Red Man’s Origin

“When we lived beyond the great waters there were twelve clans belonging to the Cherokee tribe. And back in the old country in which we lived the country was subject to great floods.” So begins the earliest and most complete version of the story of the origins and migrations of the Cherokee people, as recited by a noted member of the Keetoowah Society.

First recorded by Cornsilk (William Eubanks) from the recitation in Cherokee by Sahkiyah (Soggy) Sanders in 1890s Indian Territory, this tribal narrative has now been edited and published anew after a lapse of over a hundred years.

Soggy Sanders

In the world of Native Americans, oral communication takes the place of the written word in preserving their most valued “texts.” By a miracle of transmission, here is the earliest and most complete version of the story of the Cherokee people, from their origins in a land across the great waters to the coming of the white man. In olden times, it was recited at every Great Moon or Cherokee New Year festival so it could be learned by young people and the tribal lore perpetuated. It was set down in English in an Indian Territory newspaper by Cornsilk (the pen-name of William Eubanks) from the Cherokee language recitation of George Sahkiyah (Soggy) Sanders, a fellow Keetoowah Society priest, in 1892. We do not have anything anterior or more authentic than Eubanks and Sanders’ “Red Man’s Origin. Mystic and plain-spoken at the same time, “Red Man’s Origin” tells how the clans became seven in number, reorganized their religion in America and struggled to maintain their “half-sphere temple of light.” You will hear in Cornsilk’s original words about the true name of the Cherokee people, the totem Uktena serpent, divining crystals of the Urim and Thummin, “terrible Sa-ho-ni clan” and other Cherokee storytelling subjects. The brief narrative is here reprinted with an introduction, notes and line drawings from Native American history by Cherokee author Donald Panther-Yates.

From the Author

I recall a starry night in Tennessee many years ago when I heard the traditional story of the Cherokee people’s origins from an elder. My emotions were mixed, ranging from “Why hadn’t I heard this before?” and being a bit peeved to a sublime sense of relief, resolution and gratitude. After that, my life seemed changed, more “figured out.” I felt as though the ancestors had spoken to me. When I stumbled on “Red Man’s Origin” in the Oklahoma Historical Society newspaper archives, I had a similar experience. It was electrifying, and I thought to myself, “Here is what has been missing all along!”

From the Inside Flap

This book Red Man’s Origin was published by Panther’s Lodge as part of its Cherokee Chapbooks Series in November 2011.

From the Back Cover

“When we lived beyond the great waters there were twelve clans belonging to the Cherokee tribe. And back in the old country in which we lived the country was subject to great floods . . . .” So begins the traditional tribal history that used to be recited at the Great Moon festival and other Cherokee gatherings. It was set down by Cornsilk, a newspaper editor, in 1896 on the basis of the original Cherokee words of his fellow Keetoowah Society priest, Soggy Sanders. Cryptic and hard to find, it is back in circulation again after more than a hundred years.

Cherokee Chapbooks #1

Second print edition July 2013

ISBN 1468017519

Also available in Kindle, iTunes, Google Play, Smashwords and Audible audiobook editions

Biography

Donald N. Yates (also published as Donald Panther-Yates) was born in 1950 in Cedartown, Georgia and is of one-quarter Cherokee-Choctaw descent. His first book was The Bear Went over the Mountain, a genealogy and social history of the Yates family of Virginia, now available as an audiobook narrated by Richard V. Dalke. On his mother’s side he is descended from Black Fox, the last of the great Cherokee chiefs, and on his father’s side his ancestry includes Col. Will Thomas, the founder of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. His latest books are Old World Roots of the Cherokee: How DNA, Ancient Alphabets and Religion Explain the Origins of America’s Largest Indian Nation  (2012) and Los Lunas Decalogue Stone:  Eighth-Century Hebrew Monument in New Mexico (2013). He also publishes a series called Cherokee Chapbooks aimed at making essential texts and traditional American Indian storytelling accessible to those rediscovering their Native roots. He lives in Phoenix.

Click here to purchase audiobooks

Reprinted from an Indian Territory newspaper, here is the earliest and most authoritative version of the story of the origins and migrations of the Cherokee people, as recounted by a noted member of the Keetoowah Society.

First recorded by Cornsilk (William Eubanks) from the recitation in Cherokee by Sahkiyah (Soggy) Sanders in 1890s Indian Territory, this tribal narrative has now been edited and published anew after a lapse of over a hundred years.

Cherokee Chapbooks #1

Click here to purchase audiobooks

Here is the earliest and most authoritative version of the story of the origins and migrations of the Cherokee people, as recounted by a noted member of the Keetoowah Society and published in the Indian Chieftan newspaper in the 1890s.

First recorded by Cornsilk (William Eubanks) from the recitation in Cherokee by Sahkiyah (Soggy) Sanders in 1890s Indian Territory, this tribal narrative has now been edited and published anew after a lapse of over a hundred years.

Cherokee Chapbooks #1

Click here to purchase audiobooks

“When we lived beyond the great waters there were twelve clans belonging to the Cherokee tribe. And back in the old country in which we lived the country was subject to great floods.” So begins the earliest and most complete version of the story of the origins and migrations of the Cherokee people, as recited by a noted member of the Keetoowah Society.

First recorded by Cornsilk (William Eubanks) from the recitation in Cherokee by Sahkiyah (Soggy) Sanders in 1890s Indian Territory, this tribal narrative has now been edited and published anew after a lapse of over a hundred years.

From the Author

In the world of Native Americans, oral communication takes the place of the written word in preserving their most valued “texts.” By a miracle of transmission, here is the earliest and most complete version of the story of the Cherokee people, from their origins in a land across the great waters to the coming of the white man. In olden times, it was recited at every Great Moon or Cherokee New Year festival so it could be learned by young people and the tribal lore perpetuated. It was set down in English in an Indian Territory newspaper by Cornsilk (the pen-name of William Eubanks) from the Cherokee language recitation of George Sahkiyah (Soggy) Sanders, a fellow Keetoowah Society priest, in 1892. We do not have anything anterior or more authentic than Eubanks and Sanders’ “Red Man’s Origin. Mystic and plain-spoken at the same time, “Red Man’s Origin” tells how the clans became seven in number, reorganized their religion in America and struggled to maintain their “half-sphere temple of light.” You will hear in Cornsilk’s original words about the true name of the Cherokee people, the totem Uktena serpent, divining crystals of the Urim and Thummin, “terrible Sa-ho-ni clan” and other Cherokee storytelling subjects. The brief narrative is here reprinted with an introduction, notes and line drawings from Native American history by Cherokee author Donald Panther-Yates.

I recall a starry night in Tennessee many years ago when I heard the traditional story of the Cherokee people’s origins from an elder. My emotions were mixed, ranging from “Why hadn’t I heard this before?” and being a bit peeved to a sublime sense of relief, resolution and gratitude. After that, my life seemed changed, more “figured out.” I felt as though the ancestors had spoken to me. When I stumbled on “Red Man’s Origin” in the Oklahoma Historical Society newspaper archives, I had a similar experience. It was electrifying, and I thought to myself, “Here is what has been missing all along!”

From the Inside Flap

This book Red Man’s Origin was published by Panther’s Lodge as part of its Cherokee Chapbooks Series in November 2011.

From the Back Cover

“When we lived beyond the great waters there were twelve clans belonging to the Cherokee tribe. And back in the old country in which we lived the country was subject to great floods . . . .” So begins the traditional tribal history that used to be recited at the Great Moon festival and other Cherokee gatherings. It was set down by Cornsilk, a newspaper editor, in 1896 on the basis of the original Cherokee words of his fellow Keetoowah Society priest, Soggy Sanders. Cryptic and hard to find, it is back in circulation again after more than a hundred years.

Biography

Donald N. Yates (also published as Donald Panther-Yates) was born in 1950 in Cedartown, Georgia and is of one-quarter Cherokee-Choctaw descent. His first book was The Bear Went over the Mountain, a genealogy and social history of the Yates family of Virginia. On his mother’s side he is descended from Black Fox, the last of the great Cherokee chiefs, and on his father’s side his ancestry includes Col. Will Thomas, the founder of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. His latest book is Old World Roots of the Cherokee: How DNA, Ancient Alphabets and Religion Explain the Origins of America’s Largest Indian Nation (published by McFarland in July 2012). He also publishes a series called Cherokee Chapbooks aimed at making essential texts and traditional American Indian storytelling accessible to those rediscovering their Native roots. He lives in Phoenix.

Click here to purchase audiobooks