SACRED FORMULAS OF THE CHEROKEES.

These formulas were passed down orally from ancient times until the early 1800s, when the invention of the Cherokee syllabary a set of written characters representing syllables, rather than individual letters allowed the priests of the tribe to record them in writing. This same invention allowed their rivals—the missionaries—to provide the Cherokee with the Bible in their own language. In this way, both the opposing forces of Christianity and traditional spiritual practices original: "shamanism" benefited from the genius of Sikwâya also known as Sequoyah. However, the pressure of the new civilization was too strong to resist. Although the prophets of the old religion still hold significant influence over the people, they are losing ground every day and will soon be without honor in their own country.

A detailed record of an Indigenous religion like this could not be obtained from any other tribe in North America, for the simple reason that no other tribe has its own alphabet to record its sacred traditions. It is true that the Cree and Micmac of Canada and the Gwich'in original: "Tukuth" of Alaska have so-called alphabets or symbol systems invented for them by missionaries. Furthermore, before the Spanish conquest, the Maya of Central America recorded their hero legends and priestly ceremonies in hieroglyphs carved into temple walls or painted on tablets made from agave original: "maguey" leaves.

But it seems to have never occurred to the northern tribes that an alphabet provided by missionaries could be used for anything other than writing Bibles and catechisms. Meanwhile, with a few exceptions, the sacred books of the Maya were long ago destroyed by religious intolerance original: "fanaticism"—referring to the mass burning of Maya codices by Spanish clergy. The modern copies that survive today were written from imperfect memories by Indigenous people who were educated under Spanish influence in the language, alphabet, and ideas of their conquerors; as the books themselves show, they drew much of their material from European sources. Furthermore, the Maya tablets were written in a priestly script original: "hieratic" intended only for priests and those with special training; they seem to have been completely unreadable to the common people.

The Cherokee alphabet, in contrast, was the invention or adaptation of a member of the tribe. Although he borrowed most of the Roman letters—in addition to forty or more characters he designed himself—he knew nothing of their original use or value. He reversed them or changed their shapes to suit his needs, giving them names and values he decided himself. The tribe immediately adopted this alphabet for every purpose, including recording their traditional original: "shamanistic" prayers and ritual ceremonies. The formulas provided here, as well as those in the entire collection, were written by the shamans themselves—men who follow the ancient religion and speak only their native language—so that their sacred knowledge could be preserved in a systematic way...