the Wampus / horned serpent of the Smokies — and what the Cherokee called Uktena

Pulling another genuine Indigenous dragon out because the board over-indexes on 1900s newspaper stuff. Cherokee, Southern Appalachians: the Uktena. A serpent thick as a tree trunk, horns on its head, scales that flash colors, and a blazing crystal in its forehead called the Ulunsuti — a diamond-brig……