Summary
Summary of Myths of the Cherokee
Myths of the Cherokee at a glance
Summary: 8 min to read
- Reading time
- About 19 h 30 min15 h 30 min fast, 23 h 15 min slow
- Length
- 278,800 words
- Library level
- Challenging long sentences, a rich vocabulary
- First published
- 1900by James Mooney
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
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Key ideas
Key idea 1
The stories begin with listening
James Mooney goes to the mountains to record what Cherokee people remember. His main sources are the Eastern Cherokee, whose ancestors remained in the mountains while most of the nation was sent west. He listens to their history, songs, medicine and language as well as their tales.
Swimmer supplies stories and songs. John Ax loves giants and serpents. James Wafford knows the geography and history of the old country. These named voices make the collection a record of people, not just stories.
Key idea 2
The homeland holds memories of movement
The Cherokee call themselves Yunwiya, meaning real people.
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Key idea 3
Change and exile shape the tellers
War brings burned towns, ruined cornfields and lost land.
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Key idea 4
Different stories have different keepers
Mooney groups the tales as sacred myths, animal stories, local legends and historical traditions.
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Key idea 5
Corn and cures grow from relationships
Selu returns from a small storehouse with corn and beans every day.
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Key idea 6
The sky carries human feelings
The Sun resents people because they squint at her, while her brother the Moon enjoys their smiles.
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Key idea 7
The Rabbit makes cleverness look costly
The animals plan a council to decide who has the finest coat, and the Otter seems likely to win.
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Key idea 8
The mountains hold danger and help
A blazing crystal shines in the forehead of the Uktena, a horned serpent whose presence means death.
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Key idea 9
History and notes belong beside myths
The tales ask us to see land, animals and plants as full of meaning, with claims of their own on people.
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Who it’s for
You will enjoy this if you love myths and folktales, trickster animals, mountain landscapes, or the story of how a people kept its memory alive.
What this book is
Picture a hunter in the Great Smoky Mountains who hears drums and dancing from a townhouse he cannot find. He walks toward the sound and it moves behind him. The Cherokee say this is the work of the Nunnehi, the immortal spirit people.
Myths of the Cherokee was written by James Mooney, an ethnologist who gathered more than a hundred stories from 1887 through 1890, mostly among the Eastern Cherokee. You learn how corn came into the world, how medicine began, and why the Rabbit is never trusted.
In this summary
- 1The stories begin with listeningFree
- 2The homeland holds memories of movement
- 3Change and exile shape the tellers
- 4Different stories have different keepers
- 5Corn and cures grow from relationships
- 6The sky carries human feelings
- 7The Rabbit makes cleverness look costly
- 8The mountains hold danger and help
- 9History and notes belong beside myths
A scholar went to the mountains to listen
Mooney set out to record what the Cherokee themselves remembered. Between 1887 and 1890 he spent several field seasons with them, writing down their history, plants, medicine, songs and language.
He chose the Eastern Cherokee as his main source. They lived on the Qualla Reservation in western North Carolina, and their ancestors had stayed in the mountains while most of the nation was sent west. Mooney judged that old traditions lasted best among these people.
Named tellers stand behind the stories. Swimmer supplied many tales and songs. John Ax, the oldest man in the band, loved the wonder stories of giants and serpents. James Wafford knew the geography and history of the old country. Beside each tale Mooney sets notes on kindred stories from other tribes. Every story arrives with a teller you can picture.
That’s 1 of 9 key points.
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Check yourself
Why does the collection identify the people who told its stories?
Right. “Named tellers stand behind the stories.”Not quite. “Named tellers stand behind the stories.”
How do plants respond when animals create illnesses against Man?
Right. “The plants take Man's side, and every herb agrees to supply a cure.”Not quite. “The plants take Man's side, and every herb agrees to supply a cure.”
What makes the Rabbit an unreliable figure in the animal tales?
Right. “He is quick, vain and always willing to cheat.”Not quite. “He is quick, vain and always willing to cheat.”
Go deeper: the whole of Myths of the Cherokee
About 20 h 10 min to read.Start freePaperback, hardcover and large print, printed for you at cost, are on their way.Email me when it is printed
Who’s who
- Rabbit
- Rabbit is a small, clever trickster who plays on the weaknesses of bigger creatures in the animal tales.
- Uktena
- Uktena is a huge horned serpent associated with deep water and mountain passes, bearing a powerful crystal in its forehead.
- Little People
- The Little People are supernatural beings who appear alongside monsters and giants in the tales of the mountains.
- Thunders
- The Thunders are beings whose lightning strikes a hollow sycamore in the tale of how animals seek fire.
About this edition
Every format is free to start, and print and large print are at cost.
- LengthAbout 278,800 words
- Reading timeAbout 19 h 30 min
- FormatseBook, large-print eBook, audiobook, 15-minute summary
- LanguagesEnglish and 13 other languages
Questions about Myths of the Cherokee
Who is the Uktena in Cherokee myth?
The Uktena is a great horned serpent with a blazing crystal, the Ulunsuti, set in its forehead. Meeting it means death, but a medicine man named Agan-unitsi shoots its heart, shelters inside a circle of fire and wins the crystal.
Who are the Nunnehi?
The Nunnehi are immortal spirit people who live in townhouses beneath bald mountains and under the Nikwasi mound. They love music, guide lost travelers home, and in some tales help the Cherokee against attackers.
Cite this edition
Mooney, James. Myths of the Cherokee. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/myths-of-the-cherokee.
Mooney, J. (2026). Myths of the Cherokee. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/myths-of-the-cherokee (Original work published 1900)
Mooney, James. Myths of the Cherokee. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/myths-of-the-cherokee.
@book{mooney2026myths,
author = {Mooney, James},
title = {Myths of the Cherokee},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/myths-of-the-cherokee},
note = {First published 1900}
}
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Get the full summary of Myths of the Cherokee, free
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