Cherokee North Carolina
“Eastern Band of the Cherokee Nation”
Town of Cherokee NC
Cherokee is a town located on the reservation of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Nation in Western North Carolina. Cherokee offers fishing, golfing, gem mining, shopping, theater, arts, museums, nature and the famous Cherokee casino. There are also many hotels, nearby bed and breakfasts, cabin rentals, to stay and enjoy the beauty and many activities in Cherokee. The town also is on the edge of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park that offers beautiful mountain views, hiking trails, horseback riding, campgrounds, and museums inside the visitor centers.
At Oconaluftee Indian Village the Cherokee has preserved the old lifestyle with live demonstrations. During the summer season in the outdoor theater the Cherokee tell their tribal story in a drama called “Unto These Hills”.
History of Cherokee NC
The Cherokee Nation was once the largest of the Southern tribes on 57,000 acres known as the Qualla boundary. The Cherokee Indians hunted, fished and found the Blue Ridge mountain landscape. They lived in long rectangular houses and worked in communal farms raising corn, beans, squash, potatoes, and peaches. When the Spanish arrived the Cherokee Nation was effected by disease in which there was no immunity killing 95 percent of Native Americans within 150 years.
During this time the Cherokee did a significant amount of trading with the European settlers. During the Revolutionary War the Cherokee allied themselves with the British and when they lost the war the Cherokee lost much of their land to the new America. During 1838 the majority of the Cherokee were forced from their homes in Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee and made to travel to the new Indian territory in Oklahoma which became known as the “Trail of Tears”. During the journey 25-50 percent of the Cherokee population died. Many Indians that hid in the mountains that did not make the journey were finally recognized by the Unite States government as the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians in 1968.
- Great Smoky Mountains
- Mountain Farm Museum
- Museum of the Cherokee Indian
- Oconaluftee Indian Village
- Harrahs Cherokee Casino
- Blue Ridge Parkway
- Mingo Falls
- Soco Falls
- Mingus Mill
- Santa’s Land Fun Park and Zoo
- Cherokee Indian Fairgrounds
- Cherokee Zoo