American Indian Culture and Research Journal

Since the late nineteenth century, ethnographers have studied the Cherokee sacred writings known collectively as i:gawé:sdi (to say, one). Our present state of knowledge is indebted to the pioneering translations of these aboriginal rituals preserved in the codified script of the Sequoyah syllabary. A distinction has been made between the "rigid, doctrinaire quality" of these esoteric texts as recorded by the Eastern Band of the Cherokee and the "cabalistic abbreviations, eccentric spellings, and dialectal variants. . ." that characterize the texts of the Western Cherokee? While stylistic differences abound, there are a number of structural principles that all i:gawé:sdi seem to share in common. PREVIOUS STUDIES In his classic study of the Eastern Band, William H. Gilbert, Jr. was able to identify three structuring principles that appear to underlie the recitation of the i:gawé:sdi: opposition, solidarity, and reciprocity. The interplay between social solidarity and opposition most often finds ritual expression in the heated rivalry between villages at stickball games. Here conjurors compete with each other to influence the outcome of the game. It is generally believed that the victory of one village team over another is determined solely by the skill and arcana of the village shaman or didu:hnvwi:sg(i) (curer of them)!