The Cherokee Beloved Woman/War Woman: Then and Now

24 The Cherokee Beloved Woman/War Woman: Then and Now by Elaine Fowler Palencia Every artist or writer who closely identifies with a place confronts the problem ofhow to make both a particular, regional statement and a universal one. Those Appalachian artists who seek not only to speak to fellow Appalachians but also to enable the world at large to appreciate, even to identify with, what it means to be Appalachian and what is universal in the Appalachian experience, have a truly difficult task; for "Appalachian" in the popular imagination has little to do with the reality. It is well known, of course, that Appalachian writers, folklorists and 25 artists have long looked to the history of the region as a source ofuniversal themes and symbols. Women artists and writers naturallyhavebeeninspiredbythehistory and daily lives of Appalachian women; and so we have, for example, Harriet Arnow's Gertie Nevéis, who touches the hearts of readers everywhere. Untilrecently, however, the history of Indian women has remained relatively untapped. Now, strong and enduring female figures are emerging from that history to claim a place in the regional consciousness. They are being rediscovered as a source of metaphor, symbol, and inspiration by women artists and writers in Appalachia. One such figure is the Beloved Woman or War Woman of the Cherokee. The message she sends through the work of these artists is both specificto her timeandplacein Cherokee history and also universal in potential impact. I The figure of the strong and benevolent woman who protects the tribe seems to have been present from the first moments of shared history between Indian and white in the Appalachian region. For example, in 1540, Hernando de Soto led an expedition through what is now the southeastern part of the United States in search of gold. For seven days of his journey he was guided by a beautiful and generous Indian cicicau or chieftainess known to history as The Lady of Cofitachequi, from the village by that name on the Savannah River. De Soto took the Lady, probably a Creek, and her female slaves with himas ameansof guaranteeing safe passage through her lands. But on the seventh night, the Lady, a slave woman, andacasketofpearls disappeared into the forest, leaving the Spaniards to findtheirown way. l Laterhistorians have speculated that perhaps she intended to lead the greedy Spaniards away from her people and lose them in the mountains, much as Coronado was led astray in the West,2 or that she wantedto lead them into War Woman Trap the lands of her enemies, including the Cherokee.3 Whatever her motive, this Indian woman seems to have been instrumental in bringing about the first Cherokee contact with whites. Most general histories and eyewitness accounts of the Indians ofthe southeastern United States remark upon the relatively significant social status of Indian women compared to that of white women of the same period. It is the Cherokee who provide the most striking illustration ofinfluence of Indian women. Although Cherokee men had greater political power, kinship was matrilineal. Upon marriage a husbandjoined his wife's clan; and children belonged to their mother's clan. The family home and its contents belonged to the woman. Women had their own local council, distinct from the town council, as well as a National Women's Council. Moreover, some women distinfuished themselves in battle and became nown to the white observers as War Women.4 Henry Timberlake, who lived among the Cherokee in the early 1760s, 26 noted further: ". . . war women, who can no longergo to warbut have distinguished themselves in their younger days, have the title of Beloved. This is the only title females can enjoy; but it abundantly recompenses them, through the power they acquire by it, which is so great, that they can, bythewaveofaswan swing, deliver a wretch condemned by the council and already tied to the stake."5 War women, by virtue oftheir conduct in battle and the fact that they were mothers of warriors, were allowed to attend war councils and to offer advice on strategy. Early Anglo observers, in an effort to understand the phenomenon of these women who could fight, advise and nurture, linked them to an old Greek...