CHEROKEE

LOCATION

• All of or portions of the present day states:
• North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia,Tennessee
• Alabama, Kentucky, Virginia, West Virginia
• Grasslands, moved with the herds
• Lived in tipis in summer and mud and clay houses in winter

SOCIAL STRUCTURE

• Oldest "beloved" men were the most important
• Women and men had equality
• Sacred seven directions: north, south, east, west, up, down, center
• Sacred colors: red, blue, black, white, sometimes yellow
• "White" and "Red" groups

LIFESTYLE

• Crafted knives, axes, and chisels
• Wove baskets, made pottery
• Cultivated corn, beans, and squash
• Fashioned deer, bear, and elk clothing

SOURCE OF FOOD

• Farmers
• Hunters
• Gatherers
• Corn was the most important

CULTURE

• Traditional two-part societal structure
• Group of elders who represent the seven clans "white"
• Hereditary and priestly
• Responsible for religious activities
• Healing, purification, and prayer

CULTURE

• Younger group of men "red"
• Responsible for warfare
• Believe warfare is a polluting activity
• Warriors required purification
• before returning to normal village life

RELIGION

• 4 is a sacred number
• familiar forces, four cardinal directions
• 7 is a sacred number
• their seven clans, all directions, purity and sacredness
• purity and sacredness is believed to be very hard to achieve

ECONOMICS

• 40- 50 families per clan
• Not much of anything

UNIQUE FACTS

• Legend of how owls & panthers got their night vision
• Trade food at weddings
• Chunkey
• Anejodi (lacrosse)