THE CHEROKEE NATION
For over four hundred years we have been
known as the Cherokee, though the word is of foreign origin. In our own
language we are
Ani Yun Wiya (Ah-Nee Yuh Wee-YAH), The Real People. Once the largest and
most powerful of the southeastern tribes, the Cherokee lived in harmony with
their world in the mountains now called the Smokies. Their
powerful matrilineal clan system was balanced by a strong hunter-warrior
tradition.
In the 1800's they were perhaps the most famous of all American Indian Nations, known for their efforts to live in peace with their white neighbors. The Cherokee had adopted a written constitution. The Cherokee genius Sequoya had developed a syllabary, making it possible for the people to read and write in their native language. A newspaper printed in English and Cherokee was begun. But these great accomplishments did not protect the Cherokee from the holocaust known as the INDIAN REMOVAL, Andrew Jackson's policy of forcing the southeastern tribes from their homelands to lands west of the Mississippi.
Over Four Thousand Cherokee People ( Elders, The Sick, Babies, Children, Men, Women) Lost their lives on the forced march to the west in the winter of 1838-1839. They Marched the people thru communities and towns that they knew were plagued with disease and sickness that the Cherokee People had never been in contact with and had no immunity to the diseases they were to encounter.
THE LONG WALK CAME TO-BE KNOWN AS THE TRAIL OF TEARS.
Today the Cherokee people make up the second largest Indian Nation in the United States, with the National Capital in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. The Cherokee language is spoken and taught widely, and traditional dances, such as the stomp dance are still held.