The Little People of Cherokee

It is not easy to see the Little People in broad daylight. They often hide from mortal eyes by appearing in the sun's brightness, but the Little People can see through the brightness. They cannot be seen at night unless there is a bright moon. Their light has been seen in the forest at night, however, close to the ground, moving through the trees, just off the trails. One can only catch up with their lights if the Little People want them to They are most often seen at dusk and dawn. They like to be with the animals when they feed, gathering the plants with the deer, fishing with the bears, picking up their firewood with the beaver, or visiting the native people, escorted by the fox. They have co-existed with the Cherokee people for countless centuries and look like full bloods, dark skinned, black eyes, and with straight black hair that reaches to the ground. They are handsome and strong and no more than three feet tall. They have always dressed as the native Cherokee people dress at any given time of their history ,They speak in an ancient Cherokee dialect. Some of the elders today can understand this strange dialect and know what they are saying. Some say it is Elati, a Cherokee language now extinct. They have their own communities or clans throughout the mountains. Like the Cherokees, each community has its own jokers, and serious people, leaders and followers, trouble makers and thinkers, dreamers, doctors, hunters and gatherers with the exception of the Dogwood Clan.