Cherokee Tribe
of
Northeast Alabama
P.O. Box 66 Grant, AL 35747
The Legend of the Corn Bead
(Permission to use obtained from Choogie Kingfisher - CNO Culture Coordinator)
As the soldiers came to each household to gather the Cherokee people together many wept tears of sadness over the loss of homes and personal belongings. Many were only allowed to take what they could carry and many were not allowed to take anything at all. As the people were taken from their homes they would cry out asking the CREATOR to send a miracle.
Many realized that these things would happen according to some of our old teachings, but they still wept because this was the only home they had ever known. The CREATOR looked down upon his children, the Cherokee, and sent a miracle to help soothe their sorrows.
At the place where the tears of our people fell, up sprang a shoot that looked like a cornstalk. As the plant bloomed and opened up, tears of gray fell to the ground. CREATOR said, “This will be a sign unto all who pass that my children will always be a part of this land. The cornstalk represents life for my children and the tears are gray for the suffering and sorrow.”
As the Trail of Tears began the people cried their tears of sorrow. They cried for the loss of family and home. As they walked along the trail, tears fell to the ground. Where these tears fell, there sprang up a small shoot and from it fell the tears of our people’s suffering.
Today these small plants can be found where the Cherokee once walked in times of sadness. From the Smokey Mountains of North Carolina to the Green Country of Oklahoma, to remind us that our people are strong and will survive just as this plant has. It also reminds us of the love our CREATOR has for his children.
*This legend is a new legend and was “born” on the Trail of Tears in the years 1836-38. Like our people it to has survived and lives to be told again.
