Cherokee Culture
Cherokee economy, like that of the other southeastern tribes, was based on intensive agriculture, mainly of corn, beans, and squash. Deer, bear, and elk were hunted. The Busk, or Green Corn Ceremony, was a time of thanksgiving, rekindling of sacred fires, and spiritual renewal.
The tribe was divided into seven matrilineal clans that were
dispersed in war and peace moieties (half-tribes). The people lived in numerous permanent villages, some of
which belonged to the war moiety, the rest to the peace moiety.
In the early 19th century, the Cherokee demonstrated unusual adaptability to Western institutions, both in their governmental changes and in their adoption of Western methods of animal husbandry and farming, including the plantation system. Public schools were established and in the 1820s, Sequoyah, a tribal member, invented an 85-character syllabary script for the Cherokee language. Widespread literacy followed almost immediately. In 1828 the first Native American newspaper, the Cherokee Phoenix, began publication.