Cherokee Stories of the Turtle Island Liars' Club paints a vivid, fascinating portrait of a community deeply grounded in tradition and dynamically engaged in the present. A collection of forty interwoven stories, conversations, and teachings about Western Cherokee life, beliefs, and the art of storytelling, the book orchestrates a multilayered conversation between a group of honored Cherokee elders, storytellers, and knowledge-keepers and the communities their stories touch. Collaborating with Hastings Shade, Sammy Still, Sequoyah Guess, and Woody Hansen, Cherokee scholar Christopher B. Teuton has assembled the first collection of traditional and contemporary Western Cherokee stories published in over forty years. Not simply a compilation, Cherokee Stories of the Turtle Island Liars' Club explores the art of Cherokee storytelling, or as it is known in the Cherokee language, gagoga (gah-goh-gá), literally translated as “he or she is lying.” The book reveals how the members of the Liars' Club understand the power and purposes of oral traditional stories and how these stories articulate Cherokee tradition, or “teachings,” which the storytellers claim are fundamental to a construction of Cherokee selfhood and cultural belonging. Four of the stories are presented in both English and Cherokee. “Teuton’s book is as close as some will ever get to hearing the old stories, the old ways. . . . Recommended. All levels/libraries.”— CHOICE “This important collection is a valuable resource for keeping ancient traditions alive now and in the future.”— Booklist “An important document for generations to come. It should be an integral part of any Cherokee reader’s collection as well as that of anyone interested in oral traditions and fine storytelling in general.”—Roy Boney Jr., Indian Country Today “Though Teuton is still a relatively young scholar, he has in this produced a masterwork. Cherokee Stories of the Turtle Island Liars’ Club is a book that that will be read, studied, and quoted fifty years from now like the Kilpatricks’ Friends of Thunder , or even more than a century hence like Mooney’s Myths of the Cherokee . It is that significant.”—Jace Weaver in Studies in American Indian Literature “The Liars’ Club members’ personal reflections and anecdotes about their own lives add dimension to the traditional stories of the ordinary and the wondrous.”— Now & Then “A masterwork. [This book] will be read, studied, and quoted fifty years from now. . . . It is that significant.”— Studies in American Indian Literatures “ Cherokee Stories of the Turtle Island Liars' Club is a book that will be read, studied, and quoted fifty years from now.”— Sail “Unravels the intricacies of Cherokee storytelling...through multilayered narratives from Cherokee elders, storytellers, and knowledge keepers.”—Debashree Dattaray in Journal of Folklore Research “This will be a deeply treasured book for Cherokee individuals, families, and communities, as it shows beyond any doubt how rich, complex, and beautiful Cherokee oral and literary expressions continue to be in this chaotic world. It is easily one of the most important books on Cherokee worldview and tradition ever written.” ―Daniel Heath Justice, University of British Columbia “A vibrant presentation of the living Cherokee story tradition. Teuton’s important new book makes known to all the strong cultural tradition of the Cherokee people. It will be an invaluable resource for future generations of Cherokee people and the world at large.” —Barbara Duncan, editor of Living Stories of the Cherokee “A vibrant presentation of the living Cherokee story tradition. Teuton’s important new book makes known to all the strong cultural tradition of the Cherokee people. It will be an invaluable resource for future generations of Cherokee people and the world at large.” —Barbara Duncan, editor of Living Stories of the Cherokee Cherokee storytelling, oral traditions, and teachings Collaborating with Hastings Shade, Sammy Still, Sequoyah Guess, and Woody Hansen, Cherokee scholar Christopher B. Teuton has assembled the first collection of traditional and contemporary Western Cherokee stories published in over forty years. Cherokee Stories of the Turtle Island Liars' Club paints a vivid portrait of a community deeply grounded in tradition and dynamically engaged in the present. A collection of interwoven stories, conversations, and teachings about Western Cherokee life, beliefs, and the art of storytelling, this book orchestrates a multilayered conversation between a group of honored Cherokee elders, storytellers, and knowledge-keepers and the communities their stories touch. Christopher B. Teuton (Cherokee Nation) is professor and chair of the Department of American Indian Studies at the University of Washington and author of Deep Waters: The Textual Continuum in American Indian Literature .