Introduction
The Cherokee, a very large tribe, lived in the region of the Smokey Appalachians Mountains. The Cherokee were forced to relocate to the Appalachian Mountains after they were defeated at war by the Delaware. The tribe was divided into seven clans. The tribe’s men were not allowed to marry within there tribes, this was a great taboo in the Cherokee society. The seven tribes inhabited North and South Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Virginia and Georgia. Once the man married he left his tribe and went to live with his wife’s tribe. They spoke the Iroquoian language.
Way of living
The Cherokee had the highest standards of living and level of education among the tribes living in Sothern East United States (Perdue 115). They lived
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They also had there own published newspaper, the Cherokee Tribune.
Rhythm of the Seasons
The Cherokee people were not time conscious they did not have specified time for rituals and ceremonies. However, despite their laid back nature, the Cherokee people had fours seasons (Perdue 3). Each of the four seasons represented different rituals and ceremonies. The first season was winter; it was associated with cold and sadness. It was symbolized by the color blue. Winter belonged to the north. Spring which has its heritage in the East is represented by the color red. Spring time symbolized victory. It was a new beginning occasioned by warm weather festivities and merry making. Summer was time for happiness where every thing was peaceful and serene. There was plenty of harvest during this season. Summer was symbolized by the color white, the color of peace. Finally autumn which was the end of the cycle symbolized death. Autumn was symbolized by the color black, the color of death. During autumn the Cherokee people did not engage in many festivities each household remained isolated.
Gender Roles
According to Perdue (135), in the Cherokee community women were associated with the bounty that comes from the earth. The women were mostly concerned with cultivation of land and ensuring that there families had enough crop to sustain them even during dry seasons. The women could take up leadership just like there male counter parts. The leadership positions
The Cherokee Indians on the other hand faced conflicts that were not like any of the above Indian tribes. They were the last tribe to fight for their land which was in the Appalachian Mountains. The Cherokees were basically became their own country. They had a developed Republican Government, and their own Constitution. They had many conflicts with America though. For example, they had the same land claimed as Georgia causing a big problem that ended up in the Supreme Court. In this case the judges could not decide who had claim of the disputed land. After this, Andrew Jackson persuaded a small group of the Cherokees to sign the Treaty of New Echota. This allowed the American Government ownership to the Cherokee territory, in return America gave them new land west of the Mississippi River
The Cherokees had lived in the interior southeast, for hundreds of years in the nineteenth century. But in the early eighteenth century setters from the European ancestry started moving into the
They had a great understanding and equal roles. The men were the chiefs, they made all the political decisions for the tribe, and they were in charge of hunting, war and peacekeeping. The women made social decisions for the clans, they were the landowners and they were in charge of farming, property, and family. Both genders took part in storytelling, artwork , music, and traditional medicine. In their villages, they lived in houses made of rivercane and plaster, with thatched roofs , located near the river. The men wore breechcloths and leggings and the women wore wraparound skirts and poncho-style blouses made out of woven fiber or deerskin. They were moccasin on their feet. There were always polite, and they listen to one another speak. It has been said that “they never bow to any other creature”. Unlike the European settlers, Cherokee women had just as much say in their culture than the European women’s.
Cherokee helped the American win the Creek in the war but they were still part of the trails of tear.it must have been hard because they helped them win the war and on the way to the trails of tear they end up
The American Indian History of the United States is always associated with the Cherokee Indian nation. The Cherokee's were by far the largest and most advanced of the tribes. This man was Hernando de Soto was the first European explorer to come into contact with the Cherokees, when he arrived in their territory in 1540. Then he went and came in contact with Native Americans Cherokee's since many of their ways and customs is my family that the Cherokees occupied a large expanse of territory in the Southeast. Their homeland included mountains and valleys in the southern part of the Appalachian Mountain chain. Their territory stretched from North Carolina to
First of all, the Cherokee were residents of Georgia, North and South Carolina,Virginia,Kentucky,and Tennessee. During, the 1800's on the Trail of Tears many
The Cherokee is a Native American tribe local to the Southeastern United States. The Cherokee Indians were one of the main tribes of the five Native American tribes, they were initially from the Great Lakes territory, but then eventually established closer to the east coast. The Cherokee name translates into “those who live in the mountains”. They were religious individuals who always believed in spirits, they performed rituals in order to ask the spirits to help them.
The Cherokee role in the American society was an ongoing battle amongst closed minds and sheer ignorance to rights of original land owners. For years the fight over land was the dividing instrument amongst the new citizens of a new, free country and the traditions of the Cherokee people was being pushed back into the west.
The Cherokee are a culturally rich and interesting tribe. They write amazing myths, focusing on creation and nature. In its prime, the Cherokee nation spanned over an estimated 100,000 miles. The people in it respected the universe. They only took from the what was needed from the environment. They were a peaceful tribe that knew very well how the land around them worked.
The Cherokee, another of the Five Civilized Tribes, was regarded this way because they lived in similar ways to Americans. The
In order to be “civilized” Cherokee men had to cease hunting and attend to either the fields of herd livestock. This was due to the view by the settlers that the Cherokee men were lazy because the settlers viewed hunting as fun and a sport. Because many felt that working in the fields was something that is a woman’s job many turned to herding livestock as an alternative.
The culture has been influenced by the story in many ways. They worshipped the owl which sometimes they may design drinking vessels from. They also still believe there is another world from after they die but instead in the story they call it ẗhe underworld. The cherokee still play games based off the stories they have read, they may
The Cherokee Indians believed in a mythical tale involving Kana’tri and Selu (Perdue, pg. 13). Selu was the mother of corn for the Cherokee Indians, and because she was a woman, this attribute of becoming a gatherer was bestowed upon every Cherokee woman that came after Selu. Cherokee women worked within the home environment by cooking, cleaning, planting and gathering corn, berries, and other crops that were planted during the year. The men provided the meat-typically deer or buffalo, but it could also be squirrel, rabbit or other wild game depending on the time of the year. However, Cherokee women also attained a certain amount of power as described by Perdue in her book Cherokee women. She says “The balance that Cherokees sought to achieve between their categories and, in particular, between men and women may not have permitted equality in a modern sense, but their concern with balance made hierarchy, which often serves to oppress women, untenable” (Perdue, pg. 13). The Cherokees held onto a belief in balance that carried over into every aspect of their personal lives and the way in which day to day
die. The Red Chief was also in charge of the lacrosse games which were called
With Native Americans being the first inhabitants of North America, many people often question what traditions they have created on their own, before the ideas of the pale settlers. When taking a look into their interesting beliefs, it is obvious to see an intricate basis or animals and spirits that guide the lifestyles of Indians all over the country. Even their society had a special way of doing things, including gender roles of both men and women. There are many customs that have seemed odd to the average American throughout the centuries, but Indians found these a normal way of life. Even the lifestyles of Native Americans were unique, from hunting animals to tanning buffalo hides. Gender was a major