Tales of strange, nocturnal people haunt the region—and so do theories about who they were, from a lost Welsh “tribe” to aliens.
“The legend of the moon-eyed people is not a major part of the Cherokee history and culture,” park manager Stewart confirms.
But white colonists were fascinated by the legend and speculated about who the moon-eyed people could have been. Some believed they were possibly descendants of a fabled community of albino people who were said to have lived in what is now Panama. Others adhered to the idea that the moon-eyed were actually descendants of the mythical 12th-century Welsh prince Madoc ab Owain Gwynedd, who allegedly landed in the Americas near what’s now Mobile, Alabama.
While this version of the story may explain the Welsh connection to the legend, it’s at odds with the stories in Lossiah’s Secrets and Mysteries of the Cherokee Little People. Here, the moon-eyed people are not pale; they have the same complexion as the Cherokee. In Lossiah’s version, the “little people” can be hospitable or sneaky and treacherous, and they’re particularly vengeful when mocked or betrayed, traits that parallel European trickster elves and gnomes.
According to Lossiah, Cherokee tradition taught the importance of respecting the Yunwi Tsunsdi and their territory. “When a hunter finds anything in the woods, such as a knife or a trinket, he must say, ‘Little People, I want to take this,’” she wrote. “Because it may belong to them, and if he does not ask permission, they will throw stones at him as he goes home.”
Amid conflicting tales of mythical Welsh princes, lost tribes, and fairy-like forest creatures, there is one truth we know about the so-called “little people” of Appalachia, says Schexnayder: “The legend of the moon-eyed people shows that we don’t have to go that far back to know that we don’t know anything about where we live.”