Cherokee and the Seven Sisters

Introduction

Recently, I had the opportunity to travel to Chattanooga, TN for the first time.  There was a large event that was taking place over a fall weekend and I found myself with some time to explore the area.  With an interest to create content for the Brave Brother project, a camera, and a desire to recognize native cultures, I set out to find some inspiration.  In order to find a direction, the following questions were used to build cultural context:

Learning

By doing some research online, I quickly learned about the importance of a place called Ross's Landing.  This is a location on the Tennessee River that was used as a staging area and internment camp when the forced removal of the Cherokee people from their homelands started in 1838.  At first, I thought it would be difficult to find the exact location of Ross's landing, but it turned out that a large monument has been erected at the location, making that part of the journey not so difficult.

At the monument location there are many plaques on marble walls, a large fountain, and marble stairs that have plaques embedded in each step.  Out of the many plaques, there was one that especially caught my attention.  It was the story of the "Seven Sisters," or the origin story of the Cherokee people.  An image of the plaque is included below.

If you are interested in reading the story, the inscription on the plaque has been included here: "Legend says Cherokees came from the area of the Pleiades Constellation or the Seven Sisters.  Star Woman didn't like the way the brown skinned people were being treated, so she brought them to Earth.  She fell from the sky and broke open man stepped forth.  Her other sisters were mad because they considered these people their slaves.  When she returned they hid her behind a veil so no one could see her clearly.  To this day you can only see her through a telescope, thus her Cherokee name U-LI-SI-GI the "Dark One"."

By looking at the Pleiades Constellation, I learned that there are 9 main stars that make up the celestial body. To the left are two stars that are close together, they are the "parents".  To the right is an umbrella shape body with seven stars, they are the "sisters".  Also, by reading a book titled "Sacred Formulas of the Cherokee," published in 1891 by James Mooney, I learned about the importance of the numbers 7 and 4 to the people. In an effort to honor the voice of the Cherokee, this article has a total of 7 graphical elements. Three of the elements represent locations, plaques, and a constellation. The additional four cultural elements are people from the history of the Cherokee Nation.

This is an image of Cunne Shote (or Kunagadoga). He was also known as "Standing Turkey." Cunne Shote succeeded his uncle, Kanagatucko (or Old Hop), as First Beloved Man of the Cherokee upon the latter's death in 1760. Pro-French like his uncle, he steered the Cherokee into war with the British colonies of South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia in the aftermath of the execution of several Cherokee leaders who were being held hostage at Fort Prince George. He held his title until the end of the Anglo-Cherokee War in 1761.

In the image above, we have three individuals from the Cherokee Nation. The first individual on the left is Tooan Tuh or Spring Frog.  He was born in the vicinity of Lookout Mountain, near the mouth of Chuckamogga Creek about the year 1754, within the limits of the State of Tennessee.  The second person in the middle is Austenaco, or Ostenaco.  He was born in 1703 and died in 1780.  Austenaco was a warrior, leader, orator, and a diplomat for the Cherokee people with the British.  He was a member of a Cherokee peace delegation that travelled to Europe in 1762.  The third individual is Tahchee, a Cherokee chief that was born about the year 1790, at Turkey Town, on the Coosa River, which is now in the State of Alabama in the United States.  Tahchee was forty-seven years of age when his portrait was painted.

Conclusion

In conclusion, travelling to Chattanooga, TN was a very enlightening and educational experience.  With my own limited knowledge of the Cherokee people, I found it an honor to travel to a new area and to start the process of learning about a whole nation of people. By asking questions about the history of Chattanooga, it was interesting to learn about the connection and relationship of the Cherokee people have with constellations and stars, along with notable individuals, and the travels they took to England.  Above all, it was the voice of the Cherokee nation that provided the direction for this blog post and for this website.  The desire to recognize and learn about the world's native/indigenous cultures is now in full motion!

When it comes to learning about the Cherokee Nation, this is only the beginning for myself.

Thanks for visiting!
Jeremy H.