The Moravian Springplace Mission to the Cherokees, Abridged Edition

Contents

Contents List of Maps. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi Series Editors’ Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xv Editorial Policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xix Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Chapter . Significant Events and Themes at Springplace Mission between  and  . . . . 13 Conversion, Moravian Style. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Principal Converts to the Moravian Church . . . 15 James Vann’s Rejection of Christianity . . . . . . . 18 Annuity Distribution at Vann’s Plantation. . . . . 18 Cherokee Education, Moravian Style. . . . . . . . . 24 Children’s Illnesses at the Mission . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Removal of Children from the Mission School . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Rumors of Mistreatment of Students. . . . . . . . . 35 Runaway Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Rumors of Abductions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Rumors of Hunger. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Children’s “Errant” Behavior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 A Child’s Death at the Mission . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Use of Alcohol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Travelers and Notable Visitors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Earthquakes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 Creek War of 1813–14 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Chapter . Continuity of Traditional Cherokee Cultural Traits . . . . . . . . 64 Cherokees’ Concept of Land and Land Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 Voices in Cherokee Councils . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 Moravians and the U.S. Government. . . . . . . . . 73 Cherokee Agricultural Practices. . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 Cherokee Traditional Rituals and Contact with Christianity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 Trade. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 Cherokee Law and Punishment . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 Green Corn Ceremony . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 Ball Play . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 Cherokee Origin Stories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 Cherokees’ Responses to Christian Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 Epilogue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 Notes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117 ...