Cherokee Indians Essay

The word Cherokee is believed to have evolved from a Choctaw word meaning â€Å"Cave People†. It was picked up and used by Europeans and eventually accepted the adopted by Cherokees in the form of Tsalagi or Jalagi. Traditionally, the people now known as Cherokee refer to themselves as aniyun-wiya, a name usually translated as â€Å"the Real People† sometimes â€Å"the Original People. † Cherokees’ have had a democratic government (Conley, Robert J. 2000). The Cherokees’ first experience with the invading white man was almost certainly a brief encounter with the deadly expeditionary force of Spanish explorer Hernando DeSoto in 1540. English colonial traders began to appear among the Cherokees around 1673. Such interactions produced some mixed marriages, usually between a white trader and a Cherokee woman. There were three main events during the 18th and 19th centuries: war with the colonist in 1711; epidemics of European disease (primarily smallpox); and the continual cession of land in 1775. The Cherokees were forced to sign one treaty after another with the new United States government, each one giving away more land to the new nation. In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson planned to move all eastern Indians to a location west of the Mississippi River, and signed an agreement with the state of Georgia promising to accomplish that deed as soon as possible. Andrew Jackson actually set the so-called â€Å"Removal Process† in motion. Meantime the government had been oing everything in its power to convince Cherokees to move west voluntarily, and the first to do so were the faction known as Chickamaugans (Conley, Robert J. 2000). The history and traditions of the Cherokee Indians of the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries are inextricably linked to the history and traditions of the white southerners. Many facets of Cherokee lifestyle and other Indian tribes in the Southern United States were modified and adapted from white methodology. Aspects of those cultural features were rooted in Pre-Columbian traditions. The Celtic culture of people who colonized the Southern United States and the culture’s charcterictics were the catalyst of what was arguably the most pivotal event in American History, the War Between the States. Many respected scholars have argued that the Ante-bellum south was different than the north, in its lifestyles, philosophies, and more. The southern states and their populations were undeniably different in nearly every socioeconomic and political aspect from the northern states and their respective populations. The destinies of the white southerners and Indian were connected in many ways. They had a number of common interests, traditions, ideals and goals. Some of these similarities were chance; others were due to an intimate relationship developed over centuries of close contact, a relationship created by the dynamic elements in the Cherokee’s new familiarity with their white neighbors and their culture (Bullard, F. B. 1989). The Cherokee adopted some practices willingly, others were forced upon them and some were already in place in some form in their traditional culture. Charles Hudson speculates in his work that the Cherokee and other tribes adopted the measures of civilization in acquiescence to the inability of the Cherokee to compete militarily with the white populous. The Cherokee and other tribes had adopted the techniques and social concepts of white â€Å"civilization† long before they were encouraged to do so by whites and their military intimidation. For the Indian, all white men were a threat to their traditions and cultural tenets. Use of a caste system was a part of the Cherokees ‘social structures before contacts with whites. The white south created its own social caste system with white planters as the aristocracy and the African slave at the peon (Bullard, F. B. 1989). The colonists who settled in the south were different than their counterparts in the North. The main heritage of the southern colonists was the Celtic in contrast to the English heritage of the colonists who settled in the north. The Celtic heritage these southerner colonists brought to North America from Europe had a profound effect on their folkways as well as influencing their Indian neighbors. Traditional Cherokee lands had incorporated ass of Kentucky, much of Tennessee, Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, North Carolina and a small part of Virginia and what is now West Virginia. The spatial proximity was one reason for the development of an identity with the Southern colonist and their institutions and traditions (Bullard, F. B. 1989). Indian agent for the United States, George Butler, commented that he felt the majority of the material progress in the Indian Territory was a result of slavery. The age of masters measured in the distribution in slaves provides evidence for the upward mobility of slavery for the Cherokee. The principal difference from the white south was the treatment of slaves in the Cherokee Nation. The Cherokee avoided mistreatment of the slaves and Major Ridge’s wife Susanna would not even use the word â€Å"slave†. There are many indications that the Cherokee treated their slaves comparatively well, one former slave of Martin Vann, commented that â€Å"they the slaves had to be feed well, clothed well, and housed well to get the best labor attainable from them† (Bullard, F. B. 1989). The most common agents of change among the Cherokee lifestyle were resident traders, missionaries and government agents. The Cherokee Indians modified their traditions for many reasons, among these reasons were: to placate white politicians and land grabbers and reinforce the federal government policies, philanthropists who wanted to â€Å"civilize† them and most important of all voluntary adaptation in an effort to preserve at least some government policies (Bullard, F. B. 1989). Cherokee Indians religion: It would be a mistake to see these two Cherokee spirit worlds as heaven and hell. They are not defined as good and evil, although the one below is seen as tremendously chaotic. They are thought of simply as being opposed to one another. We live our lives between them in a constant state of precarious balance. This dangerous situation, although the most important aspect of life in this traditional Cherokee view is to maintain balance and harmony. If the Cherokees are Christian, they might be Methodist, Presbyterian, Unitarian, or other Christian denomination. Although the more traditional Cherokees is a large group of Cherokee Baptists. Cherokee Baptists attend what are called Indian churches, where they make use of the Cherokee language (Conley, Robert, J. 2000). Cherokee Indian tribes were one of the largest of five Native American tribes who settled in American Southeast portion of the country. The tribe came from the Iroquoian descent. The Cherokees’ actually lived in cabins made of logs instead of the stereotypical tee pee. Very strong tribe with several smaller sections, all lead by chiefs. This tribe was highly religious and spiritual. Around the 1800’s the Cherokee Indians began to adopt the culture that the white man brought to them. At this time they began to dress more European, and adopted many of their farming and building methods. In 1828 gold was discovered on the Cherokee’s land. This prompted the overtaking of their homes, and was forced out. They had been settled in Georgia for many years, but now they were being made to leave and find a new place to settle/live. This was the historically popular Trail of Tears, where men, women, and children had to pack up their belongings and find new homes, and marching a span of thousands of miles. Today’s Cherokees’ have a strong sense of pride in their heritage (Indians. org 2011). A Historical person during this time Was John Ross in which became principal chief of the Cherokee nation. In 1827, following the establishment of a government modeled on that of the United States. He presided over the nation during the apex of its development in the Southeast, the tragic Trail of Tears, and the subsequent rebuilding of the nation in Indian Territory, in present day. Accompanying his people on the â€Å"trail where they cried,† Ross experienced personal tragedy. His wife, Quatie, died of exposure after giving her only blanket to a sick child. Once in Indian Territory, Ross led the effort to establish farms, businesses, schools, and even colleges. Even though the Cherokee Nation was torn apart politically after the fight over the removal treaty, Ross clung to reins of power (Moulton, Gary E. 004). In conclusion, Although Cherokee Indians were a very diverse tribe and had very many different talents. They were very spitural and worshiped only one spirit and that was good spirit, and eventually followed christanity. Trail of Tears was a very emotional time for all Cherokee Indians the time when they were forced out and were here before anyone ever settled America. This time for Men, Women, and Children was a shame. My grand dad always take for granted what you have cause someone can take it away in an instant; as they did to the Indians.