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Cherokee Indians
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Saturday, 08 September 2007 |
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Cherokee is pronounced "CHAIR-uh-kee," and it comes from a Muskogee word meaning 'speakers of another language.' The Cherokee originally called themselves Aniyunwiya, "the principal people," but they have generally accepted the name Cherokee, which is spelled and pronounced Tsalagi in their own language.
The Cherokees are original residents of the American southeast, particularly Georgia, North and South Carolina, Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee. Most Cherokees were relocated to Oklahoma in the 1800's by the infamous Trail of Tears, and the descendants of those who survived this death march still live in Oklahoma to this day. Some Cherokees escaped deportation by hiding in the Appalachian hills, or were sheltered by sympathetic white neighbors. The descendants of these people still live scattered throughout the original Cherokee homelands, particularly in North Carolina, where they have their own federally recognized tribe. FOR MORE INFORMATION: http://cherokeehistory.com/
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