Cherokee Lifeways

Today we drove through Cherokee, North Carolina, where the Eastern Band of Cherokees is a sovereign nation in Western North Carolina, with its own laws, elections, government, institutions, and schools. Though it has relationships with the United States federal government and the North Carolina state government, the Cherokees are self-governed and autonomous. In the early 1800’s, the Cherokee adapted the tribal governing structure to include a written constitution. Cherokee courts and schools were established and, in 1821, a Cherokee scholar named Sequoyah invented a written Cherokee language. (visitcherokeenc.com)

Located in Cherokee, North Carolina, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians were once part of a much larger Cherokee Nation population. However, in 1838, after gold was discovered in Georgia, President Andrew Jackson, ignoring the decision of a U.S. Supreme Court judge that his “Indian Removal Act” was unconstitutional, forced 16,000 native peoples on a 1,000-mile march into Oklahoma—the infamous Trail of Tears, during which between 25% and 50% of the Cherokee tribe died. (visitcherokeenc.com) The Cherokee Tribe became divided into what is known today as the Cherokee Nation and United Kituwah Band, located in Oklahoma, and the Eastern Band, made up of those who remained and rebuilt within North Carolina’s Qualla Boundary. (ebci.com) 

The Cherokee are a resilient people. In spite of attempts by the U.S government to exterminate the Cherokee as a sovereign people, they survive and even thrive in North Carolina. Some members, who made it to Oklahoma, turned around and walked back home. Others are descended from Cherokee who managed to keep land they owned and did not march West. Others hid in the mountains and refused to be relocated. In 1850 the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians numbered approximately 1,000. Presently, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians is a sovereign nation with over 14,000 members. (visitcherokeenc.com)

Today, Cherokee people do not live on a reservation, which is land given to a native American tribe by the federal government. Instead, in the 1800’s, the tribal members purchased 57,000 acres of property. This land, called the Qualla Boundary, is owned by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and kept in trust by the federal government. The tribe financially pays for schools, water, sewer, fire, and emergency services without assistance from the federal government. Cherokee schools teach the Cherokee language. In fact, the New Kituwah Language Academy teaches only in the Cherokee language.The New Kituwah Language Academy’s program statement is quite inspiring:

You can click here if you want to learn some basic Cherokee.