The Cherokee often used the term Ani-Kituwah, Kituwah People, but their favorite name for themselves was Ani-Yunwiya, "The Real People". The coming of the white man changed many things.
The Cherokee were just coming out of a matriarchal society. When a Cherokee married, he took residence with the clan of his wife. His children were the property of the mother and were classed as members of her clan. The home and its contents belonged to the woman. Women sometimes asked the man to marry but the usual custom was for the young man to kill a deer and take it to the wigwam of the chosen girl, to indicate to her that he was a good provider. If she liked him and accepted him, she took the meat and made him a meal. If she let it lie there, he had to take it away and find another maiden.
There is a diary written by a Moraivan missionary which states "An Indian has no more soul that a buffalo; to kill either is the same thing, and when you have killed an Indian, you have done a good act and have killed a wild beast."
These words were written by someone who had never bothered to meet or study the native Americans. Perhaps the white man needed to believe this so that he would not feel guilty about taking native hunting grounds and converting them to their own use. As intermarriage become more common, it was hard at times to determine who had Cherokee blood. Some historians have suggested that the fact the Cherokee were more "bronzed" than "red" led to the "secret" belief that perhaps the Cherokee were not as "bad".
After the Trail of Tears when Cherokee were relocated to the Territory (Oklahoma) the Cherokee already in residence were opposed to the "new arrivals" partly because they brought a highly organized social structure with them and the Western band had not adopted the white man's ways.
The Cherokee were part of the group known as the five civilized tribes. I hope you have enjoyed your visit to this page and the other Cherokee pages here. We are proud to have been part of the Spirit Trail.
To continue the Trail and learn more about native American heritage, click the picture to go to the third site on the Trail.