About the Texas Cherokee Indians

The Texas Cherokee Indians are a culture of Native Americans originating from the Carolinas of the United States. The various tribes of Cherokees that live in Texas today are not federally recognized, but their history and identity are just as rich as those of those of the Oklahoma and Eastern Band Cherokee tribes.

History

The Texas Cherokee Indians first emigrated to that state in the early 1820s due to pressure from Europeans encroaching on their land in the East. They were led by Chief Duwali, known to non-Indians as Chief John Bowls. At that time Texas was fighting the Mexicans for control of the area. Both Texas and Mexico vied for the support of Chief Duwali and his Cherokee warriors, but the tribe did its best to stay neutral. After Texas emerged victorious its people now turned to the Cherokees and other tribes inhabiting the region. Most local white people wanted the Cherokees to leave. In a dramatic battle between the Cherokees and the Texans, Chief Duwali fell and died, forever imprinting himself as a martyr to the cause of Cherokee sovereignty in Texas. Many Cherokees fled to Oklahoma and joined what would later become the Cherokee Nation, today a federally recognized Indian tribe. Others lived in the forest for decades before eventually joining Texan society. Today the Texas Cherokee Indians exist in small bands as testimony to their will to survive.

Significance

The Texas Cherokee Indians are a distinct culture of Native Americans, although they are not federally recognized. Many of the 300 non-recognized Cherokee tribes of the U.S. can be found in Texas. They consider their culture to be distinct from the Cherokee Nation, United Keetowah Band of Cherokee Indians and Eastern Band Cherokees. Indeed, it can be argued that the Texas Cherokee Indians should be considered their own tribe, as their history diverged from the that of the others almost two hundred years ago. Thousands of Texas Cherokee will likely never see federal recognition nor the financial perquisites that come with it.

Geography

Historically the Texas Cherokee originated in what is now eastern Tennessee and the surrounding region: Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama. Clearly they were a gigantic tribe and continue to be the largest in the United States today. Before and during the Trail of Tears of 1838-39, the Texas Cherokee moved across the continent, with failed attempts at setting up homes in Missouri and Arkansas. They eventually arrived in eastern Texas. Today the Texas Cherokee Indians live throughout the state of Texas.

Features

The Texas Cherokee Indians, like their brethren in Oklahoma and North Carolina, speak a Southern Iroquoian language. In the 1800s Sequoia, an Eastern Cherokee, moved to Oklahoma and invented a syllabary so that the Cherokees could write their language. This allowed them to create newspapers and a governmental constitution, among all else that writing enables. Most Cherokee tribes and bands have a government with three branches: executive, legislative and judicial. The groups that live in Texas strive for such democratic ideals, but oftentimes their numbers are too low to warrant a wide separation of powers.
The Texas Cherokee Indians keep up many of the old traditions, including Cherokee-style sweat lodge ceremonies, a clan structure in which male chiefs are chosen by clan mothers, and storytelling.
The culture is completely "Westernized" in its modes of dress, as they have been since the 1800s.
Their cultural icon is Chief Duwali. The place where he died in battle is marked by a stone monument.

Considerations

While the U.S. does not recognize the Texas Cherokees, it is interesting to note that three Mexican states do. This is likely due to the fact that Mexico has long been a friend of the Cherokees. In the 1820s Mexico allowed the Cherokees to make a home in what is now Eastern Texas. Granted, the Mexicans were trying to use the Cherokees as a buffer between the U.S. and Mexico. Even so, relations between the Cherokees of Texas and Mexico have always been relatively cordial.