Where do the little people live?
By Chelsie Vandaveer
October 28, 2002
killerPlants Tendrils: ~~1~~2~~3~~4~~5~~
Suggested Reading – Plus hammock swing & Amber jewelry—>Click here.
Legends of little people are found in numerous folklores around the world—leprechauns, brownies, gnomes, and dwarves. American Native tribes also had stories of little people.
Among the Choctaw these beings were called Kowi Anukasha or Forest Dwellers who gave chosen members training in herbal lore (The Little People, Choctaw Legend, Zica'hot'a). The Maliseet called them, Geow-lud-mo-sis-eg, and depending upon one's attitude, the encounter with
a little person could be beneficial or negative (Little People, Pat Paul). The Cherokee believed in three races: Stone People who could be malicious, Laurel People who were pranksters, and Dogwood People who were kind and helpful (Little People of the Cherokee, no author listed).
In Seminole lore, little people appear to those who were ill. The little people are believed to inhabit witches' brooms found on slash pines (Pinus elliottii Engelmann). Alice Micco Snow writes of the treatment to drive the little people away.
"Este lopockuce emeto literally means 'where the little people live'. Look for a thick bundle of pine needles on the limb of a pine tree. If the bundle is not too high...you can pull it down or use a stick to break it off, but catch it when it falls so it won't touch the ground. If it touches the ground you have to get another one....This medicine is used when a person who's sick sees a lot of little people around him or her. After the bundle is treated and given, the sick person won't see them any more. It keeps them away." (Healing Plants, Medicine of the Florida Seminole Indians, Alice Micco Snow and Susan Enns Stans, 2001)
College of Science, Southern Illinois University has numerous photographs showing witches' brooms on evergreens taken by D.L. Nickrent. These witches' brooms are caused by dwarf mistletoe which infects the tree causing growth changes. To view the photographs, click on the link:
http://www.science.siu.edu/parasitic-plants/Viscaceae/DMbrooms.html
Click on the underlined name in the left column to view each image.
Stonee's WebLodge has posted an article, Little People: Geow-lud-mo-sis-eg by Pat Paul. To read more about the legends, click on the link:
http://www.ilhawaii.net/~stony/lore10.html
killerPlants Tendrils: ~~1~~2~~3~~4~~5~~
Suggested Reading:
What herb offered protection from a basilisk? What's in a Name? - July 11, 2003
Why were peonies considered dangerous? Herbal Folklore - April 21, 2003
What is sorcerer's garlic? Herbal Folklore - March 4, 2002
What is ololiuqui? Herbal Folklore - July 14, 2003
What are witches' brooms? Weird Plants - October 31, 2002
How did Native Americans use waterlilies? Herbal Folklore - June 30, 2003
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