Cherokee

The Cherokee are an Indigenous people of the southeastern United States, originally centered in what are now Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Alabama. They speak an Iroquoian language and developed a sophisticated society with towns, agriculture, and a political structure that included a war and peace system, laws, and a constitution in the early 19th century. The Cherokee created a syllabary, devised by Sequoyah in 1821, which enabled widespread literacy in Cherokee. The Cherokee Phoenix, a bilingual newspaper, began publication in 1828, one of the first Native American newspapers in a Native language.

Following extensive European contact and settlement, the Cherokee suffered population decline from disease and displacement. In the 1830s, under the Indian Removal Act, large groups were forced to relocate to Indian Territory west of the Mississippi River in what is now Oklahoma, an episode known as the Trail of Tears.

Today, there are three federally recognized Cherokee governments: the Cherokee Nation, based in Tahlequah, Oklahoma; the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians, in Oklahoma; and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, in North Carolina’s Qualla Boundary. Each government maintains its own laws, courts, and services.

Cherokee culture emphasizes clan systems, traditional crafts, and education. The tribe has contributed to American literature, art, and governance and continues efforts to revive the Cherokee language and culture through schools and cultural programs. Notable figures include Sequoyah, who created the syllabary, and Wilma Mankiller, a later principal chief of the Cherokee Nation.