Â
Writing in 1701, William Bartram said the Cherokees were by no means
idolaters, unless their puffing tobacco smoke toward the sun and rejoicing at
the appearance of each new moon might be so interpreted. Â So far from
idolatry were they that they had no religious images among them, or any
idolatrous religious rite or ceremony that he could observe. Â
Instead, they adored the Great Spirit, whom they described as the giver and
taker away of the breath of life, with the most profound and respectful
homage.
In 1736, James Adair confirmed Bartram's view, saying that although it was
well known that the ancient heathens worshiped a plurality of gods which they
created to satisfy their own beliefs, the Cherokees did none of this and were
devoted to the great, beneficent, supreme, holy spirit of fire, who resided
above the clouds and on the earth with purified people. Â
He was, with them, the sole author of warmth, light, and all animal and
vegetable life. Â They did not pay the least perceivable adoration to any
images, dead persons, celestial luminaries, evil spirits, or any created
being whatsover. Â
They practiced none of the gestures employed by the pagans in their religious
rites, and kissed no idols. Â
Their form of religious worship was more like the Mosaic institiution than it
was like that of the pagans, which Adair felt would not be so if the majority
of the old natives was of heathenish descent, since all pagans would fight to
the death to retain their superstitious worship--even when it had lost all
its substance. Â
But the Cherokees did not believe the sun was any bigger that it appeared to
the naked eye, and they never prostrated themselves or bowed their bodies to
each other in salute or homage, except when they were making or renewing
peace with strangers who came in the name of "Yah"--but they always bowed in
the religious dances.
In 1760, Timberlake and other early authorities supported Adair's claims
regarding the worship of one supreme God and the absence of idolatry among
the Cherokees. Â
In 1835, the aged Cherokees whose primary sources took them well back into
the 1600s said that as far back as their history could be traced, the nation
had been divided into at least two sects regarding their beliefs about divine
beings. Â Â
The first sect was made up of the majority of the people. Â Its adherents said
that more than two beings came down from above and formed the world. Â They
then created the sun and moon and appointed them lords of all of lower
creation. Â After this, the beings returned to their own place above, known
only to themselves, where they remained in entire rest, paying no attention
to this world. Â
The sun then completed the work of creation, formed the first man and woman,
caused the trees, plants, fruits, and vegetables to grow, and continued to
order, watch over, and preserve everything on earth. Â
This first sect worshiped the sun and moon and man of the stars. Â Its
adherents also paid divine homage to many birds, beasts, and creeping things,
and they worshiped the fire. Â
The other sect embraced the minority, and said there existed above three
beings who were always together and of the same mind. Â The names of these
beings were: Â first, "U ha lo te qa," "Head of all power," or literally
"Great beyond expression;" Â second, "A ta nv ti," "United," or rather "The
place of uniting" where persons agreed to meet and form a perpetual
friendship; Â Â third, "U sqa hu la," the meaning of which could not, in 1835,
any longer be learned, but it had something to do with "mind" or "affection."
Â
These three, it was said, were always one in sentiment and action and would
always continue to be the same. Â They created all things, were acquainted
with all, were present everywhere, and governed all things. Â When these
called any person to come to them, that person must die in the way the beings
though best. Â These three sat on three white seats above, and all prayers
were directed to them.
They had messengers, or angels, who came to this world and attended to the
affairs of men. Â The difference between this sect and the former consisted
only in the objects of worship and not in outward form or ceremonies. Â The
latter were the same and employed no images.
Both agreed that in the beginning all creatures and objects were innocent and
harmless, that even snakes had no poison, and that such weeds as became
harmful to health were at first created harmless.
Writing in 1890, Mooney adamantly declared that the religion of the
Cherokees, like that of most North American tribes, was zootheism or animal
worship. Â
Their pantheon included gods in the heaven above, on the earth beneath, and
in the water under the earth, but of these, the animal gods constituted by
far the most numerous class, although the elemental gods (fire, water, and
sun) were more important.
Missionaries, he said, "have naturally, but incorrectly, assumed this
apportioner (sun) of all things to be the suppositional 'Great Spirit' of the
Cherokees, and hence the word is used in the Bible translation as synonymous
with God."
Just as adamantly, Wahnenauhi stated, "The Cherokees believed in one God whom
they called 'Oo n hlah nau hi,' meaning 'Maker of all things,' and 'Cah luh
luh ti a hi,' 'The One who lives above.' Â They acknowledged him as their
friend and believed that he made everything and possessed unlimited power."
In commenting on this statement, Kilpatrick said, "Mooney and Olbrechts
theorize that this term for the Supreme Being is a synonym for the
sun...Mails said he discovered in Cherokee theology little to support this
concept."Wahnenauhi also said the Cherokees "believed in an Evil Spirit,
called in their language, 'Skee nah;' and to his malicious influence they
attributed all trouble, calamity, and sickness." Â Kilpatrick responded to
this: Â "There is no universal evil spirit, corresponding to Satan, in
Cherokee theology. Â
Properly 'Skee nah' is any sort of spirit, but it is usually considered to be
a malevolent one. Â Â Wahnenauhi derived her connotation from the Cherokee New
Testament, in which the term is employed for a devil, or the Devil."No veil
hangs heavier over the ancient Cherokees than that clouding their earliest
beliefs regarding the Creator and the origins of their religious customs. Â
Although the creation and origin material collected by Payne was the most
complete available and made very interesting reading, it also included such
extensive near duplications of the first five books of the Bible as to cause
readers to conclude that early in the historic period the Cherokees began to
weave the newly learned biblical material into their origin legends. Â
Thus, what Payne collected in 1835 appears, despite his claims regarding the
isolation of his sources from one another, to be a composite, nearly woven
and chronological story, that includes both biblical and uniquely Cherokee
material.
Nevertheless, of particular value in the study of the ancient culture are
those portions of the stories that bear only slight, or in some instances no
resemblance whatsoever to the biblical account, and which set forth the
foundations upon which the pillars of Cherokee religion were constructed. Â
These are fundamental to our proper understanding of the culture and to our
recognition that what was found by white traders in the early historic period
represented beliefs and practices that had been in place for some time.
The Cherokees attributed their existence to the Creator, or creators,
themselves. Â In the Cherokee mind, these foundations and the pillars built
upon them were the express creations of God and not of men, and they were
reserved as such. Â How dependable is the information gathered by Payne? Â
In recording the historical and moral traditions he received from "professors
of the early and orthodox Cherokee religion," he felt he should emphatically
declare that the dozen or more highly respected ancients of the Cherokees
from whom the fragments were obtained gave them at different times and at
different places. Â No one of the informants knew what had been told by
another or had even the same source. Â And not one of the informants had the
slightest notion of his information ever having been extracted from a
connected series of records, either oral or written.
According to Payne's informants, the Chief Supreme Being believed in by the
Cherokees of the eighteenth century was the same "Mysterious Being" whom the
more ancient Cherokees had said was both God and king, appearing sometimes on
earth as a man.
Except for someone specially consecrated for the purpose, this being's name
was to be spoken only on an appointed holy day. Â It was "Ye ho waah," and he
gave a certain hymn to the Cherokees that could only be sung by selected
persons on "occasions of the greatest solemntry." Â The hymn played a special
role in the exciting Cementation Festival.
The great "Ye ho waah" himself taught the hymn to the first Cherokee priests.
 The words he used were still being repeated in 1835, but they were no longer
understood. Â They were described as being part of "the old language." Â
Many of the Cherokees living in 1835 remembered the last of the white
organization speakers who spoke that revered language and described these
speakers as being "most devoutly wedded to the ancient usages." Â
The few old-language words that were still employed in the nineteenth century
were unintelligible, and most of them were included in what was called the
"Yo wa" hymn. Â
Its chanter and his attendants had to be expressly chosen by the Uku, and all
of them, before performing for the first time, had to undergo a rigorous
testing that included prolonged abstinence from food and sex and the
fulfilling of special observances of prayer, purification, and vigils.
|
