Myths of the Cherokee

About this book

Before ancestral paths were erased and living traditions were confined to archives, the Cherokee called themselves the Principal People. Ethnologist James Mooney's landmark work records their creation stories, accounts of fire, medicine, stars, animals, and supernatural beings, drawing on knowledge shared by elders and priests in the secluded communities of Nantahala and Oconaluftee. Myth and history remain inseparable as the volume traces early contact, colonial conflict, forced removal, and the development of the Cherokee writing system. More than a collection of tales, Myths of the Cherokee preserves a philosophy of identity, memory, and endurance in the face of dispossession.