ADMINISTRATIVE KKl'ORT XXXVII 



pre-Columl)i;iii times: tlic tniditidiis nt' tlu- puclilu region run 

 back into the prcliistoi-ic, Uut come clown to the present, ;ni(l 

 thus bridge the ancient and tlie modern, wliile tlie Cherokee 

 myths and Tusavan ceremonies ilhistrate the exceeding per- 

 sistence of mythologies still surviving centuries of contact with 

 Caucasian culture. The range in culture grade represented 

 ])\ tlie papers is also wide, stretching from the higher savag- 

 er\, marked by the retention of maternal organization, up to 

 that higher barl)arism, or incipient feudahsm, reached 1)}' the 

 city-building makers of the Mexican calendars. 



Myths of thk Cherokee 



Since the times of earliest discovery and settlement along 

 the southern Atlantic section the Cherokee Indians have Ijeen 

 known as one of the largest and most noteworthy of our abo- 

 riginal tribes. They formed an important factor in lioth Eng- 

 lish and Spanish pioneering; they alone of the more northerly 

 aborigines developed a definite system of writing in the form 

 of Sequoya's syllabary; during colonial times the soutliern 

 settlers were compelled to reckon witli tliem; tlieir presence 

 exercised a potent influence on the policies of Revolution- 

 ary times; they were prominent in shaping our laws relating 

 to Indian attairs; they played a role of no small moment dur- 

 ing the Civil war; and the portion of the tribe remaining in 

 tlu'ii- original territor}' still retain aborig'inal characteristics in 

 remarkable degree. Yet, despite the liistorical importance of 

 the tribe, they liave, through a condiination of circumstances, 

 received comparatively slight consideration of literary and his- 

 torical character. 



It was largely by reason of their retention of aboriginal ideas 

 and customs that the eastern Cherokee were selected for spe- 

 cial investigation; and it is largely by reason of the historical 

 neglect of the tribe that it seemed well to introduce the publi- 

 cation of Mr Mooney's rich collections of ethnologic material 

 with an extended historical sket( li. The jtrimary purpose of 

 this sketch was to bring together in a form convenient for ref- 

 erence the chief events and e))isodes in the long-continued 

 contact between Cherokee and Caucasian, and to indicate the 



