Cherokee (pronounced Chair-uh-key). The name comes from the creek word chelokee, which means "people of a different speech." The Ch-refer- to themselves as Ani-Yum wiya , meaning "the real people "or" the principal people or Tsalagi, which comes from a Choctaw word for " people living in a land of many caves."

The Cherokee originally lived in part of eight present day southeastern states: North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama. In the late 1990's most Cherokees lived in northeastern Oklahoma, North Carolina, and Tennessee.

The Cherokee people were a confederacy consisting of as many as 200 separate towns that were near in the river valleys of the southern Appalachian Mountains. The people in these towns shared a common language and customs, but each town had its own chief, and there was no chief or government fo

The two groups of believers participated in the same ceremonies. The primary god was the Creator, who was called Yo wah or Ye ho waah. Where there was order there was goodness and when there was disorder and confusion, there was evil, represented by a creature who was part snake, part deer, and part bird. Religion was part of the Cherokee people's life and a part of nature.

The Cherokee who lived in towns built log houses. They built it of poles of cedar or pine. Others built houses of grass and mud. Grasses were used for the roof. The houses had a fireplace to keep them warm in the winter.

The men used bows and arrows to hunt for deer and bear. The meat was shared among the families. The women made clothing from the animal skins. Women wore deerskin tops and skirts. The men made their own moccasins. Cherokee men wore a breechcloth made of deerskin. The men taught the boys how to make canoes and bows and arrows. The boys also learned to hunt for food and catch fish by building traps.

Sequoyah invented a system for writing the Cherokee language. Cherokees were soon able to read and write their language. In the late 1990s Cherokee was spoken by at least 14,000 people, and schools in Cherokee communities offered classes in both English and Cherokee.

When the Cherokee children were small they were taught lessons in bravery by having to go through hunger and pain. They were also taught to respect the Earth and other creatures and to honor their elders. A Cherokee boy was instructed in males roles by his mother's brothers. They learned how to hunt, make war, and carry on ceremonies. A girl learned ho

Some common words found in the essay are:
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