This page is about the Cherokee Nation before 1839, including the nationalist movement in the early 1800's and the Trail of Tears. For information on the present-day Cherokee Nation, including genealogy, please see http://www.cherokee.org

Introduction

At its height, the Cherokee Nation ranged from the Appalachian Mountains to the Mississippi River, and from the Ohio River to the Piedmont of present-day Georgia and Alabama, an estimated area of 5,000 square miles. While estimates of its population vary widely most scholars believe that when the tribe formed as the Moundbuilders began to decline (before 1400 AD) there may have been as few as 10,000 members of the Cherokee tribe. By the time of the first European epidemic (1697) there may have been as many as 50,000 members of the tribe, although a more reasonable estimate would be 30,000-35,000 people withing the Cherokee Nation. Cherokee mythology speaks of an early law limiting women to bearing one child a year.

As they watched the English and later, the American society grow, their society dwindled, as did their land. After the 1738 smallpox epidemic it is possible that the Cherokee Nation had fallen to a total population of 7,000 to 10,000. By the time of the Cherokee Removal in the 1830's population estimates are as high as 20,000 in the east.

Society

The Cherokee were a heterogeneous society, freely accepting members of other tribes as well as Europeans and Africans as equals and are considered to be one of the "Five Civilized Tribes." The clan was viewed as the social group above a family and members of the same clan were viewed as brothers and sisters. Daughters of the woman became members of her clan for life. Marrying within your own clan was forbidden and when a Cherokee maiden selected a husband he became a member of his wife's clan. When a stranger came into a village (or was taken during a battle) they would normally be accepted into a clan. This made them a Cherokee. On the rare chance that a stranger was not accepted into the clan

There were seven clans within the Cherokee Nation, so throughout Cherokee life the number 7 was considered to be very good. Council houses were built with seven sides and within the council each clan sat in front of their wall. Seven chiefs, one selected by each clan, ruled the council. The council chiefs (sometimes simply called councilors) selected a single chief, normally not one of the councilors, to make decisions about political and social matters for the tribe when council was not in session and to lead the council when it was in session. A second chief was also appointed, known as the "war chief." It would be his job to decide matters of war and lead the warriors into battle.

A Cherokee family combined subsistence farming with hunting and gathering. Normally the wife would grow crops as husbands journeyed to traditional hunting grounds in search of food. As contact with Europeans increased after 1680, Cherokee discovered that deerskins were as important to traders as the meat was to the Cherokee. The Cherokee society was matralineal, one of only a handful of tribes to organize itself based on the lineage of the mother. Their distant relatives, the tribes of the Iroquois Confederation, were also matralineal.

Seven Cherokee Clans

Bear Clan - gatherers
Blue Clan
Bird Clan - messengers
Paint Clan - medicine
Deer Clan - deer hunters
Wind Clan
Wolf Clan - hunters, warriors

These are common translations of the Cherokee names for each of the clans. Wolf Clan was the largest of the clans.

Religion

The Cherokee believed that the land they occupied was the center of the universe. They also believed that everything, not only living things, had a soul, except for the bear. So the ground they walked upon was sacred, the trees were sacred, even the rocks were sacred.

A single shaman (holy man) would make decisions about religious matters and was normally viewed a the second most powerful man in the tribe. When the shamans failed to end the smallpox epidemic that ravaged Cherokee society in 1738 their power fell and they were no longer considered as leaders.

Language

Three common threads divided both the Cherokee language and the Cherokee society, the designation of the Towns as Upper (Overhill), Middle or Lower. Until the middle 17th century the designation indicated culturally distinct groups which were joined by a common language. Although there were differences between the three languages spoken, a Cherokee from the Lower Towns would be able to understand one from an Overhill Town. Most Cherokee were also fluent in the common trading language used between other nearby tribes, like the Creek and Catawba.

Lifestyle

Within the Cherokee Nation there was a clearly defined division of labor. Men were responsible for clearing fields, helped plant the crop, and would rejoin their wives to harvest the crop. In between planting and the harvest they would journey to the hunting grounds. A woman's main responsibility was raising the children and tending the crop in the field, as well as planting and harvesting the crop. Normally, three or four women would work together, first on one field, then the next, until each of all the families fields were tended.

Trading

In colonial Carolina and across the Savannah River, John Barnwell established a trading post called "English Factory" near a number of Cherokee towns. Here Cherokee could trades deerskins and other pelts including fox, otter, bear and raccoon, slaves (normally Indians taken in battle), arrows made from river cane and many smaller items. In exchange the Cherokee wanted muskets, pistols, knives, and flint (for the muskets and pistols). Surprisingly, they also brought hoes, axes, coats, shirts, petticoats, and girdles (red was the most popular color).

By 1760 the English Factory in settlements had been replaced by individual traders. The Cherokee also would trade with settlers during times of peace. As the English were replaced by Americans after the Revolution trading continued, although the number of deerskins traded dropped, in part because of competition for the resources by settlers and other Indians, in part because of overhunting by the Cherokee. The Cherokee view this as a sign the world was in turmoil.

History

From 1540 until 1750 the Cherokee had occasional contact with Spanish explorers (DeSoto, 1540, Moyano, 1560, Juan Pardo, 1566) and miners who journeyed into the Cherokee Nation in search of gold. First English contact came in 1680, when they turned back Carolinian James Moore as he attempted to reach the gold fields in White County, Georgia. From 1680 until 1712 contact with the Cherokee was sporadic. Carolinian George Chicken was an occasional visitor to Upper Towns, mostly in the Blue Ridge Mountains during this time period.

As tensions heated up between South Carolina and Yamassee/Creek Indians in 1715, the Cherokee Upper Towns aligned with settlers while the Lower Towns sided with the Creek. James Moore arranged a meeting at Tugaloo to discuss peace in 1716, but before he arrived the Cherokee murdered the Creek delegation even through they came under the peace flag.

The Tugaloo Massacre not only turned the tide of the Yamassee War, it adversely affect the relationship between the Cherokee and Creek for 30 years. In 1721 James Moore, Jr. negotiated the first treaty with the Cherokee as governor of South Carolina, although by the time the treaty was ready to sign, Francis Nicholson had been appointed governor. At this time the Cherokee Nation began an extremely slow shift to the first to the west and later to the south.

Arriving in Charleston in 1729, in 1730 Alexander Cuming journeyed through the Appalachians to Chota, the traditional seat of Cherokee power in the Tanasi region where he met the newly appointed chief, Moytoy. Cuming returned to England with 7 "chiefs", Moytoy and six friends. Cuming gave Moytoy the impressive title of "Emperor of the Cherokee."

In 1736 Christian missionary Christian Priber traveled in the Cherokee country to create the "Kingdom of Paradise." Priber was not successful, but he did teach the Cherokee about trading with the English. For this a bounty was offered (1739) and collected by a Georgian from Fort Augusta. The Smallpox Epidemic of 1738-9 was the worst of four that devastated the Cherokee.

American Indians of Georgia
Moundbuilders, Creek and Cherokee all called North Georgia home

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