Cherokee Beliefs, Myths, And Symbols

Cherokee Indians have been around for many years, but when the topic of Native Americans is discussed it is only about the struggles and hardships they went through but never their actual culture of how and where they originated or how they came to be. There are many interesting things to learn about Cherokee Indians such as their heritage, religion, language, and their traditional songs, dances, and food.

For the Aborigines their spiritually involves everyday objects such as plants and animals which are connected to their ancestors. Their spirituality and beliefs are kept alive by passing on their knowledge through ceremonies and “Dreamtime” stories. The “Dreamtime” stories are how the Aborigines explain the beginning of the Earth and the foundation of their core beliefs. In most of the stories, ancestral spirits came to the Earth and as they moved along they created the plants, animals and even rocks. One the spirits did their job, they morphed into stars, watering holes and other objects. An example of these “Dreamtime” stories is the “Rainbow serpent” which is about a serpent who “pushed out the land to make mountains, she spilled water over the land to make rivers, lakes and billabongs. She also made the sun and fire, and all colours of the rainbow.”

The people of the Cherokee Nation are as diverse as any other people in the United States. However, their traditions, beliefs, and shared history serve to maintain a culture that is unique to them. While the nation is growing and evolving, and their schools, homes, and lifestyles become increasingly more like the rest of the United States, there are still many practices that were carried out by the ancient Cherokee that are still carried out today.

The Cherokee tribe is known as one of the earliest and largest Indian tribe in North America. They are federally recognized even today among several states(museum). While they slowly became Americanized by the Europeans who came over to America, some still practice their typical Indian rituals publicly today. Most converted to Christianity and their government in Oklahoma is based off the American government with three branches. One would believe that the Trail of Tears could have completely vanquished these Indians but many made it through the horrendous trial and kept the Indian bloodline going even present day (Conley).

The death and burials of the Cherokee along the Trail of Tears, will determine if the forced relocation can be considered an act of genocide. However, determining the number of how many people lost their lives on the Trail of Tears is difficult to calculate. An exact death toll of the round-up alone cannot be verified by historians. Most modern historians and other professionals agree on the number 4,000 deaths or one-fourth of the Cherokee Nation (Thornton, 1984). 4,000 deaths, is an estimate determined from the 1835 Census that tallied roughly 16,000 Cherokee in Georgia. Only 12,000 made it to Oklahoma, so the death estimate is 4,000 (Wilkins, 1986). A missionary by the name of Dr. Butler, who traveled with the Cherokee, estimated the death toll using eyewitness accounts and his personal observations along the journey. One traveler from Maine described an encounter of one of the detachments stating, “…we learned from the inhabitants on the road where the Indians passed that they buried fourteen or fifteen at every stopping place, and they make a journey of ten miles per day only on an average,” (Wilkins, 1986). Observations like the traveler’s, were the kind Dr. Butler would use to determine his estimate. Later he did bump his estimate up to 4,600 Cherokee deaths when presented with more evidence. However, the 4,600 is still an estimate and the exact number of lost lives is still unknown.

Culture, as defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary is stated as “The integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief and behavior that dpends upon the capacity for learning and transmitting knowledge to succeeding generations. The customary beliefs, social forms and material traits of a racial, religious or social group. The set shared attitudes, values, goals and practices that characterizes an institution or organization. The set of values, conventions or social practices associated with a particular field, activity or societal characteristic.” Of these four definitions, I shall be focusing on the second one to discuss what makes up the culture of American Indians.The culture of the various tribes that made up the Native Americans is one of close knit families, highlyspiritual peoples and living together as one with the land they lived on. They believed in spirits, worshiping and honoring them. Some settled into single locations while others were nomadic, but all had a focus on working with the land around them. Because there are so many varying tribes that make up Native

In the 1830 there was an act that pass it’s called the Indian Removal it made the indians tribes move from their land. According to the text the cherokee leader sign the treaty of etocha to agree to move the cherokee but 90% percent of the cherokee didn’t want to leave. What should the best way for the cherokee to decide? We should remove the cherokee from their land so nobody gets hurt or kill. Another reason, some of their chief already sign the Treaty of Etocha agreeing them to move. Last reason cherokee killed a lot of people back then so they really don’t deserve it.

They adopted many European customs while outlining American way of life, such as, a representative government, schools, churches, roads, and even styles of fashion. The Cherokee also took on American thoughts on slavery, and in many cases had slaves. Since the Cherokees homeland was in the Deep South, they thought it would be prudent politically to take the side of slavery. Taking on these new European customs has an adverse effect on traditional Indian ways. "They still celebrated some of their old festivals-the Green Corn Dance for Thanksgiving, the purification ritual, the lighting of the new

The Trail of Tears is a very significant part of American history, whether you think it is right or wrong, it was a huge impact on the United States America. This movement particularly involves the Cherokee Indians. The Cherokee were removed forcefully, but also violently from their cherished lands. This obviously had a tremendous effect on the Cherokee and would change their entire culture forever. Everything for this great country of the United States of American came at the expense of a lot of innocent people and the Trail of Tears is a fine example of that.

Around the 1800s, the Cherokee began taking up the economics and politics of the white settlers around them. Some owned plantations and even kept slaves. Many Cherokee’s embraced “white” names. They developed gradually and became one of the successful tribes in the United States. They form a system by which they were controlled called the Cherokee Nation, which was similar to the United States of America government, which included a Chief , a vice-Chief and 32 Council members. A constitution of code laws also in place. The principal chief is the equivalent to the President, the legislative branch of the tribal council to the supreme court and the house of representatives, and the judicial branch called the tribunal is made up of the three tribal

`The Cherokee Indians were a very modern group of Native Americans; they had successfully blended into the American way of life. For example, they made their government like the American way, translated the Bible, and even used American rules for owning property. Life for the Cherokee nation seemed to be going well, but in 1832 they would have to fight for their land. Gold was discovered in Georgia, so Georgians wanted to force the Cherokee Indians out, so they would have more gold. The Cherokee Indians fought in a nonviolent way; they sued. “In Worcester v. Georgia (1832), which followed a similar case from the ear before, Cherokee, Georgia, the Supreme Court ruled that the Cherokee nation was a sovereign nation and that the state of Georgia

The Iroquois creation story there exists two planes the Nothing and the Great Blue. In the Great Blue there lived a woman who dreamed dreams has a dream about a tree that brings the light, but the blossoms on the tree blocked the light and this frightened her. When she awoke she begs the men of her village to cut down the tree, but not understanding the men dig around of the tree to allow more light to shine through. The tree fell through the hole the men dug and left only darkness. The men blamed the dreamer of dreams for there being no more light and the men grabbed her and threw her through the hole where the tree used to be. As the woman fell a hawk caught her and slowed her fall. The hawk unable to carry her forever called to the other creatures to help find solid land for the woman to live upon. Unable to find dry land the animals dove into the depths and came up with mud which they began to pile on the back of a gigantic turtle. The animals became excite by their work and made the entire Earth. Till this day the Earth

According to James Mooney, the author of Myths of the Cherokee, the Cherokee people believed, (and one can assume that some of them still possess this belief) that the earth was a great island that was just floating in a sea of water, and the earth was suspended at each of its four cardinal points by a cord that hung down from the “sky vault”, which the Cherokee perceived as a solid rock. They also believed that when the earth grows old and is dilapidated, everyone will die, the cords will break, and the world will return underneath the ocean. They were very afraid of this.

The religion, traditions and beliefs of the American Indians were also dominated by the culture of shamanism in which a religious leader, called a Shaman or Medicine Man, acted as a medium between the visible world and the spirit world. The Shamans or Medicine Men had special powers, medicine and magic to heal the sick, control the hunt, and predict the future

Religion is a specific rudimentary set of cultural beliefs that elucidates the interrelation uniting a human and a sacred supernatural being or power. This set of notions include the purpose of human subsistence, the justification for the existence of the universe, behavioural practices, individual convictions, ethics, organisations and moral codes to dictate the exploits of human affairs.