1. Westward Expansion Lesson 5 – Cherokee Life

2. Vocabulary customs: a usual way of acting or doing something; a habit adopted: to take and have or use as one’s one maize: corn, the plant or its seeds; Indian Corn

3. Who are the Cherokee? The Cherokee call themselves the Aniyunwiya, meaning “the Principal People” The Cherokee had migrated south and lived in the Smoky Mountains. For over a thousand years, the Cherokee enjoyed their mountain homeland. Then, men from across the ocean came to the Cherokee land. A explorers from Spain looking for gold. Later, people from England and France came to settle in the area. Cherokee life changed as they began to trade with the settlers.

4. If you were… a Cherokee girl you would rarely cut your hair. for the Cherokee long hair was beautiful. You would wear jewelry around your neck, wrists, and ankles. You made your jewelry from shells, seeds, bones, animal teeth, stones, and feathers. If you were… a Cherokee boy or man you would shave or pluck your hair so you would have a small patch left on top. If you were… Cherokee your clothes were made from animal skin.

5. European Influence About 150 years ago the Cherokee people lived in the wooded valleys of the Appalachian Mountains. After the white newcomers from Europe came to this country, the Cherokee began to trade with them and adopted many of their customs. Cherokee clothes changed after they began to trade with settlers. Shirts and skirts were made of cloth instead of animal skin.

6. What would your house be like? You would live with your mother, father, brothers, sisters, and your mother’s parents. You would live in two different houses with your large family. One house would be your home in the hot summer months. Your winter home would be nearby.

7. What was a Cherokee village like? Your village might have 200 to 400 or more people living in it. The village would be the sixty to eighty villages stretching along rivers in Cherokee country. Rivers gave you fish to eat and rivers would be used as roads to get to other villages.

8. What was a Cherokee village like? Your mother would have a small family garden near your house, but most of the corn you ate was grown in the big village cornfield. The field would be in a valley with rich soil and lots of water. All the women and girls helped take care of the garden. The settlers also liked the rich soil and water found in the Cherokee land.

9. Europeans Arrival Then, men from across the ocean came to the Cherokee land. Explorers from Spain looking for gold. Later, people from England and France came to settle in the area. Cherokee life changed as they began to trade with the settlers. Every year more and more Cherokee land was taken over by white settlers. The settlers wanted the land the Cherokee lived on. They also wanted the gold found the mountains.

10. Review What was being a Cherokee girl like? a Cherokee boy? What custom did the Cherokee adopt from the settler? Why are they 2 reasons why the Europeans wanted the Cherokee land?