article

Cherokee healing: myth, dreams, and medicine

American Indian quarterly16 (2) • Published In 1992 • Pages: 237-257

By: Irwin, Lee.

Abstract
This paper analyzes Eastern Cherokee shamanism of the nineteenth century, particularly in terms of the interactions between the shaman, the patient, and the mythic powers of the Cherokee world view. Much of the material in this study comes from three primary sources: the unpublished Payne manuscripts collected in the 1830s prior to the Cherokee removal in 1838, the early ethnography collected by James Mooney in Quallatown in 1887, and the subsequent commentary on the sacred formula manuscripts undertaken by Frans Olbrechts in 1915 (p. 237). The complex array of interconnected beliefs, practices, and experiences that constitute Cherokee healing is then integrated into an overview of Cherokee cultural and religious transformations which had taken place during the period of time under study.
Subjects
Sorcery
Magical and mental therapy
Shamans and psychotherapists
Cosmology
Revelation and divination
Magic
Ethnobotany
Ethnozoology
culture
Cherokee
HRAF PubDate
2000
Region
North America
Sub Region
Eastern Woodlands
Document Type
article
Evaluation
Creator Type
Religious Studies
Document Rating
4: Excellent Secondary Data
Analyst
John Beierle ; 2006
Field Date
no date
Coverage Date
1830-1915
Coverage Place
North Carolina, United States
Notes
Lee Irwin
Includes bibliographical references (p. 256-257)
LCCN
74647596
LCSH
Cherokee Indians