One interesting thing I saw in the New Echota museum was a phonetic chart of the Cherokee language. The vowels are pronounced EXACTLY the same as in Japanese. Were the American natives descendants of Japan? Does this explain my yellow fever? :p On with the photos. Click on each to view the full sized picture.
The pictures below represent the homestead of the typical middle class Cherokee family of the early 1800’s. Most of the Hollywood stereotypes don’t apply to the Cherokee way of life. Before being “colonized” by the Europeans, they lived in sod houses. After encountering the French and British, they adopted most ways of the European lifestyle, including converting to Christianity, wearing European clothes (albeit with a Cherokee flourish), and utilizing a parliamentary approach to government instead of the traditional tribal councils. All this makes what you fecking evil white people did to my people even worse – we adapted to your intrusion, and yet you stole our lands and moved us to Oklahoma. Feck off!
This is a typical barn with two stalls and a rain shelter for the wagon.
Closer image of the right side.
And the left.
Corn crib.
The corn crib also has a sheltered work area.
Smokehouse.
And again.
The original meat-cutting bench.
Fire for roasting the pork.
The farm house is in the center, smokehouse on the left, corn crib on the right. The crib looks bigger because it's in the foreground.
The front of the house.
Not bad living standards, especially for 180 years ago.
9 comments:
Admit it, you'd miss me if I went back to Europe. :-P
I'm the daughter of fecking boat people, but my son is part native American due to my mother in law. I teach the Trail of Tears in one of my courses when I explain Manifest Destiny, John Locke and the betrayal of the social contract. It's a horrifying part of our history. I wish I could visit it as well, but I've never spent much time in that part of the world: something about my accent makes people all upset. My son is not Cherokee but Sioux, a branch of the tribe, but they got fecked over just the same. I still love my country and would die fighting for it, but I am not afraid of the history. Most countries treat their population like vermin.
How very interesting! I'm on the tribal roles of the Cherokee Tribe, thanks to my great great grandparents. I love to learn tidbits of info about them. I did some research on the tribe while I was in college.... glad to know you've got native too ;)
tracy - okay, you can stay.
enemy - people who think modern America is a horrible nation need to learn their history.
kerry - I've got my scalping technique down.
That meat cutting bench maybe its juts me however it does look you know a bit erotic or something.J/K :)
On a serious note this adapting to the invaders ways hasn't helped in the initial days of colonization many people in India did change to their ways however it never ensures equal treatment or even safety.
It is awful what was done to the AI. I have always thought of Oklahoma as the armpit of the nation. I haven't been to NJ, but seems OK just sucks. It's like they are stuck in a time warp, 20 years behind the rest of the world.
BTW I am part Cherokee too.
In this area of the country, everybody likes to claim to be part Cherokee. It amuses me. It reminds me of how after Kennedy was shot and killed, more people said they voted for him than actually did.
We have a former Cherokee settlement about an hour from my place that is a state park. There's a museum (tiny) there plus a trail to walk with lots of information on it. As you already know, Grant, I end up teaching about President Asshat...I mean President Jackson...and the indian removal act/trail of tears issue because it is a backdrop of the novel we teach in Eng 102 at my school. It intrigues me that there were enough Cherokee who either opted to stay with the white folks or who ran and hid into the woods to make up the Eastern Cherokee reservation. That makes me happy that so many stayed behind, esp. considering how many died along the trail of tears.
Cool pictures!
I could just imagine someone sat on that chair outside long ago.Great pics.I liked how you took pics of some of the displays so we could read what was wrote about them.
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