This story is part of the Cherokee Myths unit.
Story source: Myths of the Cherokee by James Mooney (1900).
The Journey to the Sunrise tells the story of a group of men who want to know the sun and see what it's like. I want to focus on the plot of this story and hopefully fill some of the gaps with my own ideas. The group of men started their journey by gathering supplies they would need. They grabbed bows and arrows, corn, extra moccasins, and headed east. I like how the the author added the detail of what direction they were heading. The sun rises in the east and sets in the west. On their adventure they ran into other tribes. Some they knew of, but never met, for instance the root eaters and the acorn eaters. They learned that in the acorn eater tribe if a man became sick his wife is buried in the same grave as him. So in a morbid, but respectful way, the group of men waited for the man to die. They buried him and his wife, and then they continued on their journey. The men travelled until they finally met sunrise, where the sky and the ground meet. (This is where it gets tricky for me)
"They found that the sky was an arch or vault of solid rock hung above the earth and was always swinging up and down, so that when it went up there was an open place like a door between the sky and ground, and when it swung back the door was shut. The Sun came out of this door from the east and climbed along on the inside of the arch. It had a human figure, but was too bright for them to see clearly and too hot to come very near."
By the end of their journey the men left were so old. They were now at the end of the world, so started back home again.
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| (sunrise) |
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