What problems did the Cherokee face?

Between the stockades, starvation and sickness, and the harsh winter conditions, some 4,000 Cherokees perished, never reaching their new land. Ever resilient, the Cherokee people rebuilt their lives in Indian Territory, along with other tribes who had also been similarly driven away from the southeast.

How did the Cherokee suffer?

The migrants faced hunger, disease, and exhaustion on the forced march. Over 4,000 out of 15,000 of the Cherokees died. This picture, The Trail of Tears, was painted by Robert Lindneux in 1942. It commemorates the suffering of the Cherokee people under forced removal.

What diseases did the Cherokee tribe have?

Due to the poor sanitation of the internment camps, deadly diseases such as whooping cough, measles and dysentery spread among the Cherokee.

What happened to the Cherokee natives?

In 1838 and 1839 U.S. troops, prompted by the state of Georgia, expelled the Cherokee Indians from their ancestral homeland in the Southeast and removed them to the Indian Territory in what is now Oklahoma.

Why did the Cherokee have a big problem by the 1820s?

In the 1820s, the numbers of Cherokees moving to Arkansas territory increased. Others spoke out on the dangers of Cherokee participation in Christian churches, and schools, and predicted an end to traditional practices. They believed that these accommodations to white culture would weaken the tribe's hold on the land.

The "Indian Problem"

Who did the Cherokee have conflict with?

As the English expanded their territory in the colonies to the east side of the Appalachian mountains, the Cherokee fought with the Muscogee Creek over their lands to the south and west.

What were the Cherokee known for?

The Cherokee were farming people. Cherokee women did most of the farming, harvesting crops of corn, beans, squash, and sunflowers. Cherokee men did most of the hunting, shooting deer, bear, wild turkeys, and small game. They also fished in the rivers and along the coast.

How many slaves did the Cherokee have?

Of the Five Tribes, the Cherokees were the largest holder of Africans as chattel slaves. By 1860 the Cherokees had 4,600 slaves. Many Cherokees depended on them as a bridge to white society. Full-blood Indian slave owners relied on the blacks as English interpreters and translators.

Why did the Cherokee tribe end?

In the early 1800s, the federal government repeatedly pressured and bribed southeastern Indian nations, including the Cherokees, into signing land cession treaties. Under these treaties the Indians typically sold some of their land and were guaranteed sovereignty and the right to keep all their remaining territory.

How many Cherokee are left today?

Today, the Cherokee Nation is the largest tribe in the United States with more than 380,000 tribal citizens worldwide. More than 141,000 Cherokee Nation citizens reside within the tribe's reservation boundaries in northeastern Oklahoma.

What are 3 facts about Cherokee?

How many Cherokee deaths were there?

It is estimated that of the approximately 16,000 Cherokee who were removed between 1836 and 1839, about 4,000 perished. At the time of first contacts with Europeans, Cherokee Territory extended from the Ohio River south into east Tennessee.

What do Cherokee believe about death?

The Cherokee believe that there are four souls in the body, and as such there are four stages of death. The first is the soul of conscious life, which leaves the body immediately after death has occurred. This soul can sometimes be seen as a ghost but is considered Page 3 harmlessand powerless.

What was one of the main issues facing the Cherokee after the Civil War?

After the Civil War, Cherokees were destitute, and their nation's economy had been shattered. Fearing reprisal from their neighbors who had fought on the other side in the war, many members of the tribe were afraid to return home.

How did the Cherokees feel about slavery?

The Cherokee "elites created an economy and culture that highly valued and regulated slavery and the rights of slave owners" and, in "1860, about thirty years after their removal to Indian Territory from their respective homes in the Southeast, Cherokee Nation members owned 2,511 slaves." It was slave labor that " ...

What was Cherokee life like before the Trail of Tears?

Before European contact, Cherokees practiced subsistence-based living; they grew, gathered, and hunted for what they needed for their communities to thrive, not for personal profit or surplus trade. As these practices depended on a flourishing environment, the tribe controlled more land than they lived upon.

Who kicked the Cherokee out of their land?

President Martin Van Buren sent General Winfield Scott and 7,000 soldiers to expedite the removal process. Scott and his troops forced the Cherokee into stockades at bayonet point while his men looted their homes and belongings. Then, they marched the Indians more than 1,200 miles to Indian Territory.

Did Cherokee ever go to War?

Revolutionary War phase: Cherokee War of 1776. During the Revolutionary War, the Cherokee not only fought against the settlers in the Overmountain region, and later in the Cumberland Basin, defending against territorial settlements, they also fought as allies of Great Britain against American patriots.

Who sent to remove the Cherokee?

President Martin Van Buren assigned General Winfield Scott to head the forcible removal of Cherokee citizens. General Scott arrived in Athens, Tennessee, and issued his first orders from there on May 10, 1838, to an army of about 2,200 federal soldiers. They began forcing Cherokee from their homes at bayonet i point.

Did the Cherokee hide from removal?

Some Cherokees Remained Behind

During this removal, more than 300 Cherokee hid in the mountains and escaped arrest. Over a period of years, these Cherokee managed to remain in the area, and eventually were recognized by the U.S. government as the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians in 1868.

Did Cherokee fight in civil war?

The Five Civilized Tribes (Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek and Seminole nations) allied with the Confederacy early in the Civil War. The Cherokees were the last to join this alliance because of internal political divisions between Principal Chief John Ross and his long-standing rival, Stand Watie.

How many Cherokees died as a result of removal?

The U.S. Department of War forcibly removes approximately 17,000 Cherokee to Indian Territory (which is now known as Oklahoma). Cherokee authorities estimate that 6,000 men, women, and children die on the 1,200-mile march called the Trail of Tears.

What was the Cherokees culture?

Cherokee culture encompasses our longstanding traditions of language, spirituality, food, storytelling and many forms of art, both practical and beautiful. However, just like our people, Cherokee culture is not static or frozen in time, but is ever-evolving.

What is unique about Cherokee culture?

Cherokee culture is based on seeking balance in the world and embracing harmony. Being in balance means being responsible for one's actions and remembering the good of the whole-the family, the tribe, and the earth. Cherokee music originally was used for dancing, welcoming visitors, courting, and ceremonies.

What were the Cherokees beliefs?

They believed the world should have balance, harmony, cooperation, and respect within the community and between people and the rest of nature. Cherokee myths and legends taught the lessons and practices necessary to maintain natural balance, harmony, and health.