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1Tadatse anetsodui (Go and play ball with them) Anetso in the Cherokee Narrative Tradition The inclusion of anetso in several Cherokee cultural narratives of different genres is one facet of its cultural cachet among members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Nation.1 Key Cherokee narratives include the ball game, either literally or as a figure of speech to indicate a contest or battle of some kind. Review of the received scholarly classification of narratives along with explication of the Cherokee mode of oral transmission of knowledge helps to illustrate this embedded importance. Situating these narratives in their given order as designated by Mooney and contextualizing them by presenting summaries of selected other salient narratives provides the framework for a brief but necessary overview of fundamental aspects of the “Cherokee religious system,” including cosmology and significant other-than-human persons.2 Certain other-than-human persons played the ball game or employed the figure of speech “to play ball against.” This linguistic turn of phrase also has surfaced in early historical records written by non-Cherokees reporting interchanges with Cherokee people. Even stripped of all theoretical window dressing, the fact that Cherokee people continue today to perform an action described in a number of their cultural narratives is noteworthy. Imagine for a moment reading a Hebrew Bible narrative in which the Israelites, wandering through the desert, stayed fit for battle, tested their physical skills, or even alleviated their boredom by kicking or throwing a ball around. The activity might include the whole community, either as participants or spectators, and display various aspects of the culture. Dancing, singing, special foods, clothing, and preparations all might be included, not to mention other ceremonial or religious activities. In another biblical narrative, mention of this well-known activity might be used as a figure of speech to refer to battle or engagement of some kind—“let’s play ball with the so-and-sos.” Future generations also might choose to com- 34 Tadatse anetsodui memorate certain events or to represent ideals important to the community by performing this activity. Next imagine an important biblical figure taking part in the activity. For example, instead of Jacob wrestling with God, the two might play lacrosse.3 This is an apt comparison, because in fact this wrestling match is a signal event in the Genesis narrative. As a result, Jacob is renamed “Israel,” or “The one who strives with God,” and “the community of Israel, as descendants of this god-wrestler, is depicted as a group that successfully strives with God and humans.”4 Now consider what significance this activity would have if people were still participating in it today, accompanied by other actions that both Cherokee people and non-Cherokee scholars have identified as ritual practices. This analogy begins to describe the enduring cultural significance of anetso, the ball game, and how it is grounded in the Cherokee narrative tradition. Classification of Cherokee Narratives Published Cherokee narratives abound, yet scholarly analysis of Cherokee narratives is slim. The only attempted typology that I have located is James Mooney’s, and his collection of narratives is the most comprehensive. Thus sources for my study begin with Mooney’s Myths of the Cherokee, which includes 125 narratives, and continue with his handwritten notes for the publication housed in the National Anthropological Archives.5 Mooney stated that “Cherokee myths may be roughly classified as sacred myths, animal stories, local legends, and historical traditions.”6 He furthered subdivided them as follows: “Cosmogonic Myths”; “Quadruped Myths”; “Bird Myths”; “Snake, fish, and insect Myths”; “Wonder Stories”; “Historical Traditions”; and “Miscellaneous Myths and Legends.”7 Overall, there is some confusion to Mooney’s organization, and he never satisfactorily explained his divisions. Keith Basso’s delineation of the major categories of Western Apache speech, including the category “‘to tell of holiness,’” may be helpful in formulating a theory of Cherokee speech acts, but that is beyond the scope of this study.8 Because this is the most comprehensive account of the Cherokee narrative schema extant, and the order of the narrative cycle and the typological classifications are both Mooney’s, any speculation about these details is of limited value. However, perhaps an analogue to this situation is that of James R. Walker’s collection of Lakota narratives; possibly Mooney had an idealized mythology that he was arbitrarily reconstructing, in the same way Walker molded a Lakota corpus to fit a preconceived framework based on Greek and Roman mythology.9 On the other hand, it may...

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