Monday, October 05, 2009

"foot" snake



MYTHS OF THE CHEROKEE
By James Mooney
From Nineteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology 1897-98, Part I. [1900] - Scanned at www.sacred-texts.com, January-February 2001:
“There was once a great serpent called the Ustû'tlï that made its haunt upon Cohutta mountain. It was called the Ustû'tlï or "foot" snake, because it did not glide like other snakes, but had feet at each end of its body, and moved by strides or jerks, like a great measuring worm. These feet were three-cornered and flat and could hold on to the ground like suckers. It had no legs, but would raise itself up on its hind feet, with its snaky head waving high in the air until it found a good place to take a fresh hold; then it would bend down and grip its front feet to the ground while it drew its body up from behind. It could cross rivers and deep ravines by throwing its head across and getting a grip with its front feet and then swinging its body over…”
Stone Snake

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