The Cherokee
by Iris
Little Deer
     My Mom and Dad found the best log cabin in camp, on the morning after we were forced from our land.  The Cherokee did not have to build anything, there was already a camp there. 
     One morning when my Dad had gone to cut wood to make more houses, Mom stepped out for a deep breath.  "Oh no," cried Mom and she ran back inside with her hand on her stomach.  Another Cherokee went on a horse to get my Dad.  My Dad finally got home and I was born.  When my Mom felt better, she took me outside.  The Cherokee lived in front of a mountain and there were a lot of deer in the Appalachian Mountains.  It was a beautiful morning to be outside.  She took a deep breath and glanced up just to see the biggest deer in the land.  The deer had a name.  The tribe named it Warrior.  Warrior was in a herd of 100 deer and all of the deer were breathing heavily.  Warrior bowed and nodded his head.  Warrior and his herd of 100 deer started galloping towards my Mom.
     My Mom stepped back, tripped over a rock, and fell and I flew into the air.  Warrior caught me in between his two horns.  So my Dad named me Little Deer.
My Life in the Eastern Woodlands
     White tailed deer were drinking from the Ohio River.  Sometimes you would see them in the forest of pine and maple trees if you were lucky.  Black bears look for egrets in the Big Sandy River by the Great Smokies.  Every summer morning I ride one of the horses through the Appalachian Mountains.  After I ride I have to go on my horse again with a sack of food for the sheep and the foxes.  My next chore is to feed the baby fox.  The baby fox's mom died and I found the fox and took it home.  In the summer when I am done with my chores, I go for a walk.  I saw at least an acre of magnolia in the forest.  The forest is full of oak and hickory trees, pine and maples!  The next day I woke up to my horse licking my face and blue herons chirping in my ear.  I opened one eye and gasped, shuffled, and then I felt cold but I have no blanket.  I wasn't in my bed.  "Oh NO," I said as I jumped up.  I started to get on my horse.  I was halfway on my horse when she started galloping away and I fell into the Mississippi River.  I finally got to the village again.  The next morning I woke up to an opossum family hanging from a board in the ceiling. I heard neighing outside so I jumped out of bed and all the horses were neighing.  I looked around and saw nothing until I looked down.  It was a groundhog.  I could tell it was from the Black Mountains.  It looked like a baby, but I wasn't sure.  One night as I was tending the fire, a family of raccoons came.  One of the baby raccoons hobbled over to me and looked about 4 hours old.  It started raining and the raccoons ran for shelter.  I was happy to be inside and the fire did not go out.  The summer's warm but it rains a lot down in the Appalachian Mountains.  Now that I have told you about the Eastern Woodlands, would you please visit there?
 
 
Making a Mud House and a Log Cabin
     Try getting enough mud to build a whole house.  That would take at least a day, but the Cherokee do it.  There are two houses.  The one that I am talking about is the mud house.  The mud house is made with mud and grass.  The walls are made with saplings woven together and plaster on the wall.  The house is made on a mound. 
     The other house is made of logs and mud and grass.  That house is called the log cabin.  On the inside of the log cabin and the mud house there is a fire place, on the top of the fire was a pot.  There are benches, chairs, baskets, and beds.  On the outside of the log cabin and mud houses there are fire places. Outside also there are farms, animals, animal skins, baskets, and benches.  Now that I have told you about the two houses, please visit one or the other house.
Cherokee clothing

Have you ever worn clothing made out of plants?  Well, the Cherokee did. The women wore short skirts made out of deer skins and plants.  They also wore jewelry made out of bones and teeth decorated with porcupine quills.  The men wore breech cloths, leggings and also moccasins.  The men also repaired and made their own moccasins.  The men tattooed their bodies with paint.  The children, women, and men wore caps made out of rabbit fur and turkey feathers that were tied to the shoulder.  The Cherokee went hunting to get the skins for the clothing with bow and arrows.  I wonder what you would look like in a necklace made out of bones, teeth, and porcupine quills?

 
How the Cherokee Went Hunting
     At night two men left camp to go hunting with spears, a blow gun, and bow and arrows.  The two men went on horses with their stuff to go hunting.  On the way, they saw a deer and shot it with a blow gun.  That night they made a fire and went to bed.  The next morning, the men found a canoe and went down stream.  When the two men stepped out of their boat, they saw bear tracks and started running after the bear.  The brothers saw the bear and shot it.  The men went to sleep.  It took three days to get back to the stream.  Next, the brothers went fishing with spears.  It took seven days to get back to the camp.  They ate some fish and went to bed.  The Cherokee also plant crops of squash, corn, beans, pumpkins, and sunflowers.  The Cherokee also gatheed nuts.  They cooked in clay pots over a fire.  They would pound corn to make flour.  Now that I have told you about how the Cherokee cook, I hope you are interested to eat like them.

 Sources

Book:  Lepthie, Emilie.  The Cherokee.  1985.

Online database:  "Kentucky." Britannica Elementary Encyclopedia. 2007. Encyclopædia Britannica Online School Edition.  12/1/2006.

Web site: "Cherokee."  http://www.mce.k12tn.net/indians/reports1/cherokee.htm.  12/20/2006.

Native Americans by Mrs. Hardt's Third Grade Class

Native American Index ~ Mrs. Hardt ~ CCS ~ MSAD 50