This book is the only ethnographic study of the Snowbird Cherokees. The approximately 700 people who make up this community are part of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, but live in a mountainous rural area about fifty miles west of the town of Cherokee, North Carolina, where most Eastern Band Cherokees live on the Qualla Boundary. The new Foreword mentions some of the changes that have occurred in the 30 years since this book was published. "Neely presents a thoughtful, readable study of a harmonious people coping with the pressures of preserving their traditions and adapting to change."--Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The author is an anthropologist and professor emeritus from Northern Kentucky University. She lived in the Snowbird Cherokee community some of the time while working on this book.