught by a tar wolf, then escapes; a second version tells the same with a hare, fox, and wolf, ending with the hare escaping and shouting "This is where I live." The Rabbit and Possum seek wives; the Rabbit's council-messenger tricks give him a wife but leave the Possum wifeless and beaten, so the Possum plays dead. The Bear feeds the Rabbit oil from his side; the Rabbit tries this and nearly dies, and the Bear scolds him. The Rabbit escapes Wolves by leading a dance and leaping into a hollow stump, spitting in a Wolf's eye. The Rabbit kills Flint with a mallet and stake, causing an explosion that splits his lip. In a race, the Rabbit cheats by clearing a path, so the horns are given to the Deer.

The Rabbit, resentful that the Deer won the horns, tricks the Deer by pretending to bite through a gnawed grapevine; the Deer fails, and the Rabbit files the Deer's teeth blunt, saying he has paid for his horns. The Deer, seeking revenge, challenges the Rabbit to jump a stream, then conjures it into a river, stranding the Rabbit; the rabbit known now came afterward. The animals burn the thieving Mink, who turns black and smells of roasted meat. A man loves a woman who dislikes him; the Mole takes her heart and gives it to him to swallow, and she comes to love him; jealous magicians threaten the Mole, who hides underground. The Possum and Terrapin hunt persimmons; the Possum chokes a wolf, and the Terrapin takes the wolf's ears as spoons. Pursuing wolves capture the Terrapin, who tricks them into throwing him in the river, where he escapes; his broken shell is mended by a medicine song. Seven wolves catch a Groundhog, who tricks them with a dance while edging toward his hole, escaping though his tail breaks off. During a famine, the animals send the Pigeon to find food, then migrate to the low country. Kana′tĭ's wolf saves his wounded brother from a greensnake; later the Dog drives the Wolf from the fire, and wolves avenge their killed brother.

The section on the Bird Tribes describes Cherokee terms for winged creatures, listing bird names, several onomatopoeic, and explaining names such as the turtledove, meadow lark, and nuthatch. It notes diseases attributed to birds. The eagle (awâ′hĭlĭ) is described as the great sacred bird, killed only by a professional eagle killer in winter with prescribed prayers; the killer sings to call eagles onto a deer carcass, shoots one, and tells it a Spaniard, not a Cherokee, did the deed. He announces "A snowbird has died," and feathers are later brought in, kept in a feather house, and fed. The raven, crow, three owls, buzzard, hawks, Tlă′nuwă, gallinule, goose, heron, sun-gazer, gu′wisguwĭ′ (source of John Ross's name), the forked-tail bird thought to be a transformed red-horse fish, turkey, grouse, redbird, mocking-bird, chickadee, and titmouse are described, with the chickadee as truth-teller. In the Ball Game, the animals challenge the birds. The Bear, Terrapin, and Deer lead the animals; the Eagle, Hawk, and Tlă′nuwă lead the birds. Two small four-footed creatures, rejected by the animals, join the birds; the birds make wings from drumhead leather for the Bat (Tla′mehă) and stretch the skin of the Flying Squirrel (Tewa). The Bat wins the game; the Martin later receives a gourd for saving the ball. In How the Turkey Got His Beard, the Turkey tricks the Terrapin out of his war scalp and keeps it; the Terrapin shoots cane splints into the Turkey's leg. In Why the Turkey Gobbles, the Grouse teaches the Turkey singing for feathers, but the Turkey only gobbles. In How the Kingfisher Got His Bill, the animals or the Little People give the Kingfisher a spear-like bill. In How the Partridge Got His Whistle, the Partridge takes the Terrapin's whistle and flies off.

A Raccoon insults a Wolf, who chases him; the Raccoon climbs a tree over the river, the Wolf jumps at the reflection and nearly drowns, then sleeps, and the Raccoon plasters his eyes with dung. A little brown bird frees the Wolf's eyes, and the Wolf shows it red paint, making it the Redbird. The Pheasant claims he can beat corn and drums on a hollow log; the account describes the Pheasant dance and a famine when a Pheasant finds a holly tree, originating the dance. The Hummingbird and Crane both court a woman; she sets a race around the world, and the Crane, flying all night, wins, but she refuses him and stays single. A widow advises her daughter to marry a good hunter; the suitor brings poor catches, is followed, and is seen turning into a hooting owl catching a crawfish; his wife drives him out and he pines away. Another widow's daughter marries a supposed worker who proves to be a huhu; the widow drives him out. The buzzard, proud of his topknot, refuses carrion, so the birds and buffalo plot to strip his head feathers. A hunter shoots an eagle; during an Eagle dance a stranger warrior recites deeds, and at each yell one of the seven rattlers dies—he is the eagle's brother. A buzzard exchanges forms with a tired hunter, goes to the hunter's wife while the hunter finds deer as a buzzard; the buzzard restores him and the hunter always succeeds after. The text then describes snake beliefs: snakes are inădû′ and anida′wehĭ, allied with deer and ginseng; the rattlesnake (utsa′nătĭ), once a man, is chief; killing snakes brings rain and misfortune; and it lists the copperhead, blacksnake, greensnake, water moccasin, and spreading adder with their traits.

When the Sun sent sickness, the Little Men changed a man into the monster snake Uktena to kill her; he failed, the Rattlesnake was sent instead, and the jealous Uktena was taken to Gălûñ′lătĭ. The Uktena bears a blazing diamond, the Ulûñsû′tĭ, winnable only by shooting the seventh spot. Âgăn-uni′tsĭ alone returned with one; the text describes how the crystal is fed with blood and used for prophecy. Next, the Cherokee capture the Shawano medicine-man Âgăn-uni′tsĭ, who, to save his life, seeks the Ulûñsû′tĭ. Passing many great reptiles he dismisses, he finds the Uktena asleep on Gahû′tĭ, builds a fire-circle and trench, shoots it through the heart, and survives its poison except one drop that leaves a small snake on his head. Birds eat the body; a raven drops the diamond, making him the greatest medicine-man. Then two brothers hunt; one frees the Asga′ya Gi′găgeĭ, the Red Man of the Lightning, from an uktena by shooting it, and receives a game-medicine and a cane to cure his sickened brother. Next, a hunter, warned against the uksu′hĭ, seeks it anyway, is seized, and escapes by slapping sweat on its nose. Then the Ustû′tlĭ, a foot-snake on Cohutta, pursues a hunter, who escapes along the ridge and burns it to ashes. The Uwʼtsûñ′ta, a bouncer snake at Nûñ′dăye′ʻlĭ, empties the valley. A boy transforms into a horned uktena; his grandmother follows him into the river. A hunter breaks the squirrel tabu and becomes a water snake. Finally, a woman kills the Yellow Rattlesnake; the snakes send the Black Rattlesnake, and the husband consents to sacrifice his wife, who is bitten fetching water; the Black Rattlesnake then teaches him a prayer song.

The text describes smaller reptiles, fishes, and insects. Frogs and toads have little folklore; the green frog, walâ′sĭ, is thought to cause warts, and a solar eclipse is attributed to a great frog swallowing the sun, prompting loud noises. Frog meat is tabued to ball players. The land tortoise (tûksĭ′) was a great warrior; the water turtle and soft-shelled turtle lack Cherokee folklore. Lizards are described: the diyâ′hălĭ, invoked against snakebite poison and used in charms; the gigă-tsuha′ʻlĭ, a large blood-drinking lizard believed transformed from the ugûñste′lĭ fish; the tsâne′nĭ scorpion lizard; spring lizards duwĕ′ʻgă and dăgan′ʻtû, both rain-bringers; and the water dog (tsuwă′). Fish lore is scarce; the Dăkwă′ is father of fishes, and the ugûñste′lĭ becomes a lizard. Various tabus and charms involve the hog-sucker, mussel, eel, and crawfish. Insects (tsgâya) cause ailments in revenge. The water-beetle dâyuni′sĭ brought up the first earth; other beetles, the jar-fly, katydid, cricket, and mole cricket (gûlʻkwâgĭ) are described, the last used to make infants eloquent. Bees, cow-ants, the spider (kă′năne′skĭ), and the fire-moth tûñ′tăwû are noted. Then, "Why the Bullfrog's Head is Striped": Brass scratched the Bullfrog's forehead after winning a game, or a conjurer painted him yellow to court a woman. In "The Bullfrog Lover," a young man mimics a bullfrog to frighten a girl's opposing mother into consenting, winning his wife. In another tale, a bullfrog becomes a man, is rejected, and foretells the girl's death; a variant tells of a tadpole-mouthed lover ridiculed until he departs.

In "The Katydid's Warning," two hunters camping in the woods prepare supper when a Katydid sings nearby. One hunter sneers that it will die before the season ends. The Katydid answers that the hunter will die before tomorrow night. The next day the enemy surprises them and the sneering hunter is killed. In "Ûñtsaiyĭ′, the Gambler," Thunder lives in the west. A son born in the east with scrofula sores is sent by his mother to find Thunder for a cure. Traveling west, the boy meets the gambler Ûñtsaiyĭ′ "Brass," who invented the gatayûstĭ game, but the boy continues on. Thunder tests the boy with hidden thorns, then boils him in a pot and has his wife throw it into the river, cleansing his skin. The wife advises him to choose ornaments from the box's bottom and to strike a honey-locust tree. The boy picks snakes as ornaments, fights his Thunder brothers as Lightning, and strikes the tree. Thunder gives him a bead gourd to beat Ûñtsaiyĭ′. The boy returns, wins every game, produces water from the rock, wins Ûñtsaiyĭ′'s wife, then his life, but Ûñtsaiyĭ′ escapes through a back door. With his brothers and the Horned Green Beetle, the boy pursues Brass, who takes different shapes; the Beetle exposes him twice. They catch him, stake him in deep water at Kâgûñ′yĭ, guarded by two crows. Brass cannot die. In "The Nest of the Tlă′nuwă," great hawks nesting in a cliff cave carry off dogs and children. A medicine man is lowered by linn-bark rope, throws the four young into the water where an Uktena finishes them. The returning old birds seize and tear the snake apart, then disappear.

A hunter is seized by a Tlă′nuwă, a mother bird, who carries him to her cliff cave to guard her two young until they can leave; she feeds him the first piece of each deer or bear. He plans escape, tying himself to a young bird, striking it with his tomahawk until they fall to a poplar; he releases the bird, pulling a feather, which becomes a stone at home. Uʻtlûñ′tă, Spear-finger, an ogress with stony skin and an awl finger, eats livers. She stabs children and villagers. A council digs a pitfall; she falls in. Arrows fail against her stone skin. The titmouse Utsŭ′ʻgĭ misleads them and has its tongue cut; the chickadee Tsĭ′kĭlilĭ′ shows her heart is in her hand, and an arrow kills her. A hunter sees Nûñ′yunu′wĭ, the Stone Man, with a guiding cane. The medicine-man has seven menstruant women stand in his path; each sight weakens him until he falls vomiting blood. He is staked, burned, and while burning tells medicines and hunting songs; ashes leave wâ′dĭ paint and a u′lûñsû′ti stone. The Dăkwă′ swallows a hunter, who cuts out with mussel shells and emerges bald. In the Wahnenauhi version, a boy is swallowed and vomited after cutting the fish's liver. Atagâ′hĭ is an invisible lake where wounded animals heal. The North marries the South's daughter, but her warmth melts his icy country, so she is sent home. Messengers summon the Ice Man, who unbraids his hair to make wind, rain, sleet, and hail, extinguishing a burning pit, leaving a lake. A hunter follows singing to a corn stalk, Selu, wife of Kana′tĭ, who teaches hunting secrets, making him successful. A hunter joins seven panthers, hunts and dances in their townhouse, then dies within seven days of returning.

Young Cherokee men travel south and reach the Tsundige′wĭ, tiny people living in sand nests, terrorized by flocks of birds. The Cherokee show them to use sticks as clubs and where to strike the birds' necks. When the birds come, the little men kill many and drive the rest off. Later they always repel the birds until sandhill cranes, too tall to reach, kill them all. In the Ani′-Tsâ′gûhĭ clan a boy stays in the woods, grows brown hair, and says the woods provide better food. He invites his family, who must fast seven days. The clan holds council, decides to go, and departs. Messengers from other towns find them growing hair; the Ani′-Tsâ′gûhĭ refuse to return, declare they will be called bears offering their flesh, teach the calling songs, and become bears. The First and Second Bear Songs and hunting practices are given. A hunter wounds a talking medicine bear that cannot be killed and invites him home. They attend a bear council in a cave led by the White Bear chief; bears try the hunter's bow but fail. At the bear's own cave, the bear produces chestnuts, huckleberries, blackberries, and acorns by rubbing his stomach. The hunter grows bear-like. The bear foretells hunters killing him; the Split-noses find them, kill and butcher the bear. The hunter covers the blood, sees the bear rise again, and is taken home. He must fast seven days, but his wife takes him early, and he dies. At Tlanusi′yĭ a great red-striped leech throws water spouts, drowning people whose bodies are found with ears and noses eaten. A boastful youth singing about leech-skin garters is swept away. Two women fishing nearly lose a baby. The leech remains, sometimes moving to Nottely river.

The Nûñnĕ′hĭ, immortals or "people who live anywhere," inhabit the highlands with townhouses in the bald mountains, at Pilot knob, under the Nĭkwăsĭ′ mound, and under Blood mountain. They are invisible unless they choose to appear, love music and dancing, guide lost wanderers home, and aid the Cherokee in war. The text distinguishes them from the Yûñwĭ Tsunsdi′, the Little People. A man from Nottely tells Wafford how, as a boy, a stranger took him upriver to a house, fed him, and guided him home; he saw a man he knew, Udsi′skală, who later denied it, revealing the host was Nûñnĕ′hĭ. Four Nûñnĕ′hĭ women dance at Nottely then vanish at the ford; Burnt-tobacco hears drumming while crossing a ridge. Warm vapor holes and swept depressions mark Nûñnĕ′hĭ townhouses. The Yûñwĭ Tsunsdi′ live in caves, help lost children, punish disturbers; hunters must ask permission before taking found objects. Several men encounter them; Tsantăwû′, lost sixteen days, is fed shrinking bread, guided to a creek that becomes a river, and dies. The Water-dwellers (Yûñwĭ Amai′yĭnĕ′hĭ), house spirits, Tsăwa′sĭ, Tsăga′sĭ, De′tsătă, and Atsil′-dihye′gĭ (Fire-carrier) are described; Wafford's mother saw the Fire-carrier. In "The Removed Townhouses," spirit voices invite the people of Valley river and Hiwassee to live with the Nûñnĕ′hĭ after fasting seven days silently. Anisgayâ′yĭ people cry out, dropping part of the townhouse (Sĕ′tsĭ mound); the rest becomes rock at Tsuda′yeʻlûñ′yĭ. Another town is taken underwater; Gustĭ′ settlement caves into the river. In "The Spirit Defenders of Nĭkwăsĭ′," an invading tribe attacks; a stranger and the Nûñnĕ′hĭ emerge from the mound, drive back and spare the enemy at Dayûlsûñ′yĭ. Later they frighten Federal troops, and aid an old man against attackers.

In Myth 81, a widow at Kănuga tells her daughter to marry only a good hunter. The girl sleeps in the âsĭ. A stranger courts her at night, claims to be a great hunter, and leaves deer as gifts before daylight. When the mother wishes for wood, he leaves whole trees; when she complains, he removes them. Eventually the mother demands to see him; the stranger warns she must not call him frightful. She sees a slant-eyed giant, Tsulʻkălû′, and cries "Usga′sĕʻti′yu!" Angered, he leaves toward Tsunegûñ′yĭ. The girl's blood is thrown in the river; Tsulʻkălû′ retrieves a worm that becomes their daughter, and takes wife and child home. The girl's brother follows footprints showing children growing, reaching Tsunegûñ′yĭ. He repeatedly meets his sister outside. Tsulʻkălû′, unseen, instructs the people to fast seven days for new dresses; a stranger breaks the fast with the war cry, and Tsulʻkălû′ refuses ever to be seen. In Myth 82, two strangers invite the people of Kăna′sta to their town at Tsuwaʻtel′da, telling them to fast seven days. The people follow into a cave containing a town; above live another people and the Ani′-Hyûñtĭkwălâ′skĭ (Thunders). A visiting man returns home with instructions for others to fast. The lost settlement remains in Tsuwaʻtel′da, which the Cherokee consider haunted. In Myth 83, the lazy Tsuwe′năhĭ of Kănuga meets a stranger who takes him into Tsuwaʻtel′da, where he sits on a turtle. He returns, disbelieved. Later he brings a companion; two girls with dog-like feet come for venison ribs. The hunter, unfasted, collapses until treated with "old tobacco," then attends a dance. Afterward others fast seven days and go with Tsuwe′năhĭ, never seen again.

At a dance at Sâkwi′yĭ, two young women with long hair appear; a young warrior falls in love with one and asks to marry her through an old man. She says her brother must be consulted and requires him to fast seven days. At the next dance the sisters say the brother agrees, warn him not to tell anyone, and lead him along a trail. Twice he hesitates at water—first a creek, then Tallulah river—but the women say it is grass road, and he crosses. They reach a cave under Ugûñ′yĭ. The women hang up their hair, revealing smooth heads. The younger woman offers him a seat that is a turtle; he refuses. The Thunder brother arrives, invites him to a council, and has a horse brought—a uktena snake, with a turtle saddle and living-snake bracelets. The frightened man refuses; the brother, angry, strikes him with lightning. He wakes alone grasping a laurel bush, returns home, finds much time passed, tells the story despite the warning, and dies in seven days. At The Suck whirlpools, home of Ûñtsaiyĭ′ the gambler, two men are drawn in; one is seized by a great fish, the other is carried down, sees people beckoning on the river bottom, and escapes. Yahula, a stock trader, is lost during a hunt; the Nûñnĕ′hĭ take him. He returns to visit but cannot eat human food or stay, and vanishes at the threshold; eventually he comes no more. Water cannibals live under rivers, shoot sleepers with invisible arrows, and leave withering images. A dying man in Tĭkwăli′tsĭ is led underwater by an old woman who feeds him bread and beans; he returns, keeps silent seven days, then tells all. Stories of first contact follow: whites lure Indians with whisky; an ulûñsû′tĭ and silver are exchanged; a book is stolen from the Indian; a negro's locomotive is taken by a white man.

The Iroquois Wars describes long conflict between the Cherokee and the Iroquois. It gives the names each tribe uses for the other, notes the Seneca claim to a former settlement at Seneca, South Carolina, and dates the Iroquois league to about the mid-sixteenth century. Iroquois tradition holds the Cherokee were aggressors; the war became a series of individual exploits, and the Tennessee river became the boundary and the limit of pursuit. The Buffalo dance is traced to a war expedition. Stand Watie's account says the Iroquois sent a delegation proposing alliance; all tribes joined except the Osage. Sir William Johnson arranged formal peace in 1768. A captured Cherokee raised among the Seneca returned south but was unrecognized. James Wafford's account, drawn from Sequoya and Gatûñ′waʻlĭ, describes the delegation headed by Âgănstâ′ta reaching Tă′likwă by mistake, a chief protecting the messenger, and the story of the clearing spring. The peace belts were later interpreted by Hard-mush at Tahlequah in 1843 and likely destroyed when Stand Watie burned John Ross's house. Hiadeoni, a Seneca warrior, travels alone into Cherokee country, kills two dancers and a young man, takes their scalps, hides in the young man's lodge feigning sleep before his mother twice, then flees with three scalps to the Genesee. The Two Mohawks tells of two Mohawks who in 1747 kill over twenty Cherokee near the lower towns. A beloved man spots them; a trader alerts the headmen. The Cherokee surround, capture, and torture the two men, who die stoically after the elder tells the younger to stop begging traders for rescue. Escape of the Seneca Boys: Cherokee capture two Seneca boys, who are adopted by an old man. Grown, they kill him, flee north, and reunite with their mother, who calls for a dance for the dead come to life.

Ganogwioeoñ, a Seneca war chief, leads a party against the Cherokee, enters a town alone, and hides in an old woman's âsĭ. He threatens the granddaughter into promising to bring the chief's daughter. Next morning he kills the chief's daughter, scalps her, kills a pursuer, but is captured when his bow breaks. Two women with snakes tattooed on their lips decide his torture; he breaks free and flees. Twice unseen strangers lick his blistered feet and warm him; they guide him to a hidden knife, awl, and flint, a dead bear, two young bears, and two fawns for clothing. They reveal they help because he always gave them the best meat, and appear as a white wolf and black wolf. He reaches home. Hatcinoñdoñ, a Seneca warrior, escapes fire in a canebrake, is carried above the sky vault to Hawĕñni′o the Thunder-god, who feeds him self-renewing food, shows him the Sun, and urges peace. Later captured and tied for burning, he is freed by an old woman—formerly a frog he saved—who sends rain. He hides in a hollow log, kills three sleeping hunters, takes their clothes and scalps, and rejoins his party shouting "Gowe′!" Hemp-carrier (Tâle′danigi′skĭ) leads Cherokee to avenge slain women and children, kills a war party, silently kills Seneca dancers at a spring, raises the war whoop, and escapes; he receives seven wives. Eight Seneca peacemakers join a Cherokee war party; their leader The Owl is captured, sings his death song, strikes down two men, escapes, and the treaty is concluded. Two Seneca sisters and a boy, captured by Cherokee, escape by cutting their rope. A voice—the Hadionyageonoñ, Sky People—guides them home with food, instructing them in the Yontoñwisas song, which they perform in the long house.

Gaʼnaʼ, a Seneca war chief, calls a council and proposes making peace with the Cherokee. The warriors go to water, drinking medicine and bathing for ten days, then trap eagles by hiding a man beneath a deer carcass to catch Shadaʼge′a's feathers, taking two years to make a full tail. They travel to a Cherokee town; two dancers announce them, and after the Seneca dance and offer a wampum belt, the Cherokee chief agrees to peace. Cherokee women adopt Seneca as relatives, and a young man claims Gaʼnaʼ as his father, leading him to his mother, Gaʼnaʼ's stolen wife. The Seoqgwageono challenge the Cherokee to ball play; the Seneca play and win games, then win races, but the Cherokee let them win the long race. Later the Seoqgwageono challenge to battle; the Cherokee send the Seneca home. Returning three years later, the Seneca go with Cherokee guides, kill and scalp a man, ambush pursuers, and destroy the enemy. The Cherokee say Seneca medicine is stronger. An account follows of the Shawano (Ani′-Sawănu′gĭ) wars: their removal from Savannah river, chronic warfare with the Cherokee, alliance with the Creeks, and eventual expulsion north of the Ohio, citing Haywood, Adair, Charleville, and Schoolcraft. Anecdotes describe hunters detecting Shawano signals imitating a flying squirrel and a turkey, and Tunâ′ĭ capturing a warrior through both arms. In the Raid on Tĭkwăli′tsĭ, the conjurer Ĕtăwa′hă-tsistatla′skĭ locates the Shawano under Tawa′lĭ-ukwanûñ′tĭ; reckless Cherokee are killed at Deep Creek, but the others counterattack. In the Last Shawano Invasion, the Shawano seize captives at Kanuga; the conjurer Kâ′lanû, "The Raven," tracks them across the Ohio, where the Cherokee kill the sleeping enemy and free the captives.

Warriors of Chilhowee town organize a war party said to be against the Shawano, but they turn up Pigeon river and attack Cowee, one of their own Middle settlements, killing three or four townspeople, taking scalps and a gun belonging to Gûñskăli′skĭ, then return home claiming victory over the Shawano. A scalp dance is held; a visiting gunstocker from Cowee, Gûlsadihĭ′, recognizes the gun as one he repaired for Gûñskăli′skĭ. Returning home, he learns of the raid and tells the chief the Chilhowee men were responsible, convincing him by identifying the gun. Cowee sends ten warriors under Gûlsadihĭ′ to the second dance. Arriving, they kill a woman fetching water. At the dance, warriors sing of their deeds; one Chilhowee man sings of the Cowee raid, and the townspeople laugh. Gûlsadihĭ′ rushes in naked, singing in turn: to ask who did this, that he killed a pregnant woman at the ford, that the enemies were followed and are here, and finally challenging Cowee to a ball play and battle before leaving. The Chilhowee people disperse and find the Cowee men armed outside. Cowee organizes warriors against Chilhowee and Kuwâ′hĭ, but finds them fled. The text then describes Cowee town's locations, destruction, and a story from Wafford of a Shawano prisoner who, escaping and later returning, urges the Cherokee to hold onto Cowee. The final section describes eastern tribes the Cherokee remember: the Delawares (Anakwan′ʻkĭ), with accounts of wars provoked by the Iroquois and Shawano and peace made in 1768; the Tuscarora (Ani′-Skălâ′lĭ); the Cheraw or Sara (Ani′-Suwa′lĭ); and the Catawba (Ani′ta′gwa), with traditions of boundary agreements, wars, and their leader Tsanĭ.

The text describes the Cherokee's southern and western neighbors. It begins with the Creeks or Muscogee, called Ani′-Ku′sa, detailing the Upper Creeks at Kusa and Lower Creeks (Ani-Kawi′ta) at Kawita. The Creeks called the Cherokee Tsal-gal′gi. Relations were usually hostile. The text states the Cherokee dispossessed the Creeks from northern Georgia and Alabama, culminating in the battle of Tali′wă about 1755. It reviews competing boundary claims between the tribes and the line finally established. Names showing former Creek presence are listed. Cherokee tradition given to Haywood is recounted: during the Shawano war about 1700, the Creeks secretly aided the Shawano, so the Cherokee massacred a visiting Creek party at Itsâ′tĭ, leading to war; a battle at an island near Guntersville is described, with the chief Bullhead leading the Cherokee. Traditions from Wafford about a tract won by ballplay are noted, along with Bartram's and Adair's statements. The battle of Tali′wă is described in detail from Wafford via Brian Ward. The Yuchi (Ani′-Yu′tsĭ) are described, with testimony from Gansĕ′ʻtĭ and Ramsey. The Natchez (Na′ʻtsĭ or Anin′tsĭ) are described, regarded as wizards; testimonies from Wafford, Harry Smith, Gansĕ′ʻtĭ, and mention of Alkĭnĭ′ and Haywood's story of Natchez slaves escaping. The Taskigi are described, including Sequoya's boyhood there. Then the Chickasaw (Ani′-Tsĭ′ksû), Choctaw (Ani′-Tsa′ʻta), and Osage (Ani′-Wasa′sĭ) are covered, with a scalp dance Wafford attended. Unidentified western tribe names close the account.

James Wafford relates that his grandmother heard that giants, nearly twice as tall as common men with slant-set eyes, came to visit the Cherokee from the west, were received as friends, and returned home. When lands were first sold in 1721, some Cherokee opposed the sale and marched west beyond the Mississippi; contact was lost, and later a hunting party found a Cherokee-speaking tribe at the foot of the Rockies. The Ani′-Kuta′nĭ (Nicotani) were a hereditary priestly clan who abused their privileges; after one abducted the wife of a young conspiracy leader, the people rose and killed every one of them. Some warriors had medicine to change shape: one turned a mussel shell into a canoe, put his grandmother in a gourd, and flew as a woodcock across a river. Dasiʻgiya′gĭ (Shoe-boots) used an uktena scale and turtle shell for war medicine. In battle, a Shawano captain killed a Cherokee leader by shooting the tree branches where his life was hidden. In 1760 a besieged warrior sacrificed himself so his companions could escape. A woman who killed her husband's slayer joined the war dance; Cuhtahlatah rallied the Cherokee after her husband fell; in Rutherford's 1776 expedition a slain warrior proved to be a woman. Mounds were built over sacred fires, chiefs' bodies, and Ulûñsû′tĭ stones; a fire keeper tended the everlasting fire, used at the Green-corn dance. The Delawares captured the sacred box. An old man dismissed his son's wife for not shelling walnuts. A man fell onto bear cubs and escaped clinging to the she-bear. Two lazy hunters were exposed and driven off. Two old men, Uk-kwûnăgi′ta and Uk-ku′sûñtsûtĭ, fought and killed each other over remarks about their deformities. A warrior passed off peacock feathers as star feathers until another exposed him hiding in a beaver lodge.

In "The Mother Bear's Song," a hunter hears a mother bear in a cave singing to her cubs, instructing them to go upstream if hunters come down the creek and downstream if hunters come up. Another hunter finds a mother bear rocking her cub and singing a baby song the Ani′-Tsâ′gûhĭ knew before becoming bears. "Baby Song, To Please the Children" gives syllables and a translation saying the Bear is very bad. In "The Wren and the Cricket," the Wren, messenger of the birds, reports each new baby's sex to the bird council; for a boy the birds sing mournfully, for a girl gladly; the Cricket likewise rejoices at a girl and laments a boy. In "The Raven Mocker," the text describes this dreaded witch who robs the dying of life, flying in fiery shape and eating the heart to extend its own life; a medicine man can recognize one, forcing its death within seven days. A young man sheltering in an empty house overhears an old man and old woman, Raven Mockers, discussing their hunts; the old man roasts a heart. Discovered, the young man feigns sleep; the old man gives him beadwork to keep silent. He throws it away, tells the settlement, and warriors return after seven days to find the couple dead and burn them. "Herbert's Spring" quotes Adair on a spring believed to detain drinkers seven years.

The text opens noting the numerous local legends of North Carolina, listing important stories by title. It then gives place-legends in order. Akwĕʻti′yĭ: a river spot with a dangerous water monster; name's meaning lost. Atsi′la-wa′ĭ: a peak where a ball of fire flew from Highlands and alighted, believed an ulûñsûtĭ. Black rock: called "Where the storehouse was taken off," from a rock formation felled by lightning. West Buffalo creek: named for a buffalo living underwater. Cheowa Maximum: "Hornet place," from a fierce monster hornet that drove people away, then disappeared. Dăkwâ′ĭ: home of a monster fish. Da′ʻnawa-Sa′ʻtsûñyĭ: a ford where a Northern war party was pursued. Datle′yăsta′ĭ: where two uktenas rose combating and fell back. Dâtsi′yĭ: home of a water monster. Degalʻgûñ′yĭ: cairns where passing Indians add stones to avoid misfortune. Dida′skasti′yĭ: where a ball game was abandoned through mutual fear. Disgâ′gisti′yĭ: where Indians gnaw laurel twigs. Duduñ′lĕksûñ′yĭ: tradition lost. Dulastûñ′yĭ: where John Butler called his defeated men broken pots. Dunidû′lalûñyĭ: where a Shawano party made arrows. French Broad river: district called "Where they race." Gakati′yĭ: where prisoners were released. Gatuti′yĭ: where settlers were frightened by an uktena's noise. Giʻlĭ′-Dinĕhûñ′yĭ: where two red dogs played. Gisehûñ′yĭ: where supernatural white people washed clothes. Gregory bald: rabbits' townhouse and their chief the Great Rabbit. Joanna bald: a great lizard. Jutaculla old fields and rock: the giant Tsulʻkălû's clearing and jumping marks. Further entries name battle sites, water-dogs that laughed, uktena tracks, bears living underwater, and Yawâ′ĭ's crying personage. South Carolina legends follow, covering the mile-creeks, Conneross's falling duck, and Toxaway, whose meaning is lost.

The apparatus lists local legends of Tennessee, then Georgia. Buffalo Track rock, per Wafford, bears impressions of buffalo butting a rock wall. Chattanooga (Tsatănu′gĭ), a non-Cherokee name of possible Chickasaw origin, is also called Aʻtlă′nuwă′. Chickamauga (Tsĭkăma′gĭ) is discussed, with Filson's "Boiling pot" error noted and a newspaper writer's non-genuine legend of a serpent demanding ten maidens. Chilhowee (Tsûʻlûñwe′ĭ) is described. At Lenoir (Wa′gĭnsĭ′) a serpent dwells in an eddy; a man who saw it lost a child. Morganton has blazed trees said to mark hidden mines. Nashville is Dăgû′năwelă′hĭ, "Mussel-liver place." Nickajack (Nĭkutse′gĭ) has a cave. At Savannah, per Wafford, the Cherokee prepared an ambush but were defeated when the enemy detoured. Tennessee is Tănăsĭ′. In Georgia, White's Collections supplies pseudo-myths. Chopped oak (Digălu′yătûñ′yĭ) bears gashes said to tally scalps; a young man girdled and killed the tree. Dead Man's gap holds an Indian's grave, killed while eloping with a white woman. Frogtown (Walâsi′yĭ) recalls a frog as large as a house. Hiwassee (Ayuhwa′sĭ) is subject of White's Notley pseudo-myth. Nacoochee (Naguʻtsĭ′) has White's fictitious princess legend. Nottely (Na′dûʻlĭ′) and Talking Rock (Nûñyû′-gûñwani′skĭ) follow. Tallulah (Tălulŭ′) draws several proposed derivations; Lanman relates medicine men finding little people in the gorge who decoyed lost hunters. At Toccoa (Tagwâ′hĭ), Wafford tells of a woman seen beneath the falls, deemed one of the Nûñnĕ′hĭ. Track Rock gap holds petroglyphs, with theories including a deluge account. War Woman's creek relates to a female Cherokee dignitary; Wafford knew Daʻnă-gâ′stă.

The text describes Cherokee plant lore. It opens noting the Cherokee as an agricultural people and the vegetable kingdom's place in mythology and medicine, expounded by priests and doctors; the plant world is held friendly to humans against animal hostility. It lists plant names and meanings: mistletoe "it is married," violet "they pull each other's heads off," bear-grass "greensnake," Job's tears "mother of corn," black-eyed Susan "deer-eye," lady-slipper "partridge moccasin," May-apple "it wears a hat," puffball "little star," lichen "pot scrapings," wild rose "the rabbits eat it," shield fern "the bear lies on it," fleabane "fire maker," bugle weed "talkers." Sacred names follow: ginseng "Little Man," corn as Agawe'la; Prosartes "frogs fight with it," from two frogs dueling, naming Fighting-town. White clover "follows the white man." A myth explains deciduous trees. The cedar is sacred; its twigs counter asgina dreams; a Yuchi myth tells how two warriors killed a magician disturbing the sun and tied his head in a cedar, whose blood reddened the wood. It notes basswood, sourwood, laurel, sassafras, walnut bark for stupefying fish, post-oak fires, and lightning-struck wood. Corn (selu/Agawe'la) originates from an old woman's blood; the Green-corn dance, seven ears, seven grains, and the priest's field ceremony where the "Old Woman" rustles corn are described, plus weeping at the field's corners, compared to Adonis. Beans, melons, tobacco (tsâlû), wild parsnip poisonings, poison ivy addressed as "My friend," and brier "the breeder" follow. Ginseng gathering requires passing three plants and paying the fourth with a bead. Catgut, rush, viper's bugloss, culver root, campion, burs "stickers" (with the Long Man river god), potato-like vine, putty-root, Venus flytrap, and the spiral-root rite conclude.