"Next came long knife Grant (1761) with our enemies the Chickasaws and the Catawbas, we fought bravely but they were too many and too well equipped. The middletowns burned, the lands we cared for burned, many brothers were killed and our horses stolen. We had to hide in the upper towns and go back to our old ways for food and clothes because there was no more trade. These were hard times but worse were yet to come. Many small battles were fought and war lingered. But then a great number of white fighters with long guns came from all around us (a concerted attack supported by all the surrounding states) following many white leaders (1776). We fought with much courage and did many great deeds were done in vain. They burned and killed and stole almost everything. Some us managed to flee here: into the Smokies. We had spread from the sacred mountains and we had returned there in utter defeat. We could fight no more and so signed a peace treaty but the whites continued to attack us and their diseases appeared among us (chicken pox, flu...). We signed many treaties (13) with no meaning other than the white man would take more land (within the 13 treaties there were 16 occurrences of this), and the war went on for many years (until 1798 approximately). It was during this time that some our people decided to go west towards the Rockies."
"Then came a time of relative peace, our people grew and we adapted our ways to that of the whites and became farmers. Our youngsters began to believe and hope again, but the elders knew that the clouds had only parted for a short time. In eighteen-fifteen a young man of our people found the cursed yellow metal and it is said that he had a vision of the pain would bring his people and so cursed it and hid it deep in the mountains. Many good things were done in the following years. We had a government and a constitution (1827) for our people. Hicks and John Ross spoke with the white men for us. This new government little to us in our hearts for we had had a true government for many ages before, but the white couldn't hear its words. I think it was foolish, our true government couldn't speak to the white men and our official government could but its word fell upon dead white ears. It was at this time that Seloquay (a.k.a. George Guess) made the talking leaf (written lang. with 85 letters approved by the chiefs in 1821) for the a-ni'-tsa-la'-gi (plural of Cherokee)."
You have an incredible knowledge in the history of the Cherokees. I am utterly impressed. I recognize snipets here and there, but most of it is unknown to me.
ReplyDeleteSorry, btw, I did not realized we were in the same timezone.;) How cool! Your writing and the subjects made me think you were in the US.;)
As for the pictures yesterday; the recent one(right) is taken on an almost clear sunny day, the left one on a more cloudy day.;) Thus the colours are more vivid on the first.;)
Have a lovely day.;)
xoxo
Not really (the incredible knowledge), it just took a minor amount of research to get the historical info, and then a minor stretch of imagination to put it into the mouth someone who actually existed and told stories.
ReplyDeleteYup, my pivotal childhood years took place in the US... I've spent a bit of time in the UK as well. I've been a western European for the better part of 2 decades now.
Aha, I thought it might be a trick of the light! It's impressive how drastically it affected the contrast.
Thanks for dropping by Zuzana. Cheers. : j
I've had to find time to read up on all that I have missed but I am amazed about how much knowledge you have acquired through this. It's amazing to learn something new, and I love that I learn it through story. Amazing!
ReplyDeleteGorgeous stuff, and your knowledge of it is astonishing! The depth of exploration in the writing is amazing.
ReplyDeleteLove the pictures you use each time!
'Write what you know' and everything, I guess? :)
Hello Jen! Wow that's a lot of amazement! Glad to hear you're enjoying it. I wasn't sure how this part would go over. It's historical and it describes a pretty grim period US history. I was worried it would be too dry, and that the Blackhair's voice would be too ermm... unpolished.
ReplyDeleteHeya Sangu! Thanks for the glowing praise. You know, as I was answering Zuzana's comment, I was thinking about your post. : j
I guess I would say it as, "Don't write about something until you know about it." but that would negative... How about, "Only write about something once you've learned about it."
Perhaps "Write about what you know" covers it just fine. It doesn't specify that you can't just have come to know what you're writing about through a history book.
Cheers.