[42.] The Pheasant beating corn: The Pheasant dance (p. [290]): The first of these little tales is from John Ax, the second from Swimmer. The pheasant (Bonasa umbella; Cherokee tluñti′stĭ) is also locally called grouse or partridge.
[43.] The race between the Crane and the Hummingbird (p. [290]): This story is a favorite one in the tribe, and was heard from several informants, both East and West. The sequel may surprise those who have supposed that woman has no rights in Indian society.
In a Creek story under the same title, in the Tuggle collection, the rivals agree to fly from a certain spot on a stream to the spring at its head. The humming bird is obliged to follow the windings of the stream, but the crane takes a direct course above the trees and thus wins the race.
Fly around the world—Not around a globe, but around the circumference of a disk, according to the Indian idea.
[44.] The Owl gets married (p. [291]): Told by Swimmer. The three owls of the Cherokee country are known, respectively, as tskĭlĭ′ (i. e., “witch,” Bubo virginianus saturatus, great, dusky-horned owl), waʻhuhu′ (Megascops asio, screech owl), and uguku′ (Syrnium nebulosum, hooting or barred owl). There is no generic term. The Cherokee say that there is almost no flesh upon the body of the hooting owl except upon the head.
[45.] The Huhu gets married (p. [292]): This story was heard at different times from Swimmer, John Ax, and Ta′gwadihĭ′. The first named always gave in the proper place a very good imitation of the huhu call, drawing out the sau-h slowly, giving the hŭ, hŭ, hŭ, hŭ, hŭ, hŭ in quick, smothered tones, and ending with three chirps and a long whistle. From this and one or two other stories of similar import it would seem that the woman is the ruling partner in the Cherokee domestic establishment. Matches were generally arranged by the mother, and were conditional upon the consent of the girl (see notes to [number 84], “The Man who Married the Thunder’s Sister”).
The huhu of the Cherokee, so called from its cry, is the yellow-breasted chat (Icteria virens), also known as the yellow mocking bird on account of its wonderful mimic powers.
[46.] Why the Buzzard’s head is bare (p. [293]): This story was told by Swimmer and other informants, and is well known. It has an exact parallel in the Omaha story of “Ictinike and the Buzzard” (Dorsey, in Contributions to North American Ethnology, vi).
[47.] The Eagle’s revenge (p. [293]): This story, told by John Ax, illustrates the tribal belief and custom in connection with the eagle and the eagle dance, as already described in [number 35], “The Bird Tribes,” and the accompanying notes.
Drying pole—A pole laid horizontally in the forks of two upright stakes, planted firmly in the ground, for the purpose of temporarily hanging up game and fresh meat in the hunting camp, to protect it from wolves and other prey animals or to allow it to dry out before the fire.