Creek Religion and Medicine

by Swanton, John R.; Carson, James Taylor

• ISBN13: 9780803292741
• ISBN10: 0803292740
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-10-01
• Publisher: Univ of Nebraska Pr

Summary

Weaving together a wide array of historical sources with oral accounts gathered from fieldwork, this classic study provides a valuable overview of traditional Creek (Muskogee) religion and medicine. John R. Swanton visited the Creek Nation in the early twentieth century and learned about many important aspects of Creek religious life and medicine. Subjects covered in this book include Creek conceptions of the cosmos; religious stories; death and the afterlife; spiritual forces and beings; various rituals, including the Busk ceremony; prohibitions; the power and skills of different religious practitioners; the cultural force of witchcraft; and herbal and spiritual remedies. Many of these beliefs and practices have been present throughout Creek history and persist today.Creek Religion and Medicineshowcases the vibrant culture of an enduring southeastern Native people.

Author Biography

John R. Swanton (1873-1958) was a seminal figure in the study of southeastern Native peoples, with more than thirty books to his credit. James Taylor Carson is an assistant professor of history at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, and the author of Searching for the Bright Path: The Mississippi Choctaws from Prehistory to Removal (Nebraska 1999).

Table of Contents

General remarks	477	(477)
The cosmos	477	(4)
The supernatural beings	481	(17)
Charms	498	(12)
The fate of souls	510	(5)
Miscellaneous beliefs	515	(1)
Sacrifices	516	(1)
Taboos	517	(4)
Music and dancing	521	(13)
Ceremonies	534	(80)
Miscellaneous ceremonies	534	(4)
Ceremony of the asi	538	(6)
Minor ceremonies connected with the square grounds	544	(2)
The great annual ceremony or busk	546	(68)
Shamanism and medicine	614	(15)
General remarks	614	(1)
The ``knowers''	615	(2)
The ``fasters'' or doctors	617	(5)
Methods of practicing	622	(7)
Weather controllers	629	(2)
Witcheraft	631	(5)
Diseases and remedies	636	(34)
General remarks	636	(3)
Creek medicines	639	(24)
Alabama medicines	663	(4)
Natchez medicines	667	(3)
Supplementary note	670	(2)
Bibliography	672	(187)
Index	859