from whom were also obtained the hunting songs, and was frequently
referred to by other informants. The Ani'-Tsâ'gûhi are said to have
been an actual clan in ancient times. For parallels, see number 76,
"The Bear Man."
Had not taken human food--The Indian is a thorough believer in the
doctrine that "man is what he eats." Says Adair (History of the
American Indians, p. 133): "They believe that nature is possessed of
such a property as to transfuse into men and animals the qualities,
either of the food they use or of those objects that are presented
to their senses. He who feeds on venison is, according to their
physical system, swifter and more sagacious than the man who lives
on the flesh of the clumsy bear or helpless dunghill fowls, the
slow-footed tame cattle, or the heavy wallowing swine. This is the
reason that several of their old men recommend and say that formerly
their greatest chieftains observed a constant rule in their diet,
and seldom ate of any animal of a gross quality or heavy motion of
body, fancying it conveyed a dullness through the whole system and
disabled them from exerting themselves with proper vigour in their
martial, civil, and religious duties." A continuous adherence to the
diet commonly used by a bear will finally give to the eater the bear
nature, if not also the bear form and appearance. A certain term of
"white man's food" will give the Indian the white man's nature, so
that neither the remedies nor the spells of the Indian doctor will
have any effect upon him (see the author's "Sacred Formulas of the
Cherokees," in Seventh Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, 1891).
Shall live always--For explanation of the doctrine of animal
reincarnation, see number 15, "The Four-footed Tribes."
The songs--These are fair specimens of the hunting songs found in
every tribe, and intended to call up the animals or to win the favor
of the lords of the game (see also deer songs in notes to number 3,
"Kana'ti and Selu"). As usual, the word forms are slightly changed to
suit the requirements of the tune. The second song was first published
by the author in the paper on sacred formulas, noted above. Tsistu'yi,
Kuwâ'hi, Uya'hye, and Gâte'gwâ (-hi) are four mountains, under
each of which the bears have a townhouse in which they hold a dance
before retiring to their dens for their winter sleep. At Tsistu'yi,
"Rabbit place," known to us as Gregory bald, in the Great Smoky range,
dwells the Great Rabbit, the chief of the rabbit tribe. At Kuwâ'hi,
"Mulberry place," farther northeast along the same range, resides the
White Bear, the chief of the bear tribe, and near by is the enchanted
lake of Atagâ'hi, to which wounded bears go to bathe and be cured
(see number 15, "The Four-footed Tribes," and number 69, "Atagâ'hi,
the Enchanted Lake"). Uyâhye is also a peak of the Great Smokies, while
Gâtegwâ'hi, "Great swamp or thicket (?)," is southeast of Franklin,
North Carolina, and is perhaps identical with Fodderstack mountain
(see also the glossary).