CHEROKEE CLANS

ALL CHEROKEE COUNCIL HOUSES HAD SEVEN SIDES IN A CIRCLE WITH CENTER HEARTH. THERE WERE SEVEN SUPPORTING TIMBERS INSIDE AND BENCHES ON EACH SIDE. THEY REPRESENTED THE SEVEN CLANS : 1) WOLF, 2) DEER, 3) LONG HAIR , 4) BIRD, 5) WILD POTATOE, 6) BLUE, AND 7) IS PAINT. THEIR FAMILIES ARE MATRILINEAL AND CHILDREN BELONG TO THEIR MOMS AND MOTHER'S CLAN. IF SHE HAS A BOY THE TRAINING IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE MOTHER'S BROTHERS VS. HIS FATHER!


ALL SEVEN CLANS WERE REPRESENTED IN ALL CHEROKEE TOWNS. THE WOLF CLAN WAS THE LARGEST SORCERERS AND OTHER MEDICINES PEOPLE CAME FROM THE PLANT CLAN. BECAUSE THE MAN LIVED IN HIS WIFE'S HOUSE, HE WOULD NOT ABUSE HER. WHEN EUROPEANS MARRIED CHEROKEES THEN THE CLAN SYSTEM BECAME DIMINISHED AND THE MEN WERE THE HEAD OF THE HOUSEHOLD.


THEY HAVE A 7 POINTED STAR AT THE CENTER OF THEIR FLAG. THE CHEROKEES CAME FROM KEETOO-WA, AN ANCIENT TOWN. THE PEOPLE CALLED THEMSELVES, ANIKITU-WAGI, OR THE REAL PEOPLE. BY THE 1680'S THEY HAD 200 TOWNS IN NORTH CAROLINA, TENNESSEE, GEORGIA, ALABAMA AND WEST VIRGINIA.


THEY SPOKE THE IROQUOIAN LANGUAGE. THEY LIVED CLOSE TO CREEK INDIANS. EACH TOWN WAS AUTONOMOUS. IN 1673 THE BRITISH TRADED WITH THE CHEROKEES WITHOUT MANY DISPUTES. SINCE EACH TOWN WAS AUTONOMOUS THE ENGLISH WANTED ONE MAN WHO THEY COULD TALK TO ABOUT MATTERS OF OF TRADE. SO THE CHEROKEES EVENTUALLY APPOINTED A TRADE COMMISSIONER OF SORTS.


WHEN THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION BROKE OUT A FACTION OF THE CHEROKEE NATION SIDED WITH THE BRITISH. THEY WERE KNOWN AS CHICKAMANGAS. MOST OTHER CHEROKEES WERE REMOVED FROM THEIR HOMES AND FARMS DURING THE MID 1980S TO WEBBERS FALLS, OKLAHOMA.


THE CHEROKEES AND BRITISH LOST THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. IN 1802 JEFFERSON DECIDED TO MOVE ALL THE CHEROKEE. THEY WERE TAKEN BY THE U S ARMY TO LOCATIONS WEST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER IN 1838. BUT IT WAS PRESIDENT JEFFERSON WHO ACTUALLY MOVED THIS TRIBE TO OKLAHOMA. THIS MOVEMENT WAS CALLED THE TRAIL OF TEARS. MANY CHILDREN AND OLDER FOLKS DIED. IN FACT, 1/4 OF THE TRIBE DIED FROM UNSANITARY CONDITIONS, WEATHER AND DISEASE.


IN THE MEANTIME THE ENGLISH TRADERS HAD MARRIED CHEROKEES. SOME CHEROKEES EVEN ADOPTED SLAVERY. SOME CHEROKEES EVEN ADOPTED SLAVERY. THEIR CLOTHES CHANGED TO ANGLO CLOTHES. THERE WAS A CHIEF WHO DECIDED TO CONTRACT WITH THE ARMY TO COMPLETE THE CHEROKEE REMOVAL TO OKLAHOMA. THERE WERE 13 DIFFERENT WAVES OF PEOPLE MOVING WESTWARD. ONCE THERE THEY NEEDED TO REBUILD EVERYTHING. THEIR CAPITAL WAS TAHLEQUAH. AT THIS TOWN THEY HAD A SQUARE WHERE A LARGE SHELTER WAS BUILT TO GATHER, ALONG WITH TWO SMALL LOG CABINS. BY 1802 ALL CHEROKEES HAD BEEN REMOVED FROM GEORGIA ACCORDING TO JEFFERSON'S ORDERS.

DURING THE CIVIL WAR CHIEF JOHN ROSS IN THE CHEROKEE NATION SAID THE CHEROKEES WERE TO REMAIN NEUTRAL AND OUT OF THE WAR. HE ASKED THE PRESIDENT TO REQUEST THAT THE TROOPS BE SENT TO THE CHEROKEE NATION TO ENSURE NEUTRALITY. THE U. S. HAD SIGNED A TREATY TO PROTECT THEM FROM DOMESTIC STRIFE. INVASION IT WAS IGNORED. MANY MEMBERS DECIDED TO FIGHT FOR THE CONFEDERACY. THEY WERE MOSTLY SOUTHERNERS. MANY WERE STILL SLAVE OWNERS.

STAND WAITE WAS ACCEPTED INTO THE CONFEDERATE ARMY. HE DECLARED A CONFEDERATE CHEROKEE NATION WITH WAITE AS CHIEF. MANY FULL BLOODED CHEROKEES ORGANIZED THEMSELVES AGAINST WAITE'S CONFEDERATES. THEY FOLLOWED THE BAPTIST MISSIONARY AS WELL. THE CHEROKEES FOUGHT EACH OTHER WITHIN THEIR NATION, SIMILAR TO THE CIVIL WAR IN THE U.S.. MANY HOMES WERE BURNED. CHIEF ROSS FLED THE NATION OF THE CHEROKEES. MANY CHEROKEES SOUGHT REFUGE IN KANSAS, ARKANSAS, TEXAS, AND OTHER STATES. THIS CIVIL WAR LEFT MANY PEOPLE HOMELESS AND THE CHILDREN WERE ORPHANED. THEY ESTABLISHED ORPHANAGE . STAND WAITE WAS THE LAST CONFEDERATE TO SURRENDER IN 1865. THE WAR ANNIHILATED THE GOVERNMENT OF THE FIVE INDIAN NATIONS.

THE CHEROKEES WERE STILL IN A TIME OF UNREST. BY THE EARLY EARLY 1840'S THE NATION ENTERED INTO A GOLDEN AGE.. SCHOOLS WERE BUILT AND THESE WERE THE FIRST FREE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEMS IN THE WORLD. MOST TEACHERS WERE CHEROKEES. THE REFUGEES RETURNED TO OKLAHOMA DURING 1865 AND THEY HAD TO START ALL OVER.

CORN WAS THEIR MAJOR CROP BEFORE EUROPEANS CAME INTO THEIR TERRITORY. THEY HAD MYTHS ABOUT IT. KANATI, THE GREAT HUNTER OR THE FIRST MAN AND HIS WIFE, CORN MAIDEN, SIGNIFY THE ORIGINAL MALE HUNTER AND THE FEMALE FARMER . KANATI ALSO BRINGS THE RAIN. SULU, HIS WIFE, COULD PRODUCE BEANS RICE FROM HER BODY ANYTIME.

THE CHEROKEES ALWAYS PRODUCED ABUNDANT CORN CROPS AND STORED THE DRIED CORN FOR THE WINTER. WHEN THE CIVIL WAR BROKE OUT THE ENGLISH DESTROYED THEIR HOMES AND THE ABUNDANCE OF CORN SURPLUS. CHEROKEES DEVELOPED POLITICAL ORGANIZATIONS. IN 1978 THESE GROUPS MET TOGETHER AND ELECTED A PRINCIPAL CHIEF OF THE NATION, JESSE MILAM. HE WAS APPOINTED PRINCIPAL CHIEF UNDER FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT. IN 1950 THE CHEROKEES STILL WANTED TO REMAIN ISOLATED. IN THEIR OWN TOWNS AND LIVE A TRADITIONAL LIFESTYLE.

IN 1963 THE CHEROKEE NATIONAL HISTORICAL SOCIETY WAS FORMED AND THE CHEROKEE HERITAGE CENTER WAS BUILT IN TAHLEQUAH. IT IS A MUSEUM WITH OUTDOOR AMPHITHEATRE AND A TRIBAL OFFICE AND OTHER BUILDINGS. IT HOUSES VARIOUS CONTEMPORARY ART AND HAND CRAFTED ITEMS AS WELL AS ARTIFACTS, SCULPTURES. THE CHEROKEES ARE PEOPLE WHO ADAPT WELL, PROSPER, FACE ADVERSITY AND EXCEL.

ROBERT CONLEY