No!^75r' ' CHRONICLES OF WOLFTOWN — KILPATRICK 105 



over. Tse:si says that Tsa:ni counted his money, and that this is the 

 way it totals. 



"Tse:si, if this is the way you all are going to decide, hurry up and 

 pay me." 



He came — and also the letter to come out here from Qualla will 

 be in vain. I believe that the letter of request came to your house. 



"I am the one that they evicted. You must pay me, Tse:si and 

 Tsa:ni. I must see that amount of money." 



I, Da:sgigidi:hi, the clerk at Qualla, just wrote this. I just wrote 

 it February 22, 1861. 



(on verso) 



This letter, Gwe:dh{i)si, is for you to read. 



COMMENTARY 



Although Da:sgigidi:hi states that he is the clerk "at QuaUa" 

 (YeUow Hill Township), his letter deals with a private matter — a 

 family squabble, one suspects. He does not indicate where he was 

 when he wrote to Inodi's mother Gwe:dh{i)si. 



We ascertain from another document in The Inoli Letters that 

 Da:sgigdi:hi died on the June 23d following his penning of this heated 

 and muddled missive. He succumbed to disease whUe on duty with 

 the Confederate forces at Strawberry Plains, Tenn. 



The Inoli Letters attest to the Cherokee belief that the lands upon 

 which they Uved were actually theirs, and that the title of WiU Thomas 

 to them was merely an expedient necessitated by North Carolina law. 

 The basic concepts of land occupancy held by the Eastern Band of 

 the present day seem to have been accepted in Inodi's time: no in- 

 dividual ownership in fee simple, but only possessory rights derived 

 from a legislative body; no right of sale, but the right of lease or trade 

 (see Gulick, 1960, p. 9). 



Mooney's caption is decidely at variance with the contents of the 

 document: "Taskigitihi to Inali — wants some money left on deposit." 



NO. 41.— RESIGNATION OF JUDGE WA:HUHU AND PAYMENT TO 



OTHER OFFICIALS 



1861 pj 



1861 



warhuhu arsgwada digu:gh(o)di:sgi na:gwa:se p] 



Wa:huhu he just finished judge now, I suppose 



arsgwada ga^lohni gha?lv 5ne i:ga 



he just finished August month 6th day 



digu:gh(o)di:sgi aghuy^:e?di niga:hl(i)sda ayv 



judge to pay him, one It just became I 



'The 1860 wTitten in the manuscript we assume to be an error 

 * Na:gwo + a:se. 



