Cherokee
The Cherokee traditional homeland was located across parts of eight states: Kentucky West Virginia, Tennessee, Virginia, North Carolina, and Alabama. Their distinct way of life developed at least a thousand years ago from their close relationship with the land, waters, and abundant plant and wildlife of the Appalachian region.
The Cherokee origin myth describes the earth as a big island floating in water, hanging by rope at the four cardinal points-- North, South, West, and East. In the beginning everything was water and all the animals lived above the sky. It was crowded and so water-beetle dove to the bottom of the water and brought up a bit of mud that was spread to form the earth. Because it was still too wet for the animals to descend, they sent birds. The mountains of Cherokee country were made by the Great Buzzard’s flapping wings when he grew tired and flew too close to the ground. Cherokees have relied on their sacred stories for generations to pass on their heritage, to explain why things are the way they are, and to teach how to live in a good way.
The Cherokee developed a sophisticated understanding of their natural environment. They utilized over 800 different plants for food, clothing, housing, medicines, and utensils. The woods were rich in wild foods such as strawberries, huckleberries, and blackberries, chestnuts and hickory nuts, and wild potatoes and fresh greens. Dogwood bark, ramps, yellow root, and sassafras were used as medicines. Canoes were crafted from poplar. Rivercane, which once grew along the waterways, was used to weave baskets and mats. Walnut hulls, leaves, and roots yielded brown dyes, while butternut produced a black, and bloodroot a red. Weavers could create an endless variety of designs with these basic colors. The Cherokee continue to weave baskets from rivercane, as well as from white oak and honeysuckle vines. Rivercane also provided the raw material from which the Cherokee fashioned roofing, flutes, and blowguns used to hunt.
cherokee basket / blowgun
Cherokee towns were usually located in river valleys. The river is known as “Long Man,” and his waters have been traditionally used for purification, healing, and ceremony. The Cherokee still “go to the water” for these purposes today. Houses were arranged around a plaza and each community had a circular townhouse that could accommodate all of the residents. A sacred fire was at the heart of this shared structure, where meetings, dances, and ceremonies were held. Women owned the houses and fields, and passed these down to their daughters. Though beans and squash were staples in every garden, corn was a crop of great importance, and its name in the Cherokee language, Selu, derives from the first Cherokee woman, who taught the people how to plant this essential food. The Green Corn Dance ceremony was held each year in June or July when the corn first ripened. At this time the Cherokee gathered to dance, pray, and give thanks. For the Stomp Dance, women wore special leg rattles made from turtle shells. People also played the Stickball game with game sticks carved of hickory and a ball of deer hair and hide. The game continues to be played today by both males and females, and is similar to lacrosse.
winter house / stickball players
The number seven is particularly significant to the Cherokee. It represents the sacred directions of the East, North, West, South, World Above, World Below, and Center World (earth). All Cherokee were members of one of seven clans—The Wolf, Wild Potato, Bird, Blue Panther, Deer, Paint, and Long Hair. It was forbidden to marry within one’s clan, as these individuals were regarded as sisters and brothers. Clan members sat together in the townhouse, and provided support and hospitality to one another, including shelter and food when necessary.
Spiritual beings are a vital part of the Cherokee belief system, and they are considered a natural part of everyday life. For example, the Little People are a group of spirits that are still very much a part of Cherokee culture. These beings are small replicas of the Cherokee and they teach lessons that help the people live in accord with nature and with each other. These spirits have a reputation for being mischievous and the Cherokee are careful not to perturb them.
Contact with Europeans in the last quarter of the 18th century brought many changes for the Cherokee people. Many died from European diseases against which they had no immunity. Both the French and Indian, and Revolutionary, wars resulted in the burning of Cherokee towns and fields. Trade goods, such as guns, cloth, and metal utensils were readily incorporated into daily life. The Cherokee came to raise horses, pigs, chickens, and cows, as well as new crops, like apples. Settlers encroached upon Cherokee lands and missionaries arrived in Cherokee communities. Many Cherokee made efforts to learn the language, laws, religion, and other ways of their non-Indian neighbors, in hopes of living in peace in the new United States of America. It was not unusual for Cherokees to marry outside the tribe. George Guess, known as Sequoyah, was the son of a fur trader of mixed Cherokee and non-Indian heritage, and Wu-te-he, a member of the Paint Clan. In 1821 he introduced a syllabary of 85 symbols—one for each sound in the Cherokee language. This allowed the Cherokee to read and write their laws, treaties, and history. Sequoyah’s syllabary is still used today. By 1828 the Cherokee had a bilingual newspaper—the Cherokee Phoenix. That same years the Cherokee adopted a constitution with three branches of government—the executive, legislative, and judicial. The capital of the Cherokee nation was in New Echota, Georgia.
These efforts to coexist were not honored by the U. S. government, however. In 1830 Congress passed the Indian Removal Act. Under this legislation Cherokees would be forced to give up their homes, businesses, schools, and churches, and remove to Indian Territory in Oklahoma. Led by their Principal Chief, John Ross, the Cherokee people fought this injustice in the U. S. courts. Though the Supreme Court ruled in their favor, President Andrew Jackson refused to enforce the ruling. In 1838 several thousand federal troops under the command of General Winfield Scott rounded up 17.000 Cherokee men, women, and children and took them to forts and stockades. There was little food and water, and sanitation was poor. The Cherokee were forced to walk nearly 1,200 miles over what has come to be known as the Trail of Tears. Between 4,000 and 6,000 people died. One group of Cherokee remained in North Carolina—their descendants make up the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians who live today on the Qualla Boundary at Cherokee, North Carolina. Those who survived removal settled around Tahlequah, Oklahoma, the present day capital of the Cherokee Nation.
trail of tears map