The Land: Understanding Why the Land Is Important to the Cherokee Nation
The Land:
Understanding Why the Land is Important to the Cherokee Nation
Abstract Most of us have learnt about the Trail of Tears as an event in American history, but not many of us have ever explored why the removal of the Indians to the West was more than an issue of mere land ownership. Here, the meaning and importance of land to the original Cherokee Nation of the Southeastern United States is investigated. American land was seen as a way for white settlers to profit, but the Cherokee held the land within their hearts. Their removal meant much more to them than just the loss of a material world. Historical events, documentations by the Cherokee, and maps showing the loss of Cherokee land work together to give a true Cherokee perspective of historical events and what land meant to their tribe. The voice of the Cherokee people can finally be heard from their sources, through their myths, rather than read from an American textbook.
The Land:
Understanding Why the Land is Important to the Cherokee Nation In the Western world today, the idea of land is seen as property that can be owned and is often used as a symbol of power and success. Property is a common term for rules governing access to and control of land and other material resources. This idea that we see as a current norm was a concept that made such an impression in the early years of the United States that it left the Cherokee Nation devastated. To begin to understand why the land was so important to the Cherokee, we must first become familiar with the Cherokee people and who they are. The Cherokee refer to themselves as the “Principal People” (Hanna, Charles A.). There are two views about Cherokee origins that are popular. The first one tells about how the Cherokee are latecomers to Southern Appalachia, who may have actually migrated in late archaic times from the northern areas, which is the conventional land of the later Haudenosaunee and other Iroquoian-speaking peoples. Researchers in
Understanding Why the Land is Important to the Cherokee Nation
Abstract Most of us have learnt about the Trail of Tears as an event in American history, but not many of us have ever explored why the removal of the Indians to the West was more than an issue of mere land ownership. Here, the meaning and importance of land to the original Cherokee Nation of the Southeastern United States is investigated. American land was seen as a way for white settlers to profit, but the Cherokee held the land within their hearts. Their removal meant much more to them than just the loss of a material world. Historical events, documentations by the Cherokee, and maps showing the loss of Cherokee land work together to give a true Cherokee perspective of historical events and what land meant to their tribe. The voice of the Cherokee people can finally be heard from their sources, through their myths, rather than read from an American textbook.
The Land:
Understanding Why the Land is Important to the Cherokee Nation In the Western world today, the idea of land is seen as property that can be owned and is often used as a symbol of power and success. Property is a common term for rules governing access to and control of land and other material resources. This idea that we see as a current norm was a concept that made such an impression in the early years of the United States that it left the Cherokee Nation devastated. To begin to understand why the land was so important to the Cherokee, we must first become familiar with the Cherokee people and who they are. The Cherokee refer to themselves as the “Principal People” (Hanna, Charles A.). There are two views about Cherokee origins that are popular. The first one tells about how the Cherokee are latecomers to Southern Appalachia, who may have actually migrated in late archaic times from the northern areas, which is the conventional land of the later Haudenosaunee and other Iroquoian-speaking peoples. Researchers in
Cited: Cherokee Families of Ruck County, Texas. “Cherokee Land Cessions (1721-1835)”. Retrieved 18 March 2011. Http://cherokee1838.tripod.com/land_cessions.htm “Cherokee Phoenix New Echota.” Cherokee Phoenix and Indians’ Advocate 11 September 1830, vol