Spearfinger is a Cherokee figure that lived along the eastern side of Tennessee and the western of North Carolina. Her Cherokee name means “she had it sharp”, as a reference to the forefinger of her right hand, which resembles a spear (hence the English name) or an obsidian knife. Her other name,
comes from her stony skin that arrows couldn’t pierce.
A monster that loves human livers, Spearfinger would be guided to the villages by the smoke coming from the valleys, or catch victims that wandered for a drink at a stream or to pick strawberries. Once she arrived to the village, she would disguise as an old woman and approach the children, combing their hair and lulling them to sleep. Because the Cherokee knew of her, they were cautious about strangers, so her disguise took the form of a villager. Sometimes, she’d transform into her victim and replace them until the family fell asleep so she could devour their livers. Her modus operandi consisted on a quick and painless stab in the back of the neck or through the heart that left no scar. Several days after, the victims die of illness.
It is said that Spearfinger tried to build once a bridge that went through the air from
the Tree Rock
Nûñyû’-tlu`gûñ’yï
over to
the Whiteside Mountain
Sanigilâ’gī
. The Higher Beings were irritated by this because the bridge came close to the Upper World and struck it with lightning.
Her greatest enemy is Nûñ’yunu’wï, the Stone Man. As a fellow rock being, his favorite dish is human livers, therefore, they compete against each other for their food. They can feel their relation when they pass each other because they sing the same song. Spearfinger knows Nûñ’yunu’wï is a man because he sings the same song as her but in a low voice that shakes the ground. That song, that Spearfinger loves to sing when sitting at the top of a mountain with her friend, a lone raven, and that she uses to scare and taunt people, goes like this:
"Uwe la na tsiku. Su sa sai.
Liver, I eat it. Su sa sai.
Uwe la na tsiku. Su sa sai."
The Cherokee called a great council including Tomotley, Tenase, Setico, and Chota towns, all of them haunted by Spearfinger. The medicine man explained how to detect and attract the liver eater, now that they knew about her finger. They baited her with smoke and saw through her disguise by throwing a spear at her, which shattered against her skin of rock. Running towards the humans, she fell into their pit trap. From among a flock of birds that came to aid the Cherokee, a titmouse told them to aim for the heart. The weapons broke when they hit the chest, and the bird had its tongue cut as a punishment. But the titmouse hadn't lied, it hadn't been specific enough. A chickadee landed on the woman's right hand, and a spear skewered her wrist. Her heart was actually there, and not where normal creatures have it. The curse of the Spearfinger was finished.
Because of this legend, titmouses are known as liar birds, while chickadees are said to speak the truth. Even after Spearfinger's death, the Cherokee continued using her name to scare kids, like the Bogeyman or the Sack Man.