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Article: Cherokee
- Article from:
- Dictionary of American History
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 The Gale Group Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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CHEROKEE
CHEROKEE,
an American Indian tribe that, at the time of European contact, controlled a large area of what is now the southeastern United States. Until the later part of the eighteenth century, Cherokee lands included portions of the current states of Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, North and South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama. Cherokees are thought to have relocated to that area from the Great Lakes region centuries before contact with Europeans, and their language is part of the Iroquian langauge
family. Although "Cherokee" probably comes from the Choctaw word meaning "people of the caves," Cherokees have often referred to themselves as Ani-yun-wiya, "real people."
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