Currahee Cherokee

Fire Water

When the traders came up the river to our village they would sometimes bring containers filled with what looked like water. Before starting to trade for our beaver skins and items made using the yellow rock that we brought to our village from Currahee they would take a drink from one of the containers and then give some to our chief and the braves. In short order the chief and braves would start jumping around, laughing and acting crazy. They would start talking about trading for more of what became known as firewater. I think the reason it became known as firewater was due to the taste and burning to the mouth and if it was  spit into a fire it would cause the flame to get larger with a blue glow. The paleface with black hat, wearing black and carrying a black book would warn the chief, braves and anyone listening that the firewater was the work of the devil and they shouldn't drink it. They would surely go to a place called hell if they continued drinking the firewater. Sometime later, after the pale face people moved onto our land and my people blended in with them, on my visits to the area around Currahee I observed how this firewater was made.

INDEX

                                   ©Copyright 2013/2020 Currahee Cherokee.