Cherokee Indians
The Cherokee refer to themselves as Tsalagi or Aniywiyai, which means the "Principal People". The Iroquois called the Cherokee Oyata’ge'ronoñ (which basically means inhabitants of cave country). Many theories thrive, although none yet proven, about the origin of the word 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".
As you read this, try to imagine what their life was like. Its dawn in the land of the Cherokee, the fish are swimming in the cool mountain streams, the forest is thick with wild game. The sounds of nature echoes from the mountain tops, down through the valleys and back again. The sun rises on an unspoiled wilderness, an isolated paradise; this is the home of an ancient culture, the Cherokee. This is an example of how the Cherokee lived before the white man came.
You’d wake in your home made of mud and straw, the position of the sun is the only time you know, pressures of life for you and all in your village are rather simple, it is everyone’s daily task to survive, your most important tools are your hands, swift feet and a strong back. The skills you’ve learned throughout your life are centuries old. Skills like how to use your blowgun to get small game, how to make items like flint into a tool or a weapon, how to make headbands from the bark of a mulberry root and hemp fiber (colors and designs are important), it takes months to make a canoe from a tree you cut with a stone tool like a hatchet, because you don’t have saws or metal tools, however once finished, you won’t need another for decades to come.
Back in the village, children play, and the elders tell stories of legends such as the legend of Aganunitsi and the Uktena. The peace chief presides over a meeting in the council house, its door faces east so that the sun will shine first where the chief sits; he wears a Herron feather head dress. All of the clans are represented in the council house, the wolf, the deer, the bear, you are looked upon as part of your mothers’ family, and you descend from the people of your mother, not your father. Beloved women are appreciated and sit with the chief in the council house. The Creeks from the south, and the Shawnee from the north, have violated your hunting grounds, war seems unavoidable, the war chief assumes leadership of your village, he wears a robe made of feathers from the wild turkey, trimmed in red (red symbolizes war). But, the smoky mountains are secluded enough that war is not a constant state, living as one with nature is the normal life, you belong to and are a part of one of the most sophisticated societies living north of Mexico, you are……..Cherokee.
For more than 3000 years, this beautiful wilderness had been their home. The Cherokee lived in harmony with its people and freely shared the bounties nature provided them, but in a mere 100 years this way of life will have changed forever. A tragic fate at the hands of the invading Europeans loomed on the horizon for one of the greatest nations in history.
When the European settlers began to appear in great numbers, the Tennessee Cherokee Indians were unable to resist the luxuries they brought with them. A totally new way of life was being presented to them, modern tools and weapons. Their desire for these things changed the way the Cherokee lived, they discovered the animals they use to hunt only for food could also be skinned and used to exchange for other goods.
This new friendship lasted for awhile but as usual, with the growth of the white residents the two very different cultures of the Cherokee and Europeans began to clash.
War and never heard of diseases the Europeans brought with them almost destroyed the tribe. Due to their dwindling population and the ability to fight for what was theirs became very difficult. Eventually the Cherokee Indians were forced to sign over a large portion of their land, The British took the first large chunk and then the United States decided they wanted some too.
Down but not out, in the early 1800's Cherokee Indians were beginning another period of change. The Cherokee Indian Nation was established, which was based upon a democratic government. Its leaders were compiled of a Chief, Vice-Chief, and 32 Council Members that were elected by tribal members only. A brand new constitution was drawn up and a code of laws was put into operation for the nation. Things were still looking good in 1808, Sequoyah, a Cherokee Scholar, invented a syllabary for writing the Cherokee language. After learning to read and write they now had a way to express themselves on paper, the Cherokee Indian Council passed a declaration to institute a newspaper for their nation and the Cherokee Phoenix was born. Life for the Cherokee Indians is changed forever!