CHEROKEES, in their own tongue called Tsanaghee, a tribe of Indians of the United States, now settled in the Indian territory, where they occupy 5,960 sq.m. in the n.e., and 8,500 along the n. side. Their original home was in the country now forming portions of Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee. They were then in two great divisions, the Ottare, or Otari, dwelling in the mountainous districts, and the Airate, or Erati, occupying the lower lands; and they were further divided into seven clans, each of which prohibited intermarriage between its own members. They adhered to the English in early colonial times, formally recognized the king in 1730, and in 1755 ceded territory and permitted the establishment of English forts. The tribe was con siderably advanced in civilization when the war of the revolution began. They clung to the royalist side, and in consequence their country was laid waste by American forces. They were subjugated after a few years of intermittent war, during which they lost much territory, and, by the treaty of Hopewell, Nov. 28, 1785, they acknowledged the sovereignty of the United States, and were confirmed in the possession of their hunting grounds. Than began the ever-recurring story of white man's encroachment and red man's resistance, with the ultimate advantage on the side of the intruders. By treaties in 1791 and 1798, portions of their territory were surrendered, and many of their people emigrated beyond the Mississippi. In 1817, the C. on the Arkansas numbered 3,000. Those who remained in their old territory abandoned hunting, and the greater portion of them lived by agriculture. But the white men of Georgia, who coveted their lands, demanded the removal of the remaining C. notwithstanding the great services which they had rendered (1812-15) in the war with England; and though the Indians were entirely peaceable, generally industrious, and were fast becoming Christianized by the efforts of Moravian missionaries and those of the American board, the clamor for their removal prevailed, and in July, 1817, they were forced to exchange their eastern lands for territory iv. of the Mississippi. The end was not effected, however, without much
trouble and bloodshed. Georgia passed laws extending over the territory of the C., by which the Indians were practically outlawed, deprived of citizenship, and prohibited from being witnesses. They appealed to the U. S. supreme court, and that body— which long afterward decided that a negro had no rights that a white man was bound to respect—refused the Indians the right to bring an action; and finally the general government confessed its inability to fulfill its own treaty obligations. But this inability did not prevent the federal government (in 1835) from making a treaty with a small por tion of the tribe for the removal of the whole of them, and three years later an armed force was sent into their country to compel the removal. At that time the whole number of Indians in their old homes was about 27,000. The Indians were themselves divided; one section. led by John Ross, at first opposed, but at last directed the removal. Within a few years, after much difficulty and not a few murders, their removal was effected. Since their occupation of a share of the Indian territory, the C. have greatly advanced in learning and in material prosperity. About 1821, a member of the tribe invented an alphabet, and books and newspapers have been printed in their own language for half a century. In the war of the rebellion, they at first favored the confederates, but the majority soon came over to the union side. Between the two armies, their territory suffered severely, and they were compelled to emancipate their slaves. The territory of the C. now amounts to about 5,000,000 acres, and they have, in the keeping of the United States, school and orphan funds to the amount of about $1,600,000. They are governed by a national committee and council elected for two years, and a chief who is chosen for four years. In 1873, the C. numbered 17,217, and they had 63 schools with 1,884 pupils. They live in well-built villages, and are peaceable and industrious. Tahlequah is their chief town.