How did Native American elders learn so much about ancient healing and medicine? According to one legend, seven elders learned this wisdom from a “little person” they sought out to capture one night. This legend and many more tales of notable Cherokee people and events are all captured in “The Willie Jumper Stories,” a collection of tales written by Cherokee Baptist priest Willie Jumper in 1964.
The stories offer valuable insight not only into Cherokee culture and tradition, but language as well. This is why Northeastern University’s Digital Archive of Indigenous Language Persistence is creating a digitally edited and annotated collection of all of Jumper’s stories.
