First on the Land: The North Carolina Indians [SOLD]

First on the Land: The North Carolina Indians 

by Ruth Y. Wetmore, Curator of the Indian Museum of the Carolinas at Laurinburg, N.C.

Publisher: John F. Blair, Winston-Salem

First edition hardback with slip cover, 1975. 196 pages with illustrations, tables and figures

From the Jacket

“Red was the color of war and strength; white, of peace; black, of mourning.

“Maple wood could not be used for a mortar; it gave the grain a bad taste.  Black locust was favored for bows.

“Hunting expeditions were sometimes influenced by the Indians’ belief that people acquired the characteristics of the animals they ate.

“Tribal leadership passed not from a chief to his son, but to the son—or sometimes daughter—of his sister.

“Three linguistic groups settled in the four geographic areas of North Carolina: Algonquians on the coast, Iroquoians including the Tuscarora, on the coastal plain, Siouans in the Piedmont, and the Cherokee, another Iroquoian group, in the mountains.

Ruth Y. Wetmore’s comprehensive story of Indian life begins with the nomadic bands of 10,000 B.C. and ends with the present-day tourist business of the Cherokee and the struggle for tribal recognition by the Lumbee.  Maps pinpoint the locations of each of the smaller tribes, and brief histories tell the fate of the dispersed or extinct tribes.

“The ceremonial life of the Indians is described, their preparations for war and peace, their festivals, their governing structures —and the legends and beliefs on which their culture rested.  Their skills at daily chores are also described: which herbs they used to treat ailments, how they planted and prepared corn, how they shaped pottery without a wheel.

“The rich lode of information in this book will delight folklorists.  The clarity of organization will make it a valuable reference for students of junior high age and up.”