The Bird Tribes - A Cherokee Legend. What are the beliefs of the Cherokee?
One of the oldest and largest Indian tribes in the United States is the Cherokee.Around 1,000 B.C., the Cherokee learned to cultivate corn.European settlers in America shared their agricultural knowledge with them.The Great Lakes area was once occupied by the Cherokee.President Andrew Jackson moved the Cherokee to Oklahoma.The Trail of Tears resulted in the deaths of thousands of people.The Cherokee was strong and resilient.
Native history, language and culture are kept alive by the Cherokee Nation.Cultural values, ideas and norms are transmitted from one generation to the next through symbols, signs and stories.The eagle, owl and buzzard are some of the animals that the Cherokee believe in.
While owls are respected for their role in the Cherokee creation story, they are also feared because only medicine men can tell the difference between a real owl and an evil witch.
Many Cherokee Indians hold traditional ways and beliefs.Some numbers hold special meaning.The number four represents the directions east, west, north and south.The seven dimensions of the world are upper world, center and lower world.The upper world and the center of man are inhabited by spirit animals.There are seven Cherokee clans that are descended from a maternal line.Marriage within a clan is not allowed.
The owl and the cougar were the only animals that could stay awake and look after the Earth during the seven days of creation.Cedar wood is considered sacred because it retained its red and green color during creation, unlike other types of wood.The bodies of revered Cherokee leaders were traditionally carried on cedar wood.
Medicine men and women are an important part of Cherokee society.Only members of the Cherokee Nation can seek help from a medicine man or woman.Through oral tradition and sacred books, healing practices are passed down.The owl may be used for guidance.
Good deed are rewarded and bad deed punished by traditional Cherokees.Bad people or witches use bad medicine to cause trouble when the natural order is upset.A spirit animal such as the owl can help a medicine man or woman intervene.The Cherokee believe in ghosts and spirits.The soul of people who die is in spirit form.The little people are spiritual beings who live in mountain caves and dense thickets.Most of the time, little people are invisible.
The symbolism of the owl varies by tribe.Some Native American tribes don't like the owl.It's a bad sign to see or hear a screech owl in broad daylight.Many tribes associated owls with the Underworld due to the eerie hooting sounds and horn-like tufts of the great horned owl and the screech owl.
The Passamaquoddy tell stories of owls bewitching people with love medicine and magic flutes that would cause an Indian maiden to fall in love with the owl.Witches were said to use an owl to spy on people and place curses under cover of night.
The owl was respected and honored by the Pacific Northwest Indians.The Plains Indians appreciated owls that ate snakes.The power of night vision and stealth was tapped by the warriors who wore owl feathers.The owl has been held in high regard by medicine men.They couldn't distinguish between a real owl and an evil spirit.owls were considered to be wise and gentle.
Traditional Cherokee Indians don't like owls.They believe that spirits, ghosts and witches can appear in an owl's body.The word "skili" can mean witch or owl in the Cherokee language.Children were warned that if they cried too loudly, they would be swept away by a great horned owl.When scouting for enemies, Cherokee warriors wore owl skins and feathers.War parties are listening for the sound of screech owls, which are believed to predict death and defeat.
The owl had a different meaning for the indigenous tribes of the Northwest.The owl was seen as kind.Totem poles were carved by the Tlingit and the Haida tribe.The spirit animals looked after that tribe.
The main characters in Cherokee lore are animals and birds.The story of the owl falling in love is told by two Cherokee legends.One tale ends well for the owl, while the other does not.The legend says that an owl stood in the shadows while visiting his future in-laws, fearing that they would not allow him to marry their daughter if they saw his ugly face.The girl's brothers wondered why the owl was hiding and built a fire to look at him.The owl turned to hide his face.There are hot spots on the owl's back.The couple married and lived happily ever after.
The Cherokee legend says that an owl turned himself into a man in order to find a bride.He convinced the mother of a young woman that he was an excellent husband.His wife was suspicious when he failed to catch anything other than lizards and small fish.She watched as her husband turned into an owl on his next hunting expedition.He was thrown out by her when he came home.The owl spent his time in the woods pining for his lost love.
In many Native American cultures, death and illness are associated with the sight or sound of an owl.The gods of death were thought to keep company with owls.Owls were said to carry messages from the dead to the living.An owl outside a sick person's bed was seen as a sign of impending death.The names of people who were going to die soon were said to be called out by owls.