Talking stones: Cherokee syllabary in Manitou Cave, Alabama

Inside Manitou Cave in modem Alabama, nineteenth-century Cherokees carried out sacred ceremonies, recording their activities on the walls using Cherokee syllabary, a system invented in nearby Willstown by Cherokee scholar Sequoyah. Through collaboration between modern Cherokee scholars and Euro-Amer...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Antiquity 2019-04, Vol.93 (368), p.519-536
Main Authors: Carroll, Beau Duke, Cressler, Alan, Belt, Tom, Reed, Julie, Simek, Jan F
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
19th century
Analysis
Anthropological research
Archaeology
Cave art
Caves
Cherokees
Collaboration
Discovery and exploration
Hunting
Inscriptions
Native Americans
Native languages
Native North Americans
Relocation
Rites & ceremonies
Secluded
Sequoyah (George Guess)
Syllabaries
Talking
Time use
Translations
Walls
Writing
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Summary:Inside Manitou Cave in modem Alabama, nineteenth-century Cherokees carried out sacred ceremonies, recording their activities on the walls using Cherokee syllabary, a system invented in nearby Willstown by Cherokee scholar Sequoyah. Through collaboration between modern Cherokee scholars and Euro-American archaeologists, the authors report and interpret--for the first time--the inscriptions in Manitou Cave. These reveal evidence fior secluded ceremonial activities at a time of crisis for the Cherokee. Pressures from the surrounding white populations disrupted the Cherokee ancient lifeways, culminating in their forcible relocation in the 1830s along the Trail of Tears.
ISSN:0003-598X
1745-1744
DOI:10.15184/aqy.2019.15