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2017 SOLAR ECLIPSE

Scare the frog! Eclipse holds place in Cherokee legend

Steve Ahillen
Knoxville

Scare off the frog.

Eclipses, both lunar and solar, play a fascinating part in Cherokee legend.

Kathi Littlejohn, a member of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee, said the solar eclipse coming Aug. 21 likely would have sparked a wild ceremony in the 1700s.

“When the sun or moon is eclipsed it is because a great frog up in the sky is trying to swallow it,” said Kathi Littlejohn, a member of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee.

Littlejohn, her husband, Leroy, and John Grant Jr., all Cherokee, will tell stories of their ancestors at an eclipse viewing event on Clingmans Dome on that day.

More:Complete coverage of the total solar eclipse in East Tennessee

The sold-out celebration also includes an astronaut and a British scholar among its speakers.

Cherokee history and eclipses

Kathi Littlejohn has researched the part eclipses have played in Cherokee history and legend.

“The earliest record I have found is 1736 when a man named James Adair wrote that the first lunar eclipse he saw while living with the Indians was with the Cherokee,” she said.

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“He said, ‘They all ran wild, this way and that, like lunatics, firing their guns, whooping and hallooing, beating of kettles, ringing horse bells and making the most horrid noises that human beings possibly could. This was the effect of their natural philosophy and done to assist the suffering moon.’ ”

This, Kathi Littlejohn said, is indication that Indians had experienced eclipses before and knew how to deal with them.

“When the sun or moon is eclipsed it is because a great frog up in the sky is trying to swallow it,” she explained. “Everyone knows this, even the Creeks and other tribes, and in olden times, whenever they saw the sun grow dark the people would come together and fire guns and beat the drum, and in a little while this would frighten off the great frog and the sun would be all right again.”

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Where to get solar eclipse glasses in Knoxville

Countdown to the eclipse

Kathi Littlejohn cites James Mooney’s “History, Myths and Sacred Formulas of the Cherokees” and said the story of the great frog has been told for 10,000 years.

“We have several stories that are about the moon and the sun, and in Cherokee the word is the same for both — ‘nunda’ that dwells in the night and nunda that swells in the day,” she said.

Her husband speaks English as a second language, communicating only Cherokee until he went to school at age 6. At the celebration, he will tell the Cherokee tale of how the moon was thrown in the sky. He will relate the story in English and Cherokee.

Clingmans Dome's significance 

Clingmans Dome also holds a place in Cherokee history.

“We called it ‘Kuwa’hi’ or Mulberry Place,” she explained. “We want to educate people to the fact that we have a history with Clingmans Dome way before it became known by that name.”

Kathi Littlejohn said she is happy to be a part of the Aug. 21 celebration.

“We agreed to perform with the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and NASA because they are planning their viewing event with the intent of including the people who live near the park and the history and cultural traditions of eclipses, and not just a place to view the eclipse.”