Will ColacitoNative American Studies

The Cherokee

SoutheastGeorgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, South

Carolina

Location

The Cherokee lived in houses typically made of mud and clay with roofs of brush or cane.

Housing

Cherokee Tear Dress (women)

The Cherokee Tear Dress is believed to originate from the Trail of Tears era when household items such as scissors were confiscated. Women would tear the dresses in order to make the cuts. The name comes from the technique of ripping or tearing the dress and also due to the time period they originated.

Everyday Clothing

Cherokee Ribbon Shirt (men)

The ribbon shirt is made from calico fabric, with ribbon designs on the front and back. The sleeves are made similar to the tear dress. The traditional turban, also made from calico, is still worn by some men. Men also wore breechcloths

Everyday Clothing

Ceremonial Clothing

3 Sisters (beans, corn, squash)DeerTurkeyPotatoesA common recipe among the Cherokee is

Bean Bread. It is made using cornmeal, flour, baking soda, sugar, milk, eggs, honey, and brown beans

Cherokee Food

Double wall basketry Clay pottery Gourd itemsRiver cane items 

Cherokee Artwork

Tsa-La-Gi is the Cherokee alphabet song taught to children.“The Cherokee peopleHad their own way to speakThey could talk, tell stories, sing, or even preachBut they didn’t have a way to write it all downTil Sequoyah made the alphabet of Cherokee soundsSharing words in CherokeeTsa-la-gi, tsa-la-gi”

Cherokee Songs

Cherokee Stomp DanceThe dance participants include a

leader, assistants and one or more "shell-shakers" wearing leg rattles traditionally made out of turtle shells filled with pebbles. Today some use cans filled with pebbles to provide rhythmic accompaniment while they dance around the fire. The ceremonial observance involves sacrifices made by the ceremonial leaders, prayers, taking medicine, going to water or river for ritual cleansing and smoking of the pipe.

Cherokee Dance

Man’s role:

Women’s role:

Children’s role: None

GovernmentEach village had two chiefs - a "white" chief who led in times of peace, and a "red" chief who led in times of war. Unless the Cherokee were at war, the war chief had nothing to do except drill and keep himself and his warriors fit. This was very smart. The Cherokee could response instantly to a war threat with able leadership.

Only men were priests and chiefs, but women could offer advice, and later on, could participate as council members when chosen by the village, just like the men.

CommunicationThe Cherokee syllables was invented by Chief Sequoyah, and was developed between 1809 and 1824. Their writing was left to right in horizontal lines.

Sacred AnimalsThe Cherokee have a special regard for the owl and cougar. They are honored in some versions of the Creation story because they were the only two animals who were able to stay awake for the seven nights of Creation, the others having fallen asleep. Today, because of this, they are nocturnal in their habits and both have exceptional night vision.

Weapons-

WarfareStone weapons, tomahawks and battle hammers were made from rocks of the correct overall shape by sharpening one edge and grinding a binding groove around the stone using other, harder stones. The groove was made so that the stone could be tied to a handle with rawhide. Other hammers and axe-type weapons also were used; sometimes a knot in a root or branch with a convenient handle made a good battle axe.

Rules of War-

Warfare

The battles themselves were usually brutal hand to hand combat operations carried on in very close quarters. Following the battle and upon the war party's return home, the spoils of war were given to the warrior's wife or nearest woman relative. The warriors who had killed someone or had touched a dead body were considered unclean for a period of four days afterwards. To purify themselves, it was necessary to bathe themselves and drink only a particular potion.

Arrowheads: made from various kinds of stone but flint was considered the best. Not only because it was so hard, but also because flint is easier to chip into "flakes" with sharp edges than most other hard rocks.

Tools

Blowguns: ranged from three to nine feet in length. The darts were made of hard woods. The back end of the dart was fitted with thistledown to form a seal and help center the dart in the blowgun.

Hair and JewelryThe Cherokee learned to make jewelry from their Iroquoiscousins. They used natural materials such as shell, nuts, carvedbeads, as well as copper, gold and eventually silver to makebeautiful jewelry and add beadwork to their clothing, bags, and shoes.

Cherokee would gather their long hair into one large pony tail, that stood straight up from the top of their head.Cherokee women wore their hair VERY LONG. Occasionally, they would braid it into twin braids.

Medicine and HealthcareOne of the herbs known the longest time for soothing stomach problems is the blackberry. Using a strong tea from the roots is helpful is reducing and soothing swollen tissues and joints.Cattail was used for preventative medicine. It is an easily digestible food helpful for recovering from illness, as it is bland.

LeadersJohn Ross also known as Guwisguwi (meaning in Cherokee a "Little White Bird"), was the Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation from 1828–1866, serving longer in this position than any other person.

Wilma Pearl Mankiller was the first female chief of the Cherokee Nation. She served as principal chief for ten years from 1985 to 1995.

Where Are They Now?The Cherokee tribe of today is made up of 3 different groups that all descended from the same common tribe Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma citizens resides within 14 counties in Northeastern Oklahoma, the tribe composes of descendants of those that were forced removed from lands in Southeastern United States during 1838-1839 time period.

Before European settlement: 30,000-35,000As of 2009: 2,138

Population

Who was the leader from 1985-1995?What fruit is used to cure stomach problems?What is the name of the dress Cherokee

women wear?

Quiz

Sourceswww.cherokeeregistry.com

www.cherokee.org

www.americanindianoriginals.com

www.cherokeemuseum.org

www.indians.org/articles/cherokee-indians.html

www.cherokeetourismok.com/