Copyright © 2008 NLThomas
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**The Cherokee symbol for the rule of law is a White Path, or "the narrow way to Heaven."

**Marriage does not change an individual's status in regard to his or her clan membership. The husband is still a member of his clan and the wife remains a member of her clan.

**The seven clans of the Cherokee are the Bird, Wild Potato, Deer, Wolf, Blue, Paint and Long Hair.

**The Cherokee game of Stickball is the predecessor of the game "LaCrosse." Stickball is part of traditional Cherokee religious ceremony.

**At one time, the "Blood Law" system was used to punish Cherokees who committed the act of murder. If you murdered a person, the life of any member of your clan was at risk.

**The Spiro Mounds, located near Poteau, were a major trade center in North America for Native American Indians. Cherokee frequently traveled to this area for trade, as well as the Rocky Mountains. In the 1600's, the Cherokee obtained copper from the Great Lakes area.

**Lake Euchi was named after Chief Oochelata, also known as Charles Thompson.

**After European contact, the Cherokee government consisted of a consortium of towns. Basically, the Cherokees lived in small stockade towns in the lower Appalachains. A red government and a white government system existed, in times of war, the red government was in charge, and in times of peace, the white government and the priests were in charge.

**On March 23, 1730, Sir Alexander Cuming held a conference in Keowee, western North Carolina, with 300 Cherokee Chiefs. Using threats and gifts, Cuming was able to get Cherokees to agree to acknowledge King George II of England as their sovereign.

**On April 3, 1730, in the Cherokee village of Nequassee, modern day Franklin, North Carolina, Sir Alexander Cuming oversaw a ceremony making Chief Moytoy the "Emperor of the Cherokees". This was to be his final step in having the Cherokees acknowledge the sovereignty of King George II of England.

**As early as 1755, roads leading through the heart of the Cherokee Nation to Charleston resulted in a loss of Cherokee isolation from Europeans.

**In 1760, one third of the Cherokee Nation died of a small pox epidemic.

**On August 11, 1760, in retaliation for the murder of seventeen Cherokee Chiefs held hostage in Fort Prince George, Cherokee warriors killed 30 of the prisoners they took when Fort Loudon fell a few days before. What is referred to as the "Fort Loudon Massacre" led to retaliation by the English.

**As early as 1755, roads leading through the heart of the Cherokee Nation to Charleston resulted in a loss of Cherokee isolation from Europeans.

**On March 17, 1775, the "Sycamore Shoals" Treaty was made. The treaty allowed the, Transylvania Company, headed by North Carolina Judge Richard Henderson, to purchase most of western and central Kentucky, and north central Tennessee from the Cherokees. The exchange was $10,000 worth of trade goods and $2,000 for this very large parcel of land. The Cherokees were represented by Chiefs Attakullaculla and Oconostota. The treaty was revoked by the governments of Virginia and North Carolina, as far as a private company owning the land, and was then used by the governments as a claim on Cherokee lands.

**In 1790, the slave population in the United States approached 700,000. The density of this population surrounded the Cherokee Nation, showing the encroachment of non-Indian wealth upon the lands of the Cherokee people.

**In the late 1700's the Cherokee population was approximately 12,000. This meant 1 Cherokee for each 6 square miles. Although the Europeans considered this a land surplus, it was a necessary amount of land for hunting and gathering.

**In 1808. Some of the Lower Cherokee towns were indicating a desire to move. Due to previous land cessions, game was becoming scarce for the citizens of these towns. These were what is known as the 'Old Settlers' who started removing to the areas of present day Arkansas and Oklahoma as early as 30 years prior to the Indian Removals.

**Prior to the Indian Removals (Trail of Tears), the Cherokee were given jurisdiction over a reservation in Arkansas through a treaty (1817).

**According to the Land Patent, issued to the Cherokee Nation by the United States, the Cherokee Nation was to hold such lands fee simple'. The language used is, 'The United States cedes to the Cherokee. . . .' The United States never gave the Cherokee, nation or individuals, land.

**A resolution was adopted in 1819 requiring white men to receive a permit in order to marry a Cherokee woman; however, the Cherokee woman retained all rights of property ownership.

**Restrictions on ardent spirits and gaming cocks were adopted by the Cherokee Nation government in 1822. This was the first Indian Gaming Commission.

**In 1827, the first Cherokee Constitution was enacted. This was considered a 'copy' of the U.S. Government's format, although the U.S. Government had derived this from the Iroquois Confederacy, who at that time, was the only democracy in the world.

**In 1829, Cherokee women were given the right to dispose of and sell their property. This was 120 years before American women were given the same right. (American women could not sell or transfer their property without their husband's permission before 1954.)

**The language of the Indian Removal Act of 1830 allowed for the exchange of land between two governments, the Cherokee Nation and the United States.

**In the 1830's, the State of Georgia instructed the Georgia Guard to protect the goldmines, and prevent Cherokees from assembling in National Council. The punishment for those Cherokee legislators to meet in council, pursuant to the oath of office, was 4 years of hard labor by the State of Georgia. The punishment was the same for any Cherokee court to sit, or any person or officers to issue process for the Nation. Failure to pledge allegiance to the State of Georgia also resulted in 4 years of hard labor for a Cherokee citizen.

**The Cherokee Syllabary, which gave the Cherokees a written language, was created by Sequoyah (aka George Guess) is officially listed as having been completed in 1821. The syllabary took 12 years to create.

**In 1825, the Cherokee national legislature established a capital called New Echota. A thriving town, this new governmental seat became headquarters for the small independent Indian nation that once covered present-day northern Georgia, western North Carolina, eastern Tennessee and northwestern Alabama.

**In 1826 the Council approved the construction of a printing office. In 1827 they authorized the purchase of a printing press. The first issue of the Cherokee Phoenix, the first American Indian newspaper which is still being published today, rolled off the presses on February 28, 1828 and had an international circulation. The person choosen to be editor was Elias Boudinot (Buck Oowatie), who was educated at Cornwall, Connecticut. Boudinot had worked hard to establish the Phoenix, raising a portion of the money needed through speaking engagements in the northeastern United States. Also raising money through speaking engagements were Boudinot's brother Stand Watie, John Ridge and Elijah Hicks.

**In the 1830's, a large group of Cherokees migrated to Mexico, near present-day Tyler, Texas.

**In December, 1830, the State of Georgia instructed the Georgia Guard to protect the goldmines, and prevented Cherokees from assembling in National Council, fearing a punishment of 4 years hard labor by the State of Georgia.

**On December 29, 1835 the Treaty of New Echota was signed which consequently resulted in the forced removal of the Cherokees, via the "Trail Where They Cried" (1838-39), also known as the Cherokee Trail of Tears.

**Although the hunting and fishing rights issue is yet to be resolved through federal courts, the 1835 Treaty with the Comanche lists 8 tribes in regards to hunting and fishing, the Cherokee being one of them. This treaty grants us rights on the 'great prairie west of the cross timbers, as far as the United States jurisdiction goes'. This tree line stops near Wichita, Kansas.

**In 1838 and 1839, as part of Andrew Jackson's Indian removal policy ( Indian Removal Act of 1830), the Cherokee nation was forced to give up its lands east of the Mississippi River and to migrate to an area in present day Oklahoma. The Cherokee people called this journey the "Trail Where They Cried" because of its devastating effects. The migrants faced hunger, disease, and exhaustion on the forced march. Over 4,000 out of 15,000 of the Cherokees died.

**Many people have called the era after 1846 the 'Cherokee Golden Age'. We emulated the American economy, educational institutions, federal and state courts, and built a great infrastructure. Was this truly 'golden' for the Cherokee and culture?

**The Treaty of July 19, 1866 gives the Cherokee Nation the right to elect a delegate to U.S. Congress. This is a right that has not been extinguished. This was the last treaty signed with the Cherokee."

**The lands of the Cherokee Nation were surveyed, and divided into parcels for lottery to non-Indians. Any Cherokee who appeared in court would be deemed an incompetent witness without the sponsorship of a white citizen. This was still on the books in Georgia until recently (1980).

**In preparation of the American holocaust, or the Trail of Tears involving the Cherokee, thirty one (31) forts were constructed. Eleven (11) served as internment camps. Several of the groups from the internment camps left towards Indian Territory immediately, one by water.

**In compensation for the removals, the official language stipulated, 'claims for improvements is DEDUCTED from the money paid to the Cherokees.' Therefore, the United States did not pay for our forced removal, we paid for it ourselves.

**The journey by water route on the Trail of Tears was accomplished by using flat boat barges with steam boats pulling them. Ironically, the first two steam boats were called 'Tecumseh' and 'George Guess'.

**The original cornerstone marking the meeting point of the Cherokee Nation, Osage Nation and Muscogee (Creek) Nation now lies under Interstate 244.

**The American Civil War did not affect just the white and black people, Indian people played a major role in the events of the war between the states. Cherokee people particularly were impacted by the devastation of the war.

**Nine hundred Cherokee men died in the War Between the States 'Civil War', and countless women and children. The Cherokee Nation suffered more per capita that any state during the war, and were involved in the conflict as a foreign ally.

**Lake Euchi was named after Chief Oochelata, also known as Charles Thompson.

**1898: Curtis Act passed in an attempt to abolish tribal courts.

**Dartmouth College was originally established as a mission school, and monies were to be used for the education of Indians. Today, Dartmouth awards only one scholarship per year specifically for Native Americans.

**Chief C.J. Harris worked on plans for a Cherokee emigration to the Mexican state of Sinaloa in 1895. Later, further plans to emigrate to Mexico were made. All 5 civilized tribes purchased 9,000 acres north of Tampica for settlement in 1901.

**1903: William C. Rogers becomes last elected Cherokee chief for 68 years.

**The first Cherokee National Holiday was held in 1953. The holiday commemorates the signing of the 1839 Cherokee Constitution.

**1971: W.W. Keeler becomes first elected principal chief since statehood.

**1976: Cherokee voters ratify new, "modern" Cherokee Constitution.

**1979: Tribal offices move into modem new complex south of Tahlequah.

**The Cherokee Tear (as in rip) Dress, as we know it today, was created in 1975 and made the official dress of Miss Cherokee that same year.

**1985: Wilma Mankiller fulfills remainder of Swimmer's term as principal chief; tribal councilor Councilor John A. Ketcher becomes deputy chief.

**1999: The 1999-2003 Cherokee Nation Tribal Council holds its first meeting after more than two years of controversy and boycotting of council meetings. Chief Chad Smith addresses the council during their meeting and calls for unity.

Treaty Information

**Because of our treaty status, the distinction of being 'Cherokee' is a status of citizenship, not a racial issue.

**1785: Treaty of Hopewell is the first treaty between United States and Cherokees.

**The Treaty of Hopewell stated that any white person who entered into Cherokee territory forfeited their protection from the United States. This agreement initialized the government-to-government relationship between the United States and Cherokee Nation.

**The Treaty of Holston included an easement to the Tennessee River, which is the historical basis for the Cherokee Arkansas Riverbed case.

Visit the Official web site of the Cherokee Nation, Oklahoma,
for more...