Cherokee

The Cherokee have a unique place in American History. Their expansive territory in the southeastern region of North America primed them for early contact with the Europeans moving to colonize North America, leading to an extensive and well-recorded history of their interactions with the white settlers. Where were the Cherokee originally from? What defines their culture? What language do they speak? What is their history? And are they still around today?

Fig. 1 Miss Ruth Muskrat

Cherokee Tribe Location

When the English first arrived in North America, The Cherokee territory was a large portion of the southeast. Their homeland included a large part of the southern portion of the Appalachian Mountains. Ancestrally, they are the southernmost Iroquois tribe, as they speak a very common language with the Iroquois.

Fig. 2 Map of the Cherokee Nation

Cherokee Tribe Names and Language

Currently, there are three tribes of Cherokee recognized in the United States; the Cherokee Nation and the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee, both in Oklahoma and the Eastern Band of Cherokee in North Carolina. Historically, seven known tribes of Cherokee covered their vast territory with up to sixty villages.

Cherokee Culture

Because of their agricultural and hunting way of life, Cherokee placed their villages along rivers and streams to farm the rich soils of the flood plains, growing crops such as beans, squash, pumpkins, sunflowers, and tobacco. Additionally, they raised three different types of corn or maize; one to roast, one to boil, and another variety to use as corn flour for bread. They also utilize wild plants, including roots, crab apples, berries, grapes, hickory nuts, walnuts, and chestnuts.

The Cherokee are skilled hunters. They hunted large animals such as deer and bears with bows and arrows. To hunt deer in particular, they would wear deerskin and antlers and use deer calls to stalk and track them. The Cherokee use another unique method of hunting minor game using a blow gun and darts. They use this method to hunt turkeys, raccoons, rabbits, and squirrels.

Cherokee Clothing

The products of the hunt were also used for clothing. Cherokee men dress in breechcloths in warm weather and women in skirts. Men wore shirts, leggings, and moccasins; women wore parkas. Other parkas were made from turkeys or eagles' feathers and bark strips. Cherokee headmen used these for ceremonial purposes, and leaders wore them on special occasions.

Cherokee Shelter

Ceremonies took place inside circular houses or domed temples—the temples located at the summit of a flat-topped mound of earth in a central plaza. Cherokee families typically have two houses, a large summer home and a smaller winter home.

Cherokee Society

The Cherokee practiced a variety of crafts, such as basketry and pottery. They also carve, out of wood or gourds, “Booger masks,” representing evil spirits. And they shape stone pipes into animal figures attached to wooden stems.

Fig. 3 A Cherokee Booger Mask

Cherokee Social Organization

The political and social organization of the Cherokee and the many villages is an allied but loose confederacy. Within each village, there are two chiefs. The White Chief helped villagers decide farming, law, and policy and settled disputes between families, clans, and villages. The Red Chief advised on warfare and was in charge of lacrosse games, which the Cherokee called “little war.”

Cherokee Tribe History

Fig. 4 Cherokee Cartoon

This cartoon from the late 1880s shows a satirical view of how the U.S. Government and other groups treated the Cherokee. The Cherokee ancestrally came into North America over the Bering Strait land bridge and the ancestors of many other Native American tribes at the end of the last ice age, approximately 25,000 years ago.

Cherokee History beginning with First European Contacts

Early European explorers had contact with the Cherokee. The Spanish were the first Europeans to connect with the Cherokee in 1540. In later years, French fur traders worked their way into Cherokee territory from the north. English began appearing regularly after England permanently settled Virginia in 1607 with Jamestown and the Carolinas.

In 1760, the Cherokee revolted against the British in the Cherokee War. The conflict escalated into a two-year war before the British defeated the militant bands of Cherokee by burning their villages and crops. In the peace pact, the Cherokee gave up a large portion of their eastern lands closest to the British colonies.

Cherokee History in the Early United States

John Ross, the Principal Chief of the Cherokee, successfully argued for their independence from the Indian Removal Act of 1830 in front of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Fig. 5 John Ross

Despite these setbacks, the Cherokee rebuilt and adapted their lives to the Europeans around them. They adopted new methods of farming and business. They became faithful allies of the Americans and in 1820 even founded a government, much like that of the United States. In 1827, the Cherokee Nation was created with a constitution, an elected principal chief, a senate, and a house of representatives. These efforts persuaded the early American government to recognize the Cherokee nations as sovereign so that the Cherokee could hold on to their territorial claims.

The Trail of Tears

In defiance of the Supreme Court, which had ruled in favor of the Cherokee to keep their lands as a sovereign nation, and other passionate arguments to President Jackson at the time, he still ordered their forced removal from their lands, beginning the Trail of Tears. This forced trek 800 miles from Georgia to present-day Oklahoma began in 1838. In two waves of forced migration, many died of disease and inadequate food and shelter. Soldiers forced the Cherokee and other tribes to move at a cruel pace, not allowing stops for burying their dead. During this period, 4,000 Cherokee died, almost a quarter of their total population. More died due to disease and lack of food after their arrival to the Oklahoma territory. Other tribes such as the Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Seminole endured similar experiences.

Cherokee History in the Modern Era

In 1887, the U.S. Congress passed the General Allotment Act. Under this law, certain Indian Reservations held by tribes were divided and allotted to the heads of Native American families.

In 1934, with the Indian Reorganization Act, the policies of assimilation and allotment ended. The Cherokee and other native peoples rediscover their cultural heritage and reorganize their tribal leadership into influential governing bodies.

Fig. 6 Spring Frog, Cherokee Chief

In the 1950s, some U.S. politicians sought to end the special relationship between the U.S. government and the Native American tribes. The Cherokee knew that their best options for a good life were under the policies of restoration and reorganization, and they successfully fought off the termination policies. Since the 1960s, the Federal Indian policies have been “self-determination,” meaning Native self-government and strong tribal identity.