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Show ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT XXXVII pre- Columbian times; the traditions of the pueblo region run back into the prehistoric, but come down to the present, and thus bridge the ancient and the modern, while the Cherokee myths and Tusayan ceremonies illustrate the exceeding persistence of mythologies still surviving centuries of contact with Caucasian culture. The range in culture grade represented by the papers is also wide, stretching from the higher savagery, marked by the retention of maternal organization, up to that higher barbarism, or incipient feudalism, reached by the city- building makers of the Mexican calendars. MYTHS OF THE CHEROKEE Since the times of earliest discovery and settlement along the southern Atlantic section the Cherokee Indians have been known as one of the largest and most noteworthy of our aboriginal tribes. They formed an important factor in both English 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 southern settlers were compelled to reckon with them; their presence exercised a potent influence on the policies of Revolutionary times; they were prominent in shaping our laws relating to Indian affairs; they played a r61e of no small moment during the Civil war; and the portion of the tribe remaining in their original territory still retain aboriginal characteristics in remarkable degree. Yet, despite the historical importance of the tribe, they have, through a combination of circumstances, received comparatively slight consideration of literary and historical character. It was largely by reason of their retention of aboriginal ideas and customs that the eastern Cherokee were selected for special investigation; and it is largely by reason of the historical neglect of the tribe that it seemed well to introduce the publication of Mr Mooney's rich collections of ethnologic material with an extended historical sketch. The primary purpose of this sketch was to bring together in a form convenient for reference the chief events and episodes in the long- continued contact between Cherokee and Caucasian, and to indicate the |
