1. The Cherokee Indians
The Cherokee were one of the “Five Civilized Tribes”. The other tribes included in this group were the Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Natchez.

2. Where they lived……….
Location: The original location of the Cherokee was the southern Appalachian Mountains, including western North and South Carolina, northern Georgia and Alabama, southwest Virginia, and the Cumberland Basin of Tennessee, Kentucky, and northern Alabama. Currently, the Cherokee live in eastern Oklahoma. There are also Cherokee in North Carolina, Missouri, Arkansas, Georgia and Alabama.

3. Cherokee Shelters
Homes were usually a circular framework interwoven with branches and plastered with mud. These were called wickiups. They also lived in log houses which looked like cabins.

4. Food and Agriculture
Agriculture relied heavily on corn, beans and squash supplemented by hunting and gathering of wild plants.
Many Cherokee became prosperous farmers with comfortable houses, beautiful cultivated fields and large herds of livestock.

5. Language
Language: Iroquian, but Cherokee differs significantly from other Iroquian languages.

6. Interesting Facts
An interesting fact was the invention of written language by Sequoyah (George Gist) in Utilizing an ingenious alphabet of 86 characters, almost the entire Cherokee Nation became literate within a few years. A Cherokee newspaper, the Phoenix, began publication in the native language in February, 1828.

7. Cherokee Clothing
The women made clothing from deerskins and plants that were woven into material. The women wore short skirts. The men wore breechcloths, leggings, and moccasins. The men liked to paint and tattoo their bodies. During the winter the Indians wore capes for warmth. These were made from rabbit fur or turkey feathers. The capes were tied over the left shoulder. The clothing was decorated with dyed porcupine quills. The Cherokee also wore jewelry made of bones and teeth.

8. Government
The clan system of government was replaced by an elected tribal council. A written constitution modeled after that of the United States was added in 1827.

9. Map of United States

10. The Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians
Resources
The Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians
okee.htm
herokee2.htm#food
herokee.htm#dress