to the
implements used in the game to insure success for the players. Accord-
ing to the same myth the Flying Squirrel ( Tewa) also aided in securing
the victory, and hence both these animals are still invoked by the ball
player. The meat of the common gray squirrel (stil&'U) is forbidden
to rheumatic patients, on account of the squirrel's habit of assuming
a cramped position when eating. The stripes upon the back of the
THE FOURFOOTED TRIBES 263
ground squirrel (kiyu' ga) are the mark of scratches made by the angry
animals at a memorable council in which be took ii upon himself to
say a good word for the archenemy, Man (see " ( )rigin of 1 disease and
Medicine"). The peculiarities of the mink (sufigi) ai - e accounted for by
another storj .
The buffalo, the largestgame animal of America, was hunted in the
southern Alleghenj region until almost the close of the last century,
the particular species being probably that known in th<' West as the
wood or mountain buffalo. The name in use among the principal gulf
tribes was practically tin- same, and can not be analyzed, viz, Cherokee,
//I'ntst'i'; Hichitee, ya'nasi; Creek, ySna'sa; Choctaw, yaiiask. Although
the flesh <>t' the buffalo was eaten, its skin dressed for blankets and bed
coverings, its lone- hair woven into belts, and its horns carved into
spoons, it is yet strangely absent from Cherokee folklore. So far as
is known it is mentioned in hut a single one of the sacred formula-, in
which a person under treatment for rheumatism is forbidden to eat
the meat, touch the >kin. or use a spoon made from the