Cherokee

The Cherokee or Tsalagi are a tribe of North American Indians (Native Americans) who originally lived in the area of the southern Appalachian Mountains from the western Carolinas and eastern Tennessee to northern Georgia, and now reside primarily in North Carolina and Oklahoma. It can also refer to the Iroquoian language spoken by the Cherokee. There are "Cherokee Counties" in several states, including Texas, South Carolina, Oklahoma, and Georgia. The Cherokee were the largest Native American (Indian) group in the United States, several tribes formed the "Cherokee Nation". The name is derived from the Creek Indian, meaning "people with another language."

While some Indian tribes, notably the Coquille, allow same-sex marriage, the Cherokee and Navajo do not. In 2006, a same-sex Cherokee pair in Oklahoma got married (although they never submitted the marriage certificate to government officials outside the tribe) and shortly afterward, the Cherokee Tribal council adopted a law banning same-sex marriage.

For racial reasons, in 2007 a group of Democrat congressmen and congresswomen introduced a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives to "terminate" the Cherokee Nation. The Democratic Party has long history of antipathy towards American Indians, most notably Democrat president Andrew Jackson, who was responsible for a forced relocation of thousands of American Indians known as the "Trail of Tears."

Cherokee Tribes

The Cherokee societal structure is divided into 7 clans within the Cherokee nation. A Cherokee inherits his clan from his mother.

• The Long Hair clan (a-ni-gi-lo-hi)

• The Wild Potato clan (a-ni-go-da-ge-wi)

• The Deer clan (a-ni-a-ha-wi)

• The Bird clan (a-ni-tsi-s-qua)

• The Wolf clan (a-ni-wa-ya)

• The Paint clan (a-ni-wo-di)

• The Blue clan (a-ni-sa-ho-ni)

See also

• Cherokee Nation v. the State of Georgia
• Indian Removal Act of 1830
• Tsalagi - the Cherokee syllabary

External Links

• The Cherokee Nation
• Cherokee history
• Cherokee language
• About Cherokee