Reflection of Cherokee Tools and Weapons

When researching the Cherokee tribe, they have shown their ways of adapting and evolving as time went on. Coming up with unique new ways to fight, hunt, and doing basic necessities to survive.Being able to invent certain tools helped them protect themselves from the harsh elements around them It was not a surprise to me when reading about how the tomahawk was one of the major American Indian inventions. I think it is important that they carried on certain ways of their tribe and cultural traditions such as the making of tools and weapons. 

Reflection of the Cherokee Economics

I found it interesting that the Cherokee's continue to use the "Modern" way of dealing with money. Before the settling of the "New Land" the tribes used trade as their way of possessing new items they were in need of. After we began to settle America and take over the Cherokee's land, they now started to have to use money and "our" ways in order to survive; especially when our government began taking all of their land.
I would have thought that with the Cherokee's gaining back some of their land, they might have switched back to their original ways.

I also found it so upsetting on how much the European interaction had impacted their ways of life. I never really thought that hard about it before, but everything, including the economy - was forever changed.

Cherokee lifestyle reflection

I got my information in my posting from 3 books; one being the class book, and two others from the library. I was not shocked by much of the information I read about. As I stated, the Cherokee Indians had many traditional values; such as, the men would do the hunting and fishing, as the women would take care of the property. One thing I was surprised by, however, was that women were landowners. I was always under the impression that since the  men were superior, they were in charge of everything, and the women just did the work. Although I was shocked by this information, this lifestyle worked out for the Cherokee; especially since the women would harvest for two years ahead of time.

The Cherokee's way of survival and life

                As the original owners of the Tennessee Valley, the Cherokee Indians had a very developed culture; however, the Cherokee also were very dependent on the land and community surrounding them. The Cherokee depended upon the area they resided in because they survived being farmers, hunters, and gatherers. Traditionally, the men were in charge of hunting and fishing while the women were instructed to harvest, take care of the property, and the family. The Cherokee men were the only ones allowed to be chiefs centuries ago, along with having the only political power; the females made social decisions. By Cherokee custom, main villages had central plazas. At these central plazas, chiefs would hold meetings and redistributive feasts. Additionally, each family farm would have a special area just for the chiefs to sit at the annual harvest.

                Hunting was not a sport to the Cherokee Indians; it was a means of living. The chiefs would only hunt for the needs of their family. Since hunting was so important to the Cherokee, every part of the animal was used. The most important animal Cherokee could hunt was deer. The Cherokee also hunted turtles for food and used the turtle shells for rattles. Along with deer and turtles, Cherokee men hunted for other meats such as wild turkeys, small game, and fished in the river.

                The agricultural aspect of life was in the Cherokee women’s hands. The women were the landowners and in charge of the property and the farming. Cherokee women would make sure they planted enough crops to provide food for the next two years, in case of a crisis or unexpected event. Some of the crops that were harvested were corn, squash, beans, pumpkin, melons, sunflowers, tobacco, and others. The most important crop was corn. Extra supplies grown of corn were given to passing travelers through friendly territory. These travelers were understood to be needy; however, it was also understood that the corn was available with regards that it belonged to the chief through his charity. Women of the Cherokee also gathered berries, nuts, and fruit for their families to eat.

                Being one of the five largest Native American groups, the Cherokee had a very custom and traditional culture as the men were chiefs and women were landowners.

 References: 

Altman, Heidi M.

2006  Eastern Cherokee Fishing. Alabama: University of Alabama Press.

King, Duance H., ed.

1979  The Cherokee Indian Nation: A Troubled History. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press.

Kottak, Conrad P.

2012  Mirror for Humanity: a Concise Introduction to Cultural Anthropology. New York, McGraw-Hill.

Difficulties in the Cherokee Nation, By Lexie Whitmire

(Watch from 0:00-1:50)

            The Cherokee Indians lived peaceful lives and had a very developed culture until they were forced off of their native land in the 1800s. Andrew Jackson is the man behind the Indian Removal Act (1830) and the Trail of tears. Andrew Jackson established an “Indian Territory” in Oklahoma, which is where he wished to send all of the Indian Tribes that were currently living east of the Mississippi River. Out of the five Indian Tribes that Jackson was trying to force out, the Cherokee were the only ones that chose to stay and defend themselves. Surprisingly the Cherokee did not physically fight they just fought with words and explained there dilemma to the Supreme Court. The court then told the Cherokee that they could stay in their homes and in their native land of Georgia. Jackson did not agree with this ruling so he decided to take matters into his own hands. So in 1838 he sent nearly 7,000 American soldiers to the Cherokee tribe in Georgia and force them to leave and go to Oklahoma. So in the winter of 1838 the Cherokee tribe began there horrific and dangerous journey. Thousands of Cherokees died on the Trail of Tears either from diseases or just pure exhaustion. When the surviving Cherokees arrived in Oklahoma they had to recreate a system of government and restore their culture. This is only one of the many difficulties that the Cherokee Indians were forced to overcome

          Aside from this video clip I watched, I could also relate the Cherokee people and the Wampanoag people. I read an article about the Cherokee that said that they were setting up a 10-year plan to try to revitalize the Cherokee language. This is very similar to the film we watched in class called " We still live here". There were only 460 fluent Cherokee speakers left in the nation and about 72% of them were over the age of 50 and rapidly dying. The Cherokee, not wanting their language to disappear,  decided to make the 10- year program. This idea is extremely similar to what the Wampanoag people were doing in the video we watched. The article I read also said that in the past few years so much has been accomplished and many more Cherokee people can actually speak the language. However the article does talk about some challenges the Cherokee have similar to the Wampanoag. They have trouble finding skilled teachers that are fluent in the language and also finding the necessary tools and programs that will teach Cherokees the language correctly and efficiently. The Wampanoag people and the Cherokee people are similar in many ways and both are very passionate in trying to revitalize their native language and keep their culture alive for generations to come! This is similar to my first posting about the Trail of Tears because the Cherokee people were kicked out of there native land, but somehow still keep there Cherokee language alive. Many Wampanoag people were killed while trying to protect their land and preserve their culture and are also trying to keep their language alive.  

Redish, Laura

1998 Native Languages of the Americas. Electronic document,

http://www.bigorrin.org/cherokee_kids.htm, accessed July 15.

The History Channel

2013 Andrew Jackson’s Controversial Decisions. 3:21 min. History Channel website
 

Trail of Tears Association

The Story. Electronic document

http://www.nationaltota.org/the-story/, accessed July 16

Cherokee Preservation Foundation
2013 Cherokee Language Revitalization. Electronic document
http://www.cherokeepreservationfdn.org/cultural-preservation-connect/major-programs-and-initiatives/cherokee-language-revitalization, accessed July 20  

 

 

My reflection on the difficulties in the Cherokee nation

        I believe that this is one of the biggest and most devastating events in Cherokee history. I could not believe that the Cherokee had to leave there homeland and change their lives when they didn’t even do anything wrong. The fact that it was unexpected makes it even worse. Not only was I shocked but I was sad as well. Andrew Jackson had no right to invade these people’s lives and kick them out of their own land. The Cherokee value their land and their culture and it was all taken from them. At the end of the video the commentator says that this was “one of the saddest chapters in American history” and I agree with him.
       I believe that it is really great that the Cherokee people are trying to revitalize their language just like the Wampanoag people did. I also believe that it's a great thing that the living Cherokee people care so much about their culture and what they will go through to keep it alive. This proves that through hard work and dedication, it is possible to keep the language alive. It's also very interesting to me that the Wampanoag people and the Cherokee people have been through such similar things in regards to language loss and land loss. Both the Wampanoag people and the Cherokee people did a very good job trying to keep their cultures alive. 

Economics of the Cherokee

The Cherokee's pre mid-eighteen century used mainly trade as their economy. It was not until settlers came that they began to use monetary ways.

"Today the majority of the Eastern Cherokee continue general subsistence farming, with tobacco, garden crops, and beef occasionally raised for cash. At Qualla Boundary, Tourism provides income through retail shops, restaurants, motels, museums, and exhibitions; however, these are not sufficient to provide all families with adequate incomes. Other income is derived from logging, seasonal wage labor, and Government assistance. Among the Western Cherokee there is little industry, tourist or otherwise, and they often rent their land to White ranchers rather than farm it themselves. Cash income is from ranching and other wage labor, government work projects, and government assistance."

The Cherokee in Graham County
http://www.grahamcounty.net/gchistory/01-precountyhistory/cherokeehistory.htm accessed July 17

Cherokee- Economy
http://www.everyculture.com/North-America/Cherokee-Economy.html#ixzz2ZGJ15m8h accessed on July 17

The Craft of Weapons and Tools by the Cherokee Tribe

Some of the Cherokee Indian inventions were used as both weapons and tools The art of making weapons and tools is one that was handed down through generations. Before the invention of modern tools, the natives used the tools at hand. For farm work they used stone and bone shovels, rakes and other similar inventions. Bows and arrows were used to hunt, Blowguns were used to shoot their prey, which were typically 3-8 feet long, what made the blow guns special was that the darts were full of poison from plants and snakes. Spears were used to catch fish. Bow and arrows, tomahawks and spears were all used by the men in the tribe. The most used weapon was the short spear, usually 3.5 to 4 feet long, this was used in both warfare and hunting. The spear was usually made from river reeds or river cane and fitted with a type of arrow head. The Spear predated the Bow and Arrow by hundreds of years. One of the major American Indian inventions was the tomahawk. The bow and arrow is also to be a common tool, developed about 22,000 years ago. For close fighting the tribe would use club-like weapons, such as the tomahawk. Another was more hammer-like, having a round head, which could be used for blunt force weapons. 

      
      -Blow Gun                                                        -Arrows

eHow

1999 Information on Indian Tools and Weapons, Electronic Document
 http://www.ehow.com/about_5095429_information-indian-tools-weapons.html#ixzz2ZAPLiIZQ
Accessed on July 14