Conversations with the High Priest of Coosa by Charles M. Hudson


Conversations with the High Priest of Coosa
Title : Conversations with the High Priest of Coosa
Author :
Rating :
ISBN : -
Language : English
Format Type : Kindle Edition
Number of Pages : 236
Publication : First published January 1, 2003

This book begins where the reach of archaeology and history ends," writes Charles Hudson. Grounded in careful research, his extraordinary work imaginatively brings to life the sixteenth-century world of the Coosa, a native people whose territory stretched across the Southeast, encompassing much of present-day Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama.Cast as a series of conversations between Domingo de la Anunciacion, a real-life Spanish priest who traveled to the Coosa chiefdom around 1559, and the Raven, a fictional tribal elder, Conversations with the High Priest of Coosa attempts to reconstruct the worldview of the Indians of the late prehistoric Southeast. Mediating the exchange between the two men is Teresa, a character modeled on a Coosa woman captured some twenty years earlier by the Hernando de Soto expedition and taken to Mexico, where she learned Spanish and became a Christian convert. Through story and legend, the Raven teaches Anunciacion about the rituals, traditions, and culture of the Coosa. He tells of how the Coosa world came to be and recounts tales of the birds and animals--real and mythical--that share that world. From these engaging conversations emerges a fascinating glimpse inside the Coosa belief system and an enhanced understanding of the native people who inhabited the ancient South.

Conversations with the High Priest of Coosa Reviews

  • Amber Foxx

    The Coosas were the ancestors of the Creeks and Seminoles and other Southeastern tribes. Much of their culture lives on but much of it is gone as well. Charles Hudson, a scholar with expertise on the ancient Southeast, imaginatively reconstructs the religion and rituals of Coosa through dialogues between Annunciacion, a Spanish priest attached to a contingent of soldiers during colonization efforts, and a tribal priest called the Raven. The Spanish priest hopes to learn the Coosa religion and customs in order to better convert the people away form it. As I read, I sensed Annunciacion being swept up in what he wants to change. As the narrator, he comes across as open-minded within the limits of a man of his time and occupation. Though he perceives the Coosa people as needing redemption, and he also sees the coherence and value of their way of life.

    The Raven is a marvelous character, a down-to-earth high priest with a pet raven. I was moved by the character of Teresa, the translator, a Coosa woman who was captured and enslaved by the Soto expedition, and is now caught between two worlds. This is a short, simple book, but deep. It is researched with extraordinary depth and detail. The rituals come to life, and the three central characters representing the Spanish, the Coosa tribe, and the outcome of their contact, are vivid. This isn’t a conventional narrative, since much of it is taken up with the Raven’s telling the mythical stories of his religion, stories within the story, illustrating the sacredness of the natural world. I was struck with Coosa world view of a creation made as much by random error as by intention, creation that has mischief and mistakes in it, rather than perfect order. Their name for the Creator is the same one the Seminoles still use: Master of Breath. Inhale. Exhale. Think about it.

  • Dan Geinosky

    Wasn’t terrible, just an interesting way to present the information through fictionalization characters. Biggest negative, the stories comes from different cultures across different timelines and the author doesn’t differentiate, therefore you don’t know what culture teaches this story or if it was before European contact. Footnotes would have solved this issue easily.

    Does lay a solid framework for SE tribal studies if you’re interested in further studying.

  • Brian Ross

    It was moderately interesting... As a former student of his, I believe he was trying to incorporate as much of the anthropological evidence he and his team(s) collected over the years into a story. He was a great teacher and I applaud his effort, but it just fell short to keep my interest held.

    If you're into this type of fictionalized history, you may find it quite fascinating.

  • Dawn

    This was a labor to finish, why? Because the author had this tiny mind, suffocated by a religion he sees as the end all be all. I am still puzzled as to why this man even attempted to contact a tribe of people he knew did not share his views and he annoyingly fought off any punctures to his blinders. There were parts of this book that just down right disgusted me, like when the romantic interest of his translator died and he thought it a good thing since in his eyes she had sinned. Or when he gets disturbed by the Raven asking the translator about her menses, apparently forgetting what the bible says about such an event.

    As someone who respects all tribal people and finds their lore and culture utterly fascinating it is always disappointing when you realize the author is only giving you a very one sided story of things because they can't get beyond themselves. His judgement and ignorance were what stood out more than anything that may or may not be made up. Next time I'll be sure the skim pages to see if mythical people appear in the text.

  • Rebecca

    This book was alright. I read it for a Native American Cultures course I took at EIU. I was dreading reading it, but it turned out to be my 2nd favorite of the 3 books we had to read. Don't remember much about it and I probably wouldn't read it again, though.

  • Sophie

    Read for my Native American History class. Fairly engaging...