Cherokee
- III. Culture
Cherokee economy, like that of the
other southeastern tribes, was based on intensive
agriculture, mainly of corn, beans,
and squash.
Deer,
bear, and elk were hunted.
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Hafting
is the technique of attaching a projectile point,
such as an arrowhead, to a shaft. The base of
the metal points of these Cherokee spears insert
into the split ends of wooden shafts. A point
is held in place with a strap of leather wrapped
around the shaft and the base of the point.
Lawernce
Migdale/Stock, Boston/PNI
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The
Busk, or Green Corn Ceremony, was a time of thanksgiving,
rekindling of sacred fires, and spiritual renewal.
The
tribe was divided into seven matrilineal clans that
were dispersed in war and peace moieties (half-tribes).
The
people lived in numerous permanent villages, some
of which belonged to the war moiety, the rest to the
peace moiety.
In
the early 19th century, the Cherokee demonstrated unusual
adaptability to Western institutions, both in their
governmental changes and in their adoption of Western
methods of animal husbandry and farming, including the
plantation system.
Public
schools were established and in the 1820s, Sequoya,
a tribal member, invented an 85-character syllabary
script for the Cherokee language.
Widespread
literacy followed almost immediately. In 1828 the
first Native American newspaper, the Cherokee Phoenix,
began publication.
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"Cherokee,"
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