died on the trail The Cherokees call the journey Alannah-duna-Dlo-Hilu-I In Cherokee this means the trail where they cried The Cherokees in the Southeast The first written records of the Cherokees date to 1540 European settlers wrote about the native people of America However the Cherokee lived in these areas long before that The Cherokees survived on what they could find in nature The men hunted and fished They used every part of the animals Deer provided meat for food Deer also provided leather for blankets and clothing People used animals bones or antlers to make 6 Cherokee Farmers Farming was an important part of the Cherokee lifestyle The Cherokees likely began farming as early as 3000 BCE Women who harvested wild plants learned how to take the seeds from plants and grow them This made for more dependable crops The farmers could keep seeds from year to year They no longer had to search for wild plants
Corn was very important to many Native Americans as they ate it at almost every meal and even had religious ceremonies based on the vegetable tools Sinews were used for thread to sew and weave Some items such as teeth and feathers could not be used in practical ways The Cherokees used them as decorations or in religious ceremonies The Cherokee women grew crops These included corn beans and squash They wove river canes a bamboo-like plant into baskets and mats 7
They shaped clay from rivers into pots The women fired the pots in their fireplaces much like potters today use kilns They collected herbs to use as medicine Cherokee Beliefs Cherokee religious beliefs were rooted in nature They believed that the Great Spirit created the land They believed in many nature gods The gods were in mountains the sun fire and even individual plants The Cherokees believed it was important to use only what they needed They did not want to take too much from nature Each year they held several religious ceremonies They celebrated growing seasons and other important events One of the 8 PERSPECTIVES The Importance of Nature The Cherokees valued nature They held six ceremonies each year to honor nature and give thanks They also believed the four directions had meanings South meant peace and happiness East meant success North stood for trouble and loss And west represented death
most significant was the Green Corn Ceremony This celebrated the annual corn harvest Life among Other Native Americans Other tribes lived nearby They included the Chickasaws the Choctaws the Creeks and the Seminoles These tribes did not always get along Sometimes they fought wars over land But none of these battles caused as much destruction as the arrival of Europeans FURTHER EVIDENCE Think about what you have read in this chapter Native Americans have had their own land traditions and religion for thousands of years There are many stories from Cherokee people on what they believe Take a look at the website below How does the information compare to what you read in this chapter Cherokee Traditional Beliefs mycorelibrary com trail-of-tears 9
