Cherokee Myths

Birds

• How the Kingfisher Got His Bill
• How the Partridge Got His Whistle
• How the Redbird Got His Color
• How the Turkey Got His Beard
• The Ball Game of the Birds and Animals
• The Bird Tribes
• The Eagle’s Revenge
• The Huhu Gets Married
• The Hunter and the Buzzard
• The Owl Gets Married
• The Pheasant Beating Corn
• The Race Between the Crane and the Hummingbird
• Why the Buzzard’s Head Is Bare
• Why the Turkey Gobbles

Cosmos

• How the World Was Made
• How They Brought Back the Tobacco
• Kana′Tĭ and Selu
• Origin of Disease and Medicine
• Origin of Strawberries
• Origin of the Pleiades and the Pine
• The Daughter of the Sun
• The Deluge
• The First Fire
• The Great Yellow-Jacket
• The Journey to the Sunrise
• The Milky Way
• The Moon and the Thunders
• What the Stars Are Like

Fourfooted

• Flint Visits the Rabbit
• How the Deer Got His Horns
• How the Rabbit Stole the Otter’s Coat
• How the Terrapin Beat the Rabbit
• How the Wildcat Caught the Gobbler
• Origin of the Groundhog Dance
• The Fourfooted Tribes
• The Migration of the Animals
• The Rabbit and the Possum After a Wife
• The Rabbit and the Tar Wolf
• The Rabbit Dines the Bear
• The Rabbit Escapes from the Wolves
• The Rabbit Goes Duck Hunting
• The Terrapin’s Escape from the Wolves
• The Wolf’s Revenge
• What Became of the Rabbit
• Why the Deer’s Teeth Are Blunt
• Why the Mink Smells
• Why the Mole Lives Underground
• Why the Possum’s Tail Is Bare

Miscellaneous

• Baby Song, to Please the Children
• The Bullfrog Lover
• The Ignorant Housekeeper
• The Katydid’s Warning
• The Man in the Stump
• The Mother Bear’s Song
• The Raven Mocker
• The Smaller Reptiles—Fishes and Insects
• The Star Feathers
• The Two Old Men
• The Wren And The Cricket
• Two Lazy Hunters
• Why the Bullfrog’s Head Is Striped

Snakes

• Âgăn-Uni′Tsĭ’s Search for the Uktena
• The Hunter and the Uksu′Hĭ
• The Rattlesnake’s Vengeance
• The Red Man and the Uktena
• The Snake Boy
• The Snake Man
• The Snake Tribe
• The Uktena and the Ulûñsû′Tĭ
• The Ustû′Tlĭ
• The Uwʼtsûñ′Ta

Wonder

• Atagâ′Hĭ, the Enchanted Lake
• Kăna′Sta, The Lost Settlement
• Nûñ′Yunu′Wĭ, the Stone Man
• Origin of the Bear
• The Bear Man
• The Bride from the South
• The Great Leech of Tlanusi′Yĭ
• The Haunted Whirlpool
• The Hunter and Selu
• The Hunter and the Tlă′Nuwă
• The Hunter in the Dăkwă′
• The Ice Man
• The Man who Married the Thunder’s Sister
• The Nest of the Tlă′Nuwă
• The Nûñnĕ′Hĭ and Other Spirit Folk
• The Removed Townhouses
• The Spirit Defenders of Nĭkwăsĭ′
• The Tsundige′Wĭ
• The Underground Panthers
• The Water Cannibals
• Tsulʻkălû′, the Slant-Eyed Giant
• Tsuwe′Năhĭ
• Uʻtlûñ′Tă, the Spear-Finger
• Ûñtsaiyĭ′, the Gambler
• Yahula

This project showcases the use of Web Origami to create a text-focused site with a table of contents and full-text search. You can view the source for this site on GitHub.

The featured stories come from Myths of the Cherokee by James Mooney, first published in 1900, via Project Gutenberg. This sample content was selected because it’s free, interesting, and deserves to be better known. Like all Native American ethnographies conducted by outsiders long ago, the material is flawed. Nevertheless, reviews of this text on sites such as Amazon and Goodreads, including reviews from people claiming Cherokee ancestry, are generally positive. If you have reason to believe a myth here should be corrected or removed, please file an issue.

See the official Cherokee Nation site for information about the Cherokee people today.