This hand-painted cloth, like the artifact seen below that inspired it, reminds us of the story of "How the Tlanuwa Cut It Up" on the north bank of the Little Tennessee River at the mouth of Citico creek in Blount Couty Tennessee where they lived in a seemingly inaccessible cave. The Tlanuwa were giant hawks or possibly Haast eagles that lived in the ancient time when animals were bigger than they are now. The story describes how a nearby settlement was terrorized by a pair of Tlanuwa. It preyed upon their children, dogs and even adults. A valorous medicine man came up with the idea of tossing its fledglings from the nest into a creek below where the Uktena was know to dwell. Returning to their cave to find the Uktena eating their birdlings in the creek below, one bird dove down, snatching the giant lizard in its beak. Taking it up into the sky, its mate then cut it to pieces with it's beak. The Tlanuwa mates flew off and were never seen again by the Cherokee. The Cherokee say that when the Tlanuwa left the mountains went bald. Today we know that the absence of large predators often creates a bald spot on the earth. The great battle between these two megafauna was obviouslly a memorable sight.

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Shell gorget artifact with tlanuwa-like bird doing combat with an anomalous monster. Bell County, Texas. Courtesy, Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation.