Synopsis
Discusses the Cherokee people, their customs, family, organizations, food gathering, religion, war, housing, and other aspects of daily life.
Wesley Jernigan - Children's Literature
The "North American Indians" series includes this book on the Cherokee. In four chapters the author covers the mountain home of the Cherokee, their traditional family, economic, and material life, their religious rituals, beliefs, and curing practices, and their tragic history. There is some good information in this book and the illustrations and maps are generally appropriate, attractive and clear. Generalizations are inevitable when one tries to reduce the complex culture and history of a whole people to about 40 pages, but a number of passages in this book seem unduly vague, and there are some clear errors. While it is certainly true that there was a body of respected women who gave counsel at meetings of war leaders, this book asserts that women acted as hunters and warriors themselves. Traditionally, while undergoing ritual preparation for war or the hunt, Cherokee men avoided contact with women because they might weaken the ritual purity of warriors and hunters and thus threaten the success of these male activities. A photo of a Cherokee basket is labeled "watertight" when it clearly is not, and a prehistoric Mississippian statue is labeled a Cherokee ceremonial object. One gets the general impression that the research for this book was not quite as thorough as it ought to have been. A glossary and a list of further readings and web sites is found at the back. 2004, KidHaven Press, Ages 10 up.
Editorials
Children's Literature
The "North American Indians" series includes this book on the Cherokee. In four chapters the author covers the mountain home of the Cherokee, their traditional family, economic, and material life, their religious rituals, beliefs, and curing practices, and their tragic history. There is some good information in this book and the illustrations and maps are generally appropriate, attractive and clear. Generalizations are inevitable when one tries to reduce the complex culture and history of a whole people to about 40 pages, but a number of passages in this book seem unduly vague, and there are some clear errors. While it is certainly true that there was a body of respected women who gave counsel at meetings of war leaders, this book asserts that women acted as hunters and warriors themselves. Traditionally, while undergoing ritual preparation for war or the hunt, Cherokee men avoided contact with women because they might weaken the ritual purity of warriors and hunters and thus threaten the success of these male activities. A photo of a Cherokee basket is labeled "watertight" when it clearly is not, and a prehistoric Mississippian statue is labeled a Cherokee ceremonial object. One gets the general impression that the research for this book was not quite as thorough as it ought to have been. A glossary and a list of further readings and web sites is found at the back. 2004, KidHaven Press, Ages 10 up.—Wesley Jernigan