Honor the Elders

by Cesare Marino

In traditional Cherokee cosmology there is a pervasive symbolic association between ceremonial and domestic fire and the aged. According to W. Gilbert Grandmother Fire is the old woman out gathering wood. Since old age and the adjective old or ancient denotes wisdom, ritual power, and imposes respect, traditional Cherokees address fire, in ritual context, as Ancient White or Ancient Red, Grandfather or Grandmother. Fire is also closely associated with the sun. Thus both fire and the sun, two of the most powerful forces in Cherokee cosmology are regarded as grandparents.

In Cherokee color symbolism, red is associated with victory and success; conversely, white reflects old age, wisdom, purity and peace. The Cherokee beloved men, observed J. Adair, are men resembling holy fire. Fire's white and red attributes also reflected the ancient dual political organization of the beloved men in the White and Red hierarchies. Like the elderly, fire ought to be treated with respect. Knowledge of the association of specific illnesses with a lack of respect toward fire is also widespread among today's older Eastern Cherokees.

The symbolic association between fire and the aged, both the living ones and the tribal ancestors, has been revitalized by the Celebration of Togetherness between the Eastern and Western Cherokees. The sun and the moon played an important role in traditional Cherokee social, economic, and ceremonial life. The native term for both sun and moon is nunda, which conveys the idea of luminary. The sun/moon was often regarded as an important intermediary sent to help mankind. As mythical grandparents, the sun/moon and fire are the only spirits to which prayers, in the true meaning of the term, are offered. In the old days, the Cherokees called the sun their grandmother and appealed to her in various rites for love attraction and for the cure of certain diseases.

The moon, the sun's incestuous elder brother, was referred to as maternal grandfather. According to Gilbert the moon is the especial protector of ball players, just as the fire is of the hunter. Like the beloved men and women of the tribe, whose roles were those of "apportioners" of economic goods and medico-religious services, the sun/moon is ritually called unehlanuhi, meaning "he has apportioned", referring to the time dividing role of the sun, or "the provider".

The control women had over much of the agricultural activities was reflected in the symbolic association of corn with the female gender and, more specifically, with "old woman", by which appellative corn was also known to the Cherokees. The mythical ancestor of corn was Selu (lit. corn), the wife of Kanati, the Lucky Hunter. Directly connected with the corn/grandmother complex is another symbolic association between the mortar used to grind corn and old woman ; the mortar is symbolic of abundance and economic well-being and was used by the leading medicine man as a seat or a stool for his ritual paraphernalia, placed upside down in the center of the room where dances were held during winter months.

A key element of Eastern Cherokee winter ceremonials that used an overturned mortar and/or ceremonial fire as its center was the so called Booger Dance, interpreted as a ritual dramatization of Cherokee-white relations. Recently R. Fogelson and associates have suggested an alternative explanation to Speck and Broom's classic interpretation of the Booger Dance. It acts out a basic tension between old men and young men in which each fears and desires the power of the other, yet neither can exist alone. In such a context, the temporary disruption of the traditional harmonious order caused by the intrusion and rowdy behavior of the boogers serves to emphasize the need to return to normality and to control anti-social forces. Aboriginal Cherokee mythology and ceremonialism present a number of symbolic and ritual associations between the aged and certain animals. Among the birds, the eagle was considered sacred and associated with the most wise beloved man, the Uku, or town chief.

While the eagle was symbolic of victory, peace, and the White Chief, the raven was unmistakably associated with the War Chief, whose native title means precisely The Raven. This bird is also associated with witches and conjuring. Older Eastern Cherokee openly admit that witches are generally old. Like the raven, the owl is also associated with old people and, more specifically, with witches, but this is not always the case. In fact, the ancient fire can also take on the appearance of an owl in order to detect the presence of witches and defend the people from their attacks. There seems to be an overall positive connection between the animal world and the aged. This positive relationship is often reflected in tribal mythology wherein animals are often featured as helpers, assistants, and even avengers for the aged.