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Cherokee Tribe
Introduction
The Cherokee are the largest Native American tribe and Indian nation in the United States, with over 390,000 tribal members. They are indigenous to the Southeastern Woodlands and their inhabited lands today encompass northeastern Alabama, northern Georgia, parts of western South Carolina, southeastern Tennessee, and southwestern North Carolina. The Cherokee community presently comprises three tribes, namely the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma, the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma, and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in North Carolina. The Cherokee are called the Aniyvwiya in their native language, which is part of the Iroquoian language family. Similar to a number of Native American tribes, the Cherokee were also a matrilineal society in which women contributed significantly toward several spheres of community life. With the advent of the European settlers in the 18th century, the participation of women in religious and political arenas greatly declined. Historically, Cherokee culture has been centered around a heritage of spirituality, language, food, storytelling and art. Similar to other Native American cultures, the Green Corn Ceremony is an important social and spiritual event, during which the Cherokee engage in community building, rekindling friendships, reconciliation, purification, restoring balance, creating new beginnings, and thanking their Creator.
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The Origin
There are two popular Cherokee creation stories, which share some similarities to one another. According to the first, there were 14 Cherokee clans in the beginning, but seven of them were expelled due to noncompliance with the customs of the nation. The barred clans went on to form the Erie, Mohawk, Onandaga, Cayuga, Seneca, and Oneida tribes, while the seven clans that stayed formed the Seven Clan Society, or the Ugaya. An alternate story professes that there were initially 14 clans, which were forced to escape in canoes from their native island. However, only seven clans survived the escapade and went on to form the Cherokee nation. Interestingly, this story shares certain similarities to the Khasi creation story in the number of clans that remained behind after a parting event to establish their original communities.
Women in Society
Traditionally, both men and women have played significant roles in Cherokee society, with women leading a number of realms that were considered to be in natural alignment with life. According to historical accounts, the traditional Cherokee nation was a matrilineal society where women were the heads of their households and custodians of the land. Children’s surnames were passed down from the mother’s lineage and children were placed in accordance with their tribal affiliations. As life-givers, women were celebrated, enjoyed a respected position in society and were collectively considered as “clan mothers” who led the overall day-to-day functioning of the community. Women were also “wisdom keepers”, medicine women (doctors), and the bearers of knowledge and cultural preservation. In addition to the household, women led farming and tilled the land, which was an important role in a society heavily reliant on farming and hunting for sustenance. They also occasionally served as warriors when it was called upon them to protect their clans. With the advent of European settlers, a number of these societal constructs changed as the nation adopted European frameworks that were more patriarchal in nature. Though this altered the original foundation of the Cherokee nation, matrilineal and female-centric elements remain visible and prevalent in most communities.
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Dr. Jaquetta Shade-Johnson (Featured Speaker)
Dr. Jaquetta Shade-Johnson is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation and an Assistant Professor at the University of Missouri-Columbia in the Department of English and the School of Visual Studies' Digital Storytelling Program. She teaches courses in rhetoric and composition, Indigenous literature, digital storytelling, and Native American and Indigenous studies. Her research at the intersections of cultural rhetorics, Indigenous studies, and environmental humanities is primarily focused on how Indigenous communities make meaning through rhetorical, embodied, and storied relationships with the land. She currently serves as faculty advisor for the MU Indigenous student organization, Four Directions, and as a founding editor in the editorial collective for Spark: a 4C4Equality Journal, a digital, open-access, peer-reviewed journal addressing activism in writing, rhetoric, and literacy studies.