Who Are the Cherokee?
The Cherokee (ᏣᎳᎩ, Tsalagi) are one of the largest Native American nations in the United States, with approximately 400,000 enrolled tribal members across three federally recognized tribes: the Cherokee Nation and United Keetoowah Band (both based in Oklahoma) and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (North Carolina). They speak Cherokee, an Iroquoian language and the only Southern Iroquoian language still spoken. Originally inhabiting the Appalachian highlands of the southeastern United States, the Cherokee developed a sophisticated civilization that adapted many Euro-American elements before being forcibly removed to Indian Territory (Oklahoma) in the 1830s on the Trail of Tears. Cherokee history encapsulates both indigenous adaptation and the brutal injustice of American expansion.
Sequoyah's Syllabary
The Cherokee syllabary, created by Sequoyah (George Gist) around 1821, is one of history's only known cases of an individual creating a writing system independently. Sequoyah, who could not read English, spent twelve years developing a system of 85 characters representing Cherokee syllables. The syllabary spread rapidly—within years, literacy rates among Cherokee exceeded those of surrounding white populations. Cherokee newspapers (the Cherokee Phoenix, founded 1828), religious texts, and legal documents were published. The syllabary remains in use today, with revitalization efforts including road signs, official documents, and digital media. Sequoyah's achievement demonstrated Cherokee intellectual capacity at a time when Americans questioned Native capabilities, though it did not prevent removal.
Trail of Tears
The Cherokee experience with removal epitomizes American injustice toward Native peoples. Despite adapting to Euro-American ways—adopting written laws, Christianity, plantation agriculture (including slavery), and even winning a Supreme Court case (Worcester v. Georgia, 1832) affirming their sovereignty—the Cherokee were forced from their homeland. President Andrew Jackson, defying the Supreme Court, implemented the Indian Removal Act. During 1838-1839, approximately 16,000 Cherokee were rounded up at gunpoint, held in stockades, and marched to Indian Territory in present-day Oklahoma. An estimated 4,000-8,000 died from disease, exposure, and starvation on this "Trail Where They Cried" (Nunna daul Tsuny). A remnant who hid in the mountains became the Eastern Band. The Trail of Tears remains central to Cherokee historical memory and American reckoning with genocide.
Contemporary Cherokee
Modern Cherokee constitute one of America's most successful Native nations economically and politically. The Cherokee Nation, headquartered in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, operates businesses, healthcare facilities, and educational institutions; it is the largest tribal employer in Oklahoma. The Eastern Band operates a casino resort that funds community services. Cherokee language, though endangered (only about 2,000 fluent speakers remain, mostly elderly), is subject to intensive revitalization through immersion schools and language programs. Cherokee political organization has modernized while maintaining traditional elements. Debates continue over citizenship criteria, particularly regarding Cherokee Freedmen (descendants of enslaved Black people held by Cherokee). The Cherokee demonstrate both the devastating impacts of colonialism and the possibilities of indigenous nation-building within the American system.
References
- Perdue, T. & Green, M. D. (2007). The Cherokee Nation and the Trail of Tears
- McLoughlin, W. G. (1986). Cherokee Renascence in the New Republic
- Stremlau, R. (2011). Sustaining the Cherokee Family: Kinship and the Allotment of an Indigenous Nation