So far, our trickster tales have only given us two stories from the Cherokee, so I went looking for more. Being so close to the reservation, I thought it would be nice to read some of the local Indian folklore. I didn’t find a whole lot in written context on the web, but I did find several books that you could buy, and I know there are a few in the UNCA library like, How Rabbit Tricked Otter by Gayle Ross and Marilou Awiakta’s Selu: Seeking the Corn Mother’s Wisdom.
I scanned through this book, and was enthralled with Awiakta's stories and the modern history of the Cherokee that she recorded as it happened. Awiakta is from east Tennessee, and she has experience with the area and friends and relatives who have told her their stories. One thing that she discussed in her book was the new atomic age. She weaves the Cherokee’s respect and beliefs of Mother Earth, adapting the Cherokee philosophies with our modern way of life.
Selu is the name of the Corn-Mother. She brought forth out of the corn the humans. Awiakta tells us several creation stories in which she adapted into her poetry, but she also summarizes these stories and includes the Cherokee folklore.
Without the Earth’s gifts and sustainability, we would be nothing. Without woman man would be selfish and lonely. Without man, woman would have no one to nurture. Without man and woman, the Earth would be overrun with sustenance and life. Each balances the other. The story of Selu, the Corn-Mother, was the first woman. She gave birth to all life. The Creator made her for man who was bored. Something was missing in his life, and he was agitated. So he killed too many of the animals and tore up their dens, and the animals asked the Creator for help. He grew the Corn-Mother, and together, she and the Creator, brought balance back to the world (296-8).
I found Gayle Ross, the author of the other book in our library, How Rabbit Tricked Otter, on YouTube telling a story at Northeastern State University's Founder's Day in March of 2009. The lady knows how to tell a story. (You can find out more about her here.)
The emotion she brings forth has the feeling of pain and sadness of the Trail of Tears, yet the hope of peace is embedded deep in her voice and the tale. In Awiakta's book she explains that women are nurturers and men are providers. As Ross speaks she reinforces this tradition as she tells about the women on the Trail of Tears who were so sad they lost the capacity to nurture their children. The men prayed to the Creator, asking for help and they said "The strength of the Cherokee nation is the strength of our women." And the Creator gave them a promise.
In my wanderings around ye ol' internet, I found one site that lists some of the characters from the Cherokee trickster tales. There are also some links to a few of the tales at the bottom of the page, but some of these are out dated and no longer work.
The list shows how the names are pronounced in Cherokee, like Rabbit (Jisdu, Tsisdu, Chisdu, Jistu, Tsistu, etc.): The pronunciation is similar to jeese-doo. I was disappointed that in our book of trickster tales, there were only two stories from the Cherokee, but even more disappointing was the fact that Erdoes, and Ortiz didn't use the Cherokee word for rabbit. Oh well, maybe the thought was to keep the stories simple so everyone can enjoy them, or translation just wasn't thought about from whoever (or wherever) their source was for the tales. Whatever the reason, I believe that something was lost in leaving "Jisdu" out of the story.
Even with all that said, I still have plans for the next time I have a few minutes between classes. I'm going to head up to the third floor of the Ramsey library and look for Jisdu in Gayle Ross' book. After watching this video and seeing the power she has with words, I'm so looking forward to it.
I scanned through this book, and was enthralled with Awiakta's stories and the modern history of the Cherokee that she recorded as it happened. Awiakta is from east Tennessee, and she has experience with the area and friends and relatives who have told her their stories. One thing that she discussed in her book was the new atomic age. She weaves the Cherokee’s respect and beliefs of Mother Earth, adapting the Cherokee philosophies with our modern way of life.
Selu is the name of the Corn-Mother. She brought forth out of the corn the humans. Awiakta tells us several creation stories in which she adapted into her poetry, but she also summarizes these stories and includes the Cherokee folklore.
Without the Earth’s gifts and sustainability, we would be nothing. Without woman man would be selfish and lonely. Without man, woman would have no one to nurture. Without man and woman, the Earth would be overrun with sustenance and life. Each balances the other. The story of Selu, the Corn-Mother, was the first woman. She gave birth to all life. The Creator made her for man who was bored. Something was missing in his life, and he was agitated. So he killed too many of the animals and tore up their dens, and the animals asked the Creator for help. He grew the Corn-Mother, and together, she and the Creator, brought balance back to the world (296-8).
The emotion she brings forth has the feeling of pain and sadness of the Trail of Tears, yet the hope of peace is embedded deep in her voice and the tale. In Awiakta's book she explains that women are nurturers and men are providers. As Ross speaks she reinforces this tradition as she tells about the women on the Trail of Tears who were so sad they lost the capacity to nurture their children. The men prayed to the Creator, asking for help and they said "The strength of the Cherokee nation is the strength of our women." And the Creator gave them a promise.
In my wanderings around ye ol' internet, I found one site that lists some of the characters from the Cherokee trickster tales. There are also some links to a few of the tales at the bottom of the page, but some of these are out dated and no longer work.
The list shows how the names are pronounced in Cherokee, like Rabbit (Jisdu, Tsisdu, Chisdu, Jistu, Tsistu, etc.): The pronunciation is similar to jeese-doo. I was disappointed that in our book of trickster tales, there were only two stories from the Cherokee, but even more disappointing was the fact that Erdoes, and Ortiz didn't use the Cherokee word for rabbit. Oh well, maybe the thought was to keep the stories simple so everyone can enjoy them, or translation just wasn't thought about from whoever (or wherever) their source was for the tales. Whatever the reason, I believe that something was lost in leaving "Jisdu" out of the story.
Even with all that said, I still have plans for the next time I have a few minutes between classes. I'm going to head up to the third floor of the Ramsey library and look for Jisdu in Gayle Ross' book. After watching this video and seeing the power she has with words, I'm so looking forward to it.
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