This is a photo of Swimmer, a Cherokee traditionalist and storyteller, who hailed from the heartland of southwestern North Carolina. His given Cherokee name, Ayunini, translates to “he is swimming” or “he is a swimmer” – which explains the English moniker “Swimmer.”

He was trained by tribal elders as a priest, healer, and guardian of Cherokee traditions. Swimmer chose to forgo learning English in favor of preserving his Indigenous heritage throughout his life. True to his role, he became the steward of his people’s history and customs.

As a young man, Swimmer learned the Cherokee Syllabary from his elders and began meticulously documenting sacred rites, cultural stories, and practical knowledge in a personal notebook. He also cataloged plants, roots, and barks with beneficial uses. During the Civil War, he enlisted on April 9, 1862, serving as a second sergeant in the Cherokee Company A, Sixty-ninth North Carolina Confederate Regiment under Colonel William Thomas.

In 1887, the Smithsonian Institution dispatched James Mooney, a former journalist turned ethnologist, to study the Cherokee people. Mooney, who had previously collaborated with a Cherokee chief to develop a Cherokee grammar, spent three seasons in the field and became acquainted with Swimmer. Through their interactions, Mooney amassed a wealth of information and acquired Swimmer’s notebook. Swimmer may have seen in Mooney a worthy successor to preserve the knowledge he had painstakingly collected.

Mooney’s work, including “Myths of the Cherokee,” documented the Cherokee’s oral history and wisdom for posterity. While Mooney gathered additional information from Swimmer’s contemporaries, he acknowledged the significant contribution Swimmer made through his meticulous records. Swimmer shared with Mooney insights into tribal ceremonies, ancient rites, games, legends, and animal imitations. In return, Mooney introduced Swimmer to Irish folk myths from his own upbringing.

Swimmer was a constant presence at dances, ball games, and other tribal events, often serving as a guide or referee. Upon his death at age sixty-five, he was interred on a mountain slope following Cherokee rituals.

This photograph of Swimmer, now housed at the Smithsonian Institution, depicts him holding a gourd rattle—a symbol of his tribal authority—and wearing his traditional turban, as well as moccasins, which Mooney noted were always part of his attire.

Swimmer’s gracious sharing of his wealth of knowledge of Cherokee culture went a long way toward preserving a great history for future generations to learn and pass on down the line.