The Qualla Community

 

Eastern and Western Cherokee

The year 1838 was a momentous year for the Cherokee people. It was also very tragic. It was the year over 15,000 Cherokee people were forcefully removed from their ancestral lands traveled 800 miles to 'Indian Territory' in what is today the State of Oklahoma. As many as 4,000 Cherokee men, women, and children died during the enforcement of the 'Removal Act of 1830'. Many perished in military stockades waiting transportation and many others along the trail.

Those who did not die from exposure, starvation, or disease suffered greatly. This time would be know to surviving Cherokee as "The trail where they cried" or "Nunna daul Tsuny". The descendants of these Cherokee now make up the The Cherokee Nation whose headquarters are in Tahlequah Oklahoma.

However, even the best efforts of the federal troops charged with this action was not enough to remove every Cherokee. As many as 1,000 were already in the remote mountains in Western North Carolina or had fled there soon after the removal had started. With government concessions and the purchase of some of the lands occupied by these Cherokee, they were allowed to stay.

This land would later be become the Qualla Boundary and the Cherokee people who made their homes there, The Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians.

 

The Qualla Community Today

 

The Qualla Boundary is not a reservation in the same sense as other reservations in the United States. The Eastern Band owns 56,000 acres of land which is home to many of the 13,000 enrolled members of the tribe. In most other Indian reservations the land is federal property.

About 6,500 Cherokee members live within the Qualla Boundary. Tourism and jobs for the local community are primary sources of income. Some members may work for the Tribe in various departments such as education, road works, tourism, the hospital, youth facilities, sanitation, water works, or other tribal or Federal government departments.

A majority of the Eastern Cherokee today are seasonally employed in various shops, the Cherokee owned casino and hotel, or cultural sites such as the Ocanaluftee Indian Village, the 'Unto These Hills' drama, and the tribally owned Cherokee Museum. Others also work as artisans producing crafts for sale to the public. See the Tribe's website for more information: www.cherokee-nc.com.

The Eastern Cherokee are truly a remarkable people. They have persevered through years of oppression, racism, and mountain poverty. Yet they remain a proud people with a wonderful heritage.