The Cherokee Indians of Western North Carolina have endured both hard times and good in a world that changed dramatically around them. Author Roy Cantrell lived and worked among these Native Americans, collecting stories of the people he knew and loved. There are characters like Sarah Bradley, a feisty elderly lady who fought off dogs, bears, and rattlesnakes, and Amoneeta Sequoyah, a medicine man. Chief Tom Jumper sported an outfit of leather, beads, and a richly feathered headdress, not because that’s what Cherokees really wore, but because tourists expected it. Cantrell writes of the time before the casino came to town, when his subjects frequently struggled to stay alive but never lost sight of nature’s gifts. Softcover ($8.85), more than 25 b&w images, 80 pages.

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