The Cherokee Nation - largest of the Five Civilized Tribes of the Southeast - is a people of Iroquoian lineage. The
Cherokee, who called themselves 'Ani'-Yun' wiya' - 'Principal People' -
the 'Keetoowah' - 'people of Kituhwa' - or Tsalagi from their own name
for the Cherokee Nation - migrated to
Their
economy consisted of the cultivation of corn, beans, and squash. Also,
hunting and slash-and-burn agriculture
The Cherokees held many ceremonies. One of their ceremonies marked the changing of rulers between the Red and White Orginizations. Another ceremony consisted of nightlong dancing before going to war. After war, they had rituals of purification before they returned to their daily routine. For
leisure, the Cherokees played a game with rackets and a ball. Ritual fasting
and bleeding was associated with the game. Along with this they had ceremonies
called harvest feast and
Cherokee
life and culture greatly resembled that of the Creek and other Indians
of the Southeast. The Cherokee nation was composed of a confederacy of
red (war) and white (peace) towns. The chiefs of the red towns were subordinated
to a supreme war chief, while the officials of the white towns were under
the supreme peace chief. The white towns provided sanctuary for wrongdoers;
war ceremonies were conducted in red towns.
The
Cherokee wars and treaties, a series of battles and agreements around the
period of the U.S. War of Independence, effectively reduced Cherokee power
and landholdings in Georgia, eastern Tennessee, and western North and South
Carolina, freeing this territory for speculation and settlement by the
white man. Numbering about 22,000 tribesmen in 200 villages throughout
the area, the Cherokee had since the beginning of the 18th century
Although this agreement with the Transylvania Land Company violated British law, it nevertheless became the basis for the white takeover of that area. Threatened by colonial encroachment upon their hunting grounds, the Cherokee announced at the beginning of the American Revolution their determination to support the crown. Despite British attempts to restrain them, in July 1776 a force of 700 Cherokee under Chief Dragging-canoe attacked two U.S.-held forts in North Carolina: Eaton's Station and Ft. Watauga. Both assaults failed, and the tribe retreated in disgrace. These raids set off a series of attacks by Cherokee, Creek, and Choctaw on frontier towns, eliciting a vigorous response by militia and regulars of the Southern states during September and October. At
the end of this time, Cherokee power was broken, crops and villages destroyed,
and warriors dispersed. The humiliated Indians could win peace only by
surrendering vast tracts of territory in North and South Carolina at the
Treaty of DeWitt's Corner (May 20, 1777) and the Treaty of Long Island
of Holston (July 20, 1777). As a result, peace reigned on this frontier
for the next two years.
After 1800 the Cherokee were remarkable for their assimilation of white culture. The Cherokee formed a government modelled on that of the U.S. Under Chief Junaluska they aided Andrew Jackson against the Creek (see Creek War), particularly in the Battle of Horseshoe Bend. They adopted white methods of farming, weaving, and home building. Perhaps
most remarkable of all was the syllabary of the Cherokee language, developed
in 1821 by Sequoyah, a half-blooded Cherokee who had served with the U.S.
Army in the Creek War.
A
written constitution was adopted, and religious literature flourished,
including translations from the Christian scriptures. An Indian newspaper,
the Cherokee Phoenix, the first of its kind, began publication in February
1828.
Georgia
officials ignored the court's decision, and Pres. Andrew Jackson refused
to enforce it. As a result, the Cherokees were evicted under the Indian
Removal Act of 1830 by 7,000 troops commanded by Gen. Winfield Scott. Some
15,000 Cherokees were first gathered into camps while their homes were
plundered and burned by local residents. Then the Indians were sent west
in groups of about 1,000, most on foot.
When
the main body had finally reached its new home in what is now northeastern
Oklahoma, new controversies began with the settlers already there. Feuds
and murders rent the tribe as reprisals were made on those who had signed
the Treaty of New Echota.
Tribal
governments were effectively dissolved in 1906 but have continued to exist
in a limited form. Some Indians now live on tribal landholdings that are
informally called reservations. In the late 20th century there were approximately
47,000 Cherokee descendants living in eastern Oklahoma and about 15,000
full-bloods. At the time of removal in 1838, a few hundred Cherokee escaped
to the mountains and furnished the nucleus for the 3,000
"There is no
such thing as 'part-Cherokee.'
~Jim Pell:
Song playing
is... "Trail of Tears"
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