Cherokee Nation

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Nation is one of the only three federally recognized Cherokee tribes. The EBCN is located in Cherokee, NC. There are about 13,400 Eastern Band of Cherokee members, most of whom live on the Reservation. Properly called the Qualla Boundary, the Reservation is slightly more than 56,000 acres held in trust by the federal government specifically for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.

Cherokee culture is both rich and storied. Cherokees and "pre-Cherokees" have lived in the south eastern United States and the mountains of North Carolina since the end of the last ice age, before the begining of the PaleonIndian Period (10,000BC). Most historians postulate that Cherokees are decended from what was a branch of the Iroquoian people. Now some anthro-Linguists suggest that the Cherokee dialect suggests that the "Pre-Cherokee" (and therefore the original Cherokees) are the originators of both the Iroqoian and Cherokee peoples.

The first brick home within the Cherokee Nation was built by James Vann in 1804 in the nearby area of Chatworth, Georgia. This classic two-story mansion has a commanding view of all the land around and a stunning view of the Cohutta Mountains, less than 10 miles to the east. Vann was both a hero and a rogue. He was responsible for bringing the Moravian missionaries into the Cherokee Nation to build schools. Yet, he killed his brother-in-law in a dual, fired a pistol at a dinner guest through the floor of an upstairs bedroom, and once even shot at his own mother. In a somewhat fitting end, Vann himself was shot and killed at a local tavern in 1809.

To learn more, visit the official website of the Cherokee Nation.