Traditionally, the Cherokees dance to ensure individual health and social welfare. According to legend, the dance songs bequeathed to them by the Stone Coat monster will assuage all the ills of life that the monster brought. Winter dance (including the Booger Dance, which expresses the Cherokees’ anxiety at the white invasion) are to be given only during times of frost, lest they affect the growth of vegetation by attracting cold and death. The summer dance (the Green Corn Ceremony and the Ballplayer’s Dance) are associated with crops and vegetation. Other dances are purely for social intercourse and entertainment or are prompted by specific events in the community. When it was first published in 1951, this description of the dances of a conservative Eastern Cherokee band was hailed as a scholarly contribution that could not be duplicated, Frank G. Speak and Leonard Broom had achieved the close and sustained interaction that very best ethnological fieldwork requires. Their principal informant, will West Long, upheld the unbroken ceremonial tradition of the Big Cove band, near Cherokee, North Carolina.

"In these essays a distinguished historian analyzes how the Indian nations of the Southeast grappled with nationalism, slavery, and missionaries. Against the background of this "combined onslaught on their cultural identity," McLoughlin describes what the Indians did "to preserve what they considered most important." The fate of Native Americans was inextricably bound up with the most vital questions of national life"--Publisher's description.

Cherokee ceremonial dances and costumes are described, explained, and illustrated in full color in this beautiful how-to-do book. With a practical and usable approach using many illustrations and easy-to-follow sketches.

This book depicts the Cherokees' ancient culture and lifestyle, their government, dress, and family life. Mails chronicles the fundamentals of vital Cherokee spiritual beliefs and practices, their powerful rituals, and their joyful festivals, as well as the story of the gradual encroachment that all but destroyed their civilization.

This enchanting Cherokee legend comes alive through the author's vivid adaptation and striking illustrations. Children will be spellbound as they read about the distinctive lifestyle and beliefs of the Cherokee people. Full color.

Long ago Cherokee dancers would dance, and through dancing tell stories about the tribe. The wrapped themselves in colorful blankets and wore masks to represent people, feelings, and animals that shared their world. The masks had exaggerated features such as extra-long noses, big bushy eyebrows, or horns to represent characters in the stories. The most popular Cherokee masks are represented here for children to color and do lessons in matching, mazes, completing sentences, connecting dots, counting, spelling, and more. For children age 5-8 years.

This study considers the Cherokee Booger Dance as a purely religious phenomenon by reinterpreting anthropologist Frank G. Speck's observations of a performance held by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians through the lens of Mircea Eliade's theory of religion.