Hundreds of Cherokee citizens gathered on the Cherokee Nation Reservation in Tahlequah, Oklahoma to watch the eclipse on Monday afternoon under blue skies with temperatures in the low 80s.
The citizens were joined at the festive 2024 Solar Eclipse Watch Party by Cherokee Nation Deputy Principal Chief Bryan Warner, along with other Cherokee Nation leaders and students from our immersion school.
Cherokee National Treasurer Robert Lewis told the Cherokee story, “Frog Eats the Sun,” to the pleasure of the school students.
According to Cherokee lore, a giant frog eats the sun or the moon during an eclipse, which causes the earth to go dark. Men and women needed to scare the frog into spitting the sun out, so they created as much noise as they could. The men shot rifles into the air and pounded on drums while the women banged on pots and pans and used shell shakers. Once the frog released the sun which restored balance, the noise turned into a celebration.
The Cherokee Nation provided a telescope for viewing, along with stickball and cornhole for everyone to enjoy.
The next total eclipse in North America will not occur for two decades.
