“A” is for Attakulla Kulla [d. ca. 1780]. Cherokee leader. Diplomat. Attakull Kulla, also known as Little Carpenter was an influential leader of the Cherokees in the midd-1700s. As a diplomat, he worked to advance the causes of the Overhill Cherokees of eastern Tennessee, especially in the area of trade problems. In the spring of 1730, he was part of a delegation of Cherokees taken to London to cement a recent allegiance to King George II. In a 1757 meeting with Governor James Glen, Attakulla Kulla requested that South Carolina build a chain of forts in the backcountry—these, he hoped would stop trade irregularities and eliminate the presence of French allies among the Indians. During the Revolutionary War, both the British and Americans attempted unsuccessfully to woo the elderly and respected Attakulla Kulla to join the fight on their side.
Dr. Walter Edgar has two programs on South Carolina Public Radio: Walter Edgar's Journal, and South Carolina from A to Z. Dr. Edgar received his B.A. degree from Davidson College in 1965 and his Ph.D. from the University of South Carolina in 1969. After two years in the army (including a tour of duty in Vietnam), he returned to USC as a post-doctoral fellow of the National Archives, assigned to the Papers of Henry Laurens.