Cherokee Tribe: An Unusual Alliance in American History

Imagine this: you’re living in the United States, and the country goes to war with an enemy, but instead of fighting with your home country you decide to fight with the enemy. The Cherokee tribe was important in American history for this because they had a great alliance with Britain against the United States during wars. Initially they were a part of the Iroquois tribe, and lived in the Northeast near the Great Lakes. When they broke away and became their own individual tribe, they moved to the south toward the east coast (“Cherokee Indians”). They were then located in the Southeastern US. Some of these states included North and South Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Georgia and Alabama (Chenocetah). After the Trail

of Tears, many of these people didn’t get back to their original territories (“Cherokee Indians”). Their current territory that they resided in after this event includes states like Oklahoma Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, Missouri, North Carolina, Oregon, and Tennessee. There are three large, and recognized communities for Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma, and that’s where the majority of them are located. (“Tribes by State”)
The Cherokee’s have many of the same cultural customs that other tribes have, but some of their customs were invented as a part of them. The Cherokee tribe uses nature, and things they can find in the wild to cook and eat. Fish, vegetables, wild plants and animals are all used by the Cherokee Indians (“Cooking”). Kanuchi is a food they make that is made using a log, and hickory nuts (“Cooking”. Another example is cooking wild onions and eggs as a meal (“Cooking”). Clothing is something that hasn’t changed too much over the years for this tribe. The tear dress was and still remains a popular article of clothing for women. This dress was used during the Trail of Tears because the women didn’t have scissors anymore, and had to tear the fabric in order to make the dress. The dress usually had three-quarter sleeves, and only came to mid-thigh in length. This was done so that the women would still be able to do activities like gardening, dishes, grinding corn, as well as many other daily chores. However, today these dresses are usually full sleeve, and full length because the women don’t have the same jobs today as they did in the past (“Cherokee Clothing”).
Another part of the Cherokee’s customs was their beliefs and the rituals they performed. The basis of their belief system is that the good will be rewarded, and the evil will be punished (“The Traditional Belief System). Although they didn’t have a specific religion per say, they did have many beliefs that may seem “superstitious” to us today. For example, they believed that the number four and certain colors represented different directions (North, East, South and West), and that the number seven represented the different Cherokee clans. The number seven can also represent the purity and sacredness of a person. This was a level of hierarchy that could be attained, but it was very difficult to do so. In olden times, they believed the owl and cougar, and various trees that stay alive all year long without loosing their leaves were the only things to reach this level. Another belief was about the dead. After a person died, it was believed that their soul would continue living as a ghost. These ghosts were able to be seen by certain people if they chose to materialize themselves (“The Traditional Belief System). They also believed that there were different types of witches; ordinary witches and killer witches. It was always said that people never knew what type of witch they were dealing with so they had to be very careful (“The Traditional Belief System). One ritual to keep evil spirits away was to make rattles. These rattles also had the power to attract good spirits (“Daily Life in Olden Times”). The Cherokees celebrated death because they believed it was the start of line in the Spirit World. They thought that people had to travel to this Spirit World so they would perform rituals to ensure that the spirits wouldn’t continue roaming the earth. They would give the dead food, herbs and gifts so that their journey would be safe and they would make it to the Spirit World (“Native American Rituals and Ceremonies”). Another ritual practiced by the Cherokee was the Vision Quest. This was for children right before they reached puberty in order to find their life’s direction. They had to stay in the wilderness, small room, or wherever their destination was until they found the sign that represented their life direction (“Native American Rituals and Ceremonies”).
The Cherokee didn't have an actual way to communicate with others through writing.

Whenever Sequoyah noticed this he tried to find a way to fix it. He first tried to make a symbol for each word in the language, but the number of symbols quickly became too many. Next he began listening to the sounds that made up the words. He came up with eighty-five syllables that made up all of these words, and then he began limiting the syllables to even less that could form any word (“Sequoyah and the Cherokee Syllabary”). In 1827, the Cherokee Nation drafted a Constitution modeled on the United States’ version with executive, legislative and judicial branches and a system of checks and balances (“Sequoyah and the Cherokee Syllabary”). The Cherokees had many myths and legends that they created to explain different things. One example of a myth created by the Cherokee’s was the story of Kenati and Selu. In this myth, Selu was Kenati’s husband, and they were the parents of two sons. Everyday she would go out and return with a basket of corn, but the boys weren’t sure where the corn was coming from. One day they decided to follow her out and they saw her go into the storehouse and begin to shake herself. As she was shaking the corn started falling from her body into the basket. Since in this time period they believed in witches, the two boys thought their mother was a witch and planned to kill her. Their mother knew what they were going to do so she gave them these instructions in order to

continue receiving corn. “After you kill me, you must clear some ground in front of our house. Then drag my body in a circle seven times. Then you must stay up all night and watch.” she said. The boys attempted to do this, but they got her instructions wrong. They cleared seven areas of land and drug her body in a circle only two times. Corn began growing, but only in the places where her blocked had dripped. The result of this story is that corn has to be planted and taken care of, and it only grows in certain spots on the earth, rather than everywhere (“Cooking). Another myth was the origin of strawberries. This myth is when a couple has an argument and the woman leave the man. He then became regretful and began talking to Sun, who was supposed to help solve conflicts. Since the husband wasn’t angry anymore, Sun put a patch of huckleberries in the woman's path to try to make her stop and come back. She passed by them though. Next Sun put blackberry buses, and then service-berry bushes, but she passed on both times. Sun continued making fruits and berries, but she didn’t pay them any attention. Finally he made the first strawberries, and she stopped and gather a few. While gathering them, she remember the man and turned to go back to her husband again. This was the creation of strawberries according to the Cherokee Indians. (Judson)
Since the Cherokees were one of the most populous Indian societies in the US they were very influential in our history as a country.

They were very good allies of the British so during the many wars at the beginning of our existence as a new country, the Cherokee were fighting against us on our own land (Boulware). The Yamasee War is an example of when the Cherokee Indians were making war even more hectic. They went in and killed many Creek Indians which was the start of a forty year war between the tribes. The US wasn’t established yet, but this was the war that established the alliance between the Cherokee’s and Britain (Boulware). Another example of this alliance was during the Seven Years’ War. The Cherokee’s went to aid the British against the French, but they began feeling under appreciated and they didn’t think they got paid enough. This led to the Cherokee’s plundering settlers on the frontier and in the backcountry. The end result of this was fighting amongst the Cherokees and British and many deaths (Boulware). During the American Revolution, the Cherokees waged war on the southern states, even though many of them wanted to remain neutral. The Cherokees handled fighting the frontiersmen while Britain handled the mainlands. They moved farther into Georgia and joined with other Native tribes to fight the colonists. They continued this activity until the Treaty of Paris was signed and their homeland was invaded repeatedly (Boulware). Other than being a part of many

wars, they were also a major part of the Trail of Tears. There was gold found on the Cherokee territory in Georgia, so the people of Georgia wanted to get rid of them and attain that land. This motive led to the Indian Removal Act being passed, and the Trail of Tears occurring (Boulware).