Even Heaven Falls Apart: Cherokee Cosmology from Creation to 2012 and Beyond
Brian Wilkes began to study the ancient Native American timekeeping systems in the 1990s. After visiting Cherokee Elders in Oklahoma and the Smokey Mountains, he began to see the connections with the Aztec and Mayans Calendars of Mexico and Central America. When the late Cherokee author Raven Hail broke the silence on the subject in 2000, he began to see more in the multi-layered Calendar, and came to know day keepers from other nations as well as Cherokee descendants who were keeping the traditions alive.  An educator by training, Wilkes continues to teach the Cherokee language online at www.SpeakCherokee.com, and to provide calculations and analyses to clients, but also sees the Calendar as a "table of contents" for a series of traditional teaching stories. In 2006 his work was recognized by the governor and assembly of Kentucky, who awarded him the state's highest honor, the rank of colonel.  He is the author of Cherokee Calendar 2013/ Nvdodisesdi Ditsalagi, and the Cherokee Ephemeris series, and well as numerous language teaching aids and titles in business and personal consulting. He currently resides in southern Illinois.