Untitled - Smithsonian Institution

218 BUKEAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 99
EXPLANATION
This formula is used for a form of Dalo*'ni in which the whole
abdominal region becomes swollen and painful, while the patient
loses appetite and becomes unable to retain food in his stomach.
The medicine man invokes the weasel, called by the Cherokee
"yellow rat," tct'ste'Dzi, here abbreviated to tcfste" being the generic
name for rats, mice, and weasels. Here again we have the color
correspondence between the disease and the curing spirit.
The medicine man induces vomiting to dislodge the bile, by giving
the patient to drink a wann decoction of the inner bark of the four
small trees named i;ni"kwa, Nyssa multiflora Wang, black gum;
suli^'jalGa, Clethra acuminata IVlichx.,^^ white alder; a't'tse'Ji (or
itse'H), Alnus rugosa (Du Roi) Spreng., red alder; D'yu'GtD9\
Corylus americana Walt., hazelnut.
It will be noted that the inner bark of all these trees has a peculiar
yelloA\dsh color, this again carrjdng out the theory of color sym-
bolism.
The medicine man first recites the formula and then gives the
patient a drink of the medicine. This is repeated four times, after
which he allows the patient to drink as much of the decoction as
he can swallow. The whole ceremony and appUcation is performed
four times before noon.
After the patient has drunk the decoction the medicine man
'Hakes him to the water"; he gives the sufferer some warm water
to drink, which causes him to vomit the bile, after which he finds
relief. This vomiting sometmies weakens the patient considerably,
so that the medicine man has to give him some sour corn gruel
"k'a'no*e''na" to drink, to keep up his strength. Although not
noted in the manuscript, it is probable that the medicine man addresses
some formula to the "Long Man" (as in No. 15, p. 190) and
that the beads mentioned are used only at this part of the ceremony.
The beads are deposited on a piece of cloth and the whole is taken
after the ceremony by the medicine man as his fee. The yellow
bead typifies the disease, the red denotes the powerful spirit which
conquers it, the black signifies the great lake in the Night Land
into which the disease spirit is cast, and the white is emblematic
of the happiness which comes with recovery.
[It is deemed necessary to draw attention to the fact that as a
rule medicine men are unable to explain the symbolism of the beads
and of their colors as is here done by Mr. Mooney.]
*8 Another specimen was identified as Hydrangea acuminata Small.