Week 10 Reading Notes: Cherokee, Part B
As always, here are my notes.
1: The Terrapin's Escape from the Wolves
-the possum and the terrapin are picking persimmons (the possum climbed the tree and threw the persimmons down to the terrapin) when a wolf comes and tries to steal them; the wolf chokes on a persimmon and dies; the terrapin decides to take the wolf's ears home and use them as spoons; the wolves hear about what the terrapin was doing, and they confront him, threatening to drown him in the river; when they try to, terrapin escapes
2: The Ball Game of the Birds and Animals
-the birds and the animals agree to play a game; while they're getting ready, mice come to the birds and ask to join their team because they had tried to play with the animals but they were made fun of for their size; the birds agree and make them wings from leather; this turns them into flying squirrels and they help the birds win
3: The Race Between the Crane and the Hummingbird
-the hummingbird and the crane were both in love with the same woman, so they challenge on another to a race and whoever wins gets to marry her; they race and the crane ends up winning because he can fly all night while the hummingbird sleeps; the woman refuses to marry him anyway in the end
4: The Owl Gets Married
-a mother tells her daughter that she has to marry a man who is a good hunter; one day, a man comes to their house and asks the mother if he can marry the daughter, and he says he's a good hunter; the mother agrees; the daughter and the man live together for a while, but the man isn't a very good hunter; one day, the daughter follows him into the woods to see what he does all day, and she sees him turn into an owl; she kicks him out and makes him live in the forest
5: The Huhu Gets Married
-a mother tells her daughter that she has to marry a man that is a good hunter and worker; one day, a man comes to their house and asks the mother if he can marry the daughter and says he's a good worker, so they get married; turns out he's not a very good worker, and he disappears when he's supposed to be working; the mother finds out what he is and kicks him out
6: The Uktena and the Ulunsuti
-the Sun gets angry at humans and sends a sickness to kill them all, so the humans change a man into a monster snake, called Uktena, and send it to kill her instead; it doesn't work, so the humans send it to live in the mountains by itself forever; the Uktena has a diamond shape on its head called Ulunsuti, and if a human takes it they become the best worker; the Ulunsuti is very sacred to the tribes and they protect it
7: Gan-unitsi's Search for the Uktena
-the Cherokee capture an old medicine man named Gan-unitsi, who promises to bring them the Ulunsuti if they let him live; Gan-unitsi goes to the mountains and looks for the Uktena; he finally finds it, sleeping on the mountain; he kills the Uktena and takes the Ulunsuti back to the Cherokee
8: The Red Man and the Uktena
-two brothers are hunting in the mountains one day; one brother hears the sounds of fighting and comes across the Uktena trying to kill a man; he kills it, and the man gives him a medicine so that he can always find game as a gift
9: The Hunter and the Uksuhi
-a man goes to visit his relatives in Hickory-Log, and decides to go into the mountains to hunt; his relatives warn him about the Uksuhi snake, which is very dangerous; during his hunt, he runs into the snake; he runs away and the snake chases him, eventually catching him and squeezing him; he escapes by rubbing a sweaty hand on the snake's nose (because apparently snakes don't like sweat)
10: The Ustutli
-the Ustutli snake lives in the mountains; it's different from other snakes because it has feet; a hunter goes into the mountains one day, despite warnings from the locals, to find the snake; he finds it, and the snake chases him along the mountain, eventually losing him; the hunter sets fire to the mountainside and the snake dies
11: The Snake Boy / The Snake Man
-a boy and his grandmother are really close, but that makes the rest of their family jealous so one day the boy leaves home; the boy comes back that night and sleeps in the hothouse; when the grandmother wakes up the next morning, she goes to see him but finds an Uktena in his place; he leaves for the mountains
-two hunters go into the mountains; one night, one hunter takes some of the squirrels they killed and eats them; the other hunter warns him that there's a legend that if he eats the squirrels, he'll become a snake; but the hunter doesn't listen; that night, the second hunter wakes up and the first hunter has turned into a snake
12: The Rattlesnake's Vengeance
-one day, a mother kills a rattlesnake in her yard to save her kids; the father, a hunter, comes across a family of rattlesnakes crying in the woods; he asks them what's wrong, and they tell him that his wife killed their chief and they were sending another rattlesnake to get revenge; he tells them that he'll offer his wife as a sacrifice to make it right; they agree, and when he gets home he tricks his wife into going outside so a rattlesnake can bite her and kill her
13: The Bullfrog Lover
-a young man and woman love each other, but her mother doesn't approve and won't let him near the house; one night, when the mother is down by the creek getting water, the man hides and disguises his voice as a bullfrog's and tells her that "the faultfinder will die"; this scares her, so she goes home and tells her daughter that she can marry the man
-a girl goes down to the creek for water and hears a bullfrog saying "a bullfrog will marry you"; suddenly a bullfrog turns into a man and asks to marry her; she says yes, but when she takes him to her family, they don't like him so they send him away; they go to the spring the next day and a bullfrog says "your daughter will die" and she does
BIBLIOGRAPHY
"Myths of the Cherokee" by James Mooney. Source: Untextbook.
1: The Terrapin's Escape from the Wolves
-the possum and the terrapin are picking persimmons (the possum climbed the tree and threw the persimmons down to the terrapin) when a wolf comes and tries to steal them; the wolf chokes on a persimmon and dies; the terrapin decides to take the wolf's ears home and use them as spoons; the wolves hear about what the terrapin was doing, and they confront him, threatening to drown him in the river; when they try to, terrapin escapes
2: The Ball Game of the Birds and Animals
-the birds and the animals agree to play a game; while they're getting ready, mice come to the birds and ask to join their team because they had tried to play with the animals but they were made fun of for their size; the birds agree and make them wings from leather; this turns them into flying squirrels and they help the birds win
3: The Race Between the Crane and the Hummingbird
-the hummingbird and the crane were both in love with the same woman, so they challenge on another to a race and whoever wins gets to marry her; they race and the crane ends up winning because he can fly all night while the hummingbird sleeps; the woman refuses to marry him anyway in the end
4: The Owl Gets Married
-a mother tells her daughter that she has to marry a man who is a good hunter; one day, a man comes to their house and asks the mother if he can marry the daughter, and he says he's a good hunter; the mother agrees; the daughter and the man live together for a while, but the man isn't a very good hunter; one day, the daughter follows him into the woods to see what he does all day, and she sees him turn into an owl; she kicks him out and makes him live in the forest
5: The Huhu Gets Married
-a mother tells her daughter that she has to marry a man that is a good hunter and worker; one day, a man comes to their house and asks the mother if he can marry the daughter and says he's a good worker, so they get married; turns out he's not a very good worker, and he disappears when he's supposed to be working; the mother finds out what he is and kicks him out
6: The Uktena and the Ulunsuti
-the Sun gets angry at humans and sends a sickness to kill them all, so the humans change a man into a monster snake, called Uktena, and send it to kill her instead; it doesn't work, so the humans send it to live in the mountains by itself forever; the Uktena has a diamond shape on its head called Ulunsuti, and if a human takes it they become the best worker; the Ulunsuti is very sacred to the tribes and they protect it
7: Gan-unitsi's Search for the Uktena
-the Cherokee capture an old medicine man named Gan-unitsi, who promises to bring them the Ulunsuti if they let him live; Gan-unitsi goes to the mountains and looks for the Uktena; he finally finds it, sleeping on the mountain; he kills the Uktena and takes the Ulunsuti back to the Cherokee
8: The Red Man and the Uktena
-two brothers are hunting in the mountains one day; one brother hears the sounds of fighting and comes across the Uktena trying to kill a man; he kills it, and the man gives him a medicine so that he can always find game as a gift
9: The Hunter and the Uksuhi
-a man goes to visit his relatives in Hickory-Log, and decides to go into the mountains to hunt; his relatives warn him about the Uksuhi snake, which is very dangerous; during his hunt, he runs into the snake; he runs away and the snake chases him, eventually catching him and squeezing him; he escapes by rubbing a sweaty hand on the snake's nose (because apparently snakes don't like sweat)
10: The Ustutli
-the Ustutli snake lives in the mountains; it's different from other snakes because it has feet; a hunter goes into the mountains one day, despite warnings from the locals, to find the snake; he finds it, and the snake chases him along the mountain, eventually losing him; the hunter sets fire to the mountainside and the snake dies
11: The Snake Boy / The Snake Man
-a boy and his grandmother are really close, but that makes the rest of their family jealous so one day the boy leaves home; the boy comes back that night and sleeps in the hothouse; when the grandmother wakes up the next morning, she goes to see him but finds an Uktena in his place; he leaves for the mountains
-two hunters go into the mountains; one night, one hunter takes some of the squirrels they killed and eats them; the other hunter warns him that there's a legend that if he eats the squirrels, he'll become a snake; but the hunter doesn't listen; that night, the second hunter wakes up and the first hunter has turned into a snake
12: The Rattlesnake's Vengeance
-one day, a mother kills a rattlesnake in her yard to save her kids; the father, a hunter, comes across a family of rattlesnakes crying in the woods; he asks them what's wrong, and they tell him that his wife killed their chief and they were sending another rattlesnake to get revenge; he tells them that he'll offer his wife as a sacrifice to make it right; they agree, and when he gets home he tricks his wife into going outside so a rattlesnake can bite her and kill her
13: The Bullfrog Lover
-a young man and woman love each other, but her mother doesn't approve and won't let him near the house; one night, when the mother is down by the creek getting water, the man hides and disguises his voice as a bullfrog's and tells her that "the faultfinder will die"; this scares her, so she goes home and tells her daughter that she can marry the man
-a girl goes down to the creek for water and hears a bullfrog saying "a bullfrog will marry you"; suddenly a bullfrog turns into a man and asks to marry her; she says yes, but when she takes him to her family, they don't like him so they send him away; they go to the spring the next day and a bullfrog says "your daughter will die" and she does
Flying squirrel. Source: Untextbook.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
"Myths of the Cherokee" by James Mooney. Source: Untextbook.
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