a sound of dancing and
shouting on the other side of the ridge. The man climbed to the top
and looked over; everything was still, hut all along the valley he saw
great piles of hones of the people who had been drowned, and then
he knew that the ghosts had been dancing.
Quadruped Myths
15. the fourfooted tribes
In Cherokee mythology, as in that of Indian tribes generally, there
is no essential difference between men and animals. In the primal
genesis period they seem to he completely undifferentiated, and we
find all creatures alike living and working together in harmony and
mutual helpfulness until man. by his aggressiveness and disregard for
the rights of the others, provokes their hostility, when insects, birds,
fishes, reptiles, and fourfooted beasts join forces against him (see
story. ••( )rigin of Disease and Medicine""). Henceforth theircurtailed by violent means. If it is killed before the expi-
ration of the allotted time the death is only temporary and the body
is immediately resurrected in its proper shape from the blood (Imps,
and the animal continues its existence until the end of the predestined
period, when the body is finally dissolved and the liberated spirit goes
to join its kindred shades in tin 1 Darkening land. This idea appears
in the story of the bear man and in the belief concerning the Little
Deer. Death is thus but a temporary accident and the killing a mere
minor crime. By some priests it is held that there are seven succes-
sive reanimations before the final end.
Certain supernatural personages, Kana'ti and Tsul'kalii' (see the
myths), have dominion over the animals, and are therefore regarded
as the distinctive gods