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162 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 99
wJiicli lias always been spoken by the majority of the tribe; by
that fraction of the tribe, moreover, where civilizing influences during
the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries made themselves felt most
keenly; by that fraction of the tribe, finally, to which belonged the
inventor of the Cherokee syllabary. As a result of all this, the
Western dialect soon rose in importance, and in fact acquired precedence
over the others, as usually happens with a written dialect.
Thus, although theoretically spealdng, the Central and Eastern
dialects can be written just as satisfactorily by means of the Sequoya
syllabary as the Western dialect, the fact that it was invented by a
westerner, that it was applied to writing in the Western dialect,
before it was so applied to the others, the fact that portions of biblical
as well as of secular literature were translated and printed in this
dialect only— all this contributed innnensely toward nialdng of the
Western dialect what might aptly be called the literaiy tongue of all
the Cherokee.
Hence the formulas written clown in tliis dialect contained many
expressions which the Central-dialect speaking Cherokee either did
not understand, or else understood but would have expressed in a
different way.
Since, liowevcr, a formula must be recited as written down, and
since tampering with its traditional form is nothing short of sacrilege,
these Western dialect expressions have been treasured and handed
down ever since; needless to say, many of them have, in the course of
this process, been mutilated beyond recognition, and it is quite
possible that sojiie of them may never again be satisfactorily recon-
structed or explained.
It will be possible to state exactly to what extent the Western
dialect has been drawn upon for tlie ritualistic language of the Central
dialect by a thorough study of the Western dialect, which has not yet
been made but which will soon be undertaken.
Finally there is the source which I mentioned first, but which
I reserved for discussion until now, because it is the most important
and offers more interesting material and more promising results.
This source is what I called a substratum of words and expressions
illustrating certain processes in the history and growth of the lan-
guage.
As has been described in the previous pages, the Cherokee ritual
language is used mainly in prayers, conjurations, and incantations,
mostly recited, but sometimes sung, and the greater part of which are
expected to prevent, cure, or cause disease; some of them are also
recited in order to obtain prosperity, luck in love or in war, in hunting
and fishing, and in the various pursuits of tribal life. It also may
occur sporadically in songs, even if these do not belong to the ritual,
and possibly in certain clan names.