How Rabbit Lost His Tail: A Traditional Cherokee Legend

by Deborah L. Duvall, Murv Jacob (Illustrator)

Rabbit, whose Cherokee name is Ji-Stu, is known far and wide for his splendid tail. Long and bushy, and covered with thick, silky fur, he likes to show his tail off at the dances. All the girl animals want to dance with Ji-Stu because of his beautiful tail. But one night Otter comes to the dance, and both Ji-Stu and his tail are quickly forgotten when the girls see Otter's magnificent coat. Impressed by Otter, all the animals plan a council to decide who, of all the animals in the forest, owns the most beautiful coat. Now Ji-Stu must find a way to trick Otter out of his coat in time to win the contest, but in the process the trickster rabbit loses much more than he bargains for. Deborah L. Duvall and Murv Jacob also collaborated on The Great Ball Game of the Birds and Animals and How Medicine Came to the People (UNM Press). Duvall is the author of several books on Cherokee history and legend. Jacob, a descendant of Kentucky Cherokees, is an internationally known artist and pipemaker who has also worked on over 70 book and video projects. Jacob won the 2003 Oklahoma Book Award in the Design and Illustration category for his drawings in The Great Ball Game of the Birds and Animals.
All ages.

Genres: Childrens, Picture Books

32 pages, Hardcover

First published September 30, 2003

Reviews

[J · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really love to come upon legends, especially Native American ones I haven't heard before since they are so fascinating. In the case of many Native American ones they usually tell a full detailed story in a brief telling without seeming to lose a lot of details while also introducing elements that although a bit familiar are also at the same time rather new.

How Rabbit Lost His Tail basically occurs over a handful of days while including two various dances and one council. In both cases all the animals are invited to these community events while it is there the very much anthropomorphic characters deal with the same emotions that any of the readers/listeners can relate to on any given basis while in this one Jistu (Rabbit) feels replaced then envious since of his hurt pride.

The story definitely had me guessing how the events would turn out even as I could connect the dots in the bare minimum such as that fire was going to be included in the story's plot. Furthermore Jitsu does keep his trickster ways thus making for an interesting character who although one of the weakest animals in our eyes is able to keep ahead of the game.

I did enjoy the fact that they had the Cherokee names for two of the characters as well as the greeting although it wasn't openly translated for the reader. As a result I would have loved to have learned some of the other Cherokee names and possible even have had a glossary in the back with those words for those who may not know them but would like to know them.

Secondly none of the illustrations are colored which was a bit of a disappointment but even without colors there are plenty of details to keep the eyes busy while the animals are realistic in their portrayal as actual animals of the Cherokee lands. What did confuse me for a moment was the fact that it was mentioned all the girl animals while I was wondering how they would portray those as being different from the boy animals. And can I tell you I was surprised to see those same girl animals were given breasts in their illustrated dance scene even when either the breasts wouldn't have been noticeable on a human scale or in some species even located in the spot where they were actually placed.

All in all, though, overlooking this scientifically incorrect portrayal the tale was good and I can see readers of both Cherokee and non-Cherokee enjoying this mis-adventure of Jitsu repeatedly when a good tale is needed to pass away the time.

[Julie H. Ernstein · Rating 3 out of 5]

The artwork in Deborah L. Duvall (author) and Murv Jacob's (illustrator) How Rabbit Host His Tail: A Traditional Cherokee Legend is pretty phenomenal. It is one among several Grandmother Stories published by this husband-wife team. As my time spent at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival suggests, among the Cherokee storytelling traditions, a Grandmother Story teaches children specific cultural values and lessons through the mechanism of sharing the assorted (mis)adventures of particular animals such as Rabbit, Otter, Bear, Possum, Turtle, Deer, and others. The values distilled from such stories might include such takeaways as: don't brag, don't be quick to anger, think of others, respect your elders, tell the truth, etc. That said, How Rabbit Lost His Tail is a relatively simple tale of vanity, jealousy, deceit, and covetousness. I will leave it up to other readers to grapple with whether Rabbit truly learns a lesson or not by story's close, but the tale definitely offers explanations of the animal world with which listeners of any age and background may well relate and see parts of the natural and cultural worlds with which they have ready familiarity.

I am intrigued by the series and will need to do more research on the authors. I was curious why there was no short introduction or definition for non-Tribal children or others for whom the genre of Grandmother Stories might not be familiar.

[Gabrielle Palmisano · Rating 1 out of 5]

This definitely was not one of my favorite books to read. The story took entirely way too long to come to the ending it did. I was hoping that by the end of the book rabbit would have learned his lesson about lying and stealing, but he did not. Rabbit reminds me of a lot of people. Rabbit is used to being the center of attention but when otter comes to town things change. Otter becomes the center of everyone’s attention and Rabbit gets jealous. Rabbit tricks Otter into trusting him into the forest. Rabbit and Otter relax for a minute by the fire and in the water. Then all of a sudden Rabbit makes Otter swim home. In the end Rabbit lost his prized possession but he did not learn from his actions.

[Noah Rachal · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ultimately, the rabbit was very selfish and dishonest. When the otter comes around, the otter becomes the new spotlight, and the rabbit can't stand it. The rabbit, out of envy decides to trick the otter as he invites him to the woods and makes him swim back home. As you'd expect a story like this to end in an important message or lesson, this one did not. The rabbit didn't learn his lesson at all and the author kind of left this story leaving the reader in a blank. I felt the author could have been better in developing a better outcome than this.

[Genevieve Ledwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it. My 9 year old loved it. I've already checked out another of their books.

The illustrations were lovely (black & white) and expressive of the text of the story. You could see Rabbit's mischief in the drawings. It was a well written version of the Cherokee legend.

[Becky]

porquoi tale, cherokee origin

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Traditional Cherokee legend...lovely illustrations

[Becky]

porquoi tale, cherokee origin