horn of the
buffalo, upon the ground of an occult connection between the habitual
cramped attitude of a rheumatic and the natural "hump" of that
animal.
The elk is known, probably by report, under the name of a <<■<'
,'ijir,i. "great deer", but there is no myth or folklore in connection
with it.
The deer. awl', which is still common in the mountains, was the
principal dependence of the Cherokee hunter, and is consequently
prominent in myth, folklore, and ceremonial. One of the seven
gentes of the tribe i- named from it (Ani'-Kawf, "Deer People'*).
According to a myth given elsewhere, the deer won hi- horn- in a suc-
cessful race with the rabbit. Rheumatism is usually ascribed to the
work of revengeful deer ghosts, which the hunter has neglected to
placate, while on the other hand the aid of the deertime henceforth. As seen at rare intervals —perhaps once in a
lonu' lifetime — the Little Deer is pure white and about the size of a
.small doy, has branching antlers, and is always in company with a large
herd of deer. Even though shot by the master hunter, he comes to life
again, being immortal, but the fortunate huntsman who can thus
make prize of his antlers has in them an unfailing talisman that brings
him success in the chase forever after. The smallest portion of one
of those horns of the Little Deer, when properly consecrated, attracts
the deer to the hunter, and when exposed from the wrapping dazes
them so that they forget to run and thus become an easy prey.
Like the Ulunsu'tl stone (see number 50), it is a dangerous prize when
not treated