Living

Living
The Cherokee lived mainly in what is now Tennessee and Georgia. Like the Iroquois, the Cherokee depended on their natural resources for survival.
They lived in about 200 fairly large villages. A normal Cherokee town had about 30 - 60 houses and a large meeting building. Cherokee homes were usually wattle and daub. Wattle is twigs, branches, and stalks woven together to make a frame for a building. Daub is a sticky substance like mud or clay. The Cherokee covered the wattle frame with daub. This created the look of an upside down basket. Later, log cabins with bark roofs were used for homes. The Cheokee villages also had fences around them to prevent enemies from entering
Like the Iroquois, the Cherokee also hunted small game such as deer, rabbit, and bear. Since their villages were usually near streams or lakes, they also fished using spears and nets. Berries, nuts, and wild plants were important forms of food for the Cherokee. The Cherokee were considered to be excellent farmers. They had large farms which grew corns, beans, and squash.
The Cherokee women wore skirts woven from plants. The men wore breechcloths or leggings. The men would paint their skin and decorate it with tattoos. The women would sew feathers into light capes made of netting
The Cherokee were considered one of the most "civilized" Indian tribes of North America. They had their own government, laws, courts, and schools. A Cherokee Indian named Sequoyah invented a written language called "Talking Leaves". It had 86 characters. Within a few years all of the Cherokees could read and write it.
Between 1790 and 1830 the white man began to push westward into the Cherokee territory. The Cherokee fought hard to keep their land. They even took their fight against being removed from their land to court. At first it seemed like they might win. But they were forced to leave the land they loved.
In one of the saddest stories in our history, thousands of men, women, and children were forced off of the land they loved and moved into crowded forts with very little food. They were then forced to walk over a thousand miles to what is now Arkansas. It was an unusually cold winter. Many of the Indians were barefoot with little clothing. They were forced to walk through snow and ice. They ate only what they could find along the way. Many Indians died along the way, especially older Indians and children. Their bloody footprints left trails of blood in the snow. They cried as they went because they were leaving the land they loved, the land they had called home for so many years. This horribly long, sad journey of the Cherokee has become known in history as "The Trail of Tears".

The Cherokee lived mainly in what is now Tennessee and Georgia. Like the Iroquois, the Cherokee depended on their natural resources for survival.

They lived in about 200 fairly large villages. A normal Cherokee town had about 30 - 60 houses and a large meeting building. Cherokee homes were usually wattle and daub. Wattle is twigs, branches, and stalks woven together to make a frame for a building. Daub is a sticky substance like mud or clay. The Cherokee covered the wattle frame with daub. This created the look of an upside down basket. Later, log cabins with bark roofs were used for homes. The Cheokee villages also had fences around them to prevent enemies from entering

Like the Iroquois, the Cherokee also hunted small game such as deer, rabbit, and bear. Since their villages were usually near streams or lakes, they also fished using spears and nets. Berries, nuts, and wild plants were important forms of food for the Cherokee. The Cherokee were considered to be excellent farmers. They had large farms which grew corns, beans, and squash.

The Cherokee women wore skirts woven from plants. The men wore breechcloths or leggings. The men would paint their skin and decorate it with tattoos. The women would sew feathers into light capes made of netting

The Cherokee were considered one of the most "civilized" Indian tribes of North America. They had their own government, laws, courts, and schools. A Cherokee Indian named Sequoyah invented a written language called "Talking Leaves". It had 86 characters. Within a few years all of the Cherokees could read and write it.

Between 1790 and 1830 the white man began to push westward into the Cherokee territory. The Cherokee fought hard to keep their land. They even took their fight against being removed from their land to court. At first it seemed like they might win. But they were forced to leave the land they loved.

In one of the saddest stories in our history, thousands of men, women, and children were forced off of the land they loved and moved into crowded forts with very little food. They were then forced to walk over a thousand miles to what is now Arkansas. It was an unusually cold winter. Many of the Indians were barefoot with little clothing. They were forced to walk through snow and ice. They ate only what they could find along the way. Many Indians died along the way, especially older Indians and children. Their bloody footprints left trails of blood in the snow. They cried as they went because they were leaving the land they loved, the land they had called home for so many years. This horribly long, sad journey of the Cherokee has become known in history as "The Trail of Tears".