What was cherokee life like

Peace treaties between the English and Cherokee were developed early as well. In , the Cherokee made an alliance with the English by pledging their allegiance to the British Crown, King George the Second, and promising to trade with the English only.

Other European settlers were making alliances with Native American tribes as well, so the English needed special protection from their greatest rival, the French. Other negotiations sought Cherokee land. By that time, Cherokee territory had been firmly established in the Appalachian region of the southeastern United States, encompassing terrain that included parts of modern North and South Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, and Georgia.

The Cherokee Indians lived in villages. They built circular homes made of river cane, sticks, and plaster. They covered the roofs with thatch and left a small hole in the center to let the smoke out.

The Cherokees also built larger seven-sided buildings for ceremonial purposes. The men made tools and weapons. Hunters used blowguns for small game and birds. The blowguns were three to eight feet long. Please submit permission requests for other use directly to the publisher. Anderson and Ruth Y. Wetmore, Additional research provided by John L.

Part i: Overview ; Part ii: Cherokee origins and first European contact ; Part iii: Disease, destruction, and the loss of Cherokee land ; Part iv: Revolutionary War, Cherokee defeat and additional land cessions ; Part v: Trail of Tears and the creation of the Eastern Band of Cherokees ; Part vi: Federal recognition and the fight for Cherokee rights ; Part vii: Modern-day Cherokee life and culture; Part viii: References and additional resources.

Despite many acts of Congress and more than 40 court decisions specifically related to the Cherokee in North Carolina, questions have continued to arise concerning tribal, state, and federal jurisdictions.

The modern charter and governing document of the Eastern Band was adopted in and has 24 sections covering tribal officers, qualifications for office, and council meetings. The Cherokee code , published in , consists of 36 chapters on a wide range of subjects. Court cases may be handled in tribal, state, or federal court, depending on the persons and subject matter in question. A Tribal Council of 12 members and a principal and vice chief carry out the executive and legislative functions, while a Court of Indian Offenses handles judicial matters not under federal jurisdiction.

The largest section of the Qualla Boundary , approximately 50, acres, surrounds the Swain County town of Cherokee. Sixty miles away, in Graham County , a parcel of 2, acres is occupied by about members of the Cherokee's Snowbird Community. Besides food, the environment provided all that the people needed, including medicine, clothing, weapons, shelter, musical instruments, and personal adornments.

The governing of Cherokee towns was through democratic consensus as well as the leadership of priests, war chiefs, and peace chiefs. Familial ties and clan affiliations came through Cherokee women, who owned the houses and fields and passed them on to their daughters.

Although initial contact took place during Hernando De Soto's expedition in , sustained relations between Europeans and the Cherokee were not established until the late seventeenth century by traders from Virginia and South Carolina.

As British and French colonial aspirations began to clash, the Cherokee became increasingly important as a buffer and continued to alternate alliances between the two nations. In Alexander Cuming took seven Cherokees to England, reinforcing Cherokee alliances with the English that had been established through a treaty signed at the Town of Neguassee. The increasing pressure of European expansion, and the subsequent loss of much of their territory, led the Cherokee to initiate hostilities as the French and Indian War progressed.

Virginian hostility toward the Cherokee led to the Cherokee War of , a war in which the tribe suffered extensive losses. Photograph no. Views from Variety Vacationland. My grandmother was a sixteenth Cherokee. Her maiden name was Puntenney. I haven't been able to find anything on her lineage. Any possibility? My mother was born in cherokee,nc. My grandmother name is Laura Hembree just wondering if you have information on her or her last name.