Planet of Birds

The Turkey Vultue in Cherokee medicine

admin — Thu, 23 May 2013 12:25:07 +0000

The buzzard (Turkey Vulture) is said to have had a part in shaping the earth, as was narrated in the genesis myth. It is reputed to be a doctor among birds, and is respected accordingly, although its feathers are never worn by ball players, for fear of becoming bald. Its own baldness is accounted for by a vulgar story. As it thrives upon carrion and decay, it is held to be immune from sickness, especially of a contagious character, and a small quantity of its flesh eaten, or of the soup used as a wash, is believed to be a sure preventive of smallpox, and was used for this purpose during the smallpox epidemic among the East Cherokee in 1866.

According to the Wahnenauhi manuscript, it is said also that a buzzard feather placed over the cabin door will keep out witches. In treating gunshot wounds, the medicine is blown into the wound through a tube cut from a buzzard quill and some of the buzzard’s down is afterwards laid over the spot.

Smithsonian Institution. Bureau of American Ethnology. ‘Annual report of the Bureau of American Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution.’ Washington : U. S. Govt. Print. Off., 1895.

The Golden Eagle, the sacred bird of the Cherokee bird tribes

admin — Thu, 23 May 2013 08:27:13 +0000

The eagle is the great sacred bird of the Cherokee, as of nearly all our native tribes, and figures prominently in their ceremonial ritual, especially in all things relating to war. The particular species prized was the golden or war eagle (Aquila chrystaetus), called by the Cherokee the ” pretty-feathered eagle.” on account of its beautiful tail feathers, white, tipped with black, which were in such great demand for decorative and ceremonial purposes that among the western tribes a single tail was often rated as equal in value to a horse. Among the Cherokee in the old times the killing of an eagle was an event which concerned the whole settlement, and could be undertaken only by the professional eagle killer, regularly chosen for the purpose on account of his knowledge of the prescribed forms and the prayers to be said afterwards in order to obtain pardon for the necessary sacrilege, and thus ward off vengeance from the tribe.

It is told of one man upon the reservation that having deliberately killed an eagle in defiance of the ordinances he was constantly haunted by dreams of fierce eagles swooping down upon him, until the nightmare was finally exorcised after a long course of priestly treatment. In 1890 there was but one eagle killer remaining among the East Cherokee. It does not appear that the eagle was ever captured alive as among the plains tribes. The eagle must be killed only in the winter or late fall after the crops were gathered and the snakes had retired to their dens. If killed in the summertime a frost would come to destroy the corn, while the songs of the Eagle dance, when the feathers were brought home, would so anger the snakes that they would become doubly dangerous. Consequently the Eagle songs were never sung until after the snakes had gone to sleep for the winter.

When the people of a town had decided upon an Eagle dance the eagle killer was called in. frequently from a distant settlement, to procure the feathers for the occasion. He was paid for his services from offerings made later at the dance, and as the few professionals guarded their secrets carefully from outsiders their business was a quite profitable one. After some preliminary preparation the eagle killer sets out alone for the mountains, taking with him his gun or bow and arrows. Having reached the mountains, he goes through a period of prayer and fasting, possibly lasting four days, after which he hunts until he succeeds in killing a deer. Then, placing the body in a convenient exposed situation upon one of the highest cliffs, he conceals himself near by and begins to sing in a low undertone the songs to call down the eagles from the sky. When the eagle alights upon the carcass, which will be almost immediately if the singer understands his business, he shoots it, and then standing over the dead bird, he addresses to it a prayer in which he begs it not to seek vengeance upon his tribe.

The prayer ended, he leaves the dead eagle where it fell and makes all haste to the settlement, where the people are anxiously awaiting his return. On meeting the first warriors he says simply. “A snowbird has died.” and passes on at once to his own quarters, his work being now finished. The announcement is made in this form in order to insure against the vengeance of any eagles that might overhear. After four days the hunters delegated for the purpose go out to bring in the feathers. On arriving at the place they strip the body of the large tail and wing feathers, which they wrap in a fresh deerskin brought with them, and then return to the settlement, leaving the body of the dead eagle upon the ground, together with that of the slain deer, the latter being intended as a sacrifice to the eagle spirits. On reaching the settlement, the feathers, still wrapped in the deerskin, are hung up in a small, round hut built for this special purpose near the edge of the dance ground and known as the place “where the feathers are kept,” or feather house.

Some settlement had two such feather houses, one at each end of the dance ground. The Eagle dance was held on the night of the same day on which the feathers were brought in, all the necessary arrangements having been made beforehand.
The eagle being regarded as a great ada’wehi, only the greatest warriors and those versed in the sacred ordinances would dare to wear the feathers or to carry them in the dance. Should any person in the settlement dream of eagles or eagle feathers he must arrange for an Eagle dance, with the usual vigil and fasting, at the first opportunity; otherwise some one of his family will die. Should the insect parasites which infest the feathers of the bird in life get upon a man they will bring about a skin disease which is sure to develop, even though it may be latent for years. It is for this reason that the body of the eagle is allowed to remain four days upon the ground before being brought into the settlement.

How Raven found and lost his pretty wife Goose

admin — Thu, 23 May 2013 07:00:18 +0000

For a long time Raven lived alone, but finally became tired of this and decided to take a wife. For this purpose he looked about and noticed that it was late in the fall and that the birds were going soutliward in large flocks. Then Raven flew away and stopped directly in the path taken by the geese and other wild fowl on their way to the land of summer. As he sat by the way he saw a pretty young canadian goose coming coming near. Then he modestly hid his face by looking at his feet, and as the goose passed he called out, ” Who wishes me for a husband ? I am a very nice man.” But none of the Geese turned a head.

Very soon a family of white-front Geese came along, consisting of the parents with four brothers aud a sister, and the Raven cried out, “Who wishes me for a husband? I am a fine hunter aud am young and handsome.” As he finished they alighted just beyond him, and he thought, ” Now I will get a wife.
Then he looked about and saw a pretty white stone with a hole in it lying near; he picked it up and, stringing it on a long grass stem hung it about his neck. As soon as he had done this he pushed up his bill so that it slid to the top of his head like a mask, and he became a dark-colored young man, who walked up to the Geese. At the same time each of the Geese pushed up its bill in the same manner, and they became nice-looking people. Raven was much pleased with the looks of the girl and, going to her, gave her the stone, choosing her for his wife, and she hung it about her own neck. Then all pushed down their bills, becoming birds again, and flew away toward the south.

The Geese flapped their wings heavily and worked slowly along, but Raven with his outspread wings glided on faster than his party, while the geese looked after him, exclaiming, in admiration, ” How light and graceful he is. At length Raven grew weary, so he said, “We had better stop early and look for a place to sleep.” Early next morning the Geese were astir and wished to be off, but Raven still slept so heavily that they had to arouse him. The father Goose said, ” We must make haste, for it will snow here soon; let us not linger”. As soon as Raven was fully awake he pretended to be eager to get away, and, as on the day before, led the others with outspread wings and was greatly admired by his young companions.

Early the next morning the Geese made ready to go without stopping for breakfast. Raven’s stomach cried out for some of the fine berries that were so plentiful, but the Geese would not wait, so he dared not object to starting. As they left the seashore the father Goose told them that they would stop to rest once on the way, and the next stretch would bring them to the other shore. Raven began to feel very doubtful about being able to reach the other shore, but he was ashamed to say so and thought he would risk making the attempt, so off they all flew. The Geese flew steadily ou and on. After a long time Raven began to fall behind. His widespread wings ached, yet the Geese kept on steadily and untiringly. Raven flapped heavily along, and then would glide on outspread pinions for a time, trying to ease his tired wings, but to no purpose, so he fell farther and farther behind. Finally the Geese looked back, and the father Goose exclaimed, “1 thought he was light and active, but he must be getting tired; let us wait.” Raven gulking for air, said, “I have an arrowhead here from an old war I was iu and it pains me greatly; that is the reason I fell behind.”

After resting they went on, but the others had to wait for Raven again, and he repeated the story of the arrowhead, which he told them had pierced his heart. Then he had his wife put her hand on his breast to feel it shaking about. She did so, but could feel only his heart beating like a hammerstone and no sign of an arrowpoint, yet she said nothing. Then all arose and flew on, Raven slowly flapping his wings, which felt very heavy. The Geese kept steadily on toward the shore, while Raven sank lower and lower, getting nearer and nearer to the dreaded water. As he came close to the waves he cried and shrieked to his wife, “Leave me the white stone! Throw it back to me I” for it contained magical properties.

Thus he kept crying until suddenly his wings lost their power and he floated helplessly iu the water as the Geese gained the shore. He tried to rise from the water, but his wings seemed to be weighted down, and he drifted back and forth along the beach. After a long time a great wave cast him upon the land. Then, as it flowed back, he dug his claws into the pebbles and only by great effort did he save himself from being dragged back again into the sea. As soon as he was able he struggled up the beach, an unhappy-looking object. The water ran in streams from his soaked feathers and his wings dragged on the ground. He fell several times, and at last, with wide-gaping mouth, reached some bushes, where he pushed up his beak and became a small, dark-colored man. The Geese were nowhere to be seen. Raven sighed and felt sorry for himself loosing his wife.

How Eskimo hunters catch a Ptarmigan

admin — Wed, 22 May 2013 23:42:54 +0000

The Eskimo have various ingenious methods of taking ptarmigan and water fowl. During the winter small sinew snares are set among the bushes where the ptarmigan resort to feed or to rest. Sometimes little brush fences are built, with openings at intervals in which the snares are set so that the birds may be taken when. It consists of a stake nearly 14 inches in length, having a rawhide running noose attached to its upper end by a sinew lashing; a twisted sinew cord about a foot in length serves to attach the snare and stake to the trunk or branch of an adjacent bush.

As spring opens the male birds commence to molt and the brown summer plumage appears about their necks. At this time they become extremely busy and utter loud notes of challenge, which so excite other males within hearing that desperate battles ensue. The birds occupy small knolls or banks of snow, which give them a vantage point from which to look over the adjacent plain. If, when on his knoll, the male ptarmigan hears another uttering his call within the area he considers his own he flies to the intruder and fiercely attacks him. Tins habit is taken advantage of by the Eskimo, who stuff the skin of one of these birds rudely and mount it upon a stick which holds the head outstretched.

This decoy is taken to the vicinity of one of the calling males, and it is planted on a knoll or snowdrift so that it forms a conspicuous object. The hunter then surrounds it with a finely made net of sinew cord supported by slender sticks. Both netting and sticks are pale yellow in color, and are scarcely discernible at a short distance. The hunter then conceals himself close by and imitates the challenge note; the bird hears it and flies straight to the spot. As he flies swiftly along within a few feet of the ground he sees his supiiosed rival, dashes at hiui, and is entangled in the net. The hunter secures him, after which he carries the decoy and the net to the vicinity of another bird.

Once when hunting near the Yukon mouth in the month of May, while patches of snow still covered the ground in places, Eskimo’s decoy ptarmigan by molding some soft snow into the form of a bird; around the part representing the neck a bunch of brown moss is placed to imitate the brown plumage. This image was placed on a small knoll; from a short distance the imitation of a ptarmigan was excellent and the Eskimo’s succeed in calling up several birds that were in the vicinity. The hunters used to call the birds in this manner to shoot them with arrows when they were hunting on the tundra and had no food.

Smithsonian Institution. Bureau of American Ethnology. Annual report of the Bureau of American Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution.’ Washington : U. S. Govt. Print. Off., 1895.

The few men that understand the cries of the Raven

admin — Wed, 22 May 2013 20:39:29 +0000

When it is desired that the owner of an afterbirth should understand the cries of the raven, the afterbirth is put down on the beach where the ravens peck at it. And when it is pecked at by the ravens, the man, when he is full grown, will understand the cries of the raven, for the people of olden times considered it important that the raven came to report about the arrival of warriors who came to make war upon the tribes.

Then they would come at once and ask one who understands the raven, tumbling about and crying. It is bad news when they are tumbling about and feathers fall out. Below are the various cries of the raven, which were cited by the elderly of the Kwakiutl, when they discussed about it in a feast, for when the ravens are crying, a man whose after-birth has been eaten by ravens is sent.

ga ga ga gai Warriors are coming to make an attack.
gax gax gax Ravens will eat the bodies of people drowned by the capsizing of canoes.
qudzo qudzo Hunters will bring much meat to feed the people.
gaga ha hagae A chief (or someone else) died.
xagaq xagaq A woman is going to die.
SOX SOX sox It will be calm and sunshine.
gus gux gus There will be heavy rains.
wax wax wax A stranger will arrive on a visit.
xwo xwo xwo There will be a poor salmon run.
xok xok When ravens Ciy thus while fighting in the air, there will be bad news.

The one whose after-birth has been eaten by the raven understands this. There are only a few whose afterbirths have been eaten by the raven.

How Guianan Indians change the color of the Macaw’s feathers

admin — Wed, 22 May 2013 19:34:51 +0000

The cultivation of artificially colored feathers seems to have been an old practice in the western Guianas and beyond. The Indians of the upper Orinoco utilise a frog, allied to the Rana tinctoria, the blood of which, introduced into the skin of a parrot, in places where the feathers have been plucked out, occasions the growth of frizzled feathers of a yellow or red color. Among the Uaupes River Indians, the colors of certain bird feathers were altered for the decoration of the acangatara or headdress. The feathers are entirely from the shoulders of the great red macaw; but they are not those that the bird naturally possesses, for these Indians have a curious art by which they change the colors of the feathers of many birds.

They pluck out those which they wish to paint, and inoculate the fresh wound with the milky secretion from the skin of a small frog or toad. When the feathers grow again they are of a brilliant yellow or orange color, without any mixture of blue or green, as in the natural state of the bird; and on the new plumage being again plucked out it is said always to come of the same color, without any further operation. The feathers are renewed slowly, and it requires a great number of them to make a coronet. The River Aiary (upper Rio Negro) Indians of the present day (1895) pull from the tame red macaws the green feathers at the base of the wings and smear the wounds with the fat of the pirarara fish, or of a certain toad. The new feathers become beautifully orange-yellow and retain this color, even if several times changed, as they are pulled out from time to time, for purposes of dance decorations.

On the Inirida, a branch of the Guaviare (upper Orinoco), the Puinabo tribe possess the secret of coloring parrots yellow. They make them eat the fat of cajaro, a fish very common in the Guaviare, which fat is yellow. The parrot’s feathers first become spotted with yellow, and end by taking this color entirely. The Pomeroon Indians at the present time maintain that certain of the green parrots, if fed with yolk of egg, will change their feathers to a yellow color.

The White Passenger Pigeon and the Old Man Wild Cat

admin — Wed, 22 May 2013 17:15:25 +0000

It is said that among travelling pigeons the white ones are the chiefs of their communities. According to tradition, a white pigeon once flew into the forest lodge of a noted old man, the Wild Cat. The visitor did not appear ill at ease but stood in the lodge wherever it seemed good to him, and then without remark he flew away. The old man, Wild Cat, somewhat amazed by the quiet conduct of his visitor, related the incident to his neighbors, saying that this visit portended that something out of the ordinary was about to happen. But an entire year passed and nothing unusual had happened to old Wild Cat and his fellows and neighbors.

But at about the same season the next year the same White Pigeon again visited the old man’s lodge. At this visit the old man believed that the White Pigeon was a man (i. e., one of his own kind* of beings), so he conversed with him on many subjects. During this visit White Pigeon informed the old man, Wild Cat, that all the various tribes of birds had held a council at which it had been decided that the wild pigeons should furnish a tribute to mankind, because their Maker had selected the wild pigeons for this important duty as most other birds had only very little to give up because their mode of life required them to live dispersed here and there, and so what they had to offer could be obtained only with difficulty, while the others had nothing to offer toward the support of mankind.

So, the pigeons being the only tribe of birds which built their nests and reared their young in a single community, it was resolved by the various tribes of birds that the pigeons should spare some of their young to men for food. White Pigeon continued by saying that he had come purposely to notify old man Wild Cat of this momentous decision, and to tell him the young pigeons were to be taken at the proper season, and the manner in which this must be done.

He said: ” In the season of the roost, when the young pigeons have attained a suitable size for eating, the people should select a suitable person as superintendent or master of the hunt, and he should give the needful directions to the people for making their preparations for the hunt before starting for the hunting grounds in which the pigeons have their roost in the forest.”

On such a hunting expedition the entire community was engaged, and so it was not unusual to have a very large multitude of people moving along a common path at this time. But to secure order and obedience certain rules for the march must be observed by all. Of these, one was that when the party halted to rest, to eat, or to camp for the night, the leader would place a rod, suitably painted, across the path, and no one was permitted to pass over it or to go around it for the purpose of continuing the journey regardless of the rest of the party. It was held that should one break this injunction some misfortune would inevitably befall the party. When the party was ready to proceed the leader would take up the rod and then the journey would be resumed.

Upon nearing the roosting place of the pigeons it was customary to make a collection of gifts from the people, consisting of various articles of ornament and trinkets of all kinds, for an offering to the pigeons. These freely given gifts were placed in a bark bowl and this was borne solemnly into the forest to some swampy place where tall weeds were plentiful, and these gifts were spread out on a piece of elm bark while native tobacco was burned and an invocation to the offering was made to the pigeons and their Maker.

Tradition reports that for the first hunting expedition the people as a whole did not observe the rules of the master of the hunt, which he had learned from the White Pigeon. So some went around the painted rod placed across the path when the party halted for any purpose; others withheld presents from the offering, and many accidents happened to them; some broke their legs, others their arms, some fell sick, and some died. A great number of misfortunes befell the expedition.

After the expedition had returned to the home lands this fact aroused much discussion. So the old man, Wild Cat, questioned his people as to their conduct, and they informed him. He declared that they had brought these ills upon themselves and urged them to observe strictly the rule which the White Pigeon had given them for their guidance if they wished to avoid these’ misfortunes. So the following season the people went out to the hunt, but they carefully observed the rules laid down for their guidance and all went well, and so every spring for 20 years they continued to go out on these expeditions without any marked untoward events taking place.

But toward the end of this period many factions had arisen among the people. The young people asked, What is the need for these things? Pigeons may be killed at any time of the year. They are fit for food at all seasons of the year. What can pigeons do with these offerings of ornaments and trinkets which they are not able to wear or make any use of? Another faction of the people killed the pigeons wherever and whenever they found them, killing both the young and the old pigeons. Another faction boasted that its members had no faith in what was done, and so they had no desire to engage in pigeon hunting, even refusing to eat any of the pigeon meat when it was offered to them. But it was not long before’misfortune began to assail these seditious factions. The members of the faction which had refused to eat any of the pigeon meat died off one by one. Before the visit of the White Pigeon they never died, they seemed to be immortal; but now disease and death abounded among them because they had failed to obey the regulations prescribed by the White Pigeon for their guidance.

Smithsonian Institution. Bureau of Ethnology. ‘Thirty-second annual report of the Bureau of American Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1910 – 1911.’ Washington : G.P.O, 1918.

Red-necked Grebe defeats the Winter Spirit

admin — Wed, 22 May 2013 15:32:53 +0000

Every winter, the birds fly south. One winter, a hell-diver (also called a grebe) told all of the other birds that he would stay for the winter to take care of two of his friends who had been injured and couldn’t fly south. Both of his friends, a whooping crane and mallard duck, had broken wings. To feed them, he got fish by diving through a hole in the ice. But the Spirit of Winter got jealous of his success at fishing and froze the water after the hell-diver had dived through his hole below the ice. But the hell-diver swam to shore where there were a lot of reeds and bulrushes. He pulled one of them down through the ice with his bill to make a hole in the ice and so he got out and flew home.

When he got home, he saw that someone was peeking in the door of his wigwam. It was the Spirit of Winter, who did not like him and who was trying to freeze him out. The hell-diver got a big fire going, but it was still cold in the wigwam because the Spirit of Winter was right there making it cold. But the hell-diver tricked the Spirit of Winter by mopping his face with a handkerchief and saying, “Gee, but it’s hot in here!” The Spirit of Winter thought the fire was hot enough to melt him, so he ran away.

One day the hell-diver decided to have a feast. He got some wild rice and sent a duck to invite the Spirit of Winter, but it was so cold that the duck froze to death before he got there. Then he sent Partridge with the invitation. She got very cold too, but she dove under the snow to warm up and then went on again. She reached the Spirit of Winter and invited him to the hell-diver’s feast.

When the Spirit of Winter came to the feast, it was like a blizzard coming in the door of the wigwam. He had icicles on his nose and face. Hell-diver built the fire higher and higher, and it began to get warm inside the wigwam. The icicles began to melt on the Spirit of Winter’s face. He was getting awfully warm, but he liked the wild rice that hell-diver had at his feast and wanted to keep eating.

Hell-diver said, “Whew! It’s very warm in here. It must be spring already.” The Spirit of Winter got scared and grabbed his blanket and ran out of the wigwam. With his fire, Hell-diver had brought the spring and outside, things were already melting and there were just patches of snow here and there. The Spirit of Winter had a hard time getting back to his home in the north, where there is always snow.

Adapted from Victor Barnouw, 1977, Wisconsin Chippewa Myths and Tales and Their Relation to Chippewa Life, Madison: The University of Wisconsin Press.

Leach’s Storm-petrel in Penobscot Folklore

admin — Wed, 22 May 2013 14:12:49 +0000

Mother-Cary’s chicken or Leach’s petrel is well known to the Indians of this region who frequently make protracted voyages in their frail canoes miles from the coast-line among the islands lying off the mouth of the Penobscot and Kennebec rivers. These little birds are correctly named from their habit of obtaining nourishment by scooping animal matter from the tops of waves as they patter over them in flight.

Their English name petrel has evidently evolved from this appearance of walking on the surface of the water. The Penobscot name for them is “picking up grease (while skimming over the water).” For all of the these feathered tribes the Indians have great respect. None of them is killed or disturbed, because its flesh in not considered palatable except in times of famine.

Speck, Frank G. (Frank Gouldsmith), 1881-1950. ‘Bird-lore of the northern Indians.’ Philadelphia, Pa. : Published by the University, 1921.

The Great Auk in Penobscot folklore

admin — Wed, 22 May 2013 14:04:41 +0000

The great auk, now almost forgotten in the world by all except the ornithologists, is still remembered among the Penobscot as one of the legendary bird chiefs. While we may hesitate a moment in believing the strict identity of this now-extinct bird with the hero character in one of the creation tales, it nevertheless seems quite possible that the identity may be correctly assumed from certain traditional descriptive traits. The auk figures as the chief of a tribe which is visited by the chief deity of the Penobscot when his uncle desires to secure a wife.

Auk’s daughter is the girl selected, but before the suitor is accepted tests have to be undergone to prove his worth. One of them is the test of jumping. The chief deity, Gluskabe, gives his uncle power enabling him three times to jump over auk’s wigwam. The uncle, however, becomes over-ambitious and in attempting to make the jump the fourth time falls through the smoke-hole of the wigwam into the fire beneath where he burns his back into a hard crust and becomes a turtle, the ancestor of the shelly tribe.

Speck, Frank G. (Frank Gouldsmith), 1881-1950. ‘Bird-lore of the northern Indians.’ Philadelphia, Pa. : Published by the University, 1921.