“Lost” Manuscript on Cherokee Indians Found

In 1951, Willliam Banks was studying for his Masters of Science at the University of Tennessee, when he decided to do his thesis on the use of plants by the Cherokee Indians. An article published in the Autumn 2004 edition of the Bearpaw, a publication put out by the Great Smoky Mountain Association tells us about the interesting true story.

The next spring William and his wife moved onto the Cherokee Reservation in western North Carolina and rented a room there to begin his research and writing. One of his first contacts was with the Librarian of the Cherokee Government School and eventually he developed good working network with over 14 other knowledgeable elders and herb doctors. They walked many acres through the rich forests and hours were spent with the Cherokees going over various plant specimens.

The Cherokees were very cooperative and generous with their time and their information. The very few that weren’t feared that sharing their remedies and cures might diminish their powers. To gain their trust, Banks promised that he would never profit from the information he obtained from them.

Banks took copious notes over the course of three months spent on the reservation and he repeatedly interviewed the elders about the centuries of wisdom that was distilled in this generation of Indians. Unbelievably, the Cherokees didn’t pass much of this same information on to their next generation, so William’s thesis was really the only comprehensive, detailed listing of herbarium specimens identified by both the common names and scientific names ever recorded. “And, in an unfortunate twist of fate, the copies of the thesis that Banks gave to the University of Tennessee libraries, disappeared.”

The article continues, “Some 50 years after Banks made his sojourn to the reservation, his manuscript resurfaced. Naturalist and medicinal plant specialist Ila Hatter was giving an herb lore seminar at the Great Smoky Mountain Institute at Tremont,” when she was approached by a student in the audience who said she had something in her attic that might interest Hatter. It was the Banks manuscript.

Hatter brought the manuscript to the Association’s office at the Park headquarters and the staff immediately “recognized the value of the manuscript and contacted William Banks in Louisville, Kentucky in order to get permission to publish the manuscript. “Banks agreed, but remembering his pledge a half century earlier, insisted that his royalties be donated to a fund that would benefit the Cherokees.”

The Association updated the scientific plant names that had changed since the 1950s, added plant illustrations and kept everything else just about the same.

The book, Plants of the Cherokee, covers over “300 species of plants, from ferns to tree to wildflowers, and lists the many ways they were used by the Cherokee. Most of the uses are medicinal. There are treatments for coughs, colds, sore throat, measles, bee sting, snakebite, poor circulations, swollen feet, fever, indigestions, rheumatism, toothache, headache, complications during pregnancy, thrush, diabetes, cramps, bad memory, backache, fainting, even cancer and impotency. Although some of the ailments are unfamiliar to most modern American (“bad disease,” “disordered saliva,” “dreaming of snakes”), their inclusion reveals details about the culture of the Cherokee.”

You can order your copy of the book by contacting 1-888-898-9102 or www.SmokiesStore.com. The cost of the book is $11.95. Members of the Great Smoky Mountain Association receive a 15% discount.