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Birth, education of children. Cherokee women generally have but little difficulty in bringing forth their children. A mother, or grandmother, in common cases, affords all the assistance needed. The presence of men is disgusting to them on such occasions. The priest, however, or conjurer, in some instances prayed for a speedy & safe delivery. If the child, at birth, happened to fall on its breast, the omen was bad, and it was wrapped up immediately, and thrown into the creek. When the cloth about it was disengaged, or unwrapped, & began to float, the child was taken up, & carried back, while the cloth, supposed to have taken the ill fortune, was suffered to float away. But if the child at birth fell on its back, the event was ominous of good. Sometimes soon after birth, the child waved over the fire, or held before it, while a prayer was made to that element, to take care of it.

Either on the fourth or seventh day, (sometimes on one, & sometimes on the other) the priest, (or in later days) the conjurer, took the child to a creek or river. He then commended it to its creator (the son) and prayed that it might have a