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Who Were the Cherokee?
- It is believed the Cherokee tribe originated in the Northeast of
our country in the Great Lakes area as one of the Iroquoian peoples.
What prompted their move to the Southeast is not known but is
acknowledged within their oral history. Their very language is known as
a tongue that originated as an Iroquoian dialect. Some believe the
move was prompted by ongoing battles with other tribes, threats to the
tribe’s safety and security, or ancient weather patterns that may have
caused the move southward to improve their habitat. The migration most
likely took place in prehistoric times and evidence of their habitation
of the Mississippi and Appalachian regions of the Southeast shows the
tribe to be well ensconced by the time of the Spanish exploration as
early as 1540-1541 but is believed to have preceded that time period by
many hundreds of years. The Cherokee were indigenous to North and South
Carolina, Tennessee and most populous in what is now Georgia when
European settlers first explored the Southeast United States.
- They were a highly developed tribe with its own complex social
structure which included a system of centrist government where a major
population area was deemed to have a high level of authority over
surrounding smaller communities. Although co-located in what was known
as the Mississippian culture of native Americans, later studies have
shown though the Cherokee shared some traits and benefited from
knowledge and practices, they were not a part of the more ancient
peoples who built the burial mounds for which the Mississippian culture
is best known. Certain attributes were shared, however, such as a
maize-based food dependence and cultivation; religious beliefs and
ceremonies; a system of government by a chiefdom; a sophisticated trade
network that stretched from the Great Lakes to Mexico; a social strata
that embraced social inequality; the utilization of riverine to temper
their shell-based potteries (a characteristic rather unique to the
Mississippian culture); and an established community rather than a
migratory or nomadic culture. The importance of the method of pottery
making in tracing origins of Native American cultures is critical as one
generation handed down knowledge of methods and materials to the next.
Thus, the clay used, the method of forming pots, the manner in which
the clay was tempered or fired all contribute to an archeologist’s
ability to trace the peoples’ movements from one area to the next
through history.
- The name “Cherokee” given to this tribe may represent one of
the most controversial issues among researchers. Many different origins
for the name have been proposed, as shown in Wikipedia, from sources
shown at the end of this article:
“Many theories—though none proven—abound about the origin of
the name "Cherokee". It may have originally been derived from the
Choctaw word Cha-la-kee, which means "those who live in the mountains", or Choctaw Chi-luk-ik-bi, meaning "those who live in the cave country." The earliest Spanish rendering of the name "Cherokee," from 1755, is Tchalaqueil Another theory is that "Cherokee" derives from a Lower Creek word, Cvlakke ("chuh-log-gee"). The Iroquois in New York have historically called the Cherokee Oyata’ge'ronoñ ("inhabitants of the cave country").
Tsalagi (Ꮳ ᎳᎩ) is sometimes misused as a name for the people; Tsalagi is actually the Cherokee (Ꮳ ᎳᎩ) word for the Cherokee language.”
The Cherokee and the Revolution:
- The history of the Cherokee is filled with stories of battles
and ongoing wars between their tribe and others. During the American
Revolution, the Cherokee sided with the British. This relationship was
the outgrowth of an ongoing military alliance, which began during the
French and Indian war. The British were permitted by the Cherokee to
build forts to defend against the French. This alliance appears to have
been borne out of long-standing feuds with other Indian tribes who had
aligned themselves with the French, thus making it most beneficial to
negotiate a workable mutually beneficial arrangement. One of the things
the British attempted to enforce was a ban on American colonists
encroaching on traditional Cherokee hunting grounds.
-
Research into my own family tree provided the first of a number of
clashes with the Cherokee people when tracing our Bullard line. My 5th
Great Grandfather, Joseph Bullard was born about 1732 and first recorded
as having migrated to North Carolina along with his brothers. It is
believed he migrated with his siblings to America in the early to
mid-1700’s (possibly 1750), probably from Northern Ireland and was of
Irish or Scotch-Irish origins. Records show his father on tax lists of
North Carolina, Rowan County, in 1761. Records show Joseph Bullard to
be living along the Watauga River in or near modern day Elizabethton,
Tennessee by about 1771. He and other pioneers bristled at the controls
exerted by the British crown over their efforts to carve a living out of
the Appalachian Mountains. The boundaries of this area were rather
fluid at that period of time, being a confluence of eastern Tennessee,
western Virginia and northwestern North Carolina. These independent
mountain men formed an association, which was formalized in 1776 as the
Watauga Association. Joseph Bullard was one of the signatories of that
document which formed the basis of the charter, which developed, into
the State of Tennessee. The document also engendered apprehension among
the British who perceived it as a “dangerous example” of American
colonists forming a government “distinct from and independent of his
majesty’s authority”.
-
The Cherokee viewed this settlement as a violation of the agreements
with the British crown to protect their historic hunting grounds from
invasion, or use by the colonists. A group of Cherokee who inhabited
the western side of the Appalachian mountains (now a part of the state
of Tennessee) was called the “Overhill Cherokee”. A very famous
Cherokee woman, Nancy Ward (her Anglo name) Nanyehi was one of the
“Beloved Women” of the Cherokees. She earned this honor by valor in
battle against the Creek Indians with her husband, Tsu-la or Kingfisher,
at the young age of about fourteen. After her husband was struck down,
she is said to have taken up his long rifle and joined in the affray,
ultimately leading her people to victory. A few years later, at the age
of 18, she was awarded the title of “Ghigau” awarding her membership in
the tribal council of chiefs. She was also the leader of the Women’s
Council and the negotiator for her clan. Nanyehi believed in a peaceful
coexistence with the American colonists. In 1776, after a battle with
the Watauga colonists, she used her authority to spare the life of a
female colonist who had been injured. She took this woman into her home
and nursed her back to health. This act of benevolence proved to be of
great benefit to Nanyehi and her people as well, for the woman, Lydia
Russell Bean, taught Nanyehi how to use a loom to weave fibers into yarn
and use the yarn to make clothing. Mrs. Bean also introduced Nanyehi
to the value of cattle. In return for the sparing of her life and the
resulting friendship, Mrs. Bean rescued two of her own cattle and gave
them to Nanyehi, teaching her how to milk the cow and utilize the milk
to make butter and cheese. These two acts of kindness actually resulted
in a change in the traditional roles of women in the Cherokee culture.
-
Nanyehi had a cousin named Dragging Canoe who headed up a rebellious
faction of Cherokee who despised the colonists and vowed to rid his land
of their very existence. In an act of defiance against the efforts of
Nanyehi who wished to peacefully coexist with the colonists, Dragging
Canoe led his band of rebel warriors in a series of attacks against the
Watauga colonists. His efforts were rewarded by the British as those
colonists took up arms to aid in the American Revolution. When Dragging
Canoe and his band migrated to an area near where the South Chickamauga
Creek joins the Tennessee River, the colonists began distinguishing
this band of warriors as the “Chickamauga” separate from the friendly
Overhill Cherokee.
-
Capt. Joseph Bullard was one of the colonists who followed John Sevier
into battle at King’s Mountain, successfully defeating the British
Loyalist forces and bringing the first significant victory to the
fledgling American Revolution. Bullard and Sevier were also Indian
fighters, waging war against the Indians who sought to wipe out the
colonists’ communities. In 1788, he was killed in ambush by Dragging
Canoe’s band. Dragging Canoe believed Joseph Bullard to actually be
John Sevier and they celebrated their perceived execution of Sevier by
dancing three days and nights over Bullard’s body. The resemblance
between Sevier and Joseph Bullard was said to be significant and the two
were brothers in arms, neighbors and valiant pioneers working to
establish a thriving community in the Watauga, Nolichucky and Washington
area of Virginia, Tennessee and North Carolina.
-
Dragging Canoe was a brilliant and bloodthirsty chief, who numbered
among his band the famous Tecumseh and Sequoyah. He was reputed by many
to be the most significant Native American leader of the Southeast.
(Sequoyah may be best known for creating a written alphabet permitting
the Cherokee language to survive and evolve.)
- The Cherokee were primarily a farming people who resided in
cabins built of logs, not the tipi. Following the American Revolution,
the Cherokee were adept at negotiating with the American government in
attempts to preserve their culture and the right to peacefully co-exist
in their historic living and hunting grounds in the Southeast of the
United States. After discovery of gold in their lands in Georgia,
however, their fate was sealed. Sufficient animosity existed from the
decades long battles, attacks and counter-attacks that resulted in many
atrocities among both the Cherokee and American colonists members. The
efforts of several of the Cherokee factions to sell off portions of
their lands in return for a continued presence in their native region
ultimately failed.
-
The negotiations for sale of their lands also resulted in bitter feuds
among the Cherokee, dividing them into political factions. One of the
strategies of the Cherokee was to voluntarily remove from Georgia and
relocate in Missouri and Arkansas. In 1815, a Cherokee reservation was
set aside in Arkansas. “The reservation boundaries extended from north
of the Arkansas River to the southern bank of the White River. Di'wali
(The Bowl), Sequoyah, Spring Frog and Tatsi (Dutch) and their bands
settled there. These Cherokees became known as "Old settlers."
[Wikipedia: the Cherokee]
-
Other Cherokee would migrate to the Missouri Territory where the Osage
and Creeks were already established. The Creek Indians would accept the
Cherokee, but the Osage were territorial and warred against the
newcomers. Others would migrate into then Spanish territorial Texas. The
Spanish welcomed them as potential allies in their ongoing
confrontations against the Anglo-American colonists. Later, Sam
Houston, an adopted Cherokee, would champion their cause although they
would face ultimate eviction from his successor, Lamar.
-
When Andrew Jackson attained the Presidency in 1829, he would sign the
Indian Removal Act, a forcible eviction cloaked in political jargon
asserting the move was to protect the native Americans from ultimate
extinction, by setting aside a territory exclusively for their
habitation.
- This removal was effected in a most harsh and
cold-blooded manner, marching men, women and children (regardless of
age, health or disability) to abandon their established farmsteads and
household goods, cattle, crops and implements, poorly clothed and with
insubstantial foods across hundreds of miles of territory. This
inhumane “relocation” is known as the Trail of Tears and resulted in the
brutal deaths of more than ten thousand from exhaustion, starvation and
exposure.
- “The phrase "Trail of Tears" originated from a description of the removal of the Choctaw Nation in 1831.
-
Between 1830 and 1850, the Chickasaw, Choctaw, Muscogee, Creek, Seminole
and Cherokee peoples (including European Americans and African American
freedmen and slaves who lived among them) were forcibly removed from
their traditional lands in the Southeastern United States, and relocated
further west. The Native Americans were forced to march to their
designated destinations by state and local militias, in some cases at
the express objection of the federal government and the US Supreme
Court.
-
The Cherokee Nation removal in 1838 (the last forced removal east of the
Mississippi) was brought on by the discovery of gold near Dahlonega,
Georgia, in 1829, resulting in the Georgia Gold Rush. The Cherokee was
divided into thirteen groups, the last of which was led by John Ross,
who had negotiated the nation's emigration contract with the Van Buren
administration. Approximately 2,000-6,000 of the 16,543 relocated
Cherokee perished along the way.”
- Today the Cherokee Nation has its headquarters at Tahlequah,
Oklahoma. It is headed by Principal Chief Bill John Baker and has a
thriving community. The nation has real estate, banking, agricultural,
commercial and medical interests providing its membership with immense
opportunities. Cherokee Nation Industries is a very large defense
industry contractor. A string of casinos are operated under the
leadership of Cherokee Nation Entertainment. An extremely beautiful
university, Northeastern State, provides advanced training and education
with its main campus in Tahlequah and two other campuses located in
Muskogee and Broken Arrow. About one quarter of the students are
Cherokee and the school offers classes focused on Cherokee linguistics
and the preservation of the language and history of the Cherokee people.
|
1.Cherokee Indian Tribe. Access Genealogy. (September 21, 2009)
2. Charles A. Hanna, The Wilderness Trail, (New York: 1911).
3. Martin and Mauldin, "A Dictionary of Creek/Muskogee." Sturtevant and Fogelson, p.349
4. "Cherokee: A Language of the United States". Ethnologue:
Languages of the World. SIL International. 2013. Retrieved 20 Oct 2014.
Cunne Shote, Cherokee Chief, by Francis Parsons - English-1762 Oil on Canvas, Gilcrease Museum the Chief "Old Hop" who was also know as Standing Turkey - illustrating the description given of the Cherokee in my column - an oil painting (public domain) See Portrait below.
- Cumnacatogue (also known as Cunne Shote, Stalking
Turkey or Standing Turkey) was one of three Cherokee chiefs who
travelled to London in 1762 to see King George III. He was the nephew of
the Chief "Old Hop" who was also know as Standing Turkey.
-
Standing Turkey, also known as Cunne Shote (or Kunagadoga) succeeded his
uncle, Kanagatucko (or Old Hop), as First Beloved Man of the Cherokee
upon the latter's death in 1760. Pro-French like his uncle, he steered
the Cherokee into war with the British colonies of South Carolina, North
Carolina, and Virginia in the aftermath of the execution of several
Cherokee leaders who were being held hostage at Fort Prince George. He
held his title until the end of the Anglo-Cherokee War in 1761, when he
was deposed in favor of Attakullakulla.
-
Standing Turkey was one of three Cherokee leaders to go with Henry
Timberlake to London in 1762-1763, the others being Ostenaco and Pouting
Pigeon. Standing Turkey was part of the Cherokee Bird Band, the wild
Turkey of America.
-
In 1782, he was one of a party of Cherokee which joined the
Delaware,Shawnee, and Chickasaw in a diplomatic visit to the Spanish at
Fort St. Louis in seeking a new avenue of obtaining arms and other
assistance in the prosecution of their ongoing conflict with the
Americans in the Ohio Valley. The group of Cherokee sought and received
permission by Standing Turkey to settle in Spanish Louisiana, in the
region of the White River.[1]
-
BY THE WAY - Attakullakulla was the father of Dragging Canoe and the
maternal uncle of Nancy Ward or Nanyehi (an incredible woman!!!)
Click on author's byline for bio and list of other works published by Pencil Stubs Online.
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