HOME | DD

Description
The Cherokee (ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯ, a-ni-yv-wi-ya)are a people native to North America, who, at the time of European contact in the sixteenth century, inhabited what is now the Eastern and Southeastern United States. The Cherokee assimilated many aspects of the American settler culture, significantly their model of government. Due to the syllabary of the Cherokee language developed by Sequoyah in 1821, a written constitution was adopted, literature (including Christian scriptures emerged, and the tribe as a whole became literate.

As a result, they are one of the tribes referred to as the Five Civilized Tribes. Nevertheless, most were forcibly moved westward in the 1830s along the infamous Trail of Tears. Unlike most other Indians in the American southeast at the time of contact with Europeans, the Cherokee spoke an Iroquoian language. Since the Great Lakes region was the core of Iroquoian languages, it is theorized that the Cherokee migrated south from that region.

Linguistic analysis shows a relatively large difference between Cherokee and the northern Iroquoian languages, suggesting a split in the distant past (Mooney [1900] 1996). Glottochronology studies suggest the split occurred between about 1500 and 1800 B.C.E. (Hopkins).

Description
The Cherokee (ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯ, a-ni-yv-wi-ya)are a people native to North America, who, at the time of European contact in the sixteenth century, inhabited what is now the Eastern and Southeastern United States. The Cherokee assimilated many aspects of the American settler culture, significantly their model of government. Due to the syllabary of the Cherokee language developed by Sequoyah in 1821, a written constitution was adopted, literature (including Christian scriptures emerged, and the tribe as a whole became literate.

As a result, they are one of the tribes referred to as the Five Civilized Tribes. Nevertheless, most were forcibly moved westward in the 1830s along the infamous Trail of Tears. Unlike most other Indians in the American southeast at the time of contact with Europeans, the Cherokee spoke an Iroquoian language. Since the Great Lakes region was the core of Iroquoian languages, it is theorized that the Cherokee migrated south from that region.

Linguistic analysis shows a relatively large difference between Cherokee and the northern Iroquoian languages, suggesting a split in the distant past (Mooney [1900] 1996). Glottochronology studies suggest the split occurred between about 1500 and 1800 B.C.E. (Hopkins).