The Cherokee Nation, largest of the Five Civilized Tribes of the Southeast, is a people of Iroquoian lineage. The Cherokee, who called themselves "Ani'-Yun' wiya" or "Principal People", migrated to the Southeast from the Great Lakes Region. They commanded more than 40,000 square miles in the southern Appalachians by 1650 with a population estimated at 22,500. Similar to other Native Americans of the Southeast, their nation was a confederacy of towns, each subordinate to supreme chiefs. When encountered by Europeans, they were an agrarian people who lived in log homes (not tee pees) and observed sacred religious practices. During the American Revolution the Cherokees, as well as the Creek and Choctaw, supported the British and made several attacks on forts and settlements in the frontier. After 1800 the Cherokees profoundly assimilated White culture. They adopted a government patterned after the United States, wore European-style dress, and followed the white man's farming and home-building methods. Ironically, the Cherokees fought with Andrew Jackson in the Creek War (1813-14). Cherokee culture continued to flourish with the invention of the Cherokee syllabary by Sequoyah in 1821. This system, in which each character represents a syllable, produced rapid literacy. It made possible their written constitution, the spread of Christianity, and the printing of the only Native American newspaper, The Cherokee Phoenix, begun in 1828. A seat of government was built at New Echota. However, that same year gold was discovered in north Georgia's Cherokee territory. Within a decade the Principal People's native home, their "Enchanted Land", would be theirs no more. Trail of Tears Cherokee in North Georgia Recommended reading Want more information? Cherokee history links Georgia's Historic High Country Travel Association offers a free brochure on many sites mentioned in this article

 


Cherokee
in North Georgia Cherokee Timeline

Concise timeline of the Cherokee in Georgia, from 1450 until 1838.

Cherokee

A brief overview of the Cherokee culture and society in the early 19th Century

History of the Cherokee in Georgia, Part I

From the initial contact with whites to the defeat of the Lower Towns in 1794

History of the Cherokee in Georgia, Part II

From George Washington ordering the introduction of technology in an attempt to "civilize" the Cherokee to the "Revolt of the Young Chiefs."

History of the Cherokee in Georgia, Part III

Tecumseh and the Creek Redsticks to the early nationalist government and the Creek Path conspiracy.

History of the Cherokee in Georgia, Part III

The Cherokee complete the formation of a national government, with a bicameral legislature and a Supreme Court. In 1827 they create a strong, central leader, a position held by John Ross until his death in 1866.

Battle of Hightower

The fierce Chickamauga Cherokee in pitted combat with future Tennessee governor John Sevier.

The Talking Leaves

Sequoyah's Talking Leaves make the Cherokee Nation literate almost overnight.

The Cherokee Phoenix

First newspaper of the Cherokee Nation had an interesting life, and contributed to today's New Echota in its death.

Land cessions of Native Americans in Georgia

From the first Creek cession in 1733 to the invasion of the Cherokee Nation by the state of Georgia and the federal government.

Cherokee Removal Forts

Before The Trail of Tears, the Cherokee were housed in these "forts" with little sanitation or food. More than one-third of the 4,000 deaths attributed to The Trail of Tears occured in these forts.

Trail of Tears

In one of the saddest episodes of our brief history, Georgians steal the Cherokee Nation.

Chieftains Trail

Highlights many of the Native American sites mentioned in the above articles.

New Echota State Park

Walk the streets of the first Capital of the Cherokee Nation. Visit the restored Vann's Tavern and Steven Worcester's house.

Chief Vann House

James Vann was a vile, intemperate, mixed-blood Cherokee who built the finest house in the Cherokee Nation shortly after start of the 19th Century

John Ross

The only elected leader of the Cherokee in North Georgia.

Major Ridge

Lead the Cherokee on the path to acculturation, only to betray them by signing the Treaty of New Echota in 1835.

Sequoyah

Invented the Cherokee alphabet

Samuel Austin Worcester

A white minister who lived and worked with Cherokee, Worcester was one of the defendents in the Supreme Court case that recognized the Cherokee Nation as soveriegn

Recommended reading

Books of interest on the Cherokee experience in the North Georgia mountains. Recommended by About North Georgia in association with Amazon.com

The Cherokee Nation, largest of the Five Civilized Tribes of the Southeast, is a people of Iroquoian lineage. The Cherokee, who called themselves "Ani'-Yun' wiya" or "Principal People", migrated to the Southeast from the Great Lakes Region. They commanded more than 40,000 square miles in the southern Appalachians by 1650 with a population estimated at 22,500.
Similar to other Native Americans of the Southeast, their nation was a confederacy of towns, each subordinate to supreme chiefs. When encountered by Europeans, they were an agrarian people who lived in log homes (not tee pees) and observed sacred religious practices.
During the American Revolution the Cherokees, as well as the Creek and Choctaw, supported the British and made several attacks on forts and settlements in the frontier.
After 1800 the Cherokees profoundly assimilated White culture. They adopted a government patterned after the United States, wore European-style dress, and followed the white man's farming and home-building methods. Ironically, the Cherokees fought with Andrew Jackson in the Creek War (1813-14).
Cherokee culture continued to flourish with the invention of the Cherokee syllabary by Sequoyah in 1821. This system, in which each character represents a syllable, produced rapid literacy. It made possible their written constitution, the spread of Christianity, and the printing of the only Native American newspaper, The Cherokee Phoenix, begun in 1828. A seat of government was built at New Echota.
However, that same year gold was discovered in north Georgia's Cherokee territory. Within a decade the Principal People's native home, their "Enchanted Land", would be theirs no more.

Trail of Tears
Cherokee in North Georgia
Recommended reading
Want more information? Cherokee history links

Georgia's Historic High Country Travel Association offers a free brochure
on many sites mentioned in this article

Cherokee Timeline, 1450-1838
1450(?)

First Cherokee enter the state in the vicinity of Traveler's Rest. Tugaloo Old Town (now covered by Lake Tugaloo) is the first major Cherokee village.

1540-1

deSoto "visits" the Cherokee and is supposedly one of the first whites seen by the tribe, although written descriptions of the tribe by the Spanish note the wide range of colors in the tribe, from "negro" (black) to light skinned and "fair," according to Moyano and Pardo.

1715

Massive uprising against North and South Carolina.

1721

First treaty with whites (South Carolina).

1738

Smallpox eradicates 25% of the Cherokee Nation. Nancy Ward is born

1753

Smallpox epidemic.

1755(?)

Battle of Taliwa (numerous other spellings) - Accounts differ on exact events, however, the Creek, who greatly outnumber the Cherokee, attack the Cherokee line five times. During the fifth attack elderly Cherokee leader Kingfisher is slain. His teenage wife picks up his weapon, and chanting a Cherokee war song, Nancy Ward leads the Cherokee to victory, routing the Creek. The battle marked successful expulsion of the Creek from much of North Georgia. The only major remaining Creek settlement was near present Rome, Georgia.

1760-1762

Cherokee War (SC)

1771

Sequoyah born. Ridge born.

1773

First cession of Cherokee land in Georgia.

1776-1783

Impressed by the British during the French and Indian War, the Cherokee side with them during the American Revolution. The price for the decision is immense. Colonel Pickens destroys Long Swamp village (1782) and forces the Cherokee to cede land to settlers.

1786

Treaty of Hopewell (SC)- The Cherokee thought this would be the end of the settlers' invasion of Cherokee land. Within 3 years bitter fighting had erupted as settlers continued to move into the Cherokee Nation. This treaty is the basis for the term "Talking Leaves," the name of the tribe's written language. The Cherokee felt that written words were like leaves, when they were no longer of use they withered and died.

1790

John Ross born.

1791

Treaty of Holston-Cherokee cede land in eastern Tennessee in exchange for President Washington's guarantee that the Cherokee Nation will never again be invaded by settlers. This treaty forces Americans to obtain passports to enter Cherokee lands, and granted Cherokee the right to evict settlers.

1792

The town of Hightower moves from the vicinity of Rome, Georgia to present-day Cartersville, further east on the Etowah River after a brutal attack on the village by Tennessee governor John Sevier(more).

1794

Chickamauga Cherokee (Lower Towns) cease fighting, begin westward move.

1799

Formation of the Lighthorse, a loose knit Cherokee police force headed by The Ridge and James Vann.

1799-1804

Building of the Augusta to Nashville Road, later known as the Federal Road.

1801

Return J. Meigs appointed "indian agent." Morovians start mission at Spring Place.

1802

President Thomas Jefferson agrees with the state of Georgia to removal of all American Indians in exchange for the state's claim of western lands.

1804

Cherokee cede Wafford's Tract.

1806

Start of a complex series of events known as Revolt of the Young Chiefs

1809

Death of Doublehead at the hands of Ridge, James Vann and Alexander Saunders

1810

Death of James Vann.

1811

New Madrid earthquake. Actually 3 separate earthquakes with an epicenter near the town of New Madrid, Missouri in the southeastern border with Kentucky. The quakes were felt throughout the Cherokee Nation and sparked what is best described as a religious revival among the Cherokee. Writer James Mooney would call this movement the "Ghost Dance," after a similar Western Indian revival.

1812

Shawnee warrior Tecumseh agitates American Indians on the frontier to rise up and destroy the settlers. A faction of the Creek Indians, the "Red Sticks," revolt, attacking Fort Mims, Alabama and massacre 250 men, women and children.

1813-1814

Cherokee warriors fight alongside future president Andrew Jackson during two campaigns (5 major battles) against the Red Sticks, saving both his army and his life in separate battles.

1814

Jackson demands cessions of 2.2 million acres from the Cherokee.

1817

Cession of land east of the Unicoi Turnpike. (Treaty of Turkey Town, instead of the 2.2 million acres demanded by Jackson.)

1819

Final cession of land in Georgia, and part of a much larger cession, the Cherokee give up claims to all land east of the Chattahoochee River.

1821

Cherokee warrior Sequoyah finishes his work on a written language (syllabary) for the tribe. Within six months more than 25% of the Cherokee Nation learns how to read and write.

1822

Georgia begins press for cession of remaining Cherokee lands, citing Jefferson's 1802 commitment to the state.

1828

Gold discovered in Georgia. This discovery was on Cherokee land ceded to the U. S. in 1817 (Duke's Creek), however, gold was soon found inside the Cherokee Nation; Publication of the Cherokee Phoenix begins with Elias Boudinot, editor.

1830

Cherokee evict encroachers in Beaver Dam on Cedar Creek, a few miles south of present-day Rome, Georgia. Passage of the Indian Removal Act.

1831

Chief Justice John Marshall rules that the Cherokee have no standing to file suit in the United States in Cherokee Nation vs. Georgia. He then instructs attorney William Wirt on how to correctly file; Samuel Worcester and others arrested for violation of Georgia law requiring whites to get permits to work in the Cherokee territory.

1832

The Supreme Court of the United States declares the Cherokee Nation to be sovereign (Worcester v. Georgia). This has constitutional implications, disallowing the state of Georgia from passing any law governing the Cherokee;Elias Boudinot resigns as publisher of the Cherokee Phoenix under pressure from John Ross because of his editorial support for removal;Georgia's sixth land lottery and the gold lottery.

1834

The Georgia Guard with the help of Stand Watie destroys the printing press in the offices of The Cherokee Phoenix.

1835

• Nov. 7 Ross and John Howard Payne, in Red Clay, Tennessee, are illegally detained by the Georgia Guard.
• Dec. 29 Treaty of New Echota signed in Elias Boudinot's home by members of the Treaty Party.

1838

• May 23 Deadline for voluntary removal. Georgia Guard had begun round-up 5 days earlier. U. S. forces under command of Winfield Scott begin roundup in Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, and North Carolina. Cherokee are herded into "forts," gradually making their way north to the Cherokee Agency (Rattlesnake Springs) or Ross's Landing in southeastern Tennessee. This is generally recognized as the beginning of The Cherokee Trail of Tears

Cherokee Index

The Cherokee called North Georgia "The Enchanted Land," living in the hills and valleys of our home.

The Cherokee Nation, largest of the Five Civilized Tribes of the Southeast, is a people of Iroquoian lineage. The Cherokee, who called themselves "Ani'-Yun' wiya" or "Principal People", migrated to the Southeast from the Great Lakes Region. They commanded more than 40,000 square miles in the southern Appalachians by 1650 with a population estimated at 22,500.
Similar to other Native Americans of the Southeast, their nation was a confederacy of towns, each subordinate to supreme chiefs. When encountered by Europeans, they were an agrarian people who lived in log homes (not tee pees) and observed sacred religious practices.
During the American Revolution the Cherokees, as well as the Creek and Choctaw, supported the British and made several attacks on forts and settlements in the frontier.
After 1800 the Cherokees profoundly assimilated White culture. They adopted a government patterned after the United States, wore European-style dress, and followed the white man's farming and home-building methods. Ironically, the Cherokees fought with Andrew Jackson in the Creek War (1813-14).
Cherokee culture continued to flourish with the invention of the Cherokee syllabary by Sequoyah in 1821. This system, in which each character represents a syllable, produced rapid literacy. It made possible their written constitution, the spread of Christianity, and the printing of the only Native American newspaper, The Cherokee Phoenix, begun in 1828. A seat of government was built at New Echota.
However, that same year gold was discovered in north Georgia's Cherokee territory. Within a decade the Principal People's native home, their "Enchanted Land", would be theirs no more.

Trail of Tears
Cherokee in North Georgia
Recommended reading
Want more information? Cherokee history links

Georgia's Historic High Country Travel Association offers a free brochure
on many sites mentioned in this article

Cherokee History in Georgia, Part I
In the beginning
Chapters of The Cherokee in North Georgia
In the Beginning
A new Civilization
Rising Tides - Nationalism in the Cherokee Nation
Revolution and Rebellion
Flashpoint:Gold
Winning and Losing


Today, some argue, we are at the dawn of a new era, one that will change the core of our society. Instances of cultural change on a societal level are rare in the history of the world. Europeans begin such a change in the 1400's, fueled by the ink of Gutenburg's printing press. Yet no society makes a change comparable to the dramatic cultural shift that the Cherokee accomplish in North Georgia from 1794 to 1835.
Great plagues and wars ravage the residents of southern and western Europe starting in the 1300's. From the ashes of fires that burn the bodies of the dead rises a new society, better and stronger for what happened. A society changed immutably by the forces of nature and the nature of man. The epochs of man are delineated by the names given these cultural revolutions-Renaissance, Reformation, Scientific Revolution, and The Enlightenment which culminates in the formation of a new country, the United States.
In America the Cherokee are ravaged by European disease; they are repeatedly swept with smallpox outbreaks. As coastal whites move closer to the inland significant trading with the Cherokee develops. In the first 15 years of the 18th century over a million pelts are shipped from the port of Charleston, South Carolina. The impact on the environment forces the braves to hunt further from home and competition from white hunters depletes these resources. With the encroachments of the whites beginning in 1721(South Carolina), border wars with neighboring Indians, and disease, the Cherokee face a new life. To the Cherokee the world is crumbling.
The world itself is spiritual. Rivers, mountains, sky, and animals are filled with spirits worshipped by these Native Americans. Priests provide a link to the spirit world. Smallpox wipes out half the tribe in 1738-1739 and priests are greatly reduced in number. Called upon to treat the ill, they frequently fall victim to the disease themselves, and their herbal treatment offers no cure for this fatal disease. As death becomes commonplace among Cherokee, customs change. Society is more promiscuous, as in Europe, a natural reaction to ever-present death. A new ceremonial dance reflecting the prevalence of death in the culture is introduced.
With many spiritual symbols of the failure of these priests, and reduced numbers, they lose power. However, strong matrilineal clans are still the core of the society. Each clan has a name (Paint Clan, Deer Clan, Wolf Clan...) and members of each clan populate villages. Intra-clan marriages are forbidden. When married, the man lives with his wife's clan. Anyone may speak at council, which is ruled by the oldest warriors, and in some cases, elder women.
During the French and Indian War (also called the Seven Years War) the Cherokee side with the British. After unprovoked attacks from South Carolina in 1760, they switch sides and engage the settlers in fierce, violent battles on the frontier for nearly two years, signing a peace treaty on British terms late in 1761. Impressed by the British victory, they side with them during the War for American Independence. In 1781 word reaches the Cherokee that the British lose. In 1782 members of the Long Swamp branch(located in present-day Pickens County) sign a treaty with the government ceding about 1600 square miles in eastern Georgia.

Settlers are restricted from Indian Territory prior to the end of the American Revolution by decree of the English king. With the overthrow of the colony's titular head the frontier is thrown open to a vast hoard of frontiersmen blazing the way for farmers and merchants to follow. Unaware the American Government is weaker than the British king, The Treaty of Hopewell is negotiated conceding the government sole power to negotiate with the Cherokee. After a short while the treaty breaks the Cherokee into two distinct groups, the Lower Towns and Upper Towns. The Lower, or River, Towns, known as the Chickamauga, engage in pitched battles off and on over the next 9 years trying to drive white settlers back. The defeat of the Chickamauga in November, 1794, marks the nadir of the Cherokee. From the ashes a new society shall rise.

Next:A New Civilization

Chapters of The Cherokee in North Georgia
In the Beginning
A new Civilization
Rising Tides - Nationalism in the Cherokee Nation
Revolution and Rebellion
Flashpoint:Gold
Winning and Losing

Georgia's Historic High County Travel Association's Chieftains Trail features many of the sites mentioned in this article