Abstract A discussion regarding how in recent years, mainstream society has "re-discovered" Native Americans after a period of forgetfulness. Needless to say, one of the more prominent of all the Native North American peoples has been the Cherokee - perhaps because few other native tribes (at least to this writer's knowledge) have enjoyed the territorial, geographic reach of the Cherokee nation - a nation with tribes in the Virginias, the Carolinas, and the Southern United States. This paper looks at America's Cherokee tribes and explores the manner in which their approach to warfare since the arrival of the "white man".
Abstract This paper discusses German Americans and Cherokee in the 18th century. It is a history paper that compares and contrasts various aspects of these two groups' lives including politics, social norms, economics and personal, professional and interpersonal relationships.
Tags: German Americans & Cherokee in the 1700s. American history, comparison and contrast, Political, Social, economic, Personal, Professional and Interpersonal
This paper discusses the background, detail and the aftermath of the foreceful eviction of the Cherokee tribe from its ancestoral lands in 1838, an event known as the "Trail of Tears."
Abstract The paper introduces the Cherokee - one of the largest tribes of Native Americans in the United States. It shows how their survival is a tribute to their remarkable resistance since in the harsh winter of 1838 and 1839, the entire Cherokee tribe was threatened with extinction during an event that is known as ?The Trail of Tears.? The paper examines one of the darkest moments in American history, when the Federal troops under the orders of the United States government forcibly evicted the entire Cherokee tribe from their ancestral lands in Georgia to Oklahoma during a cruel 1000 mile forced journey. Out of a total of 16,000 Cherokee people, over 4000 men, women, and children died of hunger, disease, and exposure to the elements on the trail. The paper discusses how "The Trail of Tears" symbolizes the callousness with which the United States government treated the Native Americans due to greed and prejudice inherent in human nature. It covers the background, events and aftermath of the "Trail of Tears."
From the Paper "The Cherokee tribe bravely suffered their ordeal on the Trail of Tears setting to work in their new home. They built homes, schools and churches. They set up a government and named their capital "Tahlequah" that is still the cultural center of the Cherokees and the source of documented evidence of their history. The Indians were on the way of recovery from their ordeal when another devastating event intervened: The American Civil War. The Cherokees aligned themselves with the Confederacy since the South had promised that when the war was over they would be permitted to form their own state. After having supported the British during the American War of Independence, the Cherokee had again chosen the wrong side. So when the North won the Civil War, the Indians, were duly penalized. Most of their lands guaranteed by previous treaties were taken from them and their sad plight continued."
Abstract This article, glancing at the book, "The Cherokee Removal", discusses the expulsion of the Cherokee people from their homeland, making way for white Americans. The writer looks at the forcible expulsion of an ethnic and cultural group from its homeland in the United States. In the above-mentioned book, the author claims that in the end, this transfer of the Cherokee people proved to be beneficial to all concerned. This paper examines the expulsion and the writer of this article argues that this forcible removal was not in fact favorable to both groups involved. The writer maintains that the "migration of the Cherokee across the Mississippi" was perhaps not in all parties' best interests.
From the Paper "First, the differences between late 19th century United States worldviews and those of the Cherokee are examined; a grasp of the difference between these ideals is essential to understanding the differences in each group's priorities. A few of the specific factors which the quote depends on are examined, such as the attitude of President Andrew Jackson, the potential uses of the Cherokee homelands, and objections raised by white defenders of the Indians. Finally, how these ideals affected the reality of each group-how one's notion of justice, for example, influenced one's actions, is explored."
Abstract This paper discusses the transportation by force of the Cherokee nation from their native lands to Oklahoma that was mandated by the U.S. government in 1838. While it was Jackson's successor, Martin Van Buren, who would order the forced march that became known as the "Trail of Tears", the policies that led to the forced removal had begun in 1830 under Jackson with the Indian Removal Act. The writer describes the horrors of the march and its devastating effects on the Cherokees as well as the other Indians who were driven out with them. The writer discusses the historical and political background behind the relocation, and the reasons for Jackson's deep-seated hatred and resentment of the Cherokees. The writer also describes the attempts by the Cherokees to negotiate with the U.S. government prior to the march and other circumstances leading up to the march, and concludes with a brief note on what happened to them after their arrival in Oklahoma.
From the Paper "The Cherokee nation had, at one time, spanned the territories now known as the Carolinas to Florida and West to Mississippi. Over the course of several millennia, the Cherokee had banded together five tribes, each with its place in a relatively democratic political structure, where respect for the rule of law was absolute, and their culture significantly advanced. Education was paramount, they maintained a very solid and reliable economy, and they maintained the belief that they could successfully co-exist with the Americans. This, of course, would prove to be exceptionally naive when it came to Jackson. Where he had failed in his youth, he was certainly able to get back at the Cherokee decades later."
Tags: racist eviction land-hungry obsolescence genocide, Monroe Doctrine, Supreme Court, opposition exposure anti-Indian
This essay discusses the Cherokee Indians, and the Trail of Tears they trekked across to reach the Indian Reservations that the United States government placed them in.
Abstract This paper talks about the background of the Cherokee Indians, the Indian Removal Act, the removal forts they were put into, and the trail of tears they trudged on, and symbols that symbolize the trail of tears and the pain the Cherokee Indians endured. The author includes several maps in the paper.
From the Paper 'In the 1800s, the Cherokee Indians were forced off their ancestral lands in Georgia and coerced to march the long, bitter journey to Oklahoma, where the government had decided they should live. This journey became known as the "Trail of Tears" for the grief it caused the Cherokee. It was called "Nunna dual Tsuny" by the tribe, which literally meant the "Trail Where They Cried". The Cherokee were a friendly tribe, but were stripped of justice as they were made to trudge hundreds of miles in bad weather; many were treated brutally, and many died either in concentration camps or on the trail itself."
Abstract This paper presents a timeline and background of the Cherokee people, a Native-American tribe who originally lived in the southern Appalachian Mountains area. The paper traces their history from the very beginnings more than a thousand years ago, through the introduction of whites and the modernization of America. The paper describes the Cherokee's way of life, customs and traditions. As well, the writer provides information on the political aspects which led to the treaty between this people and the American government.
From the Paper "The society of the Cherokee was a matriarchy. The children took the clan of the mother, and kinship was traced through the mother's family. Women had an equal voice in the affairs of the tribe. Marriage was only allowed between members of different clans. Property was passed on according to clan alliance. Cherokee villages were largely independent in daily matters, with the whole tribe only coming together for ceremonies or in times of war. They grew corn (maize) and other vegetables. They hunted with bows and arrows, and used reed blowguns to kill smaller game."
Abstract This paper examines the history of the Cherokee Nation during the period between the first European contact to the American Civil War. An emphasis is on the role of the Cherokee people as a socially and politically motivated people who were wronged by the U.S. government.
Abstract This paper reviews John Ehle's book, "Trail of Tears", which provides a thorough review of the Cherokee people, starting from their first encounter with Europeans. The paper presents the book's argument that the Cherokee efforts to adopt and adapt to the cultural achievements of whites, while advancing their own culture, fundamentally shaped their history.
From the Paper "In Trail of Tears, John Ehle poignantly depicts the unique struggle of the Cherokee to defend against the onslaught of the advancing ?white storm.? As they initially realized the futility of violent resistance, the Cherokee enthusiastically devoted themselves to ensuring the societal advancements that would grant them peaceful and prosperous co-existence with the whites. Thanks to the visionary leadership of individuals such as Major Ridge, the tribe successfully fought off internal division, reactionary traditionalism, and white interference in order to forever disprove the fallacy that Indians were incapable of ?civilization.?"
Abstract The paper overviews the Cherokee tribe and shows how religious intolerance has virtually destroyed the cultural foundations of the culture. The paper explains the two points of view with regard to the causes of this situation and believes that both these points of view have to be taken into account to understand how various influences led to the decline of the Cherokee culture.
Outline:
Introduction and Background
Religious Aspects and Intolerance
Conclusion
From the Paper "The Cherokee are one of the largest North American indigenous tribes. They are linked to the Iroquoian linguistic family and the Southeast culture area. (Cherokee) "The Cherokee are the only surviving representative of the southern Iroquoian peoples, the split between the ancestral Cherokee and the Northern Iroquoian occurring about 3,500-4,000 years ago" ( Cherokee Religion).
"Archeological evidence suggests that the Cherokee migrated in the distant past from Texas or northern Mexico as well as the area surrounding the Great Lakes. (Cherokee) They then moved south to the Allegheny and Appalachian mountain regions in modern North and South Carolina, Tennessee, and northern Georgia and Alabama. This was where they were first encountered by Europeans when the Spanish explorer Hernando De Soto arrived in the area in 1540. It is also significant to note that this first encounter with the European culture was a smallpox epidemic that killed approximately eleven thousand Cherokees (Cherokee)."
Abstract This paper discusses the history of the "trail of tears" in which Cherokees were removed from their native Appalachia and forced to relocate to the harsh plains of Oklahoma. The paper includes a discussion of the treaties broken by the U.S. government.
Abstract The paper reviews the Cherokee and Seminole resistance tactics against Indian removal. The paper explains how the "five civilized tribes" attempted to hold onto their lands. The paper includes their strategies and examines how the U.S. government broke treaties.
From the Paper "When Andrew Jackson became president, Cherokee Creek Chickasaw Choctaw and Seminole Indians lived east of the Mississippi Goldfield. These Indians were known as the "Five Civilized Tribes" because many of them had adopted aspects of European and American culture including Christianity. However, these Indians lived on millions of acres of land desired by white cotton planters in central Alabama and Mississippi and particularly Georgia Goldfield."
An overview of the events where the United States government forced the Cherokee on a "Trail of Tears" which ultimately led to the death of thousands and the downfall of this Native American tribe.
1,900 words (approx. 7.6 pages), 6 sources, 2002, $ 71.95
Abstract In 1838, the Cherokee nation was effectively removed, in its entirety, by the government of the Unites States of America. The forced removal was part of an effort to both neuter the Cherokee, one of the strongest native Nations and to grab all of the land upon which it had lived for, in various forms, thousands of years. The forced march was named, The Trail Of Tears, for a variety of reasons. It forced the natives from their ancestral home, it was a death march and it placed the Cherokee in an alien land, virtually devoid of anything which would allow them to continue living in their traditional manner. The Trail of Tears resulted in thousands of deaths, the separation of families and has been considered in hindsight as an attempt at genocide. The eviction and forced march, which came to be known as the Trail of Tears, took place during the fall and winter of 1838-39 and was badly mismanaged. Inadequate food supplies led to terrible suffering, especially after frigid weather arrived. About 4,000 Cherokees died on the one-hundred and sixteen-day journey, many because the escorting troops refused to slow or stop so that the ill and exhausted could recover. It is the purpose of this paper to examine the motivations for the forced exodus from the point of view of the U.S. government, the timeline of the march and the impact it had before, during and after on the Cherokee people. The point of this examination is to, hopefully, develop for the reader a clear understanding of one of the most tragic episodes in the enforcement of Indian Policy by the United States Government.
This paper discusses the misadventures of Sir Alexander Cuming, who was respected and even loved by the Cherokees, but marginalized by his own aristocratic, English society.
Abstract This paper explains that Sir Alexander Cuming, deemed simultaneously a madman, an adventurer, a true patriot, or even a diplomat, established ties with the distant Cherokee nations and made them loyal allies of the English crown. The author points out that Alexander Cuming, born in December, 1691, in Edinburgh, Scotland, the son of an aristocrat, arrived in Charles Town (Charleston today) in 1730 and left for the Cherokee country without having any official mandate to explore new territories, to make connections with other people or, in a diplomatic sense, to improve ties in North America. The paper relates that Cuming, having gained the confidence and support of the Cherokees, presented the symbols he had received from the Cherokees in a ceremonial at Windsor Castle, believing that he was a joint ruler of the Cherokee nation, which was not the case.
From the Paper "Conceptually, the treaty stipulated general submission clauses, especially in what a joint international policy was concerned. They agreed to have the same enemies and friends as the British Empire and to fight anyone that opposed the English, but it also meant that they could trade with no one else but the English and that they would be subject to English law. At this time, Cuming seems to be at the highest of his influence and power."
Abstract In this article, the writer notes that intolerance of native religion is a theme that pervades Native-American studies, as the conditions that many Indian nations suffered were guised with a highly religiously motivated idea of manifest destiny. The writer discusses that the Cherokee nation was no exception, as many members sought to live a life that was chosen for them, rather than made by choice. The writer points out that early in the Cherokee history there were struggles with conversion, indoctrination and intolerance of traditional ways. The modern Cherokee movement has tended to meld Christianity, forced upon them by white society, with the spirit of the old knowledge and religion, which like many other native nations was a core aspect of life. The writer concludes that this movement was so effective that the resurgence of Native-American religion today is a revival attempting to make sure that the traditions do not die and that the oldest of the generations has the opportunity to build and spread the faith and language of the elders.
From the Paper "The Cherokee had a structured egalitarian society and in many ways were very "civilized" from the start with structured towns, rather than nomadic villages that moved with the seasons, a credit given to many other nations and part of the reason they were designated as one of five civilized tribes. The Cherokee were divided into seven clans, as seven was a sacred number to them and they had a war chief and a peace chief, Red Chief and White Chief, with a head medicine man that decided quarrels between the two chiefs who really worked in cooperation to rule the nation. Lineage was patrilinial and matrilineal with the father than the maternal grandmother sharing lineal duties such as naming children and such. The nation also had a subsistence economy where commodity was currency and there was little need for cash, the nation in fact resisted labor employment even into the beginning of the 20th century."
