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In 1835 about
500 leading
Cherokee agreed in the Treaty of New Echota to cede the tribal
territory in exchange for $5,700,000 and land in the
Indian Territory
(now
Oklahoma ). Their action was repudiated by more than nine-tenths of the tribe, and
several members of the group were later assassinated. In 1838 federal
troops began forcibly evicting the
Cherokee.
Approximately 1,000
Cherokee
escaped to the North Carolina mountains, , while those who lived on
individually owned land (rather than tribal domains) were not subject
to removal. Those who stayed behind eventually formed tribal groups
including the Eastern Band
Cherokee,
based in North Carolina.
Meanwhile, most of
the tribe were driven west some 800 miles in a forced march that
became known as the
Trail of Tears.
About 4,000 perished through hunger, disease, exposure, and attacks by
bandits during the journey or in stockades awaiting removal. Others
died after their arrival in the
Indian Territory
from disease or food shortages
Of this tragic event,
Samuel Carter, author of Cherokee Sunset, wrote in 1976:
"Then … there came the reign of terror.
From the jagged-walled stockades the troops fanned out across the
Nation, invading every hamlet, every cabin, rooting out the
inhabitants at bayonet point. The
Cherokees
hardly had time to realize what was happening as they were prodded
like so many sheep toward the concentration camps, threatened with
knives and pistols, beaten with rifle butts if they resisted"
So the five tribes were resettled in the new
Indian Territory
in modern-day
Oklahoma
and parts of
Kansas.
The
Cherokee reorganized their government under
Chief John
Ross, and became known as
the Western Band, or the
Cherokee
Nation of
Oklahoma.
The Cherokee Nation in
Oklahoma
today courtesy
Cherokee
History
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Once the
Cherokees
reached
Indian Territory
tensions ran high and the suspension of the
Cherokee
Blood Law was ignored. On June 22, 1839, after the adjournment of a tribal
meeting, some of the prominent signers of the Treaty of New Echota were
assassinated, including the drafter of the Blood Law, Major Ridge, along
with John Ridge and Elias Boudinot. This started 15 years of civil war
amongst the
Cherokees.
During the American Civil War (1861-1865), after great internal conflict,
the tribe sided with the Confederacy; where Stand Watie became a
Confederate general.
Other
Cherokees
in western North Carolina served as part of Thomas' Legion, a unit of
approximately 1,100 men of both
Cherokee
and white origin, fighting primarily in Virginia, where their battle
record was outstanding. Thomas' Legion was the last Confederate unit to
surrender in North Carolina, at Waynesville, North Carolina on May 9,
1865.
A postwar treaty
with the United States freed the black slaves belonging to tribal members
in
Indian Territory. Under the General Allotment Act of 1887, uncompromisingly resisted by the
Cherokee,
plots of tribal land were forcibly allotted to individual members. Surplus
lands not assigned to
Cherokee
individuals were parceled out by the federal government, and in 1891 the
tribe’s western land extension, the
Cherokee
Strip or
Cherokee Outlet, was sold to the United States; in 1893 it was opened,
mostly to non-Indian
settlers, in a famous land run. The
Cherokee
government was dissolved, and its people became U.S. citizens when
Oklahoma
achieved statehood in 1907. In this action, the
Oklahoma
Cherokees
lost their right to elect their own chiefs who were from there on
appointed by the Presidents until 1970 when the
Cherokees
regained their right to elect their own government via a Congressional Act
signed by President Nixon. W. W. Keeler was the first elected chief of the
Oklahoma
Cherokees.
Keeler, who was also the President of Phillips Petroleum, was succeeded by
Ross Swimmer, Wilma Mankiller, Joe Byrd and Chad Smith who is currently
the chief of the
Oklahoma
Cherokees.
Federally recognized
tribal headquarters of the Keetowah Band of
Cherokee
are in Tahlequah,
Oklahoma ,
while the Eastern Band of
Cherokees
are headquartered at
Cherokee,
North Carolina. State-recognized
Cherokee
tribes have headquarters in Georgia and Alabama. Other groups of
Cherokee
organizations are located in
Arkansas,
Missouri,
Tennessee, and other locations in the United States.
They remain one of the
largest tribes in the United States, and many Americans of all backgrounds
claim Cherokee
ancestry.
The old ways, including
traditional crafts, are most strongly preserved by the Eastern Band, some
of whom continue to live on the Qualla Reservation in North Carolina. The
quality of North Carolina
Cherokee
basketry is considered to be equal to or better than that of earlier
times. Farming, forestry, factory work, and are sources of income for
eastern
Cherokee.
In 1984 the
Cherokee
Nation of
Oklahoma
and the Eastern Band of
Cherokee
Indians
met in a joint council for the first time in a century and a half. Since
then these two groups have held a joint council every two years. Smaller
Cherokee
groups without federal recognition live in a number of Southern states.
In the 2000 U.S. census
about 281,000 people identified themselves as
Cherokee
only; an additional 448,000 people reported being part
Cherokee.
The Cherokee
language is spoken by an estimated 12,000 to 22,000 people.
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