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14 236 When a man suspected his wife of incontinency he some attempted to discover the fact himself without exposing her to death. He therefore took two white beads and coloured one of them black. He then took the white bead for innocence, between the thumb and fore finger of his right hand. and the black bead between the thumb and finger of his left hand. Then putting his hands to the ground and enquired if any man of such a clan had committed wicked ways with his wife. At the same time he raised his hands from the ground, till they were extended as high as possible over his head. If both beads remained quiet between his thumbs and fingers then he went through the same maneouver for another clan, to see if some man in that clan had not been guilty. And thus he tried his beads for every clan (or large family in the nation) and if he found that no man in either of the seven clans had not been guilty, then of course his wife had not. But if, when one particular clan was specified, the black bead seemed to be alive and move between the thumb and finger of his left hand, then he was sure that some man in that clan had been with his wife, and therefore kept a particular watch till he detected the individual.

Sometimes however, when a man suspected his wife, he went directly to the priest, and informed him of his fears. The priest then took his divining stone, and after praying to be informed on the subject in question, looked at the stone. Now if the woman was innocent, the stone would retain its natural appearance. But if she had been actually guilty the priest would perceive two persons in the stone. He would then take some flies he had previously killed for the purpose, and hold them in his hand stating the evils that should come on the woman if she was guilty viz. that one of the dead flies he held in his hand would come to life, fly directly to her. - eat a hole into her bowels, and remain there six days, eating and torturing, till the seventh day, when it would go to her heart, and kill her. Then offering his hand, one of the flies did accordingly, and on the seventh day the woman died. 

____________________________________________________________ Whipping i.e. being whipped, among the ancient Cherokees was considered no disgrace: and the Indians never fixed any marks of public disgrace on any of their people, except for adultery, in which case, among the Creeks, and some other Indians, the nose and ears were cut off, or in some instances only the ears. ____________________________________________________________

The ancient religious customs of the Cherokees were generally known only to such as were in childhood devoted to sacred offices; and if was considered death, or certain shortening of ones life, to make them known to ordinary persons. Therefore, those who now hold to them will not make them known to whitemen.