where did the cherokee indian tribe come from
Cherokee The Cherokee (/ˈtʃɛrəkiː/; Cherokee: ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯ, translit. Aniyvwiyaʔi or Cherokee: ᏣᎳᎩ, translit. Tsalagi) are an indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands. Prior to the 18th century, they were concentrated in southwestern North Carolina, southeastern Tennessee, and the tips of western South Carolina and northeastern Georgia.[6] The Cherokee language is a Southern Iroquoian language and part of the Iroquoian language family.[7] Today there are three federally recognized Cherokee tribes: the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in North Carolina, the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma, and the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma.[8]
Trail of Tears In 1831, the Choctaw became the first Nation to be removed, and their removal served as the model for all future relocations. After two wars, many Seminoles were removed in 1832. The Creek removal followed in 1834, the Chickasaw in 1837, and lastly the Cherokee in 1838.[14] However, some managed to evade the removals and remained in their ancestral homelands; some Choctaw are living in Mississippi, Creek in Alabama and Florida, Cherokee in North Carolina, and Seminole in Florida; a small group had escaped into the Everglades and were never defeated by the United States government.[clarification needed] A small number of non-Native Americans who lived with the tribes, including some of African descent (some as slaves, and others as spouses or freedmen), also accompanied the Indians on the trek westward.[14] By 1837, 46,000 Indians from the southeastern states had been removed from their homelands, thereby opening 25 million acres (100,000 km2) for predominantly European ('Caucasian'/'white') settlement.[14]