Untitled - Smithsonian Institution

oIbrechts] the swimmer MANUSCRIPT 155
For Making Unattractive
DtDa'skwQ'yo "'sto.tr
to cause them to become loathsome with
This is the kind of incantation which is recited by a medicine man
at the request either of a scorned lover or of a jealous rival.
In the first case the patron orders the formula to be directed against
the haughty object of his affections, and tries to make her so loathsome
that she who spurned him will in her turn be scorned by others.
If the machinations are directed against a rival he is reviled to such
an extent that no person endowed with reason could possibly think of
pa3dng any attention to him.
For Separating
Dt^*DaGale-'N!t0.ti' i;G9-'wutli'
to separate i)Cople with for the purpose of
In the previous sections we discussed the kind of ylyweli formulas
that are used by a spumed lover and by wliich he takes vengeance
of an irresponsive love.
The kind we now deal with is used to kindle discord and to sow ill
feeling between a married couple, or between sweethearts, so tliat the
conquest of the party desired may be made the easier by the heretofore
unsuccessful lover.
As already stated (p. 150), this is the incantation against which some
protection song may be crooned by husband and wife at night that
their love may not be unwrought by evil agencies.
How THE FoilMULAS AllE ReCITED OR SuNG
As has been repeatedly stated in the course of this paper, some of
the formulas are recited, others are sung. Although there is no defi-
nite rule as to which are spoken and which are chanted, it seems that
most of the hunting formulas and a good many of the protection
prayers are sung. Also some of the curing formulas, but very few of
these only.
As I am not expert at recording music it was thought best to use the
dictaphone to register some of the medicine, hunting, and dance songs.
Fifteen dictaphone records were taken and have been deposited with
the Bureau of American Ethnology, Smithsonian Institution, Washington,
D. C.
Some of the hunting and protection songs are of considerable artistic
value; the Cherokee sing with a high-pitched falsetto voice, and with
all the singers heard, a peculiar nasal twang was noticed.
When the formulas are recited the medicine man mumbles them
under his breath, and at a very fast tempo, so that neither the patient
nor any one of his household manages to catch a single word.