Untitled - Smithsonian Institution

306 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 99
This is to Take Oneself to the Water with, to Help Oneself
FREE TRANSLATION
Now, then! Ha, now thou hast come to listen, thou Long Human
Being, thou art sta5dng (right here?) thou Helper of human beings.
Thou never lettest go thy grasp ; thou never lettest go thy grasp from
the soul. Thou hast, as if it were, taken a firmer grasp upon (the
soul). I originated at the cataract, not so far away. I will stretch
out my hand to (where thou art). (My soul) has come to bathe
itself in thy body. The white foam will cling to my head as I walk
(along the path of life), the wliite staff will come into my extended
hand. The fire (of the hearth) will be left (burning) for me incessantly.
The soul has been lifted up successively to the seventh upper
(-world),
explanation
[This formula for going to water was tentatively edited by James
Mooney in his discussion of the Cherokee River Cult, p. 2.]
It is for the purpose of obtaining long life, and the ceremony may
be performed either by the medicine man for the benefit of his client
or by the client himself on his own behalf. It may be performed
[wheneverl desii-ed, the favorite time being at each new moon. The
patient, often accompanied by all the members of his household, goes
down to the stream before sunrise, and while still fasting. Whether
he recites the foiTuula himself, or whether this is left for the medicine
man to do, the ceremony is the same. The client [and those accompanjang
liim, dip out water with the hollow of their hand. This is
the action referred to in the expression: "I will stretch out my hand
to where thou (Long Human Being, i. e., the stream, the Water)
art."] They wash [their face, the crown of] their head and their
breast ["where their soul is"] and may even step into the stream and
completely duck under seven times, if they so desire.
The formula is addressed to the "Long Human Being," the stream,
the river, the flowing water, and who is called the "helper of man-
Idnd." [In many of the formulas the "Long Human Being" is
referred to as having originated at the cataract, and this is doubt-
lessly the reason why the reciter claims for himself the same origin;
this establishes a close and intimate relationship between him and
the spirit invoked, and all but forces the latter to pay heed to the
requests of liis relative.]
The idea to be conveyed by the latter part of the formula is that
the suppliant, having bathed in the stream, comes out with the white
foam [i. e., gray hairs, old age] clinging to his head, and taldng the
white [walking stick], or staff [an attribute of old people or chiefs?],
in his hands, starts on his journey to the seventh upper-world [i. e..