The Cultures That Built Appalachia

Before the ghost stories, before the haints, before the cryptids—there were the people who shaped Appalachia. In this episode, we trace the region’s foundations through four major influences: the Cherokee, the Scotch-Irish, the Germans, and African Americans.

Today we dive into early ingredients and influence that culminated into what we now call Appalachian culture. And provides the lens through which we can study the high strangeness, cryptids, ghostly creatures and magic that has hailed from the region, ever since. From the farthest corners of Cherokee shapeshifters and German powwow to Scotch-Irish speech patterns and African bottle trees, this one lays the groundwork for everything Appalachian to come.

#Appalachianfolklore #paranormal #Appalachia #witchcraft #ghosts #Mothman #cryptid #podcast #supernatural #monsters #mimic #shapeshifter #indigenous #westvirginia

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