CEREMONIES OF THE AniYvwiya
There were 6 festivals held each year during a new moon (when the new crescent is first visible). A sacred fire containing seven different types of wood, to represent the seven clans, was prepared and lit prior to ceremony according to sacred rites. Direction of movement around the sacred fire during Cherokee ceremony is counter-clockwise. A complete, unbroken circle of 'the people' around the fire produces powerful energy of Creator's presence carried by the positive attitudes in the heart of the participants.
The Uku, seven (7) Principal Counselors, and people from all seven Cherokee clans participated. There was a 7th dance held every 7th year to honor the new Uku at his installment ceremony. These are only brief descriptions of these ancient festivals. There were also a number of other dances performed for special purposes throughout the year.
The First New Moon of Spring Ceremony took place when the grass began to grow and the trees send out their pale new leaves, around the first new moon of March. This festival initiated the planting season and incorporated predictions concerning crop success or failure. It lasted seven days and included dancing and the re-lighting of the sacred fire by the fire maker. There were designated hunters to get the game for the feast, the dressing of a deer and the preparation of white deer skins, seven men were put in charge of the festival and seven men for food preparation. The first evening was when the selected women performed the friendship dance. The second day, everyone went to the water for ritual purification. The third day, the people fasted. The forth day, all did friendship dances and ended the ceremony. Afterwards the Seven Counselors scheduled the sacred night dance. They would have a religious dance, a new sacred fire was built and all old fires in the Cherokee homes were put out. They also had a scratching ceremony and medicine taking prepared by the Medicine Men. At the end, white deer skins were presented to the Festival Priests.
Green Corn Ceremony (Selutsunigististi) was traditionally celebrated during late June or early July for about four days. The dates scheduled for the celebration depended upon the time the first corn ripened. The ceremony was held in the middle of the ceremonial grounds. This ceremony was to give thanks for a good corn crop. Included in the rituals were the stomp dance, feather dance, buffalo dances as well as ball games, and meetings to settle differences. At certain points of the ceremonies the people fasted, played stickball, had corn sacrificing, took medicine and had a scratching ceremony. Then after the fasting they would feast. Another ritual observed was going to water and having prayer. It was believed when you get a cleansing it washed away impurities, bad deeds and negativity. The cleansing ceremony was performed by a priest which was followed with fasting and praying and other sacred practices.
The Ripe Corn Ceremony (Donagohuni) or Mature Corn Ceremony was held in late September. It was the only ancient ceremony that survived into the 20th century. It celebrated the maturing of the corn crop and was held outdoors in the square ground. In the center of the ground a leafy tree was set. The celebration lasted four days and was also marked by feasting. It was held about 45 days after the New Green Corn Ceremony, which was held in June or July. Before the festival, Honorable women performed a religious dance and decided when the festival would be held. The hunters were sent out to bring back game and there was a committee appointed for the festival. An arch was built with green branches, making an arbor in the ceremonial grounds. The evening before the Green Corn Ceremony, all the clans took a branch that they used the next day during a noon ritual. They drank a special tea called a "Black Drink" which was used for cleansing and purifying. The people would dance for days plus feast on game and corn. The Ceremony lasted for four days. During the ceremony a special dance was performed by the Chief's right-hand man, as he danced he carried a green bough. A man's dance was also performed in which each man carried a green bough. While it was taking place women were excluded from the square.
The third ceremony in the cycle was the Great New Moon Ceremony (Nuwatiegwa). This marked the beginning of the Cherokee New Year. It was believed that the world was created in the season of Autumn. The main counselors determined when the new moon would appear. Again as previous festivals, hunters were sent out to catch game seven nights before the festival. Seven men were selected to take charge of all the planning and seven honorable women were chosen to prepare the food. When the Cherokee people gathered for the feast, each family gave food to the priest. Types of food were corn, pumpkin, beans and other, each family brought some produce from their field to share. The evening before the main gathering, the women performed a religious dance. Again during the ceremonial part they went to the river for purifying, giving offerings to the sacred fire and praying. Ceremonies included dancing, purification by immersing seven times in water, called "going to water". The purification ceremony included predictions of health for the coming year by the "priest.
Seven days after the New Moon Ceremony was held, the Reconciliation or "Friends Made" Ceremony (Atohuna). The ceremony dealt with relationships between two people of the same or opposite sex. These relationships were bonds of "eternal friendship in which each person vowed to regard the other as himself as long as they both lived." It was a ceremony that was a pledge of universal, fraternal or paternal love. It also entailed reconciliation between those who had quarreled during the previous year. It symbolized the uniting of the people with the Creator and purification of body and mind. The New Moon Ceremony was said to have been the most profoundly religious of all the ceremonies. As with other observances, it also involved the rekindling of the sacred fire and lasted 4 days.
The sixth ceremony in the cycle was the Bounding Bush Ceremony (Elawatalegi). The time for this festival varied, as the time for it was determined at Great New Moon Festival. This festival marks the end of the festivals for the year and was usually held in the winter. Few details are now known about this ceremony. Apparently, it was non-religious in nature and was celebrated by feasting and dancing. Tobacco was gathered from the people who participated in the feast. The people used pine or spruce and danced. The first movement was a march by alternating pairs of males and females. During the dance, women wore their turtle shells, formed a circle with the men in a single file and moved counter-clockwise in a circle. Two male leaders carried hoops with four spokes, each with a white feather at the end. The remainder of the dance is described as follows: other pairs in the center and at the end of the dancing column also carried hoops. All of the remaining couples carried white pine boughs in their right hands. The dance movement was circular, and in the center was a man with a small box. He danced around within the circle, singing as he did so, and as he passed by the dancers, each dropped a piece of tobacco in the box. The dance ended at midnight and was repeated on three successive nights. On the fourth night there was a feast before the dancing. Dancing resumed at midnight. Each dancer took two hemlock twigs of the spruce and waved them up and down like pigeon wings. This time people dropped pine or hemlock needles into the box. At the end of the dance, near daylight, the dancers formed a circle around the sacred fire: One by one, they advanced three times toward the fire, the third time made offerings to the sacred fire by tossing both tobacco and hemlock into the flames.
Every seventh year the Uku Dance (Peace Chief's Dance) replaced the Great New Moon ceremony. In this dance the Chief, or Uku, led the nation in a ceremony of thanks giving and rejoicing. At the conclusion of the four day observance, the Chief was reinvested with his religious and civil powers by his right-hand man. Uku was one of several titles conferred upon him. During 'Friends Made' ceremony, for example, his title meant 'one who renews heart and body. Before the chief performed his dance, he ritually bathed under the guidance of a trained Dida:hnvwi:sgi. He wore special regalia for the occassion and performed a dance around a specially prepared circle in the enter of the square ground. As he danced, he moved slowly around the circle, inclining his head to each spectator. Each spectator stands with head bent to show reverence. (Indians never kneel)
NEW MOONS FOR 2003
2003 Jan 02 - Cold Moon = Kanawoga
2003 Feb 01 - Bone Moon = Kola
2003 Mar 03 - Wind Moon = Unole
2003 Apr 01 - Flower Moon = Atsilvsgi
2003 Apr 01 - Putting in the ground Moon = Gahlvsga
2003 May 31 - Green Corn Moon = Selu Itse Iyusdi
2003 Jun 29 - Corn in tassel Moon = Utsi Dsata
2003 Jul 29 - Ripe Corn Moon = Selu Uwa Nvsa
2003 Aug 27 - End of Fruit Moon = Udatanv Agisdi Ulisdv
2003 Sep 26 - Nut Moon = Udatanv
2003 Oct 25 - Harvest Moon = Tsiyahloha
2003 Nov 23 - Hunting Moon = Ganohalidoha
2003 Dec 23 - Snow Moon = Gutiha
