Like ancient peoples the world over, the Cherokees of the southern Appalachian Mountains passed along their traditions and beliefs through stories, songs, dances, and religious and healing rituals. With the creation of Cherokee writing by Sequoyah, some of the traditions were also recorded in books. While evoking local geography and natural phenomena, the stories were also enhanced by powerful psychological and spiritual dynamics. This work examines seven myths that grew out of Cherokee culture, looking at how they emerged to explain archetypal issues. Each of the seven stories is told in full and is followed by a detailed history and analysis that provides its background, its associated rituals, and its psychological basis. One quickly discovers that while the myths are ancient, they are strikingly modern in their understanding of human personality development, family dynamics, community solidarity, and the reality of religion or spirituality. Grounded in the experience of this American Indian people and the land they inhabited, the myths tell universal truths. Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here.

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.

Describes how the seven-clan contributed to make the Cherokee distinctive from the many other Native American tribes.

With his single mother in jail, Sequoyah, a 15-year-old Cherokee boy, is placed in foster care with the Troutt family. Literally and figuratively scarred by his unstable upbringing, Sequoyah has spent years mostly keeping to himself, living with his emotions pressed deep below the surface - that is, until he meets 17-year-old Rosemary, another youth staying with the Troutts. Sequoyah and Rosemary bond over their shared Native American background and tumultuous paths through the foster care system, but as Sequoyah's feelings towards Rosemary deepen, the precariousness of their lives and the scars of their pasts threaten to undo them both.

A Cherokee woman recounts to the young girl beside her the legend of the tricky Terrapin, who gets into a great deal of trouble with Bad Wolf and the Other Wolves over a little Kanahena, a cornmeal dish, and must use his wits to save himself.

Theda Perdue examines the roles and responsibilities of Cherokee women during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, a time of intense cultural change. While building on the research of earlier historians, she develops a uniquely complex view of the effects of contact on Native gender relations, arguing that Cherokee conceptions of gender persisted long after contact. Maintaining traditional gender roles actually allowed Cherokee women and men to adapt to new circumstances and adopt new industries and practices.