History Myths And Sacred Formulas Of The Cherokees

James Mooney (1861–1921) was an American ethnographer who lived for among the Cherokee. His major studies of the Cherokee were published by the US Bureau of American Ethnology.

Originally published as two separate volumes by the U.S. Bureau of Ethnology, James Mooney's History, Myths, and Sacred Formulas of the Cherokees has enduring significance for both Native Americans and non-Indian people. The book contains the full texts of James Mooney's Myths of the Cherokee (1900) and The Sacred Formulas of the Cherokees (1891), with an exclusive biographical introduction by George Ellison, James Mooney and the Eastern Cherokees. Mooney's exhaustive research preserved essential Cherokee history, lore, and rituals in a time when such knowledge was dying because younger Cherokees were accepting Western education, commerce, and medicine. The first section of this text covers Cherokee history from the time of DeSoto's search for gold in the 1600s to the late 1800s when the tribal consciousness nearly came to an end. The second section reveals the rich Cherokee mythology, detailing how the earth was made, how all "people" (both two-and four-footed) came about, and how they could all converse with each other. The third section of the book provides 28 sacred formulas from a mass of over 600 prayers, formulas, and songs. These formulas are centered on such things as medicine, hunting, love, finding lost articles, and frightening away storms. Exclusive to this edition, George Ellison's biographical portrait of James Mooney emphasizes the ethnologist's timeliness and his empathy for the Cherokees and their rich heritage. Completing this book are photographs of many of the chiefs and shamans, a glossary of terms, an index, and an immense section on notes and parallels to the Cherokee myths.

By: James Mooney, Pub. 1901, reprinted 2023, 726 pages, Index, soft cover, ISBN #978-1-63914-145-6. Thye author is recognized as the foremost student of Cherokee lore. This book is considered the most comprehensive and authoritative handbook on the folklore, religion, and myths of the largest tribe of North American aborigines. Together these two monographs constitute the finest first-hand study of the Cherokee. This book is not a formal history. It does contain an historical sketch of more than 200 pages. The sketch is followed by the 126 myths, which illustrate how important a part their mythology is to their history.

The definitive resource on the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians recording their history, material culture, oral tradition, language, arts and religion. Mr. Mooney lived with, ate with, even spoke with the Cherokee in their native tongue, and his work was relied upon by students of Native American culture, general readers, and many of the Cherokee people themselves. This edition includes a forword from Michell Hicks, Principal Chief, and an informative introduction from The Museum of the Cherokee Indian in Cherokeee, North Carolina.

The sacred formulas here given are selected from a collection of about six hundred, obtained on the Cherokee reservation in North Carolina in 1887 and 1888, and covering every subject pertaining to the daily life and thought of the Indian, including medicine, love, hunting, fishing, war, self-protection, destruction of enemies, witchcraft, the crops, the council, the ball play, etc., and, in fact, embodying almost the whole of the ancient religion of the Cherokees. The original manuscripts, now in the possession of the Bureau of Ethnology, were written by the shamans of the tribe, for their own use, in the Cherokee characters invented by Sikwâ´ya (Sequoyah) in 1821, and were obtained, with the explanations, either from the writers themselves or from their surviving relatives.

Reproduction of the original: The Sacred Formulas of the Cherokees by James Mooney

This eBook has been formatted to the highest digital standards and adjusted for readability on all devices. The sacred formulas here given are selected from a collection of about six hundred, obtained on the Cherokee reservation in North Carolina in 1887 and 1888, and covering every subject pertaining to the daily life and thought of the Indian, including medicine, love, hunting, fishing, war, self-protection, destruction of enemies, witchcraft, the crops, the council, the ball play, etc., and, in fact, embodying almost the whole of the ancient religion of the Cherokees. The original manuscripts, now in the possession of the Bureau of Ethnology, were written by the shamans of the tribe, for their own use, in the Cherokee characters invented by Sikwâ ́ya (Sequoyah) in 1821, and were obtained, with the explanations, either from the writers themselves or from their surviving relatives.