Yunwi Tsunsdi


Anthropologist James Mooney (1861–1921) recorded a wealth of stories about Cherokee little people in his book Myths of the Cherokee. One story tells of the Yunwi Tsunsdi, a handsome people with long hair falling to the ground that barely stood tall enough to reach a person’s knee. “They are great wonder workers and are very fond of music, spending half their time drumming and dancing,” wrote Mooney. He continued by saying they “live in rock caves on the mountain side.”

According to Mooney, the Yunwi Tsunsdi were kind-hearted and friendly. When people, especially small children, got lost in the mountains, these little people would look after them, care for them, and help them find their way home.

Little Helpers

Mooney told the following story of the Yunwi Tsunsdi looking after a man who had fallen ill and wandered from his home:

During the smallpox among the East Cherokee just after the war one sick man wandered off, and his friends searched, but could not find him. After several weeks he came back and said that the Little People had found him and taken him to one of their caves and tended him until he was cured.

Do Not Disturb!

Though mostly good natured, the Yunwi Tsunsdi had a dark side. They did not like to be disturbed. They also hated eavesdroppers. The Cherokee knew this and warned of following the sound the drum of the little people. The sound could lead one into trouble. According to Mooney:

The Little People do not like to be disturbed at home, and they throw a spell over the stranger so that he is bewildered and loses his way, and even if he does at last get back to the settlement, he is like one dazed ever after.

These little people often made their way into Cherokee towns. This, of course, invited curiosity; however, the warnings on eavesdropping remained in effect. According to Mooney, one whose curiosity got the better of them might fall dead:

Sometimes, also, they come near a house at night and the people inside hear them talking, but they must not go out, and in the morning, they find the corn gathered or the field cleared as if a whole force of men had been at work. If anyone should go out to watch, he would die.

Mooney recounted a story in which the Yunwi Tsunsdi threatened death on a hunter who stumbled upon their lair if he revealed its location:

Once a hunter in winter found tracks in the snow like the tracks of little children. He wondered how they could have come there and followed them until they led him to a cave, which was full of Little People, young and old, men, women, and children. They brought him in and were kind to him, and he was with them some time; but when he left they warned him that he must not tell or he would die. He went back to the settlement and his friends were all anxious to know where he had been. For a long time he refused to say, until at last he could not hold out any longer, but told the story, and in a few days he died.

Yunwi Tsunsdi Territory

The Yunwi Tsunsdi were territorial. Hunters would often find small knives or trinkets in the woods but could not take them without asking permission. Mooney wrote that when a hunter wanted to remove an object, “he must say, “Little People, I want to take this,” because it may belong to them, and if he does not ask their permission, they will throw stones at him as he goes home.”

The Yunwi Tsunsdi were easily offended and the Cherokee had to always be on guard to avoid upsetting the little people. Mooney recorded a story in which they broke off their relationship with the residents of a town with whom they once been friendly:

Once the Yunwi Tsunsdi had been very kind to the people of a certain settlement, helping them at night with their work and taking good care of any lost children, until something happened to offend them and they made up their minds to leave the neighborhood. Those who were watching at the time saw the whole company of Little People come down to the ford of the river and cross over and disappear into the mouth of a large cave on the other side. They were never heard of near the settlement again.

So, from Mooney’s accounts, it seems it was easy to offend the Yunwi Tsunsdi. That said, for the most part, they were good natured and friendly toward the Cherokee. The Yunwi Tsunsdi and Cherokee were able to coexist.

Tricksters

In tales spanning the globe, little people often play the role of tricksters. A trickster is a character in a story who has some sort of secret knowledge. It then uses this to trick or mislead people. Tricksters can be animals (such as the coyote) gods, goddess, spirits, or humans. Tricksters oftentimes defy common sense and logic and throw normal rules and societal conventions out the window. Mooney does not affix the label of trickster to the Yunwi Tsunsdi. In the following story, however, they may have played a trickster role in at least a small way:

About twenty-five years ago a man named Tsantawu’ was lost in the mountains on the head of Oconaluftee. It was winter time and very cold and his friends thought he must be dead, but after sixteen days he came back and said that the Little People had found him and taken him to their cave, where he had been well treated, and given plenty of everything to eat except bread. This was in large loaves, but when he took them in his hand to eat they seemed to shrink into small cakes so light and crumbly that though he might eat all day he would not be satisfied. After he was well rested they had brought him a part of the way home until they came to a small creek, about knee deep, when they told him to wade across to reach the main trail on the other side. He waded across and turned to look back, but the Little People were gone and the creek was a deep river. When he reached home his legs were frozen to the knees and he lived only a few days.

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