Cherokee Nation

The Cherokee Tribe is one of what is often called the "Five Civilized Tribes" and resided in northern Georgia, western North Carolina, and southern Tennessee. A large portion of the tribe was removed to Indian Territory in the 1830s. Some remained in North Carolina.

Culture Area:  Southern Appalachian Mountains

Linguistic Group: Iroquoian

Federal Status:  recognized

Leaders: Sequoyah, Elias Boudinot

History

Brief Timeline

1689-1763: French and Indian War, the Cherokee supported the English

1738-1750: Smallpox epidemics

1775-83: During Revolutionary War supported the British

1800: "Moravians," Protestant missionaries of German origin, established the first mission at Spring Place.

1801-1823: Return J. Meigs, an Indian agent, lived among the Cherokee.

1819-1821: Sequoyah (George Gist) created the Cherokee alphabet.

1827: Tribal leaders recorded their constitution

1828: Cherokee Phoenix, a bilingual newspaper, contained columns in both English and Cherokee. Editor -- Elias Boudinot

December 1835: Treaty of New Echota

'1838': First Group; Start of Trail of Tears, 800-mile journey; 1838-39 - Second group; 4,000 Cherokees died

Brief History

Eastern Band of Cherokee

Removal

Additional References to the History of the Tribe and/or Bands

Frederick Webb Hodge, in his Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico, gave a more complete history of the Cherokee tribe, with estimations of the population of the tribe at various time periods. Additional details are given in John Swanton's The Indian Tribes of North America.

Tribal Headquarters

Cherokee Nation Tribal www.cherokee.org/Government/Default.aspx Government
P.O. Box 948
Tahlequah, OK 74465
Phone: 918.453.5000

Records

Agency Records

Correspondence and Census

Tribe	Agency	Location of Original Records	Pre-1880 Correspondence M234 RG 75 Rolls 962 Roll Number	FHL Film Number	Post-1885 Census M595 RG 75 Rolls 693  Roll Number	FHL Film Number
Cherokee	Cherokee Agency,         1824-80	Washington D.C.	Rolls 71-118	-	-	-
Cherokee	Union Agency,    1875-1914	Washington D.C. and Fort Worth	Rolls 865-77	-	-	-
Cherokee	Five Civilized Tribes Agency Muskogee, 1914-60	Fort Worth	-	-	-	-
Cherokee, North Carolina	Cherokee Indian Agency, 1886-1952	Atlanta	-	-	Roll 22	-
Cherokee Eastern	Cherokee Indian Agency, 1886-1952	Atlanta	-	-	-	-

Census Rolls (M595) 1898-1914 FHL Film 573868; 1915-1922 FHL Film 573869; 1923-1929 FHL Film 573870; 1930-1932 FHL Film: 573871, 1933-1939 FHL Film: 573872

Enrollment Records

• Dawes Commision Enrollement for Five Civilized Tribes
• Eastern Cherokee - Guion Miller

Treaties

• November 28, 1785,at Hopewell
• November 28, 1785, referred to
• July 2, 1791, on Holston River
• June 26, 1794, at philadelphia
• October 2, 1798, at Tellico
• October 24, 1804, at Tellico
• October 25, 1805, at Tellico
• October 27, 1805, at Telleco
• January 7, 1806, at Washington
• September 11, 1807,
• August 9, 1814, referred to
• March 22, 1816, at Washington
• September 14, 1816, at Chickasaw Council House
• July 8, 1817, At Cherokee Agency
• February 27, 1819, at Washington
• May 6, 1828, at Washington
• February 14, 1833, at Fort Gibson
• March 14, 1835, unratified
• August 24, 1835, at Camp Holmes
• December 29, 1835, at New Echota
• March 1, 1836, supplementary
• August 6, 1846, at Washington
• September 13, 1865, at Fort Smith-unratified
• July 19, 1866, at Washington
• April 27, 1868,

Western Band Treaties

• May 6, 1828, at Washington
• February 14, 1833,

Vital Records

• Cherokee Agency, M 595, births and deaths 1924-1932, FHL Film: 573871;  1926-1939, FHL Film: 573872

Important Web Sites

• Constitution of the Cherokee Nation
• Official Web Site of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma
• Cherokee Tribe Wikipedia
• All Things Cherokee website -- a largely commercial website with a free message board and some free information about Cherokee research and records.

References

Bibliography

• Guide to Federal Records in the National Archives; Record Group 75, Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
• Hodge, Frederick Webb. Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution, 1906 Available online.
• Klein, Barry T., ed. Reference Encyclopedia of the American Indian. Nyack, New York: Todd Publications, 2009. 10th ed. WorldCat 317923332; Family History Library book 970.1 R259e.
• Malinowski, Sharon and Sheets, Anna, eds. The Gale Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes. Detroit: Gale Publishing, 1998. 4 volumes. Includes: Lists of Federally Recognized Tribes for U.S., Alaska, and Canada – pp. 513-529 Alphabetical Listing of Tribes, with reference to volume and page in this series Map of “Historic Locations of U.S. Native Groups” Map of “Historic Locations of Canadian Native Groups” Map of “Historic Locations of Mexican, Hawaiian and Caribbean Native Groups” Maps of “State and Federally Recognized U.S. Indian Reservations. WorldCat 37475188; Family History Library book 970.1 G131g.

Vol. 1 -- Northeast, Southeast, Caribbean

Vol. 2 -- Great Basin, Southwest, Middle America

Vol. 3 -- Arctic, Subarctic, Great Plains, Plateau

Vol. 4 -- California, Pacific Northwest, Pacific Islands

• Sturtevant, William C. Handbook of North American Indians. 20 vols., some not yet published. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution, 1978– .
  

Volume 1 -- Not yet published

Volume 2 -- Indians in Contemporary Society (pub. 2008) -- WorldCat 234303751

Volume 3 -- Environment, Origins, and Population (pub. 2006) -- WorldCat 255572371

Volume 4 -- History of Indian-White Relations (pub. 1988) -- WorldCat 19331914; Family History Library book 970.1 H191h v.4.

Volume 5 -- Arctic (pub. 1984) -- WorldCat 299653808; Family History Library book 970.1 H191h v.5.

Volume 6 -- Subarctic (pub. 1981) -- WorldCat 247493742; Family History Library book 970.1 H191h v.6.

Volume 7 -- Northwest Coast (pub. 1990) -- WorldCat 247493311

Volume 8 -- California (pub. 1978) -- WorldCat 13240086; Family History Library book 970.1 H191h v.8.

Volume 9 -- Southwest (pub. 1979) -- WorldCat 26140053; Family History Library book 970.1 H191h v.9.

Volume 10 -- Southwest (pub. 1983) -- WorldCat 301504096; Family History Library book 970.1 H191h v.10.

Volume 11 -- Great Basin (pub. 1986) -- WorldCat 256516416; Family History Library book 970.1 H191h v.11.

Volume 12 -- Plateau (pub. 1998) -- WorldCat 39401371; Family History Library book 970.1 H191h v.12.

Volume 13 -- Plains, 2 vols. (pub. 2001) -- WorldCat 48209643

Volume 14 -- Southeast (pub. 2004) -- WorldCat 254277176

Volume 15 -- Northwest (pub. 1978) -- WorldCat 356517503; Family History Library book 970.1 H191h v.15.

Volume 16 -- Not yet published

Volume 17 -- Languages (pub. 1996) -- WorldCat 43957746

Volume 18 -- Not yet published

Volume 19 -- Not yet published

Volume 20 -- Not yet published

• Swanton John R. The Indian Tribes of North America. Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin #145 Available online.
• Waldman, Carl. Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes. New York, New York: Facts on File, 2006. 3rd ed. WorldCat 14718193; Family History Library book 970.1 W146e 2006.

Family History Library (FHL); now called, FamilySearch Library (FSL)