It's believed that the Cherokees have always lived in Western North Carolina, dating all the way back to the last Ice Age, more than 11,000 years. By 8000 B.C., villages grew in the region, and developed into towns, with agriculture, stunning pottery, and effective archery. Cherokee life continued to prosper through the eighteenth century.
When European explorers and settlers arrived and first made contact with the Cherokee in the 1600's, they found a flourishing nation that dominated the southern Appalachian mountains, and the Cherokees controlled approximately 140,000 square miles throughout eight present-day southern states. For the first 200 years of contact, the Cherokees extended hospitality and help to the newcomers and traded peacefully.
However, by the early-1800's, European settlement had reduced the Cherokee empire to a small territory. President Andrew Jackson even advocated moving all southeastern Indians west of the Mississippi. Settlers wanted the Cherokee land for cotton plantations and gold mining. Although the Cherokees fought the removal and despite a US Supreme Court ruling in their favor, Jackson's Indian Removal Act of 1830 passed. In 1838, events culminated in the tragic "Trail of Tears," the forced removal of the Cherokees into Oklahoma. About a quarter to half of the 16,000 Cherokees who began the long march died of from numerous causes.
Over 600 Cherokee from Qualla Town (now Cherokee, NC) were able to obtain North Carolina citizenship, which exempted them from the forced removal. More than 400 other Cherokee hid from Federal troops in the remote Snowbird Mountains in Graham County, under the leadership of Tsali, who is now the subject of the outdoor drama "Unto These Hills."
Over time, due to hard work and dedication by the Cherokee people, they have restored their vibrant society. The Cherokees in Western North Carolina today descended from those who could hold onto the land they owned by hiding in the hills and those who returned, and now make up the 8000-citizen population of the "Qualla Boundary." Led by Chief Michell Hicks, the NC Cherokee now host over a million visitors each year to cultural attractions in their 100-square-mile sovereign nation.
Attractions in Cherokee include the Oconaluftee Indian Village, Museum of the Cherokee Indian, and the oldest Native American crafts cooperative in the United States. The outdoor drama "Unto These Hills" debuted in 1950 and still continues each season. Together with Harrah's Cherokee Casino and Hotel, Cherokee Indian Hospital and Cherokee Boys Club the tribe put over $78 million dollars into the local economy in 2005 alone.
Watch the NC Now Feature
An interview with Shirley Cloer