Arkansas true Democrat., 1859-10-12
From the Et. Smith Times.
TfOm the Tt. Smlth Times. The Cherokees-Pecuh as an Indian Tribe Their Language Alphabet / Manners and Customs.

From the Ft. Smith Times. The Cherokees-Peculiarit as an Indian
 Tribe - Their Language Alphabet
 Manners and Customs.
 In our last issue, in speaking of the lam guage of the Chcrokees, we forgot to men, ton that there are two distinct dialects spo. ken among them, one called the Overhill, or Mountain dialect, and the other. which IS by far the most used, called the Gee-too- wa-gee. In the Overhill dialect, there is used instead of the l. and in the latter, yisa 0erso. For instance the Overhill or Noun tam Indians, in speaking the name of their tribes call 1t Isarake and in the latter Tsa-la gee, and so with every word where the IS used by one the is used by the other, and the r with the Mountain Indians IS twlrled as much as the Irish with their brogue. In other places where the u is used by the Gee-t -toowa-gees, the Mountain Indians use tS, as for instance in the word tla-no, by the Gee-too-wa gees, the Over hull say tsa-no, which in English is no. and Tn all such words where the u is used by the one, the ts is used by the other. We sald that where the is used by the one, the I IS used by the other but the above, in reference to the tl is an exception In the word used for Cop, the Overhil say Oo- na-va-nv-hee, and the other dialect says, Oo-na-la nv-hee, which means Creator.
 But notwithstanding the difference in those two dialects, they converse with ease among themselves, and there appears to be no difficulty in understanding each other In many instances where one of the parents speak one dialect, and the other speaks the other, the children are apt to get the two dialects mixed The Indians that speak the Overhill dialect are from the mountains of what Is known as North Carolina, Vir- ginia and Georgia. The Ge-too-wa gees are from the valleys of the Tennessee river, the low lands of Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama.
 The tradition of the Cherokees is almost lost, and but few of those living can give anything like true traditionary history of their nation, and 1t is to be regretted that they have never been written down by those among them who were capable, and pre- serving the many interesting traditions of these peculiar people. They are in every sense of the word peculiar in their charac- teristics, when compared Co the neighbor- ing tribes. As a general thing their com pleXion Is much brighter than the Choc- jaws, Creeks, Seminoles, or Chickasaws. Their physiognomy is very different, and they are, as nation, of very sharp and perceptive minds. Shrewd in driving & bargain. and quick to resent an insult- But their intercourse with the whites has changed their character in many respects.
 They have tradition of the creation. and the flood, agreeing in many particulars with the Mosaic account. They also had ill days gone by, many feasts, such as New Moons and the feast, or as it is now called, the "Green corn dance" This was always observed when green corn was ripe, and no one was permitted to eat of it until they took medicine, and were scratched or scarf fled, which was generally performed by their old men, with rattlesnake's tooth, or small piece of gar's bill, which is filled with fine teeth. All of the full blood Indians are marked on the arms and legs with these qualifications. After they had gone through with this process, each neigh borhood, or town as it was called, met at the Town house, where they denced, and eat new corn. The green corn dance we cannot describe accurately, 1t having be- come obsolete many years ago-nearlv 30. Each town had what they called a ga-tee- ye, or town house, made of polls, covered with pine bark, and generally built in a cir cie, running up at the top like a cone, with all opening to let out the smoke. At this bn inl children, at stated periods to keep their teasts and dance. The meetings were ge- nerally conducted by the old men, who were expert in all of the traditions of their fore fathers; and here they made speeches, and gave them their traditions as they learned them, and by this means they were handed down from one generation to another.- But now, there IS no such thing as a town house in the Cherokee Nation, or an old man who is able to give any information of these things, in correct manner.
 A we stated last week, the Cherokee language is fast dying out, and the ancient manners and customs of the tribe are al- most forgotten, and none of them observed by the present generation. In fact, within our knowledge, the manner of deliverino q epeech in Cherokee is quite different from that used by the old speakers of the nation such, for instance as the manner of the old Cherokee Speaker of the Council, Go- ing Snake, or as the Indians called him, E-na-ta-na-ee. With the Cherokees at one day, public speaking was considered great gift, and 1t was cultivated with care, and we have heard old men say, that g. great many of their public speakers were eloquent. Major Ridge who was killed by ms people, twenty years ago, was said to have been an eloquent and forcible speaker. lie was able to take his hearers along with him on any subject-was fine looking, and brave man, having fought throughout the Creek war with General Jackson, and it was Tn that war he received the title of Major, which he ever retained until his death. He was nearly 80 years old when he was killed
 The Cherokees were never idolators. so far as we have been able to learn. They always believed in one God, whom they denominated Creator, and had no such name as Gredt Spirit, as the whites gene rally attribute to all the Indians. They ~ A4 'J ioi " PiaCe oI punlSnmenJ, nor any idea of going to other hunting grounds. They generally buried their dead, in old times, by throwing large piles of stone upon them, or by placing the body in cave. Their present mode of burial is like the whites.
 There was class of old men among the Cherokees, who were the coniurers or di- vines, who conducted all their feasts, dances, ball plays, and were consulted on all i'm portant matters, and in many respects were like the Seers, or prophets of the Israe lites They pretended to foretell events, and some to make rain, thunder, etc. In sickness acted as doctors, and at their pub lie gatherings delivered speeches, in word, they were the oracles that the Cnerokees consulted on all occasions But their power and influence is gone, and those that yet live, if any, are regarded by the young. as objects only to be laughed at In our next we shall give short account of the invention of the Cherokee Alphabet, and the inventor, George Guess, known among the Indians by the name of See-quo-yah.