When
young men wished to be hunters, they had to talk to the
priest, who was in charge of training them. On the appearance
of the first new Moon in March, the priest gave the pupils
an emetic purifying drink and had them wash their bodies
with it. The drink was a tea made of cedar boughs, horsemint,
cane and old tobacco. Once purged, they were going
to the river where they immersed seven times, then put
on clean clothing. Once they killed the first buck, they
took the tip of the tongue to the priest to offer as a
sacrifice.
The
same ritual was repeated at the appearance of the first
new moon in September. For four years thereafter, the candidates
were consigned to the care of the hunting priest, and during
this period were not allowed to have sexual relations with
women. The priest taught them the sacred formulas for hunting
(see below) and everything about the animals. He also taught
them how to made the special calls that imitated nature
to draw the animals closer. He helped them to make the
masks for hunting, that never failed to bewitch the game
and which allowed hunters to easily get within killing
distance. The hunters were told how to give proper thanks
for success and how to conserve enough game to assure a
supply for future years.
 At
the end of the 4 years, the priest prepared on the bank
of the river an "osi" or tent for sweating.
As soon as the pupils were in a profuse sweat, they were
ordered to plunge in the river and immerse themselves seven
times. After this purification ritual they were free to
have sexual relations with women.
The
hunting priest sometimes accompanied the specialist on
expeditions, and the first buck killed belonged to him
and he offered also the tip of the tongue as sacrifice,
burning it in a new fire that he had brought along with
him. When he couldn't accompany the hunters, he authorized
the chief hunter to offer sacrifices instead.
The
rites concerning hunting seem involved and time consuming,
but the dependence of the ancient peoples on game made
them understandable. Hunters specialist were called on
to supply the deer meat and skins needed d for the rituals
that accompanied the great festivals, and as such held
a holy office that demanded a close association with the "above
powers". The meat foods were as much a gift from the
above powers as the cultivated and wild plant food, and
to forget this was to ensure failure.
Men
that were not specialists could also ask the priest to
prepare them. They were taken to the "osi". Each
man had for a seat a deerskin. They did not sleep the first
night, and at intervals the priest sang the hunter's song.
A short while before daybreak the men left behind all the
clothes but for the breechclouts and went to another tent
for sweating. After that they had to go to the river and
immerse themselves seven times. Once dressed, they drank
the purification medicine and bathe with it. It made them
to throw up and thus cleanse the interiors of their bodies.
On that day, they fasted until afternoon. On the
next day, they drank the mixture again, but the fasting
period was shorter. The ritual was repeated for seven days,
and on the seventh day, the first meal was eaten early
in the morning. On the night of the seventh day everyone
stayed awake while at intervals the priest sang the hunter
song. Just before daybreak they went in the sweating tent
and at daybreak immersed again. Then, carrying a new fire
in a ceramic vessel, the priest had supplied, the men went
on a hunt. On killing the first deer they took the meat
and offered it to the fire for sacrifice. If a puff of
wind came out of the meat while it burned, or if the meat
popped throwing pieces toward the east, the sign was good,
and the hunt would be successful, but if it popped towards
the west, it wasn't a good sign.
During
a prolonged series of winter hunting expeditions, when
the need for food was very severe, the specialists were
not permitted to have intercourse with their wives. It
was the ultimate form of self-denial, and one the above
powers could not fail to respond to favorably. Some years,
the rule would remain in force for 6 months.
A
special Hunter's Feast took place in September, when the
buck flies first made their appearance. The rituals of
drink, immersion and fasting were repeated, and on the
fourth day, the priest would check his crystal to see if
the hunting was going to be successful. That night the
hunters were honored guests for a huge banquet where the
village shown their appreciation for their efforts throughout
the year.
 Hunting
was a laborious exercise. Men often walked 30 miles over
rough ground, fasting themselves and purifying often. The
animals shot with the bow and arrow were buffalo, deer,
opossum, squirrel, turkey, partridge and pheasant. To kill
rabbits and small birds, the blowgun was used. The blowgun
was a seven or eight-foot-long hollow piece of cane through
which, by means of blowing, a six-to eight-inch dart was
projected. The darts were carried in quivers made of a
section of large cane, and hollow gourds was used to store
the cotton like thistledown plant fibers that the darts
were stuck through to seal them in the blowgun and give
them greater velocity.
Fish
were caught with bow and arrow, water traps, spearing,
bait and hook and dipping out with baskets. Some fishing
was doing from canoes fashioned from large pine or poplar
logs, as much as forty feet long and two or more feet wide.
The bottoms, sides and ends of the canoes were flat, although
the ends were slanted to give less resistance to currents.
Some of the canoes could carry fifteen to twenty men, yet
were so light and maneuverable that the could be forced
upstream against a strong current.
On occasion,
the Cherokee used walnut bark to poison small areas of
streams or ponds; the poison temporarily stunned the fish
for easy gathering. Pounded walnut bark is thrown into
small streams to stupefy the fish, so that they may be
easily dipped out in baskets as they float on the surface
of the water. Should a pregnant woman wade into the stream
at the time, its effect is nullified, unless she has first
taken the precaution to tie a strip of the bark about her
toe.
"Listen
! Now your settlements have drawn near to hearken. Where
you have gathered in the foam you are moving about as one,
You Blue Cat and the others, I have come to offer you freely
the white food. Let the paths from every direction recognize
each other. Our spittle shall be in agreement, Let them
be together as we go about. The fish have become a prey,
and there shall be no loneliness. Your spittle has become
agreeable. Yo!."
"Give
me the wind. Give me the breeze. Yu! O Great Terrestrial
Hunter, I come to the edge of your spittle where you repose.
Let your stomach cover itself; let it be covered with leaves.
Let it cover itself at a single bend, and may you never
be satisfied. And you, O Ancient Red, may you hover above
my breast while I sleep. Now let good dreams develop; let
my experiences be propitious. Ha ! Now let my little trails
be directed, as they lie down in various directions. Let
the leaves be covered with the clotted blood, and may it
never cease to be so. You two (the Water and the Fire)
shall bury it in your stomachs. Yu!"
"Listen!
O Ancient White, where you dwell in peace I have come to
rest. Now let your spirit arise. Let it (the game brought
down) be buried in your stomach, and may your appetite
never be satisfied. The red hickories have tied themselves
together. The clotted blood is your recompense. O Ancient
White, *** Accept the clotted blood. O Ancient White, put
me in the successful hunting trail. Hang the mangled things
upon me. Let me come along the successful trail with them
doubled up (under my belt). It (the road) is clothed with
the mangled things. O Ancient White, O Kanati, support
me continually, that I may never become blue. Listen !"
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