Book
Fire and the spirits: Cherokee law fron clan to court
University of Oklahoma Press • 133 • Published In 1975 • Pages: xx, 260
By: Strickland, Rennard.
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This document is a description and analysis of the transformation of Cherokee law and justice from the time of the first specialized Cherokee legal institutions and law codes in 1808 until the dissolution of the Cherokee court system by the U.S. Federal government in 1898. As a basis for understanding this transformation the author begins with an examination of traditional Cherokee law, its spiritual foundation and the traditional mechanisms for adjusting grievances and applying sanctions. According to the author, the transformation of Cherokee law and legal system and its consequences were only partly a product of European contact and European legal culture. In addition, the transformation was a conscious effort by the Cherokees, especially mixed-blood Cherokees, to fashion a legal system that preserved Cherokee goals and values and was adapted to interaction with the larger White society. Thus, this study of Cherokee law is also a study of the forging of a Cherokee national identity under the pressure of European contact. This document includes a chronology of Cherokee legal history, a summary of early Cherokee laws and the text of the Cherokee constitution of 1827.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Sociocultural trends
- History
- Legal and judicial personnel
- Ethos
- Form and rules of government
- Law
- Police
- Offenses and sanctions
- Government institutions
- Justice
- Informal in-group justice
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Cherokee
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 2000
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- North America
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Eastern Woodlands
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- Book
- Evaluation
- Creator TypesThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Historian
- Lawyer
- Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
- 4: Excellent Secondary Data
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- Gerald Reid ; John Beierle ; 1987 ; John Beierle
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- no date
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1540-1907
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Oklahoma and southeastern [especially North Carolina] United States
- NotesAdditional notes
- by Rennard Strickland ; foreword by Neill H. Alford, Jr.
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 239-254) and index
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 74015903
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Cherokee Indians