Untitled - Smithsonian Institution

oScHTs] THE SWIMMER MANUSCRIPT 185
the blazing fire without pain. In treating it, the medicine man uses
an infusion of alder bark, which he blows or rubs into the open eyes
of the patient.
The medicine man sometimes simply chews the bark and blows out
the juice upon the eyes. [The disease is caused by seeing a rattlesnake
; the snake is being referred to by a circumlocution : akski' so as
not to offend it the more by calling its name. It is worthy of
interest that even the common name of the rattlesnake, uDzo'N^ti',
is a euphemism, meaning **the admirable one" («/-tso'N!-=admire.)
(See p. 14.)]
10
Dant'ne*sv'GQ".'[i] a'Da'n9*'wo*t't' IVaf |
when they have them the medicine this
drooping
l*a-D9-'"tawa' 'i-Da-'"we'j' |
Galp-'ladi'
t'aDw'yQ-na' |
utst^*-
ha! roller thou wizard above thou hast formed thyself beyond it
na'"wa' aDo*'nfGa' |
tsu'lu'st
|
it stretched it has been said (Onomat.)
tsu'lu'st I
tswlu'st
|
tswlu'st
|
When They Have Them Drooping, This is the Medicine
FREE TRANSLATION
O Miller, thou wizard, thou hast originated on high. Relief has
been caused.
explanation
This is another formula for the same purpose as the one last given.
The medicine man uses no medicine, but simply sings the verse, and
then blows his breath four times, into the eyes of the patient. The
ceremony is generally repeated four times.
[The D9*Dawa' (really acg-Dawa') is a small whitish miller, which
flies about the light at night. The name implies that it "playfully
roUs over and over (in the flame)." A word of the same stem,
"aD^Dawtska," is used for hens curing their feathers in the dust,
and also for dogs playfully rolling over in the grass or in the snow.]
On account of its affinity for the fire, the DQ*'Dawa' is invoked in all
that the medicine men call "fire diseases." [These include this eye
trouble because the patient afflicted with it can not stand the glare
of the blazing fire. Curiously enough, frostbite is also considered
as belonging to this class, because it affects like a burn or a scald.]
The final "tsu'li/st" uttered four times in a sharp voice [may be]
intended to imitate the sound heard when the insect singes its wings
in the blaze.