Note: The Cherokee homeland was in the southern Appalachian Mountains for hundreds of years before Europeans and Americans forced most of the Cherokee to move west. AppLit includes tales from Cherokee oral traditions that continue to be retold within Appalachia and elsewhere. Blevins, Wade. Ganseti and the Legend of the Little People. Cherokee Indian Legend Series. Prairie Grove, AR: Ozark Publishing, 1996. A young boy searches in a dark cave after his grandmother tells him about The Little People. A short story with drawings by the author. Blevins, from Northeast Oklahoma, is of Cherokee and Irish descent. Little People of the Cherokee. Online at Stonee's Web Lodge. This is an overview of legends about Forever Boy and Little People of the Cherokee, "a race of Spirits who live in rock caves on the mountain side," who "are here to teach lessons about living in harmony with nature and with others." They are sometimes called Brownies. There are three types of Little People: the Rock People are mean and spiteful "because their space has been invaded," the Laurel People are mischievous, and the Dogwood People "are good and take care of people." "The Cherokee Little People." In Duncan, Barbara R., ed. Living Stories of the Cherokee. Chapel Hill: U of NC Press, 1998. pp. 68-70. With background on storyteller Kathi Smith Littlejohn and Cherokee culture. This tale tells of the "Forever Boy," who didn't want to grow up so he was persuaded by the Little People to go and live with them. They sent word to his parents that he was safe. Little People and Forever Boy laugh and play tricks, "to keep us young in our hearts." The stories are transcribed in this book in a free verse form that represents the storytellers' "rhythmic style," using the "oral poetics" method developed in the 1970s. Foreword by Joyce Conseen Dugan, Principal Chief, Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. "The Little People and the Nunnehi." In Duncan, Barbara R., ed. Living Stories of the Cherokee. Chapel Hill: U of NC Press, 1998. pp. 183-87. With background on storyteller Robert Bushyhead and Cherokee culture. This tale says the Little People are spirits who aren't born and don't die. Several incidents are told in which people saw them when bad things happened. "They are not mischievous. They are protectors." The stories are transcribed in this book in a free verse form that represents the storytellers' "rhythmic style," using the "oral poetics" method developed in the 1970s. Moore, MariJo. The Cherokee Little People: A Native American Tale. Illus. Emma Shaw-Smith. Rigby Literacy Series. Crystal Lake, IL: Rigby, 2000. 24 pp. In this tale the Little People help a couple who live in the mountains by saving the corn from the crows while the wife sleeps. Polly and Tooni then make tiny servings of cornbread and little moccasins to thank the Little People who play in their tree and dance in the moonlight. Moore is a North Carolina writer of Cherokee, Irish and Dutch descent. Colorful realistic illustrations of the aging couple who live in a cabin and farm in the mountains. This and other books by Moore are recommended by Debbie Reese, a member of Nambe Pueblo, in northern New Mexico, and expert on American Indians in Children's Literature (see Reese's list of Recommended Children's/YA/Reference/Resource Books). See Moore's First Fire and The Ice Man. Daughter of the Sun is a Cherokee tale online at Stonee's Web Lodge, from James Mooney's work collecting myths of the Cherokee. It contains helpful Little Men and Uktena, the water monster. It is like the Greek myths of Demeter and Persephone (or Ceres and Proserpine), and Orpheus and Eurydice, and a little like "Snow White," when seven men carry Sun's daughter from the ghost country in a box they must not open, but she convinces them to open the box, escapes and becomes a redbird. Thereafter, people can never bring others from the ghost world. Sun is a cruel and sad old woman until the people's dances cheer her up at the end. "The Sun's Daughter," a Cherokee tale in Yolen, Jane and Stemple, Heidi E. Y. Mirror, Mirror: Forty Folktales for Mothers and Daughters to Share. New York: Penguin, 2000. pp. 96-98. A collection compiled by a mother and daughter, arranged by theme, with conversation sections by Jane and Heidi. The section labeled "Persephone" includes "The Sun's Daughter." When the jealous, spiteful Sun is killing people with her heat, the Little Men change two men to copperhead and spreading-adder snakes to bite Sun, but they fail. The Sun blinds spreading-adder so that he can only spit out yellow slime to this day. Again the Little Men change two men into Uktena and a rattlesnake to kill the Sun. The rattlesnake kills the Sun's daughter, leading to a period of darkness when the Sun stays indoors. The Little Men try to bring the Sun's daughter back from the ghost country but she turns into a redbird, as in the version described above. People dance for the Sun to make her stop grieving and smile. "The Rabbit and Old Flint." In Chiltoskey, Mary Ulmer. Aunt Mary, Tell Me A Story: A Collection of Cherokee Legends and Tales. Ed. Mary Regina Ulmer Galloway. Cherokee, NC: Cherokee Communications, 1990, pp. 58-61. "Old Flint was one of the Little People who could assume shapes and use magic powers. . .. He enjoyed doing mean and evil things to the other animals." Rabbit is late for a meetings of animals and always draws attention to himself. He brags that he can take care of Old Flint. He's lucky to find Old Flint in a weak and sick state. When he's asleep, Rabbit hits him with a mallet and he breaks into 999 pieces of flint, one of which cuts off Rabbit's long bushy tail, while another one splits his lip. Tom Cat finds the tail and attaches it to his stubby end with pine resin.
Bierhorst, John. The Deetkatoo: Native American Stories About Little People. Illus. Ron Hilbert Coy. New York: Morrow, William, 1998. 153 pp. A collection for children of 22 tales from 14 Native American groups. Background on folklore and history are included. They are called "not-quite-folktales" because many are direct accounts of an individual's experience with the supernatural. The Cherokee tales are "Little Ones and their Mouse Helpers," "Little House in the Deep Water," "How the Dead Came Back," and "Thunder's Two Sisters." "Little people predate the Europeans in the Western Hemisphere. They live in forests, in water, underground, and on mountains" (WorldCat). Reed, Jeannie, ed. Stories of the Yunwi Tsunsdi': The Cherokee Little People. Cullowhee, NC: Western Carolina University, 1991. 70 pp. An English 102 class project at Western Carolina University, with many different stories of Little People collected by the students, including first-hand and second-hand accounts of people who say they have seen Little People. "Keepers of the Secrets." In Bradley, Ramona K. Weavers of Tales: A Collection of Cherokee Legends. Published by the author, 1967. Rpt. Cherokee, NC: Betty Dupree. No date given in book if this is a reprint later than 1967. Rev. W. David Owl told this tale to the author, wife of an Eastern Cherokee. The story describes the shamans going to Smoky Mountain rock caves for seven days and nights to share secrets with the Little People. The shamans told stories, performed sacred ceremonies to bring good hunting, and accepted "spirit gifts" of secrets from the Little People, who appeared in ceremonial garb and animal costumes. With a sepia full-page drawing by the author for this tale. More Little People in Longer Books: Cornelissen, Cornelia. Soft Rain: A Story of the Cherokee Trail of Tears. New York: Bantam, 1998. Nine-year-old Soft Rain loves hearing stories daily from her grandmother, until her family is separated during the forced removal of their people from North Carolina to Oklahoma. In an early chapter called "The Little People," Grandmother describes Cherokee beliefs in attractive, child-sized people who "were kind to lost ones, especially children" (p. 11). She tells of a brother and sister who were cared for by Little People when they were lost, and later in life could hear the distant drums of Little People. See more at Folklore Themes in Longer Fiction. Wood, Francis Eugene. Wind Dancer's Flute. Illus. Judith N Ligon. Farmville, VA: Tip of the Moon Pub., 1998. 76 pp. The Tip of the Moon web site has information by and about the author and the book, with pictures and reviews. "The main character, Wind Dancer, is part Cherokee, part Irish, and a free-spirited lad who lives with his adopted mother, Sarah Ogle, and roams the great Smoky Mountains. A gifted flutist, Wind plays his music in the nearby village" until an evil man interferes. Wind's uncle and "mysterious little people, known as the Yunwi Tsunsdi," in "a sacred place," help his spirit recover. The author describes the book as being about racial intolerance, "the beauty in the free-spirited among us," and the power of forgiveness. Woods' books about the Nipkins are fantasies that focus on a woodsman and tribes of "minute forest dwellers." Webb, Shirley G. Tales from the Keeper of the Myths: Cherokee Stories for Children. 104 pp. iUniverse, 2003. "Children's stories based on authentic Cherokee legends...stories of adventure and friendship, of magic and Little People...taking you back in time to the realm of the all possible." More details at iUniverse.com. Allen, Paula Gunn. Grandmothers of the Light: A Medicine Woman's Sourcebook. Boston: Beacon Press, 1991. One of Gunn's retellings of oral legends about Native American goddesses is on Deer Woman, one of the Cherokee little people. More Background: Davis, Lynette Claire. The Role of the "Little People" in Cherokee Culture. M. A. Thesis, Northern Illinois University, 1979. 68 pp. Mooney, James. History, Myths, and Sacred Formulas of the Cherokees (originally published in 1900) records tales with different types of Little People and gives extensive background notes. See Appalachian Folktale Collections. O'Connor, Regina L. Understahl. Echoes from the Hollow Hills: An Examination of Celtic Fairy and Cherokee Little People Encounters and Liminality. M. S. Thesis, University of Colorado, 2001. 96 pp. Related Appalachian Tales: "Nunnehi, the Gentle People." In Duncan, Barbara R., ed. Living Stories of the Cherokee. Chapel Hill: U of NC Press, 1998. pp. 71-73. With background on storyteller Kathi Smith Littlejohn and Cherokee culture. In this tale the Nunnehi foretell of coming disaster (the Trail of Tears removal), so many people go to live with them in a beautiful place underground, but the old people, young people, and their leader decide they must stay above in the mountains. Noises in the woods are reminders that the Nunnehi are always with us and will return if another disaster occurs. They are not little people, but immortals, described as gentle people who "look a lot like Cherokee people." "The Nunnehi, the Gentle People." In Cunningham, Maggi. The Cherokee Tale-Teller. Illus. Patrick DesJarlait. Minneapolis: Dillon Press, 1978. 158 pp. Also contains "Atagahi, the Wonderful Lake. - Selu Corn Woman and the Crows.- Deer Song. - Princess of the Deer. - The Monster Utlunta. - Desata and the Forever Boy. - The Fire Watcher. - The Red Bird. - Tlanuwa, the Great Hawk. - (WorldCat). Cataloged as a juvenile book. Carden, Gary. The Cherokee Stories. Audio cassette. Highland, NC: Media Divide, 1992. Contains "Uktena" and "The Nunnehi." Carden is a NC storyteller who worked with the Eastern band of the Cherokee for some years. Dancing Drum, or The Sun's Daughter Vaughn, Sherry T. Melvin's Melons. Illus. Ernie Ross. Johnson City, TN: Overmountain Press, 1995. A short Appalachian novel combining realism and folklore, in which young Melvin meets small friendly creatures called Wee'uns, who introduce him to watermelons. See cover and description at Overmountain Press. Vaughn, Sherry T. Grandpa's Eyes. Illus. Ernie Ross. Johnson City, TN: Overmountain Press, 1996. Continues the Mountain Magik series about young characters and Wee'uns. See cover and description at Overmountain Press. See also AppLit's Folklore Themes in Longer Fiction. A giant villain transforms into a dragon underground in Jack and the Fire Dragon. Compare with: "Wihio Meets One of the Little People: A Cheyenne Legend." In Max, Jill, ed. Spider Spins a Story: Fourteen Legends from Native America. Illus. Robert Annesley, et al. Falgstaff, AZ: Rising Moon, 1997. The Cherokee story in this book is "Spider, The Fire Bringer," told by Shan Goshorn. Kilpatrick, Jack Frederick and Anna Gritts Kilpatrick. Friends of Thunder: Folktales of the Oklahoma Cherokees. Dallas: Southern Methodist University Press, 1964. Rpt. Norman, OK: Univ. of Oklahoma Press, 1995. Includes a section on Little People. Available as electronic book through NetLibrary. Little men of the earth (dwarfs) help the heroine in "Snow White." Forever Boy is like Peter Pan, the boy in James Barrie's classic English stories and play, who didn't want to grow up and went to live in Neverland with a band of Lost Boys. There is an online version of Peter and Wendy at Fireblade Coffeehouse. Last
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Lossiah,
Lynn King. Cherokee Little People: The Secrets and Mysteries
of the Yunwi Tsunsdi. Illus. Ernie Lossiah. Cherokee, NC:
Cherokee Publishing, 2001. 151 pp. "From the Publisher:
A [young adult] book about the Little People—small, mystical,
elf-like beings—of Cherokee life and culture. This book is as
beautiful as it is informative, with full-page art depicting the Little
People." See description of this book at