Key Characteristics of the Cherokee:
• They originally occupied the Southeast
• Around half of them were wiped out due to smallpox by the mid-1700s
• They were forcibly removed from their area and forced to go to “Indian Territory”, which is now Oklahoma
• About 4,000 of them died during the trip
• The earth is suspended at each of the four cardinal points by a cord hanging from the sky vault, which is of solid rock
• At first the earth was flat and very soft and wet
The story was translated by the anthropologist James Mooney.
In the story, after all animals and plants were first made, they were instructed to keep watch and stay awake for seven nights, but most of them fell asleep. The animals that stayed awake to the end were given the power to see at night and make prey on birds and other animals that must sleep at night. The plants that stayed awake to the end were given the gift of always being green and being the best for medicine. The others were to lose their hair every winter.
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It was well-organized. They were agricultural and lived in small villages with a central house. I read things that enlightened and surprised my understanding of that heritage. It surprised me that around half of the population was decreased because of smallpox brought in by European explorers. I also did not know that an alphabet of the Cherokee language was developed and written. One of their newspapers was the first in the United States to be published both in English and a Native American language. I also learned that they were forced to move to a territory, which later also became a state. These societies aligned with how some of the country became because some states have farms and agricultural areas. It contradicts with how others became because other states are industrialized and some have processed