JOHN RATTLING-GOURD OF BIG COVE

Cherokes legends receive a studied interpretation as the author-artist relates those which became most familiar to him during his ten years near the Qualla Indian Reservation in North Carolina. The 24 legends included are woven into a story thread as John Rattling Gourd tells them to a group of contemporary Cherokee children. Many of their themes are recognizable in the stories of how the deer got his antlers, how the turtle beat the rabbit and so forth, but in collection they are a good indication of the heart of Cherokee mythology. Detail creates strikingly massive effects in Mr. Bell's drawing.