Emily Chan
Within the Appalachia region lie some mysterious ancient ruins, and from its depths rose a Cherokee legend hinting at a civilization that predated the landing of Columbus in America and possibly even the Native Americans themselves.
According to Cherokee legend, moon-eyed people lived deep in the woods of what is now North Carolina and Georgia.
They were small in stature, had pale skin and blue eyes, and were sensitive to light, so they slept during the day and were active at night.
These beings were not mythical or monstrous like others that have appeared in Indigenous folklore. In fact, the moon-eyed people were human, just like the Cherokees.
Some suspect that the moon-eyed people were related to Welsh settlers who arrived in the area hundreds of years before Christopher Columbus.
In the 18th century, European settlers started trickling into North America, which was when the first records of the legend of the moon-eyed people surfaced.
According to writings from 1797 by Benjamin Smith Burton, an American botanist and educator, the Cherokee had told the settlers that when they first arrived in the country, it was already inhabited by moon-eyed people who couldn’t see during the day.
In 1782, a Cherokee chief, Oconostota, told the story to Tennessee governor John Sevier. Oconostota said his ancestors had reported that “white men” had crossed the ocean long ago and landed near the mouth of the Alabama River.
It is believed that the moon-eyed people were Europeans, possibly Welshmen, who came to North America during the 12th century.
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