Native American Legends
Ataga'hi, The Enchanted Lake
A Cherokee Legend
Westward from the headwaters of Oconaluftee river, in the wildest
depths of the Great Smoky mountains, which form the line between
North Carolina and Tennessee, is the enchanted lake of Ataga'hi.
(Gall place)
Although all the Cherokee know that it is there, no one has ever
seen it, for the way is so difficult that only the animals know
how to reach it. Should a stray hunter come near the place he would
know of it by the whirring sound of the thousands of wild ducks
flying about the lake.
On reaching the spot he would find only a dry flat, without bird
or animal or blade of grass, unless he had first sharpened his spiritual
vision by prayer and fasting and an all-night vigil.
Because it is not seen, some people think the lake has dried up
long ago, but this is not true. To one who had kept watch and fast
through the night it would appear at daybreak as a wide-extending
but shallow sheet of purple water, fed by springs spouting from
the high cliffs around.
In the water are all kinds of fish and reptiles, and swimming upon
the surface or flying overhead are great flocks of ducks and pigeons,
while all about the shores are bear tracks crossing in every direction.
It is the medicine lake of the birds and animals, and whenever a
bear is wounded by the hunters he makes his way through the woods
to this lake and plunges into the water, and when he comes out upon
the other side his wounds are healed.
For this reason the animals keep the lake invisible to the hunter.
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