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Olbeechts] the swimmer MANUSCRIPT 19
These are but some instances taken at random; but let us in a
systematic and methodical way make a survey of the different
disease causes and we will be the better prepared to comprehend the
Cherokee way of treating them.
Spirits
As wiU readily be seen from the "List of spirits" on pages 44-50,
the Cherokee believe in quite a remarkable collection of beings whose
major occupation seems to be to pester the inhabitants of this planet
with all possible and impossible varieties of ailments.
The motives of these spirits, whether they be of an anthropomorphic
or of a zoomorphic type, are mostly very human and justifiable
they take revenge for slights, lack of respect, abuses, etc., of which
they have been the subject at the hands of the hmnan beings. This
holds especially for the animal spirits, the Little Deer, the White
Bear, etc., who are aU the tireless and valiant defenders of their
particular animal clan and who mete out justice and take vengeance
for the conduct of neglectful and disrespectful hunters.
There are hardly any spirits that are, per se, benevolent or ne-
farious; they may be one or another, according to circxmistances.
One spirit may send a disease as a punishment, and yet may on another
occasion help the same individual to overcome another spirit.
As a rule the spirit who has caused a disease is never prevailed
upon to take the disease away; the office of another, rival, spirit is
called upon to do this.
Spirits do not merely send disease of their own initiative; they
may be prevailed upon to do so by human agency, by witches (see
p. 29) or by man killers (see p. 33), for instance.
According to some informants it would seem that spirits may
exercise their nefarious power quite arbitrarily; the sun may cause a
headache without any apparent reason, or without any plausible
cause. This is, however, so exceedingly rare that it is quite possible
that this view is foreign to earlier Cherokee conceptions, and that
such an allegation is now made simply because the earlier explana-
tion has been lost.
Let us now pass in review the more important of these anthropomorphic
spirits. By far the most important is
The Sun.—In everyday language there is no distinct word for
"sun" or "moon." This is a common feature of all the Iroquoian
dialects and of many other North American Indian languages;
UQ-^Do' conveys the meaning of "luminary"; if the distinction has
to be expressed the locutions used are:
UQ-^Do' r'aa e'vi "The luminary that is (that hves) in the day-
time," viz, the Sim.
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