The Texas group are now a part of the Eastern Band of Cherokee. Another group that had been in Mexico (Texas) was forced by government troops to move, they went to the mountains of North Carolina where in 1842, they obtained permission to stay. They joined an earlier group known as 'old settlers' who had been in Arkansas. The removal to Indian Territory (Oklahoma) occurred in the winter of 1838-1839, with an 800 mile journey, this became known as the 'Trail of Tears', with a loss of one-fourth of their tribe. With the signing of the Treaty of New Echota, Decemthe tribe sold their remaining land and agreed to move west of the Mississippi. In the 1830s gold was discovered in their Nation, this became a catalyst for removal. Sequoya (George Grist) a mixed blood, developed the Cherokee alphabet, helping to make the tribe a literate people.

The Spanish explorer De Soto was the first to encounter the Cherokee in the 1540s.ĭuring the French and Indian War and the Revolutionary War the tribe supported the British.īy 1820 a group that had tired of the encroachment by settlers migrated to Indian Territory which is now Arkansas. Tribal Headquarters Ĭherokee Heritage Center - Cherokee National Historical Society

United Keetoowah: many are descendants of the 'Old Settlers', Cherokee who migrated to Arkansas and Oklahoma about 1817.

Leaders: Sequoyah, Elias Boudinot, Nancy WardĬlans: Wolf (Aniwahya), Wild Potato (Anigatogewi), Deer (Anikawi), Bird (Ani Tsiskwa), Paint (Aniwodi), Blue (Anisahoni), and Long Hair (Anigilohi)

5.1 The Cherokee Tribe was under the following jurisdictions:Ĭherokee Tribe is one of the Five Civilized Tribes: Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek and Seminole.

Guide to Cherokee Nation ancestry, family history and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, parish registers, and other agency records.

Indigenous Peoples of North America - A Beginner's Guide.

Finding Your United States Indigenous Ancestor.

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