Who Were the Cherokee?

 

→ How do you pronounce the word "Cherokee"? What does it mean?
          Cherokee is pronounced "CHAIR-uh-kee." It comes from a Muskogee word meaning 'speakers of

     another language.' Cherokee Indians originally called themselves Aniyunwiya, "the principal people," but

     today they accept the name Cherokee, which is spelled and pronounced Tsalagi in their own language.

→ Where do the Cherokee Indians live?
          The Cherokees are original residents of the American southeast region, particularly Georgia, North and

     South Carolina, Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee. Most Cherokees were forced to move to Oklahoma in

     the 1800's along the Trail of Tears. Descendants of the Cherokee Indians who survived this death march

     still live in Oklahoma today. Some Cherokees escaped the Trail of Tears by hiding in the Appalachian hills

     or taking shelter with sympathetic white neighbors. The descendants of these people live scattered

     throughout the original Cherokee Indian homelands.

→ What was the Cherokee Trail of Tears?
          Trail of Tears was the Cherokee name for what the Americans called Indian Removal. During the

     1800's, the US government created an "Indian Territory" in Oklahoma and sent all the eastern Native

     American tribes to live there. Some tribes willingly agreed to this plan. Other tribes didn't want to go, and

     the American army forced them. The Cherokee tribe was one of the largest eastern tribes, and they didn't

     want to leave their homeland. The Cherokees were peaceful allies of the Americans, so they asked the

     Supreme Court for help. The judges decided the Cherokee Indians could stay in their homes. But the

     President, Andrew Jackson, sent the army to march the Cherokees to Oklahoma anyway. They weren't

     prepared for the journey, and it was winter time. Thousands of Cherokee Indians died on the Trail of

     Tears. Many Native Americans from other tribes died too. It was a terrible time in history.

→ How is the Cherokee Indian nation organized?
          There are three federally recognized Cherokee tribes: the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, the United

     Keetoowah Band in Oklahoma, and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in North Carolina. Other

     Cherokee communities in Alabama, Georgia, and other states are considered unofficial by the US

     government. The Eastern Cherokee people live on a reservation. Indian reservations are lands that belong

     to Native American tribes and are under their control. The Oklahoma Cherokee people live on trust land,

     though many Cherokees call it a reservation anyway. The Keetowah Cherokee do not have a land base.

     Each Cherokee tribe has its own government, laws, police, and services, just like a small country.

     However, Cherokee Indians are also US citizens and must obey American law.
          In the past, each Cherokee band was led by one war chief and one peace chief. Cherokee chiefs were

     chosen by a tribal council. Cherokee war chiefs were male, but the peace chief could be a woman.

→ What language do the Cherokees speak?
          Most Cherokee people speak English today, but 20,000 people also speak the Cherokee Indian

     language. Cherokee is a complex language with soft sounds. If you'd like to know a few easy Cherokee

     words, "osiyo" (pronounced oh-see-yoh) is a friendly greeting, and "wado" (pronounced wah-doh) means

     'thank you.'
          The Cherokee language has an innovative writing system that was invented by the Cherokee scholar

     Sequoyah. Sequoyah's writing system is a syllabary. That means one character represents each syllable.

→ How do Cherokee Indian children live?
          They do the same things all children do--play with each other, go to school and help around the

     house. Many Cherokee children enjoy hunting and fishing with their fathers. In the past, Cherokee kids

     had more chores and less time to play, just like colonial children. But they did have dolls, toys, and games

     to play. In one popular game, Cherokee kids tried to throw a dart through a moving hoop. Anejodi, a

     stickball game related to the Iroquois game of lacrosse, was a popular sport among Cherokee teenagers

     and adult men. Like many Native Americans, Cherokee mothers traditionally carried babies in cradle board

     carriers on their backs.

→ What were men and women's roles in the Cherokee tribe?
          Like their distant cousins the Iroquois, the Cherokee Indians had an even division of power between

     men and women. Cherokee men were in charge of hunting, war, and diplomacy. Cherokee women were

     in charge of farming, property, and family. Men made political decisions for the tribe, and women made

     social decisions for the clans. Chiefs were men, and landowners were women. Both genders took part in

     storytelling, artwork and music, and traditional medicine.

→ What were Cherokee homes like?
          The Cherokee Indians lived in settled villages, usually located near a river. Cherokee houses were

     made of river cane and plaster, with thatched roofs. These dwellings were about as strong and warm as

     log cabins. Here are some pictures of Native American houses like the ones Cherokee Indians used. The

     Cherokees also built larger seven-sided buildings for ceremonial purposes, and each village usually had a

     ball field with benches for spectators. Many Cherokee villages had palisades (reinforced walls) around

     them for protection.

→ What was Cherokee clothing like? Did they wear feather headdresses and face paint?
          Cherokee men wore breechcloths and leggings. Cherokee women wore wraparound skirts and

     poncho-style blouses made out of woven fiber or deerskin. The Cherokees wore moccasins on their feet.

     After colonization, Cherokee Indians adapted European costume into a characteristic style, including long

     braided or beaded jackets, cotton blouses and full skirts decorated with ribbon applique, feathered

     turbans, and the calico tear dress.
          The Cherokees didn't wear long headdresses like the Sioux. Cherokee men usually shaved their heads

     except for a single scalplock. Sometimes they would also wear a porcupine roach. Cherokee women

     always wore their hair long, cutting it only in mourning for a family member. Men decorated their faces

     and bodies with tribal tattoo art and also painted themselves bright colors in times of war. Unlike some

     tribes, Cherokee women didn't paint themselves or wear tattoos, but they often wore bead necklaces and

     copper armbands.

→ What was early Cherokee transportation like? Did they paddle canoes?
          Yes--the Cherokee Indians used to make long dugout canoes from hollowed-out logs. Over land, the  

     Cherokees used dogs as pack animals. There were no horses in North America until colonists brought

     them over from Europe.

→ What was Cherokee food like in the days before supermarkets?
          The Cherokees were farming people. Cherokee women harvested crops of corn, beans, squash, and     

     sunflowers. They also gathered berries, nuts and fruit to eat. Cherokee men hunted deer, wild turkeys,

     and small game and fished in the rivers. Cherokee foods included cornbread, soups, and stews cooked on

     stone hearths.

→ What were some Cherokee weapons and artifacts?
          Cherokee hunters used bows and arrows or blowguns to shoot game. Fishermen generally used

     spears and fishing poles. Warriors fired arrows or fought with a melee weapon like a tomahawk or spear.

     Here is a website with pictures and more information about Cherokee Indian weapons. Other important

     tools used by the Cherokee Indians included stone adzes (hand axes for woodworking), flint knives for

     skinning animals, wooden hoes for farming, and pots and baskets for storing corn.

→ What are Cherokee arts and crafts?
          Traditional Cherokee art included pipe carving, river cane baskets, gourd art, and pottery. After moving

     to Oklahoma, the Cherokees couldn't get the materials they used to use for traditional crafts, so they

     concentrated on other crafts like American Indian beading and textile arts.

→ What other Native Americans did the Cherokee tribe interact with?
          The Cherokee Indians traded regularly with other southeastern Native Americans, who especially liked

     to make trades for high-quality Cherokee pipes and pottery. The Cherokees often fought with their

     neighbors the Creeks, Chickasaws, and Shawnees, but other times, they were friends and allies of those

     tribes.

→ Who are some famous Cherokee Indians?
          One of the best-known people in Cherokee history was Sequoyah. Sequoyah was a very brilliant man. 

     Although he did not know how to read or write in any other language, he succeeded in inventing a

     writing system for Cherokee that is still used today.