was weaving a
new bottom of white-oak splits. Before we left he showed us baskets that
he had woven.

Old _Della Benton_ can neither read nor write and doesn't know
her age she must be near seventy. Della was my washwoman several years
ago and I remembered hearing her tell something about hoodoes
so we went to see Della to get all we could about it.

"Honey don' you know that if you make a hole in a tree and put a hair
from the head of the person you want to hoodoo in the tree and seal it
up in there the person will go crazy. Yas mam and ifn you puts pins and
needles in with the hair before you seals the hole they will die. Why my
neighbor _Angelina Thompson_ was hoodood by a woman and Ah'll jest take
you all ovah and let her tell you for herself.

"And ifn you all wants to drive somebody away fum home sos they'll nevah
come back take one of their hairs and put hit in a steam of runnin water
so hit'll run off and they will leave home and nevah come back.

"An somebody can git your track and run you slam crazy. Yasum they kin
too. Where you steps in the clay or mud they gits hit and takes hit up
with sumpin and does things to you and you goes crazy.

"Now you chillun come with me ovah to Sister Thompson's and she kin tell
you fer herself what was done done to her when she wuz hoodooed."

We went to a nearby house and Della called Angelina out. She told us
that she was truly hoodoed and what she said was as follows:

"Sister Thompson tell these ladies about bein hoodooed. Oh they is
alright. This is some of my white folks I used to work fuh long time
ago."

Then Angelina told the following:

"Yasum, I sholey wuz hoodooed. How hit come about I loaned my clothes to
a woman. A dress and shoes. She put something on them that looked like
snuff. It was brown lookin and I jes though she had spilled snuff on em.
That wuz 18 years ago and she done hit outa jealousy. She wanted my ole
man and she thought she would hoodoo me and ahd die and she'd get him.
And she woulda too ifn hit hadn a been for Mother Dye. You all know
she's a doodoo doctor who lived at Newport. An I went to her fer bout
two years and she cured me. Mother Dye is daid now but Jess Rogers, a
man thar does the docterin now.

"You all ask how hit fected me when ah was hoodooed. I tole you bout the
brown stuff bein in my shoes and on mah dress. Well ah put em on and in
a little while mah feet itched lak an could claw the bones out. Ah nevah
was in such mi