Cherokee

The Cherokee originally occupied  parts of  Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia centering on the Blue Ridge Mountains and Great Smoky Mountain NP. They numbered in the range of 30,000-40,000 in traditional times and lived in large farming (CBS) villages.  Many Cherokee were forcibly removed in 1838 to Oklahoma to form the Western Cherokee. Some Cherokee eluded capture in the mountains. Eventually some of these Eastern bands got recognition in North Carolina and are known today as the Eastern Cherokee. Others Cherokee groups West and East  in Arkansas, Texas, South Carolina and Georgia did not receive official recognition but have organized into dintinct culture groups.

I. Origins

The Cherokee are Southern Iroquoian language speakers and therefore were at one time connected to the Iroquois people of the Northeast and may have broken away ~3,800 years ago. The Cherokee and the Iroquois maybe derived from ancient Woodland cultures of the Ohio River Valley region and drifted moved Northeast and Southeast respectively. It is certain that DeSoto 1539 contacted Cherokee and probably through disease caused disruption of Cherokee towns extending into Georgia's Savannah River country. Thus, the traditional Cherokee were reduced in size and had moved somewhat north by the 18th century.                                         Traditional Stick-Ball

II. Traditional Culture

The pre-contact population was over 30,000 and by the early 1700s Cherokee population was about 16,000 in over 60 villages. The Cherokee were pretty much living traditional lifestyle into the mid 1700s.

Language	Macro-Siouan	S. Iroquoian: Elati Lower Kituwha Middle/Qualla Otali Overhill/TN Nantahala or Valley Nantahala and Hiawasee R
Settlement	Southeastern	Blue Ridge Mts./TN,GA,NC,SC
Economics	CBS Farming, H&G, extensive riverine use and fishing	CBS-Slash and Burn, wild roots, managed berry patches and nuts (pecans), fish birds, deer. Traps, nets, snares, bow and arrow, harpoons, hooks and blowgun. Taboo animals: lion, wolf, bobcat, raccoon, weasels, snakes, and salamander Use of cypress for dugouts and beams. Huge palisaded villages with roundhouses and central communal house with a capacity of 500+ people (20 m/70' diameter)
Social Organization	Lineage : Matrilineal, matrilocal and matrifocal Matrilineal Clans (10) Town Nation / Confederacy	Matrilineal exogamous totemic clans (matrisib) Wild Potato Deer Bird Wolf Red Paint/Paint Long Hair/Twister Blue/Panther Holly Acorn       Town political organization White/ Peace: priest (uku), assistant, 7- 10 clan counselors, council of elders Red/War: war chief, assistant, war speakers, messengers
World View	Earth Diver (Water Beetle or Crawfish), Great Buzzarddries the land/ multiple catastrophes, dual hero cycles, Rabbit trickster Beliefs:      Upper World: Cosmological powers: Creator, sun, moon, stars, Red Thunder, The Great Buzzard Middle/This World: Living beings Spirits and ghosts, various giants and little people Lower World Monsters, booger men, water spirits	Rituals: Summer (Koki) Winter (Kola) March: planting Dec-Jan Animal Dances (Bear/Eagle) July: Green Corn Feb: Booger Dance Sept: Ripe/Mature Corn   Oct: First Great Moon   Oct: Reconciliation/New Fire   Dec: Feast of the Exalting/Bounding Bush
Expressed Form	Wood working, pottery, feather, weaving	Masks

  II. Contemporary

The Cherokee were part of a group of Southeastern groups that changed their traditional cultures to be more like European Americans during the colonial period in American history. As a result they were referred to as the Five Civilized Tribes (Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek/Muskogee and Seminole). In 1821 Sequoyah created a written alphabet for the Cherokee language. This was generally perceived as a way of protecting lands and sovereignty, but the avarice and greed of the European Americans was overwhelming. The federal government broke all treaties (44 with the Cherokee) and eventually crumbled under state and local pressure to physically remove all Native Americans east of the Mississippi River. The Indian Removal Act of 1830 called for the forced removal of those who had not already escaped local violence and land grabs. All tribe/nations including the "Five Civilized Tribes" (Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek and Seminole).  The Cherokee removal was carried out in 1838 with 12,000 marched at gunpoint to the new Indian Territory (mostly Oklahoma). Over 4,000 died on the winter march that has been called the Trail of Tears, but the event remains one of the worst of the many cruel, inhumane and embarrassing events in American history.

 Even more striking is that the Cherokee and the Choctaw were allies to the United States and played an important role in the defeat of the British in the War of 1812. This event effectively split the Cherokee, with the Western Cherokee in Oklahoma and the Eastern Cherokee based on those that hid out in the mountains. The Eastern Cherokee live on a small reservation in western North Carolina. Some of the Texas Cherokee were forced out in 1839 to Oklahoma also.

In 1891 the Cherokee Nation was disbanded which meant they lost their tribal land and sovereignty. However, there are many Cherokee in the United States and today they represent the largest Native American group with 281,000 members in both Eastern and Western federally recognized groups. The Eastern Band of the Cherokee Nation have a  reservation in Cherokee, North Carolina with the Museum of the Cherokee Indian.   The Western Cherokee have two federally recognized groups: The Cherokee Nation in Tahlequah, Oklahoma and the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians (UKB). In the Cherokee capitol , Tahlequah, Oklahoma is the Cherokee Heritage Center. There are 12 or more groups claiming Cherokee ancestry in Georgia, South Carolina, Arkansas and Missouri. Some of these groups are state recognized and some are unrecognized.

Indian Removal

Old Indiian Territory ~1830

Indian Territory/Oklahoma

Return to: Traditional Cultures

Copyright S.J. Crouthamel