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The Cherokee people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century,they were concentrated in their homelands,in towns along river valleys of what is now southwestern North Carolina,southeastern Tennessee,southwestern Virginia,edges of western South Carolina,northern Georgia and northeastern Alabama consisting of around 40,000 square miles.
John Ross was the Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation from 1828 to 1866;he served longer in that position than any other person. Ross led the nation through such tumultuous events as forced removal to Indian Territory and the American Civil War.
Unto These Hills is an outdoor historical drama during summers at the 2,800-seat Mountainside Theatre in Cherokee,North Carolina. It is the third oldest outdoor historical drama in the United States,after The Lost Colony in Manteo in eastern North Carolina and The Ramona Pageant in Southern California. The first version of the play was written by Kermit Hunter and opened on July 1,1950,to wide acclaim.
The Qualla Boundary or The Qualla is territory held as a land trust by the United States government for the federally recognized Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI),who reside in Western North Carolina. The area is part of the large historic Cherokee territory in the Southeast,which extended into eastern Tennessee,western South Carolina,northern Georgia and Alabama. Currently,the largest contiguous portion of the Qualla lies in Haywood,Swain,and Jackson counties and is centered on the community of Cherokee,which serves as the tribal capital of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. Smaller,non-contiguous parcels also lie in Graham and Cherokee counties,near the communities of Snowbird and Murphy,respectively.
The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI),is a federally recognized Indian tribe based in western North Carolina in the United States. They are descended from the small group of 800–1,000 Cherokees who remained in the Eastern United States after the U.S. military,under the Indian Removal Act,moved the other 15,000 Cherokees to west of the Mississippi River in the late 1830s,to Indian Territory. Those Cherokees remaining in the east were to give up tribal Cherokee citizenship and to assimilate. They became U.S. citizens.
Nimrod Jarrett Smith (1832–1893),also called Tsaladihi,was the fifth Principal Chief of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. He is credited with gaining approval by the North Carolina legislature for the band's incorporation as a legal entity,and for gaining federal recognition as an Indian tribe.
Yonaguska,who was known as Drowning Bear,was a leader among the Cherokee of the Lower Towns of North Carolina.
William Holland Thomas was an American merchant,lawyer,politician and soldier.
The Cherokee in the American Civil War were active in the Trans-Mississippi and Western Theaters. In the east,Confederate Cherokees led by William Holland Thomas hindered Union forces trying to use the Appalachian mountain passes of western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee. Out west,Confederate Cherokee Stand Watie led primarily Native Confederate forces in the Indian Territory,in what is now the state of Oklahoma. The Cherokee partnered with the Confederacy in order to get funds,as well as ultimately full recognition as a sovereign,independent state.
Tsali was a noted leader of the Cherokee during two different periods of the history of the tribe. As a young man,Tsali joined the Chickamauga faction of the Cherokee in the late 18th century,and became a leader in the fight against the American frontiersmen and their constant expansion into tribal lands. Later In 1812,he became known as The Prophet,and urged the Cherokee to ally with the Shawnee warrior,Tecumseh,in war against the Americans. Two decades later,in what seemed a fulfilment of his earlier prophecy,he resisted the forced removal of the Native Americans from their mountainous,western North Carolina towns,and as a result,a large following of like-minded Cherokee gathered to him. Following Tsali's martyrdom,the three hundred fugitive followers of his that remained free after his sacrifice became the forebears of some 14,000 registered members of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians living today in the Qualla Boundary.
The Cherokee people of the southeastern United States,and later Oklahoma and surrounding areas,have a long military history. Since European contact,Cherokee military activity has been documented in European records. Cherokee tribes and bands had a number of conflicts during the 18th century with Europeans,primarily British colonists from the Southern Colonies. The Eastern Band and Cherokees from the Indian Territory fought in the American Civil War,with bands allying with the Union or the Confederacy. Because many Cherokees allied with the Confederacy,the United States government required a new treaty with the nation after the war. Cherokees have also served in the United States military during the 20th and 21st centuries.
Cherokee history is the written and oral lore,traditions,and historical record maintained by the living Cherokee people and their ancestors. In the 21st century,leaders of the Cherokee people define themselves as those persons enrolled in one of the three federally recognized Cherokee tribes:The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians,The Cherokee Nation,and The United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians.
The Cherokee Nation was a legal,autonomous,tribal government in North America recognized from 1794 to 1907. It was often referred to simply as "The Nation" by its inhabitants. The government was effectively disbanded in 1907,after its land rights had been extinguished,prior to the admission of Oklahoma as a state. During the late 20th century,the Cherokee people reorganized,instituting a government with sovereign jurisdiction known as the Cherokee Nation. On July 9,2020,the United States Supreme Court ruled that the Muscogee (Creek) Nation had never been disestablished in the years before allotment and Oklahoma Statehood.
The Chickamauga Cherokee were a Native American group that separated from the greater body of the Cherokee during the American Revolutionary War and up to the early 1800s.
The Cherokee removal,part of the Indian removal,refers to the removal of an estimated 15,500 Cherokees and 1,500 African-American slaves from the U.S. states of Georgia,North Carolina,Tennessee and Alabama to the West according to the terms of the 1835 Treaty of New Echota. It is estimated that 3,500 Cherokees and African-American slaves died en route.
Richard G. Sneed was the 28th Principal Chief of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. Sneed succeeded former Principal Chief Patrick Lambert following Lambert's impeachment,only the second such impeachment since the 19th century.
The Oconaluftee River drains the south-central Oconaluftee valley of the Great Smoky Mountains in Western North Carolina before emptying into the Tuckasegee River. The river flows through the Qualla Boundary,a federal land trust that serves as a reserve for the Eastern Band of the Cherokee,the only federally recognized tribe in North Carolina. They bought the land back from the federal government in the 1870s,after having been pushed off and forced to cede it earlier in the 19th century. Several historic Cherokee towns are known to have been located along this river.
A number of prominent Native Americans have protested against the social and cultural damage inflicted by alcohol on indigenous communities,and have campaigned to raise awareness of the dangers of alcohol and to restrict its availability to Native populations. Initially,these activists resisted the use of rum and brandy as trade items during the colonial era,in an effort to protect Native Americans from cultural changes they viewed as destructive. Later activists framed temperance in terms of Christianity,conforming to the broader temperance movement in the United States. Others led revitalization movements to restore Native American dignity by reverting to traditional customs and ceremonies or attempted to establish alcohol-free communities. During the 1800s several religious movements combined tradition with Christianity to attract a wider following. Modern-day addiction specialists integrate the psychology of substance abuse treatment with traditional rituals and symbolism and with community rehabilitation to reduce stressors and help recovering alcoholics maintain a healthy lifestyle.
Lloyd Romulus Welch was the fourth Principal Chief of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and is noted for the 1875 amendments to the Eastern Band Cherokee Constitution and the establishment of the Qualla Boundary.
References
- ↑ Conley, Robert J. (December 16, 2007). A Cherokee Encyclopedia. Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico Press. ISBN 9780826339539.
- ↑ "Chief Salonitah "Flying Squirrel" Oo-co-la-hoh". Geni.com . Retrieved August 16, 2024.
- ↑ Finger, John R. (1984). The Eastern Band of Cherokees, 1819-1900. Knoxville, TN: University of Tennessee Press. pp. 24, 67. ISBN 9780870494109.
- ↑ Mckinney, Gordon B. (1996). "Thomas, William Holland". State Library of North Carolina . Retrieved August 17, 2024.
- 1 2 Giddens, Elizabeth (February 16, 2023). Oconaluftee: The History of a Smoky Mountain Valley. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press. pp. 72, 160. ISBN 9781469673424.
- ↑ Donaldson, Thomas; Carrington, Henry B. (1892). "Eastern Band of Cherokees of North Carolina". United States Census. pp. 18–19. Retrieved August 17, 2024.
- ↑ Anderson, William L.; Wetmore, Ruth Y. (2006). "Cherokee". State Library of North Carolina . Retrieved August 16, 2024.
- ↑ Nonpopulation Census Schedules for North Carolina, 1850-1880, Mortality and Manufacturing; Archive Collection: M1805, United States census,1880;Ocona Lufty, Swain, North Carolina; roll 5,.