Liquor Among
The Cherokee*
Rpgardli‘44 of what happens lo
(be rest of *orlh C arolina, there
always * ill he one seelion off the
Stale whirh mill be letfallv dry
and uhere liquor ran never be
sold.
Hy J. H. IIUkl.lN
A THOUGH it u |K«iblr tint
ABO liquor itom eventually
may make their
ар|я-агппсс
*i't of the Blue Hidge in North Car¬
olina. at Wait one group of mot* than
S.SOO citizen* would fit..! their po.i
Under a hoary la» of more than
100 yean. the Great White Father in
While the modern generation* of
lilt* Cherokee* have acquired a veneer
of riviliration, they are fundamental¬
ly «till Indiana anil can accommodate
liquor little better than their savage
fm-father*. When whiskey u con-
•unied at any gathering of Indian,
even no», the evening often tenni-
firewater le placed
r Cherokee Indian!
fringe of the Great Smoky
That the»e Indian, have
full-fledged
■he .late make* them no lem «ard* of
the United State, government in
ю
far
»•
their protection and welfare are
concerned, according to Thoma. J.
Hark in*, of Atheville, former United
State* attorney for the wratern di*-
trict of North Carolina, anil for many
year, champion of the Cherokee* in
the court* of the land.
Action in Early Day»
From early lime*, the Knglidi
took draitic atep* to keep intoxicat¬
ing liquor* from falling into the
i of three children of the forrela
т
penalty
•u »tron
•tree
hold pioneer, who
rn frontier arrow* the
idge, know the dire re*ult* of
Irink among the Indiaa., for
many time, had be tee.
e off howling mob. to i
age. developed a rave non. appetite
for brandy within a remarkably ihort
lime and could be incited to the war¬
path, or be penuadnl to part with the
mo«t highly prized pelt*, with a Ifaak.
•dge of the Cherokee, believe tbi* to
be true.
So .trict i. the policy of prohibi¬
tion enforcement on the rr*ervation
by governing official* that conipara-
ti.cly little liquor fall* into the hand,
of the Indian.. Whether through
choice or inability to get liquor, the
fnct remain* that drinking among the
Cherokee* i* far below that done by
their white neighbor*. Since the
young men take great pride in their
phy.ique* and are much out-of-door.,
they do not *rem to wUh intoxicating
leverage* and are apt to expre*. dia-
dain for tbwe who drink heavily. If
the older men drink, they do not oft»®
exhibit tbem*elv« in public while un
der the infloe ore. Liquor for the
"JTthL^ of "bid repair The "m—iern
generation of Indian girl, have at¬
tained. in a unall degree, the freedom
of their whit* aiOer*. km are far from
that *tag* where they could comfort¬
able *ip a cocktail with a boy-friend.
Although «me of the Cherokee vil¬
lage. ami home* are buried deep in
the mountain*, little liquor i* made
on the recreation. Knervation of¬
ficial. a.
the tract* are very
.moke curling from a ravine, and
penalty i* *cvere. Uo*t of the liquor
ron.iimed on the riwe real ion i*
•«vured from the “unu-nipulou.
white.” who live about the rraerva-
an.
So likely aro tho» partaking of
liquor to ditplay their inhibition* by
dicing a companion with a knife, or
tile like, and ao heavy i- the penalty
for furri.hing liquor to Indian*, that
even the morn unvrupulou. of the
bootlegger* bcitate to take the added
risk, if they can dUpoaa of their
warrw e Ur where. Money i« usually
•carve among the Cherokee*, anyway.
Uncle Sam impo-ed prohibition on
the Indian, in
1КИ
a. .n ad of a
guardian toward, hi* ward. A p«*«o
term of not more than two year* and
a fine of not mo,* than ***>
и
the
penalty for furniihing intoxieating
liquor, to Indian*, under wetioa SIS*
of the Krvued Statute, of the United
State.. Only a .necial act of Con-
gree* can revoke the restriction, and
thia i* not likely, Mr. H.rkin. cx
w
