A powerful detached tribe of the Iroquoian family, formerly holding the whole mountain region of the south Alleghenies, in southwest Virginia, western North Carolina and South Carolina, north Georgia, east Tennessee, and northeast Alabama, and claiming even to the Ohio River.
Archives, Libraries and Genealogy Societies
- The Cherokee Citizens League of Southeast Texas, Home of the Cherokee Messenger (hosted at Powersource)
- Oklahoma Historical Society
Cherokee Indian Biographies
- Tooan Tuh or Spring Frog, Cherokee Chief
- John Ross, Cherokee Chief
- Sequoyah or George Guess (Gist), Inventor of the Cherokee Alphabet
- Tahchee, Cherokee Chief
- Major Ridge, Cherokee Chief
- John Ridge, Cherokee Interpreter
- Biographies of the Cherokee Indians
- Pioneer Papers (hosted at Indian Nations, OKGenWeb Archives)
Bureau of Indian Affairs
- A Guide to Tracing your Indian Ancestry(PDF)
- Tribal Leaders Directory
- Recognized Indian Entities, 10/2010 Update (PDF)
Cherokee Indian Cemeteries
- Morris Cemetery, Adair OK (hosted at Native American Cemetery Preservation)
- Whooper Cemetery, Adair County OK
Cherokee Indian Census
- Enrollment of the Five Civilized Tribes, 1896
- Cherokee Census, 1880
- Free US Indian Census Rolls 1885-1940
- US Indian Census Schedules 1885-1940 Ancestry.com
- Indians in the 11th Census (1890) of the United States
- Cherokee Indian Census 1835 (hosted at Western NC Genealogy Resource Center)
- Cherokee Indian Census 1835 (hosted at Western NC Genealogy Resource Center)
- 1851 Census of Cherokee’s east of the Mississippi (compiled by Barbara Benge’s)
- 1851 Census of Cherokee’s east of the Mississippi, Marshall County, Alabama (hosted at TurtleTown)
- 1860 Oklahoma Census Index – Indian Territory (hosted at The Tree Shakers)
- 1860 Oklahoma Census Index – Indian Territory (hosted at Indian Nations, OKGenWeb Archives)
- Cherokee Census Of Intruders – 1893 – African-American (hosted at The Tree Shakers)
Federal Recognized Tribes
- Eastern and Eastern Band of Cherokee of North Carolina, P.O. Box 455, Cherokee, NC 28719 – History and Culture
- Cherokee Nation, P.O. Box 948, Tahlequah, OK, 74465 – History
Genealogy Help Pages
- Proving Your Indian Ancestry
- Indian Genealogy
- DNA- Testing for your Native American Ancestry
- How to Write a Genealogical Query
Cherokee Indian History
- Cherokee Indian Tribe History
- Cherokee Phoenix Abstracts, 1828
- Cherokee Indians (hosted at Texas State Historical Association)
- Cherokee Indians (hosted at North Carolina History Project)
- Cherokee Indian Agency, Tennessee (hosted at Family Search)
- Cherokee Research (hosted at Alabama Indian Affairs Commission)
- Cherokee Nation (hosted at About North Georgia)
Cherokee Indian Land, Land Allotments and Maps
- Cherokee Cessions, Proposals Made by certain Cherokee Indians, for the Cession of their Lands to the United States
- Oklahoma Cherokee Land Patents
Cherokee Indian Language
- Indian Linguistic Families of America North of Mexico
- Sign Language Among North American Indians
- Native Language of the Americas, Cherokee (hosted at Native Languages of the Americas)
Cherokee Indian Legends
- How the World was Made (hosted at Stetson University)
- Myths of the Cherokee (hosted at Sacred-Text
- Cherokee Legends (hosted at Indian Legends)
Cherokee Indian Military
- Soldiers of the Eastern Band
- Cherokee Military History (hosted at Wikipedia)
- A Guide to Cherokee Confederate Military Units, 1861-1865 (hosted at Peoples Path Home Page)
- Cherokees at Pea Ridge (hosted at Civil War Trust)
- Indian Wars, Conflicts and Disturbances 1614-1893
- Indians Who Served in the War (WWII)
Cherokee Indian Rolls
- Dawes Final Roll Index
- Dawes Final Roll
- Baker Roll
- Guion Miller Roll
- Kern Clifton Roll (Cherokee Freedmen)
- Reservation Roll
- Old Settlers Roll
- Wallace Roll (Cherokee Freedmen)
- Chapman Roll – Eastern Cherokees (hosted at USGenNet)
- Siler Roll (hosted at Barbara Benge’s Native American Genealogy)
Schools
Cherokee Indian Trail of Tears
- The Trail of Tears in the Southeast Missouri Region
- The Trail of Tears National Historic Trail
- The Trail of Tears Timeline 1838-1839
- Statistics of the 13 Parties Leaving Under Their Own Supervision
- Retracing The Trail of Tears
- Camping Along the Trail – A Slave Story
- “Grandpa was an Indian Chief”
- Princess Otahki Grave Site
- Eliza Missouri Bushyhead
Cherokee Indian Treaties
- Indian Treaties, Acts and Agreements
- Signers of Native American Treaties, Indian, Military and Guests
Indian Affairs, Laws & Treaties, Vol. 2As the United States expanded westward from the original thirteen colonies, settlers often confronted the existing owners of the land. As a result the federal government often negotiated treaties with these Native Americans. This collection of official treaties was compiled by the United States and originally printed in 1904. (Subscribers Only) Free Trial – Ancestry.com US Deluxe Membership
Cherokee Indian Surnames
- Cherokee Genealogies
- Jim Hicks Cherokee Page (hosted at Family TreeMaker)
- Surname Index
- Descendants of John Bowles, Sr
- Descendants of Go-sa-du-i-sga
- Descendants of Amatoya Moytoy
- White Surname – Final Roll of Citizens & Freedmen of the Five Civilized Tribes of Indian Territory (compiled by Linda Haas Davenport)
- Genealogy and Summary of Events of the Ridge-Watie-Boudinot Family (hosted at Paul and Dottie Ridenour’s Home Page)
- Recollections of My Life, by Walter Neel
Cherokee Indian Suggested Reading
Sacred Formulas of the Cherokee
The sacred formulas here given are selected from a collection of about six hundred, obtained on the Cherokee reservation in North Carolina in 1887 and 1888, and covering every subject pertaining to the daily life and thought of the Indian, including medicine, love, hunting, fishing, war, self-protection, destruction of enemies, witchcraft, the crops, the council, the ball play, etc., and, in fact, embodying almost the whole of the ancient religion of the Cherokees.
Cherokee Nation of Indians, by Charles C. Royce
The following monograph on the history of the Cherokees, with its accompanying maps, is given as an illustration of the character of the work in its treatment of each of the Indian tribes.
History of the Cherokee Indians, by Emmet Starr
Originally published in 1921, History of the Cherokee Indians, a reference originally created “for the purpose of perpetuating some of the facts relative to the Cherokee tribe, that might otherwise be lost,” in the words of author Emmet Starr.
Cherokee of the Smoky Mountains, by Horace Kephart
An in depth look into the history and origin of the Cherokees of the Smoky Mountains
A Century of Dishonor
The great difficulty with the Indian problem is not with the Indian, but with the Government and people of the United States. Instead of a liberal and far-sighted policy looking to the education and civilization and possible citizenship of the Indian tribes, we have suffered these people to remain as savages, for whose future we have had no adequate care, and to the consideration of whose present state the Government has only been moved when pressed by some present danger.