Cherokee Tribe before and After Trail of Tears

The Cherokee were a tribe from the south east, they lived in present day Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Kentucky, and Tennessee. The Cherokee were originally called the Aniyunwiya. They also spoke the language called Tsalagi Gawonihisdi, the man who created this language along with their alphabet was Sequoyah. The Cherokee were a tribe with different ways of living, instead of living in the common teepee the Cherokee lived in cabins that were made of logs, they lived in villages that consisted of thirty to fifty families. The Cherokee were a strong tribe, they consisted of small sections that were lead by chiefs. The Cherokee tribe lived off of farming, hunting, and gathering. They could farm vegetables such as corn, squash, and beans. They hunted animals like deer, rabbits, turkey, and sometimes even bears. They would cook foods for instance stew and cornbread. When the Cherokee had to travel to places, when getting wood, or getting food they would travel by foot or canoe. They would use trails so that let them travel threw villages, and their canoes were made by hollowing out large tree trunks. The Cherokee weren't all about hard labor and cooking they were also very religious. They believed in spirits. The Cherokee would perform ceremonies so they could ask spirit to help them. There were special ceremonies before battle, leaving on a hunt, and when sick tribe members needed healing. For these ceremonies they would dress up and dance to music. Their largest celebration was called the Green Corn Ceremony which thanked the spirits for the harvest of corn. In the Cherokee villages the men were responsible for the hunting and war, as for the woman they stayed home and cleaned, farmed, and took care of the family...

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... treaty signed giving the Cherokee three years to move west. Major Ridge and a few other followers moved to the indian territory, but the majority stayed home. In the summer of 1838 Gen. Winfield Scott took 7,000 troops and rounded up the Cherokee at the bayonet point. Only about 400 Cherokee escaped into the hills and stayed in North Carolina. About 18,000 Cherokee did not escape and were herded into a series of forts. The Army escorted the first groups over the 800 miles to what became eastern Oklahoma. Many died on this march that John Ross pleaded with Gen. Scott to allow him to organize the people into smaller parties who could forage food along the way. Threw the fall and the awful winter of 1838 and 1839 the Cherokee marched west, the average trip took up to six months. Despite the effort shown forth by Ross about 4,000- 18,000 cherokee died on the trail.