goddess Series: U'tlun'ta: Spearfinger Painting

U'tlun'ta: Spearfinger [Cherokee, Tennessee] U'tlun'ta, is a figure in Cherokee legend that lived along the eastern side of Tennessee and western part of North Carolina. "U'tlun'ta" translates from Cherokee to "she had it sharp", which refers to the sharp finger on her right hand. Sometimes, she was called Nûñ'yunu'ï, which means "Stone-dress". This name is from her stone-like skin. Her sharp finger is said to be her forefinger on her right hand that resembled a spear or obsidian knife, which she used to cut her victims. Her mouth was stained with blood from the livers she ate. Often she clutched her right hand tightly, because her hidden heart and only weak spot was in her right palm. Spearfinger, being made of stone, sounded like thunder when she walked and crushed rocks into the ground when she stepped on them. Her voice echoed down the mountains to the Cherokee villages and scared the birds of the forest away, which the people saw as a warning sign. Haunting Tennessee, Spearfinger liked to walk on the trail that joined Chilhowee Mountain and the nearby river. She also walked throughout the mountain range, around streams, and through shadowy Nantahala passes. The Cherokee say her favorite home was Whiteside, a thunder mountain. Dancing in clouds, she sang her favorite song with her raven friend: Uwe la na tsiku. Su sa sai. Liver, I eat it. Su sa sai. Besides a spear for a finger, she shapeshifts into family members of her child victims. Once she makes herself a part of her victim's world, she lacks the ability to change her form while still in anyone else's sight. Usually, Spearfinger comes in the form of "a harmless old lady". Since she is made from stone, arrows cannot pierce her skin. They shatter when they hit her. Also, she can pick up boulders effortlessly, stack them, break them, and morph them together. Once, Spearfinger undertook a "great rock bridge through the air from Nûñyû'-tlu`gûñ'yï, the 'Tree rock', on Hiwassee, over to Sanigilâ'gï," which is Whiteside Mountain located on the Blue Ridge. This structure irritated the Higher Beings because it came too close to their Upper World. Higher Beings saw her effort as arrogant "like the white man's Bible story of Babel", so they struck it with lightning. In the nineteenth century, Cherokee pointed out the location where they claim the ruins of Spearfinger's "Tree Rock" remain even today. They named the area along the mountain "Hiawassee" and valley "Nantahala". The site of these remains in Blount County is called "U'Tluntun'yi", which means "The Spearfinger Place". In autumn, Cherokee tribes used to burn brush fires, which are best for guiding Spearfinger to the villages. These brush fires would cover entire mountainsides so that the Cherokee could easily hunt the fallen, roasted chestnuts. In other seasons, Spearfinger searched for the clouds of smoke that rose from the valley. Sometimes she caught victims when they wandered for a drink at a stream or picked strawberries near the village. Her most dangerous attribute was deception. She hid her finger under her robe until she used it. Many times she appeared looking like an old village woman and approached children, who trusted her as one of their older village members. She offered to comb their hair and lulled the child to sleep. The Cherokee were very cautious about strangers who approached the camp, tried to stay together at all times, and were suspicious of those who wandered off alone. They could come back as the liver-eater in disguise. There are many tales of her deception, including her trick of turning into her victim, hiding the body, and going into the victim's home to wait until the parents left or the family was asleep to take all their livers. Parents warned children not to go into the forest alone because Spearfinger waited for them and made sure they knew she would appear as "grandmother or [their] favorite aunt". Hunters alone in the woods used to see an old woman with a strange hand. She would sing her haunting song that frightened them and the hunters ran stealthily back to the village. The Cherokee claim that Spearfinger stabs her victims "in the back of their neck or through their heart, drawing out their livers. Spearfinger's attack is very quick. When she steals livers, her finger does not leave a scar, and victims do not feel the wound. Several days after the unnoticed attack, the victims become ill and die."

Multi-paneled Painting:Oil on Canvas

Original:One-of-a-kind Artwork

Size:18 W x 24 H x 0.5 D in

Number of Panels:2

Delivery Time:Typically 5-7 business days for domestic shipments, 10-14 business days for international shipments.