.MTA0OA.Njk4MTg

Section the First. Traditions of the Cherokee concerning what is considered as their early and orthodox religion. There appears to have been a belief, as far back as the history of this nation can be traced, that certain beings came down from on high, and formed the world, the moon and the stars. These beings were supposed to have always existed together and always to have been identified with each other; one in sentiment and action, and so remaining eternally. We call them Beings, because the Cherokee word designating them, implies, according to the peculiar genius of the original language, not only more than one, but more than two. One part of the nation only designate them in general terms: In another part, the aged employ three different words to express their name, which are at present obsolete, but which analogy, as well as their definition given by such natives as remember them, explain to mean, first: U, ha, lo, te, qa, i.e. Head of