Cherokee Valley Case Study

Cherokee Indians were found in the south and southeast commonly in these states North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky, Georgia, West Virginia/Virginia, Alabama, and Tennessee. Old artifacts show that they lived in this region about 11,000 years ago to the present day and that they had very natural reliable resources that they used on a daily basis. The Cherokee Indians had a well-managed system in which they had villages of 60 or less for housing, the women did the cooking, cleaning, farming/harvesting and the men did the hunting and gathering. In the region where the Cherokee’s were known to live at they modified their own weapons, arts/crafts, and clothing also using trees and plants for medicinal uses. The Cherokee Indians were one of

“The dam and reservoir required the purchase of about 22,000 acres of land” 1-1 . This is the number that lies at the heart of a wound and a controversy that is deeply rooted in Eastern Tennessee. While the number is large and significant, it is not the amount of land that was lost to the Tellico Dam project that caused the people of that area such grief. Rather, it was the meaning of the land that once intertwined irreplaceable history, livelihoods, sport and the like of a community for centuries. At a time in the nation's history where just the pitch for job growth and intercommunication between urban and countryside peaked the interest of hurting rural communities, TVA was met with harsh opposition from

Did you know the word cherokee means those who “live in the mountains. The cherokee were very superstitious. ”The beliefs, culture and history of the cherokee tribe can easily be seen in “How the World Was Made.”

The nature of industrialisation changed in the 1930s. In the 1920s industrialisation had occurred because of free enterprise and big business. But with the onset of the Depression, industrial output fell dramatically. (statistics needed). To combat this, the federal government adopted a role of directly stimulating industrial growth. The Public Works Administration (PWA) instituted in began many large industrial projects with the aim of spurring the economy and providing many jobs. The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) was a federal project to energise the economy through a massive industrial scheme sponsored by the federal government. Twenty five dams were built to reshape the land and generate hydro-electricity, which could further contribute to industrial growth. Another example of government leadership of industry was the National Recovery Administration (NRA), which attempted to foster industrial growth through the creation of ‘codes’ for each industry. These federal programs fundamentally changed the nature of industrialisation. In the 1930s, the government’s approach to industrialisation was more akin to socialist-state-style industrialisation than it was to the American capitalism-style industrialisation of the 1920s. Further, the federal government’s

The New Deal program was providing jobs and helping natural resources from another plan: the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). Established by congress a little over a week after the Fireside Chat was given, the TVA was to cover the environmental, economic and technological issues in the lower Appalachian area. The authority was also to start the delivery of low-cost electricity to most of Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, western North Carolina, and southwest Virginia. FDR stated, “It should be charged with the broadest duty of planning for the proper use, conservation and development of the natural resources of the Tennessee River drainage basin and its adjoining territory for the

The TVA passed on May 18, 1933, played an important role during the Great Depression. This program played a vital role in relieving some of the economic hardships that farmers in Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia were experiencing. The TVA taught farmers of this area better farming techniques, such as replanting trees, rotating crops, and soil conservation. Dams were built to help with flooding and to provide hydroelectric power. The development of the TVA also created many jobs opportunities for the unemployed. (“Tennessee Valley Authority”

In the early 1800s the Cherokee started their own Cherokee Nation. Some of these Cherokees did not like the fact that white people were invading their land and decided to move out to the west and start their own society. The reason why the white people were coming onto Cherokee land is because of all the gold that is there. The whites began to make friends with the Cherokee so they could get some of the gold. Later the white people decided it was time that the Cherokee people need to be eliminated from the area. This lead to the Cherokee losing their land, farms, and their houses. President Andrew Jackson was the one who caused the removal of the Cherokee people.

-O’ Brother, Where Art Thou quote: movie was centered around flooding of the valley by TVA dam (Coen & Coen, O Brother, Where Art Thou?, 2000) -Created by the TVA Act in 1933 election of President Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR). -New Deal which was a series of programs, ‘alphabet soup,’ established during the Great Depression, restoring dignity back to the American people. (History.com Staff, 2009)-Energy, environment, jobs, economy (Our History, n.d.) It did this through power production, flood control, and reforestation and staying with its mission of “making lives better for the people of the Tennessee Valley region.” (How TVA Changed Lives, n.d.) -Effects are still felt today in the citizens of the southeastern United States. (The Editors

As the largest New Deal Agency, the WPA impacted millions of Americans. It provided jobs across the nation and because of it, numerous roads, buildings, and other projects were completed even stating that they had paved 280,000 miles of roads, built 3,000 schoolhouses and repaired 21,000 more schools (Document D). The economic accomplishments were also very prevalent. Economic collapse and uneven distribution of wealth could have sparked a socialist push yet with the regulations and reforms made by Roosevelt capitalism stayed alive in the United States. The Tennessee Valley Authority was established in 1933 to develop the economy in the Tennessee Valley region which had been hit extremely hard by the Great Depression. This organization made many improvements: attempting to control the flow of the streams and control floods, particularly of the Tennessee River, making the stream navigable, reforesting land, and developing power. These economic and infrastructural accomplishments altered history to the degree that they should be remembered as

The Cherokees adopted the American culture. This includes the way the Americans dressed, worked, spoke, and believed. In spite of their attempts to assimilate to the American ways Andrew Jackson enforced the Indian Removal act in 1838 and 1839. The Cherokees were forced out of their homes and off of their lands east of the Mississippi River, and made the twelve-hundred mile journey to what is now called Oklahoma. Cherokees called this the Trail of Tears.

Gabriel Arthur, to the Cherokee Overhill capital at Echota in 1673, but the following year

Apache Wars The Apache Wars were wars or battles fought by the United States and various Apache Tribes. The main reason for these conflicts was over land and white settlers coming for the gold rush. There were also broken treaties involved. These wars were fought over 50 years.

In history and in the class simulation the federal government did not create a new treaty with the National Party, however, in the simulation, the Cherokee Nation was given a 5-year moratorium.

The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe currently fights to save its only water source from natural gas and oil contamination. This troubling current event has a somewhat forgotten historical analogue where very similar themes presented themselves. The Kinzua Dam Controversy, which took place in the 1950’s and early 1960’s, resulted in the displacement of over 600 Seneca Indian families and the acquisition of a large tract of traditional Seneca Land for dam building. Additionally, the acquisition of Seneca land represented a breach of “The Treaty with the Six Nations of 1794,” which explicated prevented such action by the US Government. The dam and its construction, which primarily benefitted Pittsburg, inspired a heated discourse concerning the ethics of native relocation.

Most of us have learnt about the Trail of Tears as an event in American history, but not many of us have ever explored why the removal of the Indians to the West was more than an issue of mere land ownership. Here, the meaning and importance of land to the original Cherokee Nation of the Southeastern United States is investigated. American land was seen as a way for white settlers to profit, but the Cherokee held the land within their hearts. Their removal meant much more to them than just the loss of a material world. Historical events, documentations by the Cherokee, and maps showing the loss of Cherokee land work together to give a true Cherokee