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Traditional Native American belief systems that consider the entire universe to be alive and interconnected. Shamanism in practice is used to heal and enlighten, using ceremonials which can include rhythmic music, mind altering drugs and mythic journeys into the subconscious. Accuracy of the info is not entirely set in stone, as a lot of what was written early in the century and previously is surmised or observed, or here-say passed down from visitors, researchers, and from native american to whites and sometimes into folklore. Many tribes have unique concepts of the world and its place in the universe. One theme found in some tribes understands the universe as being composed of multiple layers. The natural world is a middle segment. These layers are thought to be linked by the World Tree, which has its roots in the underground, has a trunk passing through the natural world, and has its top in the sky world. Animism is the concept that the entire universe is alive. Individual tribes have differing stories of Creation. One set of themes found in some tribes describes that in the beginning, the world was populated by many people. Most were subsequently transformed into animals. Natives thus feel a close bond with animals because of their shared human ancestry. Dogs are excluded from this relationship. This bond is shown in the frequent rituals in which animal behavior is simulated. Each species has its master; for example, the deer have a master deer who is larger than all the others. The master of humans is the Creator. "Shaman" has its origins in Siberia, it is often used by anthropologists throughout the world to refer to Aboriginal healers. Spirits may be encouraged to occupy the Shaman's body during public lodge ceremonies. Drum-beating and chanting aid in this process. The spirits are then asked to depart and perform the needed acts. At other times, Shamans enter into a trance and traverse the underworld or go great distances in this world to seek lost possessions or healing. Remarks on ShamanismFrom "Discussion of J. Cheston Morris' Address "Remarks on Shamanism," (1897) THE account Dr. Morris has given us as to what Mr. Williams related to him concerning the life of an Indian youth of the Nez Percé tribe To the primitive Shaman, all force necessarily seems to be derived from some kind of life, since he continually sees force as motion or stress originated in, or initiated as action by, life in some form--his own, or some other. Now the supreme characteristic or concomitant of his own or of any other form of life, is breath, which like force or stress, is invisible; hence he reasons that force is breath, and conversely that breath is the force of life. He sees that this breath enters into and issues from every living being, and since every such being has distinctive form, he further reasons that every separate form, whether animate in our sense or not, has life of some kind or degree. He has, for example, no knowledge of air--as a gas--no knowledge of it other than as wind, and no conception of wind other than as breath, as the sort of something that he feels when he blows upon his hand and knows absolutely that he or his own breath is blowing, and that this breath it is that is coexistent with his mortal existence. Therefore, he thinks not only of all forms as living, but also of the wind as necessarily the breath of some living form or being. And since his own little breath is so intimately of himself, he naturally imagines that this other greater breath must needs be as intimately that of some other and correspondingly greater and more powerful--what though invisible--being. He also imagines that this great being of the wind resides in the direction whence comes prevailingly its wind or its breath. Now when he observes that there are prevailing or distinctive winds of the diverse directions,--that of the north which blows hardest of them all and chiefly in winter; that of the west which blows more temperately and chiefly in spring time; that of the south, which blows softly and most frequently in summer; that of the east, which is again more fierce and chilly, and blows mostly in autumn; he not only severally locates these winds in their various quarters, but also differentiates them, and believes that the wind-being of the north produces cold and winter; of the west, moisture and spring; of the south, warmth, dryness and summer; of the east, coolness again, frost, and therewith the aging or maturing of all growing things, and autumn. And so to him the element of the north world is wind (or air, breath) preëminently; of the west world, water; of the south world, fire; and of the east world, earth or its seeds; and that each of these elements is produced by or is under the dominion of the special wind-god of its quarter; yet all combine, in the regular succession of the seasons, to make this World of the Middle what it is from year to year . . . . Now since the various animals are supposed, according to their kinds, to be especially resident in one region or another, not only is there attributed to the Great Being or God of Wind in a particular region, a form more or less like to that of his supposed kind of animal therein, but also, the clans are organized with reference, in turn, to the supposed relation of their totems to these various animals and animistic or mythic beings of the special regions. And so, when, for example, a name is to be conferred upon a child of one of these totems, some process of divination must be entered into to determine what shall be his relation to the creatures and the deific being of one region or another, and correspondingly, of course, to his fellows among the clans. For it is held to be essential that this sacred relationship be symbolized, in some way or another, in the choice of his totemic name, and thus--as well as for many reasons into a consideration of which I cannot enter here--must be divined. Now in this process of divination, various instrumentalities are employed. For example, among the Zuñis, wands painted in diverse colors--each color being symbolic of a special region and plumed with appropriate bird feathers--are sometimes set up in balls of clay, each placed out on the floor in the direction of the region to which the color of its wand relates it. Then it is noted which of the plumes waves most actively in any wind (or breath) that may be stirring. From this, the spiritual relation, so to say, or the source or totemic origin of the child is divined, and he will be named, and to a certain extent the course of his life will be determined upon according to this divination. For example, the Zuñi totem gods of the several regions are: the Gray Wolf for the East or Dawn-Land; the Mountain Lion or Puma for the North or fierce Winter-Land; the Black Bear for the Land of the West or Night; the sun-loving Badger for the South or Summer-Land; the Eagle for the Sky and Light, and the Burrowing Mole for the Under-Land and Darkness. Let us suppose that the plume on the white wand--the one that is set up toward the east--waves most actively; then, what though the child belong to a clan or totem of one of the other regions, he will nevertheless be regarded as spiritually related to the Gray Wolf of Dawn, and it will be believed by his fellows-and with their belief he will himself become, as he grows toward puberty, more and more impressed--that he is destined for membership in the sacred organization or Shamanistic Society or Lodge of the Medicine-men of the East, or of the Wolf deity. Now when the age of puberty is attained, and the boy is to be solemnly invested with the garment or clout and the responsibilities of manhood, he is . . . required to pass through various ordeals, such as a period of vigorous fasting and purification (this both by means of emetics and purgatives); and to retire to some lonely spot and there keep, day and night, lengthy vigils, whereby it is sought to diminish for a time his earthly grossness, interests and affections, to "still his heart" and quicken his spiritual perception and hearing of the meaning of the "Silent Surpassing Ones." This is in order that he may gain sign from or actually behold one of the Beings who wield, in the great quarters, the forces of nature, and who shall thereafter be his special Tamanawa or spiritual guide. It is also in order to aid him in seeking for some objective sign by which this relationship to his Genius may be proven to himself and made manifest to his people. In a condition of exaltation as he is--and I can attest to its absorbing nature, through having myself endured such an ordeal--you can well understand that his perceptions will become startlingly manifest in the various visions and signs he sees. These will seem to him, I can again personally assure you, far more real than the most absolutely actual things he has ever beheld or experienced. Perchance he gazes at the mist, or a cloud in the sky. The cloud will surely seem to take the form of a great gray wolf; and when he seeks for some token of that God of the Sky, a tooth-like fossil, a few hairs maybe, which he may find on the ground nearby or underneath the apparition, will be reverently accepted as potent amulets, and he will bear them to the tribal Fathers or Shamans, and by them they will be received as a sign of his Genius, and he will be relegated to the phratral division or lodge of the Wolf. Or again, it may be that he will find a crystal, and because this crystal shines clearly and therein resembles the light by which we see and the eye through which we see--and hence is regarded as helpful in seeing--it will be regarded as a token of seership, as a sign of the Seeing Spirit, and fortunate the youth who is thus supposed to be endowed with the power of penetration into the unseen. To give yet one more example, let us suppose that he finds a concretion exhibiting spiral or concentric lines. He will regard this as a symbol of the Midmost itself, a token of his relation thereto also--no matter to what totem he may belong, or to what region he may be related by birth. For the spiral lines perceived in this crystal resemble those of the marks upon the sand produced by the whirling about of objects like red-topped grass by the whirlwind, yet which are regarded as the tracks of the whirlwind god, whose breath is the midmost of all the winds of the world. Shamans personify phenomena of nature, by instancing their personification of this god of the whirlwind. Of all the winds of heaven, the whirlwind alone is upright--progresses as man does, by walking over the plains. The whirlwind god is therefore endowed in part, with the personality of a man; but like the eagle, also, the whirlwind flies aloft and circles widely in the sky; therefore he is endowed with the wings and tail, the head, beak and talons of an eagle. Since the sand which he, the whirlwind, casts about pricks the face as would minute arrows, the dreadful wings of the god are supposed to be flinty, and his character warlike or destructive, as is that of the eagle; yet of all the Beings of Wind, he is the most potent, for he twists about or banishes utterly from his trail, either the north wind or the south, the east wind or the west, and overcomes even gravity--the pulling-breath of the earth or under world--and therefore is the god of the midmost among all the six gods of wind. Thus, lucky in a purely practical way, is he who finds under given auspicious circumstances, his name-token in the shape of a little concentric concretion, for he will be in the line of ordination thereby, to the Central Council or Priesthood of his people. The consideration which the doctor receives for his services is called ugista'`tï, a word of doubtful etymology, but probably derived from the verb tsï'giû, "I take" or "I eat." In former times this was generally a deer-skin or a pair of moccasins, but is now a certain quantity of cloth, a garment, or a handkerchief. The shamans disclaim the idea that the ugista'`tï is pay, in our sense of the word, but assert that it is one of the agencies in the removal and banishment of the disease spirit. Their explanation is somewhat obscure, but the cloth seems to be intended either as an offering to the disease spirit, as a ransom to procure the release of his intended victim, or as a covering to protect the hand of a shaman while engaged in pulling the disease from the body of the patient. The first theory, which includes also the idea of vicarious atonement, is common to many primitive peoples. Whichever maybe the true explanation, the evil influence of the disease is believed to enter into the cloth, which must therefore be sold or given away by the doctor, as otherwise it will cause his death when the pile thus accumulating reaches the height of his head. No evil results seem to follow its transfer from the shaman to a third party. The doctor can not bestow anything thus received upon a member of his own family unless that individual gives him something in return. If the consideration thus received, however, be anything eatable, the doctor may partake along with the rest of the family. As a general rule the doctor makes no charge for his services, and the consideration is regarded as a free-will offering. This remark applies only to the medical practice, as the shaman always demands and receives a fixed remuneration for performing love charms, hunting ceremonials, and other conjurations of a miscellaneous character. Moreover, whenever the beads are used the patient must furnish a certain quantity of new cloth upon which to place them, and at the close of the ceremony the doctor rolls up the cloth, beads and all, and takes them away with him. The cloth thus received by the doctor for working with the beads must not be used by him, but must be sold. In one instance a doctor kept a handkerchief which he received for his services, but instead sold a better one of his own. Additional cloth is thus given each time the ceremony is repeated, each time a second four days' course of treatment is begun, and as often as the doctor sees fit to change his method of procedure. Thus, when he begins to treat a sick man for a disease caused by rabbits, he expects to receive a certain ugista'`tï; but, should he decide after a time that the terrapin or the red bird is responsible for the, trouble, he adopts a different course of treatment, for which another ugista'`tï is necessary. Should the sickness not yield readily to his efforts, it is because the disease animal requires a greater ugista'`tï, and the quantity of cloth must be doubled, so that on the whole the doctrine is a very convenient one for the shaman. In many of the formulas explicit directions are given as to the pay which the shaman is to receive for performing the ceremony. In one of the Gatigwanasti formulas, after specifying the amount of cloth to be paid, the writer of it makes the additional proviso that it must be "pretty good cloth, too," asserting as a clincher that "this is what the old folks said a long time ago." The ugista'`tï can not be paid by either one of a married couple to the other, and, as it is considered a necessary accompaniment of the application, it follows that a shaman can not treat his own wife in sickness, and vice versa. Neither can the husband or wife of the sick person send for the doctor, but the call must come from some one of the blood relatives of the patient. In one instance within the writer's knowledge a woman complained that her husband was very sick and needed a doctor's attention, but his relatives were taking no steps in the matter and it was not permissible for her to do so. Cherokee account of Origin of Disease and Medicine In the old days quadrupeds, birds, fishes, and insects could all talk, and they and the human race lived together in peace and friendship. But as time went on the people increased so rapidly that their settlements spread over the whole earth and the poor animals found themselves beginning to be cramped for room. This was bad enough, but to add to their misfortunes man invented bows, knives, blowguns, spears, and hooks, and began to slaughter the larger animals, birds and fishes for the sake of their flesh or their skins, while the smaller creatures, such as the frogs and worms, were crushed and trodden upon without mercy, out of pure carelessness or contempt. In. this state of affairs the animals resolved to consult upon measures for their common safety. The bears were the first to meet in council in their townhouse in Kuwa'hï, the "Mulberry Place,"[1] and the old White Bear chief presided. [1. One of the high peaks of the Smoky Mountains, on the Tennessee line, near Clingman's Dome.] After each in turn had made complaint against the way in which man killed their friends, devoured their flesh and used their skins for his own adornment, it was unanimously decided to begin war at once against the human race. Some one asked what weapons man used to accomplish their destruction. "Bows and arrows, of course," cried all the bears in chorus. "And what are they made of?" was the next question. "The bow of wood and the string of our own entrails," replied one of the bears. It was then proposed that they make a bow and some arrows and see if they could not turn man's weapons against himself. So one bear got a nice piece of locust wood and another sacrificed himself for the good of the rest in order to furnish a piece of his entrails for the string. But when everything was ready and the first bear stepped up to make the trial it was found that in letting the arrow fly after drawing back the bow, his long claws caught the string and spoiled the shot. This was annoying, but another suggested that he could overcome the difficulty by cutting his claws, which was accordingly done, and on a second trial it was found that the arrow went straight to the mark. But here the chief, the old White Bear, interposed and said that it was necessary that they should have long claws in order to be able to climb trees. "One of us has already died to furnish the bowstring, and if we now cut off our claws we shall all have to starve together. It is better to trust to the teeth and claws which nature has given us, for it is evident that man's weapons were not intended for us." No one could suggest any better plan, so the old chief dismissed the council and the bears dispersed to their forest haunts without having concerted any means for preventing the increase of the human race. Had the result of the council been otherwise, we should now be at war with the bears, but as it is the hunter does not even ask the bear's pardon when he kills one. The deer next held a council under their chief, the Little Deer, and after some deliberation resolved to inflict rheumatism upon every hunter who should kill one of their number, unless he took care to ask their pardon for the offense. They sent notice of their decision to the nearest settlement of Indians and told them at the same time how to make propitiation when necessity forced them to kill one of the deer tribe. Now, whenever the hunter brings down a deer, the Little Deer, who is swift as the wind and can not be wounded, runs quickly up to the spot and bending over the blood stains asks the spirit of the deer if it has heard the prayer of the hunter for pardon. If the reply be "Yes" all is well and the Little Deer goes on his way, but if the reply be in the negative he follows on the trail of the hunter, guided by the drops of blood on the ground, until he arrives at the cabin in the settlement, when the Little Deer enters invisibly and strikes the neglectful hunter with rheumatism, so that he, is rendered on the instant a helpless cripple. No hunter who has regard for his health ever fails to ask pardon of the deer for killing it, although some who have not learned the proper formula may attempt to turn aside the Little Deer from his pursuit by building a fire behind them in the trail. Next came the fishes and reptiles, who had their own grievances against humanity. They held a joint council and determined to make their victims dream of snakes twining about them in slimy folds and blowing their fetid breath in their faces, or to make them dream of eating raw or decaying fish, so that they would lose appetite, sicken, and die. Thus it is that snake and fish dreams are accounted for. Finally the birds, insects, and smaller animals came together for a like purpose, and the Grubworm presided over the deliberations. It was decided that each in turn should express an opinion and then vote on the question as to whether or not man should be deemed guilty. Seven votes were to be sufficient to condemn him. One after another denounced man's cruelty and injustice toward the other animals and voted in favor of his death. The Frog (walâ'sï) spoke first and said: "We must do something to check the increase of the race or people will become so numerous that we shall be crowded from off the earth. See how man has kicked me about because I'm ugly, as he says, until my back is covered with sores;" and here he showed the spots on his skin. Next came the Bird (tsi'skwa; no particular species is indicated), who condemned man because "he burns my feet off," alluding to the way in which the hunter barbecues birds by impaling them on a stick set over the fire, so that their feathers and tender feet are singed and burned. Others followed in the same strain. The Ground Squirrel alone ventured to say a word in behalf of man, who seldom hurt him because he was so small; but this so enraged the others that they fell upon the Ground Squirrel and tore him with their teeth and claws, and the stripes remain on his back to this day. The assembly then began to devise and name various diseases, one after another, and had not their invention finally failed them not one of the human race would have been able to survive. The Grubworm in his place of honor hailed each new malady with delight, until at last they had reached the end of the list, when some one suggested that it be arranged so that menstruation should sometimes prove fatal to woman. On this he rose up in his place and cried: "Wata'n! Thanks! I'm glad some of them will die, for they are getting so thick that they tread on me." He fairly shook with joy at the thought, so that he fell over backward and could not get on his feet again, but had to wriggle off on his back, as the Grubworm has done ever since. When the plants, who were friendly to man, heard what had been done by the animals, they determined to defeat their evil designs. Each tree, shrub, and herb, down even to the grasses and mosses, agreed to furnish a remedy for some one of the diseases named, and each said: "I shall appear to help man when he calls upon me in his need." Thus did medicine originate, and the plants, every one of which has its use if we only knew it, furnish the antidote to counteract the evil wrought by the revengeful animals. When the doctor is in doubt what treatment to apply for the relief of a patient, the spirit of the plant suggests to him the proper remedy. COLOR SYMBOLISM Color symbolism plays an important part in the shamanistic system of the Cherokees, no less than in that of other tribes. Each one of the cardinal points has its corresponding color and each color its symbolic meaning, so that each spirit invoked corresponds in color and local habitation with the characteristics imputed to him, and is connected with other spirits of the same name, but of other colors, living in other parts of the upper world and differing widely in their characteristics. Thus the Red Man, living in the east, is the spirit of power, triumph, and success, but the Black Man, in the West, is the spirit of death. The shaman therefore invokes the Red Man to the assistance of his client and consigns his enemy to the fatal influences of the Black Man. The symbolic color system of the Cherokees, which will be explained more fully in connection with the formulas, is as follows:
There is a great diversity in the color systems of the various tribes, both as to the location and significance of the colors, but for obvious reasons black was generally taken as the symbol of death, while white and red signified, respectively, peace and war. It is somewhat remarkable that red was the emblem of power and triumph among the ancient Oriental nations no less than among the modern Cherokees. Most of these publications are available on our Native American Reading/Art and Music pages---> Creation Stories and Versions of Bible Stories--> Mythological Stories and Legends Among North American Indians
Sacred Formulas of the
Cherokee by James Mooney [1891] 7th
Annual report, bureau of american ethnology Derived and re-written from resources stated as in the public domain |