A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.
Overview
The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians' public account presents Tsul ‘Kalu, also called Judaculla, as a great owner of mountain game. Hunters who take more than needed lose their success, while respectful conduct brings abundance. The same account relates marks on Judaculla Rock to the giant's hand, presenting a living narrative association with the petroglyph-covered boulder.
Mooney's marriage story gives a different encounter. A widow's daughter receives game from a mysterious nightly visitor who claims to be a skilled hunter. When asked for firewood, he brings whole trees. Her mother finally sees an enormous figure folded beneath the house roof and reacts with fear, rupturing the relationship. These episodes combine extraordinary scale with provision and family negotiation. The rock association is a traditional interpretation; it does not independently identify who carved each mark or date the giant's first appearance.
Origins & earliest records
An earlier printed witness appears in John Haywood's The Natural and Aboriginal History of Tennessee (1823), pp. 280–281, under the spelling Tuli-cula. That account connects an invisible husband's family with earth-shaking, mounds and tracks near Brasstown; it is distinct from Mooney's extended marriage narrative. Mooney identifies Charles Hicks as Haywood's source, and says his own story 81 follows Swimmer's version, with another version obtained from John Ax. The Eastern Band's contemporary public presentation supplies community interpretation of game stewardship and Judaculla Rock. These witnesses establish documented forms and dates, without locating the first oral telling.
Records & interpretation
The Eastern Band states that its public stories are shared with guidance from EBCI storytellers. Its Tsul ‘Kalu account directly supports hunting ethics and the rock association. Mooney supports the visitor's gifts and the mother's fearful recognition. This profile uses those public episodes and excludes practical ceremonial instructions found elsewhere in historical collections.
In the literature
“there were footprints of two children running all about”
Complete story81, printed pp.337–341; complete corresponding note pp.477–480
The giant courts the widow’s daughter, supplies game and whole trees, takes offense at the mother’s reaction and departs. A recovered worm becomes a baby girl; wife and child join him, and later the brother follows tracks indicating two rapidly growing children. Repeated visits lead to an attempted community revelation, which fails; the final voice permanently refuses to be seen, and the brother returns home alive. Full ending read beyond the earlier marriage excerpt. Practical ceremonial protocols are excluded. Note81 separates John Ax’s father-and-mother fragment from Swimmer’s widow-and-brother household; separately cited earlier printed versions are known only through this note.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
Myths of the Cherokee
Story 81, Tsul ‘Kalu the Slant-Eyed Giant, printed pp. 337–341; selected marriage episode only.
- 02
Cherokee Legends — Tsul ‘Kalu
Contemporary public community interpretation; archaeological authorship of rock marks not established.
- 03
The Natural and Aboriginal History of Tennessee
Nashville: printed by George Wilson; Civil Traditions passage spans printed pp. 280–281, naming Tuli-cula. Original title page and passage visually inspected; Charles Hicks attribution is supplied by Mooney's note 81.
- 04
Myths of the Cherokee — Tsul ‘Kalu complete selected encounter
Selected Washington Government Printing Office1902 offprint, Extract from the Nineteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology; title independently read.
Family, evolution & connections
Tsulʻkălû’s wife and her children — Mooney 81
Complete main story 81, pp. 337–341, the widow-household telling.
Scroll sideways to see all branches. With a keyboard, focus the tree and use the arrow keys.
- Unnamed widowed mother
- Her older son, already married
- Her daughter, wife of Tsulʻkălû
- First baby girl, explicitly their child
- Second child (gender unstated; birth implicit)
Explicit widow, daughter, older son and two children establish the maternal branches. Tsulʻkălû is the daughter’s stated husband and explicitly identifies the first girl as their child. Relatives are unnamed. Only the first child is explicitly a girl; the second birth is implicit and its gender and separate paternal declaration are unstated. The alternate parental fragment is excluded. No ritual protocol is reproduced in this family record.
The widow’s unnamed daughter in Mooney 81
The narrator identifies the hunter as the young woman’s husband and her mother calls him her son-in-law. This is the widow-household telling; the separately reported parental version is not substituted into its family.
The first baby girl, recovered as a worm
The recovered worm becomes a baby girl, and Tsulʻkălû explicitly calls her their child. Later scenes show his wife with two children, but the second child’s birth is only implicit and its gender is unstated.
His wife’s unnamed older brother
The narrator expressly gives the wife an older brother, already married and living elsewhere. His repeated visits therefore establish an affinity relationship through the wife; no biological siblinghood with Tsulʻkălû is asserted.
Located primary passages
Specific passages supporting details in this entry, grouped by their published witness.
Myths of the Cherokee — Tsul ‘Kalu complete selected encounter
Selected Washington Government Printing Office1902 offprint, Extract from the Nineteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology; title independently read.
- The giant courts the widow’s daughter, supplies game and whole trees, takes offense at the mother’s reaction and departs. A recovered worm becomes a baby girl; wife and child join him, and later the brother follows tracks indicating two rapidly growing children. Repeated visits lead to an attempted community revelation, which fails; the final voice permanently refuses to be seen, and the brother returns home alive. Full ending read beyond the earlier marriage excerpt. Practical ceremonial protocols are excluded. Note81 separates John Ax’s father-and-mother fragment from Swimmer’s widow-and-brother household; separately cited earlier printed versions are known only through this note.
Complete story81, printed pp.337–341; complete corresponding note pp.477–480
No whole collection, separate oral record, separately cited earlier edition or present-day community confirmation reviewed. Ritual protocols and protection methods omitted; historical labels and universalizing claims not endorsed.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- CommunityEastern Band: Tsul ‘Kalu and Judaculla RockResearch access: 2026-10-05
- Primary textMooney: Tsul ‘Kalu marriage narrativeResearch access: 2026-10-05
- Primary textHaywood: Tuli-cula, Civil Traditions, pp. 280–281Research access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.