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
C H E R O KEE P E O P L E S of N O R T H A M E R I C A Into the Mountains The Cherokee probably arrived in the southeastern corner of North America sometime between a d 1000 and 1500 But ANTHRO POLOGISTS are divided over where the Cherokee’s ancestors lived before that time Some believe the Cherokee were once part of the Iroquoian Indian groups that lived near the Great Lakes As evidence they point to the Cherokee language which is part of the Iroquoian language family as well as to traditions the Cherokee held in common with the Iroquois Other anthropologists believe the Cherokee have more in common with native South American tribes whose basket-weaving techniques are similar to those of the Cherokee They say that the Cherokee may have migrated north from lands in South America Wherever they came from the Cherokee spread to claim lands in parts of the present-day states of North and South Carolina Tennessee Georgia Kentucky Virginia West Virginia and Alabama Within these lands the Cherokee settled into 60 to 80 widely scattered towns Although the Cherokee people were connected by a common culture and language the towns were located in four separate regions and the people of each region spoke a dif ferent DIALECT of the Cherokee language The Cherokee towns of western A seven-pointed star representing the seven clans was featured on ceremonial clothing and other materials 9
