No.^^S]^" ^^^' EASTERN CHEROKEE GROUPS — KUPFERER 241 



League baseball or a variant of it was started during the summer of 

 1960. The school custodians were the team managers. After 

 several sessions of general practice, they met early in the summer to 

 bid for players with the points allotted to them. Consequently, the 

 little league teams are not community entries. The director of the 

 program stated that Big Cove was not as well represented with 

 children as were the other communities. 



Indian ball is played during the Indian Fair in October and at least 

 once or twice during the summer. In the summer of 1959 regular 

 games were scheduled and interest was high. Several games eventu- 

 ated in injuries to the players and squabbles among some fuUblood 

 women spectators. 



The high school has teams in the three major sports, and the foot- 

 ball games and basketball games are well attended. However, 

 observations made at several basketball games suggest that many 

 utilize the occasion for visiting as much as for appreciation of the 

 game. 



Much of the leisure of Conservative women is occupied with visit- 

 ing. Some make baskets together, talking softly between long 

 periods of silence; others may bring their washing to the home of one 

 who has a machine. Perhaps working together lessens the load. 



AS OTHERS SEE THEM 



A description of the milieu in which the Indians live is incomplete 

 without some notion of the esteem in which they are held by thek 

 White neighbors. The Cherokee are forced into interaction with 

 Whites, and at least part of their behavior and their self-image is 

 conditioned by this interaction. The Whites act toward Indians in 

 accordance with the opinion held by them. Thus the White behavior 

 stimulates Indian reaction. This web of interaction produces a 

 feedback which reinforces attitudes and behaviors of both the Indians 

 and the Whites. 



The Whites who surround the reservation are not of the same 

 strata. They can be classified into three categories, one of which is 

 the local power — professional people and businessmen — of Jackson 

 and Swain Counties. Most of these people are native to the area. 

 The second category is comprised of Federal employees, many of 

 whom are not native to the area. The final stratum includes traders, 

 missionaries, and farmers whose land is adjacent to the reservation. 

 The farmers (old residents of the area) can, in turn, be divided into 

 two groups. There is one group which operates modern farms with 

 as much mechanization as the terrain will allow. Their stock is 

 good, and their homes and farm buildings are substantial. Others 

 farm marginal land off the main roads. This latter group is diminish- 



