224 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 196 



in the nation with respect to culture. "There was, as a matter of 

 fact, a division of the nation into Upper and Lower Cherokees. The 

 former had abandoned the hunt and were engaged in pursuits of civil- 

 ized man while the Lower Cherokees still preferred their old life" 

 (Parker, 1907, p. 12). 



In 1958, Robert K. Thomas, a member of the Cross Cultural Lab- 

 oratory of the University of North Carolina, lived among the Cherokee 

 for a year. On the basis of his experience he proposed a typology of 

 groups which comprise the present population : Conservative Indian ; 

 Generalized Indian; Rural White Indian; and Middle Class Indian 

 (Gulick, 1960, p. 127). These categories were established according 

 to differing integrative values and differing world views. The Con- 

 servative views himself as an order of man different from the rest of 

 men. Overtly, he is still the stoic red man. Insofar as there are In- 

 dian traits present (native speech and medicine), he preserves them. 

 The Generalized Indian considers himself an Indian but also an 

 American. He demonstrates inconsistency in statements on values, 

 shifting between western values and Conservative values. As a 

 group, the Generalized Indians interact more readily with Whites and 

 are more open in their behavior. The Rural White Indians are much 

 like southern Whites from rural areas. The Middle Class is composed 

 of people who are derived from both the Rural White group and the 

 Generalized Indian group. These people have arrived financially, 

 and adhere firmly to an orientation which emphasizes progress and 

 individual efforts (Thomas, MS. a, 1958, pp. 19-24). 



Objections have been made to the names given these groups, and 

 the distinctions between them are not always clear. John Gulick 

 says, however, that they seem more appropriate to the specific 

 Eastern Cherokee situation than such terms as "native," "native 

 modified," and "White," which have been used to describe situations on 

 other reservations (Gulick, 1960, p. 128). It is om- purpose to explore 

 the range of behaviors and attitudes among the Cherokee, using 

 Thomas' continuum as a tentative guide, with the ultimate aim of 

 afl5rming it or of suggesting another. 



Typologies have been described for other Indian groups. Notable 

 among these has been the work of George Spindler (1952) and Irving 

 Hallowell (1952) who have used projective material to determine 

 boundaries. Fred Voget (1951) and Edward Bruner (1956) attend 

 to the same problem, utilizing sociocultural data to draw distinctions. 

 In both these approaches to the question of differential accultiu*ation, 

 health and medical practice are frequently mentioned in general terms 

 as indicators of a particular cultural orientation, either toward 



