This book contains not only myths, but also one of the earliest-published histories of the Cherokee. Considering its original publication date of 1900, it's amazingly free of Eurocentric cultural bias. In fact, Mooney shows a huge amount of respect for the Cherokee and understands that they are, as my mom used to say, "just people, like everybody else." For instance, this history begins with early European encounters, because traditionally, the Cherokee did not keep historical records. Mooney doesn't view this as a shortcoming, but explains that the Cherokee look to the future and not the past. His descriptions of traditional medical practices and coming of age rituals show similar insight.
I haven't finished reading the section on the myths, but they present explanations of natural phenomena as reasoned out by intelligent thinkers who had no access to telescopes, microscopes and all the other trappings of science. These stories are also presented in a matter-of-fact, respectful way. He mentions that some of the myths are "too bawdy" to include in this book, but he does include the story of the first man causing the first woman, his sister, to have a baby when he "struck her with a fish." After several generations with a gestation period of 7 days, it was decided that the world was getting overcrowded and henceforth, there would be just one baby per woman per year. As with any good myth, the story doesn't include the details of how this was put into effect. My guess is that changing the method of impregnation caused a longer pregnancy. The storyteller would probably answer this question with "What do YOU think?"
Scholarly but not stuffy, this is a very interesting and informative read, which expands on what I learned from exhibits at The Museum of the Cherokee Indian in Cherokee, NC.
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Reviews with images
Hardcover kinda dissapointing
Ordered a hardcover copy. Looks good on the outside open it up it looks like someone photocopied the tiny pages of a paper back version into a hardcover book. The print only fills up a small square in the center of the page doesn't look too great was kind of disappointed
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Reviewed in the United States on December 4, 2018
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Reviewed in the United States on May 19, 2016
Ordered a hardcover copy. Looks good on the outside open it up it looks like someone photocopied the tiny pages of a paper back version into a hardcover book. The print only fills up a small square in the center of the page doesn't look too great was kind of disappointed
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Reviewed in the United States on March 29, 2018
Top reviews from other countries
Anna Robson
You have a good selection of books.
Reviewed in Canada on February 15, 2019
Adrian Charec
Recommend by Hamlet's Mill
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 1, 2018