Customer Reviews

The Cherokee Indians (Native Peoples)

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This exquisite book is one of a series whose purpose is to help school children understand complex Native American cultures. Others in the series deal with Comanche, Iroquois, Ojibwa, Seminole, and Pomo Indians. The format, photography and text are all excellent, designed to capture and hold the young reader's attention while teaching facts about Cherokee myths, legends, religion, history, social and political organization, and daily lives. Included are many "odds and ends" of useful information, including relevant internet sites. The author shows surprising restraint when discussing Andrew Jackson and the Trail of Tears (perhaps too much from this Cherokee's biased perspective): " President Andrew Jackson used the U.S. Army [to remove Cherokees from their homes.] The army captured all the Cherokees they could find. They forced them to move to Oklahoma. Most Cherokees had to walk the entire distance. . . . More than 4,000 died on the journey. This is why it is called the Trail of Tears. (17)" One mild criticism: the "Words to Know" section seems inadequate, even condescending. A simple lexicon of Cherokee words would have been nice. Nonetheless, THE CHEROKEE INDIANS is a must for every elementary school library.

Wow.

The boy in Plains Powwow regalia on the cover is your first warning about the accuracy of this book. Not only do the "facts" stated in this book do not correspond to reality; they also don't correspond to each other. On one page we learn parts of Wisconsin and Canada are Cherokee lands, but on the following page the accurate lands are listed (TN, NC, SC, VA, WV, KY, GA, AL, and AR). Some accurate facts are incredibly helpful: "Cherokees spoke their own Cherokee language" -- now I know, thank you! The photo of Ronald Reagan is a wonderful complement to the powwow kids. Abysmal -- poorly written, arbitrary, inconsistent. There is such an abundance of information available about this tribe that there is absolutely no excuse for this book to have been published.

I checked out this book from the public library to help me research Cherokee Indians. I plan on including a Cherokee Indian in my current novel. The Cherokee Indians by Bill Lund was a great resource for quick and basic information about the history and customs of the Cherokee Indians. I believe children can learn a lot about this amazing group by reading this book; it is twenty-four pages of great pictures and important information.

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