Cherokee Nation 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 the Southeast from the Great Lakes Region. Cherokee Timeline 1450 - First Cherokee enter the state in the vicinity of Traveler's Rest. Tugaloo Old Town is the first major Cherokee village. 1540-1 De Soto "visits" the Cherokee and is supposedly one of the first whites seen by the tribe, although written descriptions of the tribe by the Spanish note the wide range of colors in the tribe, from "negro" (black) to light skinned and "fair," according to Moyano and Pardo. 1650 - Cherokee commanded more than 40,000 square miles in the southern Appalachians by 1650 with a population estimated at 22,500. 1715 - Massive uprising against North and South Carolina 1721 - First treaty with whites - South Carolina 1738 - Smallpox eradicates 25% of the Cherokee Nation. Nancy Ward is born 1753 - Smallpox epidemic 1755 - Battle of Taliwa - Accounts differ on exact events, however, the Creek, who greatly outnumber the Cherokee, attack the Cherokee line five times. During the fifth attack elderly Cherokee leader Kingfisher is slain. His teenage wife picks up his weapon, and chanting a Cherokee war song, Nancy Ward leads the Cherokee to victory, routing the Creek. The battle marked successful expulsion of the Creek from much of North Georgia. The only major remaining Creek settlement was near present Rome, Georgia. 1760-1762 - Cherokee War (SC) 1773 - First cession of Cherokee land in Georgia 1776-1783 - Impressed by the British during the French and Indian War, the Cherokee side with them during the American Revolution. The price for the decision is immense. Beginning at about the time of the American Revolutionary War, divisions over continued accommodation of encroachments by white settlers, despite repeated violations of previous treaties, caused some Cherokee to begin to leave The Cherokee Nation. These dissidents became known as the Chickamauga. Led by Chief Dragging Canoe, the Chickamauga made alliances with the Shawnee and engaged in raids against colonial settlements, aided by the British. Colonel Pickens destroyed Long Swamp village (1782) and forced the Cherokee to cede land to settlers. 1785 Treaty of Hopewell (SC) - The Cherokee thought this would be the end of the settlers' invasion of Cherokee land. Within 3 years bitter fighting had erupted as settlers continued to move into the Cherokee Nation. This treaty is the basis for the term "Talking Leaves." [See below] Cherokee felt that written words were like leaves, when they were no longer of use they withered and died. John Ross is born. ![]() Ross was an important figure in the history of the Cherokee tribe. His father emigrated from Scotland prior to the Revolutionary War. His mother was a quarter-blood Cherokee woman whose father was also from Scotland. He began his public career in 1809. Still permitted under the Constitution at that time, The Cherokee Nation was founded in 1820, with elected public officials. John Ross became the chief of the tribe in 1828 and remained the chief until his death. Ross, also known as Kooweskoowe, was a leader of the Cherokee Native American tribe. Ross was born near Lookout Mountain, Tennessee, the son of a Scotsman who had gone to live among the Cherokee during the American Revolution. John Ross's mother was 3/4 Scottish as well. At the age of twenty, after having completed his education, he was appointed as Indian agent to the western Cherokee and sent to Arkansas. He served as an adjutant in a Cherokee regiment during the War of 1812 and participated in fighting at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend against the British-allied Creek tribe. Ross relocated to Georgia and was chosen as a member of the Cherokee national council in 1817, becoming its president two years later and serving in that capacity for seven years. After this he became assistant chief of the eastern Cherokee, becoming principal chief the following year and serving as such until 1839, participating in the drafting of the Cherokee constitution in 1827. During his tenure as chief he opposed displacement of the tribe from its native lands, a policy of the United States government known as Indian Removal. However, Ross's political rival Major Ridge signed an unauthorized removal treaty with the U.S. in 1836. Ross unsuccessfully lobbied against enforcement of the treaty, but those Cherokees who did not emigrate to the "Indian Territory" by 1838 were forced to do so by General Winfield Scott, an episode that came to be known as the Trail of Tears. Accepting defeat, Ross convinced General Scott to have supervision of much of the removal process turned over to Ross. In the Indian Territory, Ross helped draft a constitution for the entire Cherokee nation in 1839, and was chosen as chief of the nation. He would remain chief until his death. 1791 Treaty of Holston-Cherokee cede land in eastern Tennessee in exchange for President Washington's guarantee that the Cherokee Nation will never again be invaded by settlers. This treaty forces Americans to obtain passports to enter Cherokee lands, and granted Cherokee the right to evict settlers. 1792 The town of Hightower moves from the vicinity of Rome, Georgia to present-day Cartersville, further east on the Etowah River after a brutal attack on the village by Tennessee governor John Sevier. 1799-1804 Building of the Augusta to Nashville Road, later known as the Federal Road. 1801 Return J. Meigs appointed "indian agent." Morovians start mission at Spring Place. 1802 President Thomas Jefferson agrees with the state of Georgia to removal of all American Indians in exchange for the state's claim of western lands. 1804 Cherokee cede Wafford's Tract. 1806 Start of a complex series of events known as Revolt of the Young Chiefs 1811 New Madrid earthquake. Actually 3 separate earthquakes with an epicenter near the town of New Madrid, Missouri in the southeastern border with Kentucky. The quakes were felt throughout the Cherokee Nation and sparked what is best described as a religious revival among the Cherokee. Writer James Mooney would call this movement the "Ghost Dance," after a similar Western Indian revival. 1812 Shawnee warrior Tecumseh agitates American Indians on the frontier to rise up and destroy the settlers. A faction of the Creek Indians, the "Red Sticks," revolt, attacking Fort Mims, Alabama and massacre 250 men, women and children. 1 813-1814 Cherokee warriors fight alongside future president Andrew Jackson during two campaigns (5 major battles) against the Red Sticks, saving both his army and his life in separate battles. 1814 Jackson demands cessions of 2.2 million acres from the Cherokee. 1817 Cession of land east of the Unicoi Turnpike. (Treaty of Turkey Town, instead of the 2.2 million acres demanded by Jackson.) 1819 Final cession of land in Georgia, and part of a much larger cession, the Cherokee give up claims to all land east of the Chattahoochee River. 1821 Cherokee warrior Sequoyah finishes his work on a written language (syllabary) for the tribe. Within six months more than 25% of the Cherokee Nation learns how to read and write. 1822 Georgia begins press for cession of remaining Cherokee lands, citing Jefferson's 1802 commitment to the state. 1828 Gold discovered in Georgia. This discovery was on Cherokee land ceded to the U. S. in 1817 (Duke's Creek), however, gold was soon found inside the Cherokee Nation; Publication of the Cherokee Phoenix begins with Elias Boudinot, editor. 1830 - Cherokees were displaced from their ancestral lands in North Georgia and the Carolinas primarily as a result of the Gold Rush around Dahlonega, Georgia in the 1830's. Cherokee evict encroachers in Beaver Dam on Cedar Creek, a few miles south of present-day Rome, Georgia. Passage of the Indian Removal Act. 1831 Chief Justice John Marshall rules that the Cherokee have no standing to file suit in the United States in Cherokee Nation vs. Georgia. He then instructs attorney William Wirt on how to correctly file; Samuel Worcester and others arrested for violation of Georgia law requiring whites to get permits to work in the Cherokee territory. 1832 The Supreme Court of the United States declares the Cherokee Nation to be sovereign (Worcester vs. Georgia). This has constitutional implications, disallowing the state of Georgia from passing any law governing the Cherokee; Elias Boudinot resigns as publisher of the Cherokee Phoenix under pressure from John Ross because of his editorial support for removal;Georgia's sixth land lottery and the gold lottery. 1834 The Georgia Guard destroys the printing press in the offices of The Cherokee Phoenix. 1835 Ross and John Howard Payne, in Red Clay, Tennessee, are illegally detained by the Georgia Guard. Dec. 29 Treaty of New Echota signed in Elias Boudinot's home by members of the Treaty Party. 1838 Deadline for voluntary removal. Georgia Guard had begun round-up 5 days earlier. U. S. forces under command of Winfield Scott begin roundup in Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, and North Carolina. Cherokee are herded into "forts," gradually making their way north to the Cherokee Agency in southeastern Tennessee. Once the Cherokees reached Indian Territory (now Oklahoma), tensions ran high and the suspension of the Cherokee Blood Law was ignored. On June 22, 1839, after the adjournment of a tribal meeting, some of the prominent signers of the Treaty of New Echota were assassinated, including the drafter of the Blood Law, Major Ridge, along with John Ridge and Elias Boudinot. This started 15 years of civil war amongst the Cherokees. One of the notable survivors was Stand Watie, who became a Confederate general during the American Civil War. The Cherokees were one of the five "civilized tribes" that concluded treaties with, and were recognized, by the Confederate States of America. In 1848 a group of Cherokee set out on an expedition to California looking for new settlement lands. The expedition followed the Arkansas River upstream to Rocky Mountains in present-day Colorado, then followed the base of mountains northward into present-day Wyoming before turning westward. The route become known as the Cherokee Trail. The group, which undertook gold prospecting in California, returned along the same route the following year, noticing placer gold deposits in tributaries of the South Platte. The discovery went unnoticed for a decade but eventually became of the primary sources of the Colorado Gold Rush of 1859. Other Cherokees in western North Carolina served as part of Thomas' Legion, a unit of approximately 1,100 men of both Cherokee and white origin, fighting primarily in Virginia, where their battle record was outstanding. Thomas' Legion was the last Confederate unit to surrender in North Carolina, at Waynesville, North Carolina on May 9, 1865. The Cherokee Nation citizens lost their right to elect their own chief in 1907 when Oklahoma became a state. Various chiefs were appointed by the Presidents until 1970 when the Cherokees regained their right to elect their own government via a Congressional Act signed by President Nixon. W. W. Keeler was the first elected chief of The Cherokee Nation. Keeler, who was also the President of Phillips Petroleum was succeeded by Ross Swimmer, Wilma Mankiller, Joe Byrd and Chad Smith who is currently the chief of The Cherokee Nation Clans The Cherokee were divided into seven clans. People in a clan had to marry outside of his or her clan. Then, the male lived with his wife's family (matriarchial). Homes Before the Europeans came over, they lived together in square houses made of bark, wood, earth, and clay. Later, they lived in log cabins. Economy Their economy consisted of the cultivation of corn, beans, and squash. Also, hunting and slash-and-burn agriculture was a large part of their economy. Their only domesticated animal was the dog, until the Europeans brought horses over. Ceremonies The Cherokees held many ceremonies. One of their ceremonies marked the changing of rulers between the Red and White Organization. Another ceremony consisted of nightlong dancing before going to war. After war, they had rituals of purification before they returned to their daily routine. Recreation 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 an observance of the new year. |
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