Table of Contents INTRODUCTION 6 CH A PT ERS INTO THE MOUNTAINS 9 BEING CHEROKEE WATCH FOR THE SIGNS 11 BEING CHEROKEE CRIME AND PUNISHMENT 13 WAR AND PEACE 17 BEING CHEROKEE JOHN ROSS 19 BEING CHEROKEE LITTLE BROTHER OF WAR 25 TRADING RELATIONSHIPS 27 BEING CHEROKEE SEQUOYAH AND THE SYLLABARY 29 BEING CHEROKEE THE CHEROKEE PHOENIX 31 THE TRAIL WHERE THEY CRIED 35 BEING CHEROKEE INDIAN TERRITORY 37 BEING CHEROKEE MANY PEOPLE CRIED 43 T R A DI T ION A L STORY THE BALL GAME BETWEEN THE BIRDS AND ANIMALS 44 R ESOU RCES ENDNOTES 46 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 47 READ MORE 47 WEBSITES 47 INDEX 48 c Cherokee leaders of the 1700s on page 3 the grand entrance to the Cherokee powwow in North Carolina pictured here c
C H E R O KEE c PEOPLES of NORTH AMERICA c Introduction The Cherokee Indians called their homeland in the moun tains of southeastern North America Shaconage meaning place of blue smoke The name came from the low blue haze that seemed draped over the rounded peaks today known as the Blue Ridge and Great Smoky Mountains Dense forests of oak hem lock and poplar blanketed the mountainsides and the air was thick with the scent of pine Squirrels mice and rabbits scurried through the underbrush while birds flitted through the trees calling out their alarm when predators approached Elk deer bears and tur keys ranged through the forests providing game for the Cherokee who also farmed The rich land gave the Cherokee everything they needed To them it was enchanted The Cherokee called themselves Ani-yunwi-ya or Tsalagi names that mean Real People or Principal People The word Cherokee may have come from an English interpretation of the word Tsalagi Or it may have originated with a Creek name mean ing people of a different speech or a Choctaw word meaning cave people Over time though the Real People accepted the name Cherokee They also accepted many of the ways of the white people who settled on and near their lands beginning in the late 1600s Even so the Cherokee were forcibly removed from their lands and made to resettle in the present-day state of Oklahoma There they established a new nation one that held on to much of their traditional culture even while adapting to the new ways of the people around them The Great Smokies acted as a barrier be tween Cherokee settlements in Tennessee 6
