Untitled - Smithsonian Institution

104 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 99
cnwsos an illnoss, to tlio attendant modicino man it would mean the
irretrievable loss of all power.
There are fortunately several ways of averting this calamity
(1) All the ruhhisli tliat is found about the yard around the cabin
is gathered into a heap and burned; sourwood, n^'^DO'Cwe^'ya {Oxydcndrum
arhoreum (L.) DC.) twigs kro boiled in a pot over this fire,
and the hands are wnslu^d in this decoction.
(2) Wil. proceeded in tlu> same way but used ka'na'so""lo° "wild
parsnip" instead of sourwood.
(3) Spencer l^ird, an old niedicine man, now dead, used to rely on
the sole purifying power of water. The infonnant who told me this
vaguely hinted at the probability of the water being some "special
water," siu-h as thtit scoojicd out of a stump ("stump water") or even
out of the slunip of a lightning-struck tree.
Diffusion of Knowledge
A\'(> linvc jns(. seen how an outsi(hM- may become an adept and the
methods used in imparting to him the sacred and scientific lore.
But even between the medicine men and practitioners Avho have
"graduated" years ago there is going on a constant exchange of
formulas and explanations, a continual barter in hints and facts relat-
ing to the profession.
Every medicine man has either a notebook or a motley collection of
miscelhineous papers of all sizes, colors, and descriptions, containing
the formulas hivariably written down in the Sequoya syllabary.
Many of the medicine men refrain from writing down the "directions"
in their books or papers, and do not write any caption to the formula, in
order that, if by any chance the documents should be lost or stolen,
the unlawful proprietor should be at a loss how to use them. The
fornudas wOl either want the prescriptions as to plants to be used,
injunctions to be followed, the foods that are tabooed, etc., or else the
title is lacking, with tlu^ result that it is well-nigli impossible to find
out exactly against which disease the formula is to be used.
If two medicine men exchange any information, one of them usuallj''
gives the other one as many formulas to copy as the latter is willing to
impart to his t>olleague. Some formulas may be rated far more
important than others, however; a good love conjuration will easily
sell for as much as five or six curing prescriptions. In some cases, even
among medicine men, the formulas may be sold for money, or such
commodities as coats, watches, etc. (See p. 102.)
In this way there is such an intense interchange of fornudas and
prescriptions going on that all the medicine men have a stock in trade
which is fundamentally the same, only a member of the profession who
specializes in a certain field, as in divination, love medicine, etc., has
a totally difVereut collection from the one who makes curmg his prin-
cipal i)ursiiit.
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