American Indians had been living in North Carolina for at least 9,500 years before European explorers first encountered them in the 1520's. For the past several decades an increasing number of Americans have been identifying as American Indians. For centuries before European contact, these native people lived in harmony with the natural environment, taking no more from the land than they needed to survive. Of all the states in the Union, North Carolina has witnessed the largest increase in Native American population during the past 100 years, based upon official government census documents.
The Indian population in North Carolina consists of one federally recognized Indian tribe (Cherokee), seven state-recognized tribes, and three state-recognized urban organizations. Through the years, Indian cultures changed rapidly, and some were all but wiped out.
Coharie
The Coharie people are descendents of the Neusiok Indians. Since the 1730s the tribe has lived along the Little Coharie River in Sampson and Harnett Counties. In the 1800s the Coharie established schools with their own teachers and funds. In 1943 Coharie tribe started a high school. The tribe's center of activity is the church. While the Coharie population has been increasing steadily, and sometimes rapidly, over the years, so has their participation in both local and statewide endeavors. Modern Coharie have adapted well to a culture that is centered on written documents, yet they continue to preserve their customs and traditions through the oral method of recall.
Eastern Band of Cherokee
In 1838, the United States government made the Cherokee people leave their homelands. The forced march of the Cherokee to Okalahoma became known as the Trail ...
... middle of paper ...
...andard of living that ranks among the highest of all Indians in the United States.
Meherrin
Written history of the Meherrin, which means " people of the muddy water" dates back to 1650. Tribal enemies and conflicts with colonists forced them from Virginia into Hertford County. Today, the tribe also lives in Bertie and Gates Counties. Meherrin tribal members have renewed interest in their traditional arts, crafts, and culture. The Meherrin tribe has less than 1000 members in its tribe.
Waccamaw-Siouan
The first written record of the Waccamaw Siouan people appeared in 1712. The tribe, then known as the Woccon, lived near Charleston, SC. After fighting a war with South Carolina, the Waccamaw Siouan retreated to the swampland of North Carolina. Today the tribe lives near Lake Waccamaw in Columbus and Bladen Counties. The tribe has about 2000 members.
The Choctaw Indians is a tribe of Musksgean stock .The Choctaws were once part of a larger tribe that included the Greeks and Seminoles and are considered one of the five civilized tribes (Cherokees , Greeks, Choctaws , Seminoles, and Chickasaws) . At one time Choctaw territory extended from Mississippi to Georgia, but by the time Europeans began to arrive in North America they were primarily in Mississippi and Louisiana.
The Cherokees lived in the valleys of rivers that drained the southern Appalachians (Perdue, 1). The British first came into Cherokee country in 1700. They came for two major reasons: deerskins and war captives. They brought guns and ammunition, metal knives, hoes, hatchets, fabrics, kettles, rum, and trinkets. They took the Cherokee and made them slaves. The British built two forts to protect the Cherokees while they were fighting the enemies of the British. The Cherokees entered the French and Indian War on the side of the British (Perdue, 6). Attacks on Cherokees by white frontiersmen and duplicity by colonial officials caused the Cherokees to shift their allegiance to the French. During the war, the British destroyed many Cherokee towns.
Thornton, Russell, Matthew C Snipp, and Nancy Breen. The Cherokees: A Population History Indians of the Southeast. Lincoln, NB: University of Nebraska Press, 1990.
People have been living in America for countless years, even before Europeans had discovered and populated it. These people, named Native Americans or American Indians, have a unique and singular culture and lifestyle unlike any other. Native Americans were divided into several groups or tribes. Each one tribe developed an own language, housing, clothing, and other cultural aspects. As we take a look into their society’s customs we can learn additional information about the lives of these indigenous people of the United States.
.... White settlers began to resent the Cherokees. Pressure was put on the tribe to voluntarily move, but their homeland, Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Alabama they have lived here for generations and they did not want to move.
By the 17th century the Muscoggee members migrated from west of the Mississippi to inhabit the areas of Georgia and Alabama were English traders first encountered the Muscoggee. The English called them Creeks; it appears that they lived in by the creeks and streams of Alabama in addition to Georgia. Creek Nation was the most powerful Indian political unit in North America with the exception of the Iroquois Confederacy of upper New York. In the early 18th century the Muscoggee nation consisted an estimated ten thousand people including more than three thousand warriors. This ancient culture also had a complex political structure that was neither overawed nor envious of the European power and culture. I will discuss the cultural overview of the Creek Indian's social structure such as housing and how they gather sources of substances with the insight of political views and constitution of warfare.
The Native Americans of the southeast live in a variety of environments. The environments range from the southern Appalachian Mountains, to the Mississippi River valley, to the Louisiana and Alabama swamps, and the Florida wetlands. These environments were bountiful with various species of plant and animal life, enabling the Native American peoples to flourish. “Most of the Native Americans adopted large-scale agriculture after 900 A.D, and some also developed large towns and highly centralized social and political structures.” In the first half of the 1600s Europeans encountered these native peoples. Both cultures encountered new plants, animals, and diseases. However, the Indians received more diseases compared to the few new diseases to the Europeans. The new diseases resulted in a massive loss of Native Americans, including the Southeast Indians which had never encountered the new diseases. Three of the main tribes in the southeast were the Cherokee and the Creek. They were part of a group of southeast tribes that were removed from their lands. These tribes later became known as “The Five Civilized Tribes because of their progress and achievements.”
The majority of the villages were located along the banks of the Coosa, Tallaposa, Flint, Ocmulgee, and Chattachoochee rivers. The native word for the most powerful band of Creeks was the "Muskogees". The Creek native Americans were the most powerful and widespread tribe of the Southeast culture area. It was also thought that the Creeks were long lost ancestors of the Mound Builders.
The origin of the name Iroquois is uncertain, although it seems to have involved French adaptations of Indian words. Among the possibilities that have been suggested are a blending of hiro (an Iroquois word used to conclude a speech) and koué (an exclamation); ierokwa ("they who smoke"); iakwai ("bear"); or the Algonquian words irin ("real") and ako ("snake") with the French -ois termination. One likely interpretation of the origin of the name is the theory that it comes from the Algonquian word "Irinakhoiw," which the French spelled with the -ois suffix. The French spelling roughly translates into "real adders" and would be consistent with the tendency of European cultures to take and use derogatory terms from enemy nations to identify various Native groups.
At first, this tribe moved from the Great Lakes region to the North Dakota area. This happened in the 1600-1700s. Also at this time, the Cheyenne were a sedentary tribe who relied on agriculture and pottery. Though, in the 1800s, they decided to abandon this lifestyle and become nomadic and move to South Dakota (Black Hills), Wyoming, and Colorado areas. No matter where the Cheyenne lived, they always kept their natural language, which was part of the Algonquin language family (Lewis). The Cheyenne tribe, like other tribes, had their own lifestyle, beliefs, and customs and also had conflicts with the whites. Even today, the Cheyenne Indians exist and are living well.
The Cherokee lived in the present day United States of America hundreds of years before its occupation by the Europeans. History proclaims that members of this community migrated from the Great Lakes and settled in the Southern Appalachians. When the Europeans started settling down in America, the Cherokee decided to co-exist peacefully with her foreign neighbors. The Cherokee lands consisted of Alabama, parts of Virginia, Kentucky, North and South Carolina and Georgia.
The Haudenosaunee are referred to today by people as the Iroquois Confederacy. The confederacy consisted of five Native American tribes all sharing a common culture of the haundenosaunee. These five tribes called themselves the haundenosaunee, translated to mean “people of the longhouse.” All five tribes are based in now what is present day New York. The Haundenosaunee have a culture that is influenced by a variety of aspects.
The Cheyenne Tribe of native american indians are one of the most well known tribes in the plains. Originally in the 1600’s the Cheyenne Tribe lived in stationary villages in the east part of the country. They would rely on farming to make money and to feed their family. The Cheyennes occupied what is now Minnesota. In the 1700’s the Cheyennes migrated to North Dakota and settled on a river. The river provides a source of fresh water and many animals would go there so hunting would be easier.In 1780 a group of indians called the “Ojibwas” forced them out and they crossed the Missouri River and followed the buffalo herd on horseback. In the early 1800’s they migrated to the high plains. Later they divided into the North Cheyenne and the South
Natives were forcefully removed from their land in the 1800’s by America. In the 1820’s and 30’s Georgia issued a campaign to remove the Cherokees from their land. The Cherokee Indians were one of the largest tribes in America at the time. Originally the Cherokee’s were settled near the great lakes, but overtime they moved to the eastern portion of North America. After being threatened by American expansion, Cherokee leaders re-organized their government and adopted a constitution written by a convention, led by Chief John Ross (Cherokee Removal). In 1828 gold was discovered in their land. This made the Cherokee’s land even more desirable. During the spring and winter of 1838- 1839, 20,000 Cherokees were removed and began their journey to Oklahoma. Even if natives wished to assimilate into America, by law they were neither citizens nor could they hold property in the state they were in. Principal Chief, John Ross and Major Ridge were leaders of the Cherokee Nation. The Eastern band of Cherokee Indians lost many due to smallpox. It was a year later that a Treaty was signed for cession of Cherokee land in Texas. A small number of Cherokee Indians assimilated into Florida, in o...
Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina (n.d.). Who Are The Lumbee? Retrieved March 7, 2014, from http://www.lumbeetribe.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=135&Itemid=115