Cherokee Customs and Traditions: Government, Spiritual Beliefs, and Society - Prof. Bou, Apuntes de Cultura Inglesa

¡Descarga Cherokee Customs and Traditions: Government, Spiritual Beliefs, and Society - Prof. Bou y más Apuntes en PDF de Cultura Inglesa solo en Docsity! Cherokee customs Cherokee culture varies from clan to clan, or location to location. The following is general Cherokee customs. Government → According to oral tradition, there was a time when Cherokees were ruled by priesthood called the ani-Kutani. But a priest took away a young man’s wife, and he organized a revolt and all the priest were killed. Since then, they have had a democratic government. The whole Cherokee nation was unified by language, customs and its clan system, but they hadn’t centralized government or written laws. Each town governed themselves by democratic consensus. Every town had their own: Priest Peace chief War chief Spirits and supernatural beings → they believed in Little Person, who were tiny fellows with long hair. They were helpful and kind-hearted, and Cherokee people were not allowed to talk about them in seven years if they saw one. They also believed in ghosts, who were the spirits of death people that had decided to stay on Earth. They four winds were the Creator’s messengers, and its mission were to attend the cycle of the four seasons of the year Sacred animals → Cougar and the owl, there were animal that, according to the tradition, were remained awake the seven nights of the creation. That’s why they are nocturnal animal. Cherokee society → Clan system → each Cherokee belonged to his mother’s clan, which was thought to descend from a common relative. There were seven clan, which had a special name. Its English translation was: wolf, deer, bird, paint, long hair, blind savannah and holly. All these clans together were called the Cherokee Nation. Women → had significant power and authority. Matrilineal kinship system → a person is only related to people on his mother side. Thus the children are related to his mother’s family, but with their father. The most important male relative is the mother’s brother. Bibliography • http://www.aaanativearts.com/cherokee/cherokee-culture.htm