Cherokee history
Cherokee history is the written and oral lore, traditions, and historical record maintained by the living Cherokee people and their ancestors. In the 21st century, leaders of the Cherokee people define themselves as those persons enrolled in one of the three federally recognized Cherokee tribes: The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, The Cherokee Nation, and The United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians.
The first live predominantly in North Carolina, the traditional heartland of the people; the latter two tribes are based in what is now Oklahoma, and was Indian Territory when their ancestors were forcibly relocated there from the Southeast. The Cherokee people have extensive written records, including detailed genealogical records, preserved in the Cherokee language, known as the Cherokee syllabary, and in the English language.
16th century: Spanish contact[edit]
The first known Cherokee contact with Europeans was in late May 1540, when a Spanish expedition led by Hernando de Soto passed through Cherokee country near present-day Embreeville, Tennessee, which the Spaniards referred to as Guasili.[10] De Soto's expedition visited many of the villages later identified as Cherokee in Georgia and Tennessee. It recorded a Chalaque nation as living around the Keowee River where present-day North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia meet.[11] New infectious diseases carried by the Spaniards and their animals decimated the Cherokee and other Eastern tribes, who had no immunity.[12]
A second Spanish expedition came through Cherokee country in 1567 led by Juan Pardo. He was seeking an overland route to Mexican silver mines; the Spanish mistakenly thought the Appalachians were connected to a range in Mexico. Spanish troops built six forts in the interior southeast, including at Joara, a Mississippian culture chiefdom. They also visited the Cherokee towns Nikwasi, Estatoe, Tugaloo, Conasauga, and Kituwa, but ultimately failed to gain dominion over the region and retreated to the coast.[13] The Native Americans rebelled against their efforts, killing all but one of the garrison soldiers among the six forts. Pardo had already returned to his base. The Spanish did not try to settle this area again.