One of the great figures in Cherokee history, Dragging Canoe (Tsiyu Gansini) has been sometimes maligned by historians and otherwise relegated to near obscurity in scholarly journals. One likely reason for that is that Dragging Canoe rose to prominence during the American Revolution and, because of the circumstances of the time, was set against the rebellious colonies during that turbulent period. Patriotism, it would seem, has demanded over the years that all enemies of the revolution be deemed-- by historians of the United States-- monsters, madmen, or at the least, villains. Perhaps. Yet Tecumseh, who grew out of the same grand scheme that was developed by Dragging Canoe and who also fought with the British against the United States, has not been dealt with thus.

Perhaps the fact that the Cherokees, in the minds of so many people, are regarded highly as a "civilized" Indian tribe has something to do with Americans' not wanting to acknowledge the greatness of Dragging Canoe. His cousin Nancy Ward is seen as a friend of the white Americans and a proponent of progress. Since Dragging Canoe and she did not agree, he must be seen, I suppose, as her opposite.

Whatever the reason, Dragging Canoe certainly deserves a place in history and in our hearts and minds alongside other great Native leaders who defended their soil and their ways of life by resisting the encroachment of foreigners on their land. Because of that, I have long felt the need for a new treatment of the life and career of Dragging Canoe in a popular format. In following such a course, even having exhausted the resources for information, I found it necessary to use a considerable amount of imagination to fill in some gaps. Such is always the case with historical fiction, but I hope that where I have done that, the depiction is true to the times and to the people. Such has been my intention.

There may be some who will quarrel with the characterizations I have given certain historical figures. My only defense is that I gave the characters such qualities as the historical record indicated to me. My particular point of view and bias is decidedly and unashamedly Cherokee and, more specifically, pro Dragging Canoe and the Chickamaugan movement.

Dragging Canoe was certainly on target when he predicted that there was a danger that some day nothing would be left of Native People but their "names imperfectly recorded." The evidence of his startling foresight is in the historical records, where history has left us with such names as Moytoy, Amouskossittee, Attacullaculla, Cotetoy, Cunecote, Totaiahoi, and many others, equally un-Cherokee in appearance and unpronounceable to a Cherokee speaker. Where close examination of these names, or research, or the help of fluent speakers of the Cherokee language has allowed me to arrive at the probable original from which these atrocities were arrived, I have used that probable original name in my text. For example, I have used 'Ma'dohi rather than Moytoy, Ada-gal'kala rather than Attacullaculla, and so on. Explanations are provided in the glossary following the text. Where I have been unable to untangle an incorrectly recorded name, I have used the corrupt form and made a note of it in the glossary.

In my search for the proper form of names as well as in examining the history and the lives of the people involved in this story, I have relied heavily on the following texts: History of the Cherokee Indians by Emmet Starr; The Cherokees by Grace Steele Woodward; The Dividing Paths by Tom Hartley; Historical Sketch of the Cherokee by James Mooney; "Notable Persons in Cherokee History: Attakullakulla" by James C. Kelly, "The Battle of Lookout Mountain: An Eyewitness Account" by George Christian, edited by E. Raymond Evans, "The Counsel of Caleb Starr" by Jim Stokely, all in Journal of Cherokee Studies. Volume III, No. 1; "Notable Persons in Cherokee History: Dragging Canoe" by E. Raymond Evans, in Journal of Cherokee Studies. Volume II, No. 1; Weaving New Worlds by Sarah H. Hill; The Southern Indians by R. S. Cotterill; When Shall They Rest by Peter Collier; "Oconostota" by James C. Kelly in Journal of Cherokee Studies. Volume III, No. 4; "Notable Persons in Cherokee History: Bob Benge" by E. Raymond Evans, in Journal of Cherokee Studies. Volume I, No. 2; Heart of the Eagle: Dragging Canoe and the Emergence of the Chickamauga Confederacy by Brent Yanusdi Cox; John Ross: Cherokee Chief by Gary E. Moulton; Adair's History of the American Indians edited by Samuel Cole Williams; History of the Indian Tribes of the United States by Henry Schoolcraft; Treaties and Agreements of the Five Civilized Tribes by the Institute for the Development of Indian Law.

For cultural and ethnological information, Myths of the Cherokee and Sacred Formulas of the Cherokee by James Mooney; The Swimmer Manuscript: Cherokee Sacred Formulas and Medicinal Prescriptions by James Mooney; Cherokee Dance and Drama by Frank G. Speck and Leonard Broom in collaboration with Will West Long; Fire and the Spirits by Rennard Strickland; A Law of Blood by John Phillip Reid; The Cherokee Perspective by Laurence French and Jim Hornbuckle; The Southeastern Indians by Charles Hudson.

For language, Cherokee-English Dictionary by Durbin Feeling, edited by William Pulte; Dictionary of the Cherokee Language compiled by J. T. Alexander; How to Talk Trash in Cherokee by Don Grooms and John Oocumma; and Mooney's glossary for Myths.

In addition, I am greatly in debt to my good friends Tom Belt, Gregg Howard, and Tommy Wildcat for their valuable assistance with the Cherokee language, and to Earnie Frost, Wilma Mankiller, Brent Cox, Chad Smith, Murv Jacob, and others for fascinating and useful discussions on Cherokee history and culture. There are probably others I should have named here, and for any such lapses of memory, I sincerely apologize.

And of course and always to my lovely wife, Guwisti, for gracefully putting up with the life of a writer.

Robert J. Conley
Tahlequah