After exposure to Western European ways, Cherokee Shamans started using needles in divination.

The Cherokee used needles to determine the prognosis of ill clients. A new white bowl eight inches in diameter was filled with water. After a prayer, two pins were floated on the water about two inches apart. If the needles maintained this distance or moved farther apart, the client would recover. If the left needle drifted toward the right needle, he or she may not be healed.