Living Stories Of The Cherokee

Traditional and modern stories by the Cherokee Indians of North Carolina reflect the tribe's religious beliefs and values, observations of animals and nature, and knowledge of history.

Collects folklore of the Cherokee people on various topics including animals, the origin of the Earth, and spirits.

Presents a collection of traditional Cherokee tales, teachings, and folklore, with four works presented in both English and Cherokee.

“Throughout our Cherokee history,” writes Joyce Dugan, former principal chief of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, “our ancient stories have been the essence of who we are.” These traditional stories embody the Cherokee concepts of Gadugi, working together for the good of all, and Duyvkta, walking the right path, and teach listeners how to understand and live in the world with reverence for all living things. In Eastern Cherokee Stories, Sandra Muse Isaacs uses the concepts of Gadugi and Duyvkta to explore the Eastern Cherokee oral tradition, and to explain how storytelling in this tradition—as both an ancient and a contemporary literary form—is instrumental in the perpetuation of Cherokee identity and culture. Muse Isaacs worked among the Eastern Cherokees of North Carolina, recording stories and documenting storytelling practices and examining the Eastern Cherokee oral tradition as both an ancient and contemporary literary form. For the descendants of those Cherokees who evaded forced removal by the U.S. government in the 1830s, storytelling has been a vital tool of survival and resistance—and as Muse Isaacs shows us, this remains true today, as storytelling plays a powerful role in motivating and educating tribal members and others about contemporary issues such as land reclamation, cultural regeneration, and language revitalization. The stories collected and analyzed in this volume range from tales of creation and origins that tell about the natural world around the homeland, to post-Removal stories that often employ Native humor to present the Cherokee side of history to Cherokee and non-Cherokee alike. The persistence of this living oral tradition as a means to promote nationhood and tribal sovereignty, to revitalize culture and language, and to present the Indigenous view of history and the land bears testimony to the tenacity and resilience of the Cherokee people, the Ani-Giduwah.

126 myths: sacred stories, animal myths, local legends, many more. Plus background on Cherokee history, notes on the myths and parallels. Features 20 maps and illustrations.

A modern medicine man portrayed through the words of the people he has helped Robert J. Conley did not set out to chronicle the life of Cherokee medicine man John Little Bear. Instead, the medicine man came to him. Little Bear asked Conley to write down his story, to reveal to the world ?what Indian medicine is really about.” For Little Bear, as for the Cherokee ancestors who brought their traditions over the Trail of Tears to Indian Territory, the medicine is about helping people. Visitors from neighboring states and Mexico come to him, each one seeking help for a different kind of problem. Each seeker's story is presented here exactly as it was told to Conley. Little Bear has cured problems involving health, relationships, and money by uncovering the source of the problem rather than simply treating the symptoms. Whereas mainstream medicine and counseling have failed his patients, Little Bear's healing practices have proven beneficial time and again.

The Creator gave the Cherokee people a beautiful island with everything they could ever need. It came with only one rule: They must take care of the land and the animals living there. But what happens when the children decide to play with the turtles instead of tending to their responsibilities? The Land of the Great Turtles is a Cherokee origin story that introduces the reader to Cherokee beliefs and values. Written in both Cherokee and English, the book will familiarize readers with the Cherokee syllabary and language.

Tragically, relatively little of this flourishing nation and its rich culture has survived. Its stories, however, live on today. In this priceless and engaging collection, native Cherokee and professional storyteller Lloyd Arneach recounts tales such as how the bear lost his long bushy tail and how the first strawberry came to be.