No.^TSr* ^^^' EASTERN CHEROKEE GROUPS — KUPFERER 301 



them to know that they can depend on me keeping my promises. 

 I want them to learn, too, that they have to keep theirs," 



Statements about forthrightness, reliability, and directness, re- 

 flect a Middle Class view of what constitutes "proper behavior." 

 Such statements often arise in the course of conversations about the 

 "fullbloods," who are considered unreliable and "suspicious" ^^ by 

 Middle Class standards. One young informant asked, "Why do 

 they sit and stare at you like that, or talk about you in Cherokee, or 

 not hardly speak when you come up to them?" 



We have spoken of directness as though it were a characteristic 

 confined to the Cherokee Middle Class. However, Thomas' Rural 

 Whites and Generalized Indians are indistinguishable from the 

 Middle Class in this regard. These three categories of people are 

 in sharp contrast to the Conservatives. 



Generosity. — We have commented upon the fact that Conservatives 

 pride themselves on their generosity. However, this trait is not 

 exclusively theirs. Other Cherokees are hospitable and generous in 

 a manner more familiar to the White observer. Because we used 

 food as an example of Conservative generosity we shall use it once 

 more to describe generosity among the non-Conservative Cherokees. 

 Sharing of food differs somewhat between the Middle Class, on the 

 one hand, and the Rm-al Whites and Generalized Indians on the other. 

 Among the Rural Whites and Generalized Indians one often hears, 

 "Come eat with us," or "Better stay with us for dinner," These 

 invitations are informal, and usually occur when a visitor is present 

 as mealtime approaches. It is typical of "country" hospitality. 

 These people do not often extend formal invitations for meals to be 

 served sometime in the future. However, the Middle Class, while 

 they may follow the above pattern, also exchange more formal dinner 

 invitations with one another. Essentially, they follow the pattern of 

 social amenities observed elsewhere among middle class Americans. 



Of course, the sharing of food is not the only expression of gener- 

 osity. The Generalized Indians, Rural Whites, and Middle Class 

 help out those less fortunate than they, within their ability to do so. 

 One typically impoverished Rural White farmer gave some land to 

 an unwed Conservative mother and helped her build a house on it. 

 Yet, he often comments on the shiftlessness of the "fullbloods," 

 Joe, a Generalized Indian informant, always shares his garden produce 

 with his neighbors, and collects clothing to take up to needy families 

 in Big Cove, Margaret, another Generalized Indian informant, 

 keeps two or three of the older Conservative women supplied with 



2s Suspiciousness, as a trait of the Conservatives, has been discussed in Gullck, 1960, p. 137. He suggests 

 that It is not suspiciousness as such, but rather, an aspect of the Cherokee's inclination to wait and see what 

 others are going to do, in order to guide his own actions. 



747-014— <66 20 



