A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

Overview

A hunter visiting relatives at Hickory-log ignores their warning about a giant snake near an uprooted tree. The Uksuhi pursues him over a ridge, catches him and coils around his body, pinning one arm. It drags him toward a deep place in the Hiwassee. Each time he grasps vegetation with the free hand, its foul breath forces him to let go.

The hunter finally remembers a belief that snakes cannot tolerate perspiration and uses his sweaty hand to make the creature release him. This is the story's escape device, not practical wildlife advice. Mooney also uses the same name for a much smaller snake in another narrative. The giant encounter is therefore identified through its locality and actions, without turning every occurrence of the word into an enormous monster or a biological species.

The hunter’s decision is deliberately concealed from his hosts: their warning makes him more curious, and he goes straight to the northern mountain. At the fallen tree the serpent initially faces away, but the noise of his retreat attracts it. The escape ends with the creature loosening its coils and gliding away, leaving him bruised but able to return home. The serpent is neither killed nor made harmless to all future travellers.

Mooney’s note credits Swimmer and John Ax and says they presented the encounter as an actual occurrence. That characterizes the tellers’ report rather than independently verifying it. He identifies this Hickory-log with a Hiwassee settlement near present-day Hayesville, distinguishing another settlement of the same name on the Etowah in Georgia. He also links the vernacular name to a mountain blacksnake and tentatively to an eye-related word. The collector’s zoological and linguistic suggestions do not turn the enormous narrative predator into a documented biological specimen.

Constriction and dragging toward deep waterFoul breath defeats attempts to hold vegetationHunter escapes through a remembered story motif
01

Origins & earliest records

Mooney's inspected 1902 edition records this encounter as story 53, printed pages 301–302. The narrative's named settlement and river provide a regional setting, but publication does not establish the first oral telling. The collector's use of Uksuhi for ordinary snakes elsewhere also cautions against treating the name as a uniform creature type. In the accompanying note to story 53, Mooney identifies Swimmer and John Ax as the tellers and says they presented the encounter as an actual event. His note also identifies the ordinary snake bearing this name; that zoological gloss is distinct from the extraordinary encounter.

02

Records & interpretation

The directly inspected story supports pursuit, constriction, sickening breath and the hunter's escape. It preserves a narrated event rather than independent evidence that such a giant was observed. The perspiration motif is folklore, not a tested repellent or safety instruction; contemporary Cherokee accounts would broaden this historical collector-mediated witness. The corresponding complete numbered annotation supplies explicit teller attribution; collector interpretations remain distinct from narrated events.

In the literature

“leaving the hunter, bruised but not disabled”
James Mooney · Myths of the Cherokee
Story53, printed pp.301–302; corresponding contributor note p.462

The visiting hunter intentionally seeks the dangerous serpent, is constricted and dragged toward Hiwassee deep water, and escapes alive with bruises. The narrative describes sickening breath; its escape motif is folklore, not wildlife guidance.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

  1. 01

    Myths of the Cherokee

    James Mooney · 1902

    Story 53, The Hunter and the Uksuhi, printed pp. 301–302; episode directly inspected. Complete corresponding numbered annotation also read, retaining named tellers and separating editorial comparisons from the narrative.

  2. 02

    Myths of the Cherokee — story53: THE HUNTER AND THE UKSU′HĬ

    James Mooney; narrated witness attributed to Swimmer and John Ax · 1902

    Selected Washington Government Printing Office1902 offprint, Extract from the Nineteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology; title page independently read. English collector-mediated Cherokee narrative, not a contemporaneous audio transcript.

Family & connections

A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.

Located primary passages

Specific passages supporting details in this entry, grouped by their published witness.

Myths of the Cherokee — story53: THE HUNTER AND THE UKSU′HĬ

Selected Washington Government Printing Office1902 offprint, Extract from the Nineteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology; title page independently read. English collector-mediated Cherokee narrative, not a contemporaneous audio transcript.

  1. The visiting hunter intentionally seeks the dangerous serpent, is constricted and dragged toward Hiwassee deep water, and escapes alive with bruises. The narrative describes sickening breath; its escape motif is folklore, not wildlife guidance.

    Complete story53, printed pp.301–302; complete corresponding note p.462

No entire collection, separate oral recording, contemporary Cherokee confirmation or current biological identification reviewed.

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

  1. Primary textMooney: Hunter and Uksuhi, story 53Research access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

FT·2314 · RESEARCH EDITION 01Back to top ↑